”Rudy Giuliani’s Foreign Affairs essay really is a bit of a revelation. To understand it, I think you need to understand the broader context of the political dilemmas he’s facing. One is the simple dilemma all the Republican contenders face — namely that the conservative base remains fanatically committed to a grandiose view of "the war on terror" that most Americans have grown disillusioned with. ... the Hugh Hewitt crowd, the Rush Limbaugh listeners, the Glenn Beck fans, and that whole lot still, in essence, want to see a bloody, bloody, bloody foreign policy.

Giuliani’s treatment of the concept of "peace" and the concept of "realism" are striking. ...He opposes... the realist concept of peace in which the United States and other countries choose to make deal (sic) that reconcile our interests through positive-sum collaboration rather than through negative-sum military conflict. Lots of people on the left have some qualms about realism, sometimes rightly so, but this core notion isn’t something any liberal worth his salt objects to.

You preserve peace by seeking diplomatic arrangements that accommodate everyone’s interests, thus avoiding conflict. Giuliani doesn’t believe that. He believes Bush abandonned (sic) "a decadelong — and counterproductive — strategy of defensive reaction in favor of a vigorous offense." Counterproductive is key here. Giuliani thinks that "we must understand that our enemies are emboldened by signs of weakness" so any expressed desire to cut deals actually undermines our safety and invites attack.

The result is a chilling vision of a world where peace can only be achieved through American military domination.

Needless to say, this approach has already been put to the test and failed. Its advocates — including Norm Podhoretz — have treated to this kind of fantasy world where we’re going to "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" as a substitute for the invasions we can’t pull off. ...The result of this policy is going to be an endless series of wars, a bankrupt country accounting for way more than fifty percent of world defense expenditures, fewer and fewer countries willing to cooperate with us on key priorities and, perhaps worst of all, more and more nuclear proliferation as countries decide its not safe to live in a world where the Rudy-led USA is the big kid on the block.