Brent Scowcroft Center Chairman General James L. Jones, Jr. writes for the Connecticut Post on the strategic aspects of international trade:
Few people who have experienced war would suggest armed conflict as anything but a last, strategic resort. Yet in times of geopolitical uncertainty like the present, we find ourselves groping for tactical, short-term responses to crises we have neither prevented nor anticipated, and all too often the proposed solutions involve military force.
Obviously, we must defeat entities like the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham that are a cancer on world civilization. But we also need to broaden opportunities for peace by preventing competitors from becoming adversaries and giving violent extremism a chance to flourish. In my view, employing American leadership to expand international trade presents precisely such an opportunity–one we squander at the risk of US interests, lives, and national honor.