Leading UK Journalist Simon Jenkins on why the West intervenes and why it needs to stay out

Most commentators like to draw a curtain over what they have written in the past. The journalism of war suffers from partiality, but the history of war from hindsight.

Simon Jenkins has been one of Britain’s leading commentators on global events over the course of the past two decades - a period of intense political controversy. The fall of the Soviet Union launched “the age of intervention” with the West assuming the role of global policemen. Aid graduated from charitable to economic and, finally, military, backed up by a vague and confused concept of international justice, shrouded in real-politik. From Kosovo and the ‘war on terror’ to present day conflicts in Libya, Syria and Ukraine, Jenkins has observed, commented, and sometimes rashly predicted.

As ISIS sweeps through the Middle East and calls for a military solution are increasing, Jenkins now returns to see what he got right and what wrong, and what we can learn from the miscalculations and mistakes of past decisions. Contemporary witness may not have much effect on events, but it contributes to the national debate. Holding it to some sort of account is therefore important. Jenkins accepts that not all he predicted turned out to be true, though most was. It is for others to judge.