Some have questioned the wisdom of intervention in the current conflict precisely because it seems to be an outgrowth of an underlying rivalry between Sunni and Shia in the larger Middle East.
Columbia University turned into a nest of patriotic zeal as the autocratic president, Nicholas Murray Butler, restructured schools and departments among military lines and announced that faculty debate about the wisdom of intervention was "intolerable... what had been folly was now treason".
As politicians agonise about the wisdom of intervention in Syria, I have been involved in a somewhat smaller project but with big aspirations to help restart a democratic dialogue in the country.
Love is beyond human intervention, according to Proustian wisdom.
"It had been received wisdom that these interventions didn't work," said Dr. Richard Hatchett, the lead author of one of the studies, "because they looked at the variability between cities and concluded that there was some other factor than the interventions that caused the differing outcomes.
Interventions for Treating Asymptomatic Impacted Wisdom Teeth in Adolescents and Adults.
The conventional wisdom is that intervention will not succeed without accompanying changes in policy.
His rival, RA Butler, always doubtful of the wisdom of armed intervention, only enhanced his reputation as an appeaser.
Over the years a radicalised, armed and trained Islamist insurgency could do immense damage in a fragile part of the world.The right lessonFor those who have learned to doubt the wisdom of most intervention, this argument points to a simple conclusion: keep out.
A year ago there was fierce argument about the wisdom of military intervention against President Assad in Syria after his alleged use of chemical weapons.
