From Iraq through Libya to Syria, the approach to regime change by the US and its allies has been to support the removal of a disliked government with little serious thought as to the broader consequences.
Absent in these and other lower intensity conflicts has been any informed long-term thinking or planning about the ensuing instability, the multiple damaging effects on neighbours, or the additional cost in human suffering an intervention causes.
In reality, induced or supported regime change requires detailed and sustained attention by those involved long after the event to ensure order, security, stability and economic growth if the ordinary citizens of the nation concerned are to see tangible benefits.
