Libya

If there's any big lesson from the last eight years, it's that we don't always want our allies to be more active or involved...We don't always want them to take responsibility for their own regions, because often times our allies, especially those that aren't democratic - that would include most of our allies in the Middle East - they don't share our interests and values nearly as much as we would like.

Libya is a failed state today because for 42 years [Moammar] Gadhafi was absolutely focused systematically on destroying every social and political institution that could potentially challenge his rule. . . . That's what autocrats do. And the longer an autocracy is in power, the worse it's going to be.