Video: Ron Paul on Iran: Our Policy Actually Do The Opposite Of What We Intend Them To Do

The common view is that meddling with the political economy of other nations has neutral effects to the nation which is being interfered with. And that they further think that whatever evil or criminal or militant behavior seen represents as internally driven dynamics.

This view misreads or downplays or ignores the causal influences of foreign interventions.

Ron Paul addresses this popular error here on the Iran issue.

[2:15] [bold emphasis added]

You know they are a very week nation, they are responding in a natural way. But they don’t want trouble because they can be annihilated in about 40 minutes. You know even by Israel or the United States, this idea that they are looking for a fight I think that they are a concoction of the West to prepare people for a war that is likely to come when there is a policy like this. I think it makes a perfect argument for my non-intervention foreign policy that we shouldn’t be engaged in stirring up trouble, and all these things we try to do to get rid of the regime in Iran right now actually plays into their hands because once we interfere to put on sanctions this brings the Iran people together.

They are having an election in a few months, Ahmadinejad is not strong politically, but when we interfere as an outsider, those dissidents who are struggling to get control of their country and their government and have a more sensible government, we have to drive them into the arms of the government. Just as we were brought together after 9-11, we were no dissenters, we all came together, they were republicans and democrats, we have to try to understand how our policy actually do the opposite of what we intend them to do.

When we impose restrictions or culture/religion or anything else to foreigners who resist, then the expected outcome would be conflict or trouble.