More On The U.n. And War

The primary debate leading into the Iraq war, remember, centered around legitimacy. War critics argued that it was illegitimate for the United States to undertake a war without the consent of the United Nations Security Council.

Daalder and Kagan write that the U.N. Security Council cannot be the final arbiter of American interventions, which is a major concession for Daalder. But they also write that the United States needs some legitimacy for its actions, which is a significant concession for Kagan.