Tonight’s Rose Cafe was a surprise: instead of hearing a talk on China and the US Economy, Professor Andrew Mertha spoke about Cambodia and the influence (or lack thereof) of Chinese foreign policy on the Southeast Asian nation during the Khmer Rouge. What I found most interesting, however, was what precipitated the rise of the Khmer Rouge: US military action.

At this point, it should hardly be surprising. As Professor Mertha pointed out, the US has an awful track record of nation building in the (alleged) attempt to promote democracy since the 1950s. In Vietnam, we facilitated a free election – and then propped up an unpopular candidate when the communists won the election, leading to the Vietnam conflict, which caused over 1.3 million deaths. Spillover from this conflict in neighboring Cambodia, in the form of more bombs dropped on the country than in all of World War II, scarred and battle hardened the Khmer Rouge, one of the most extreme and self-destructive political entities ever to control a modern country. Excessive violence sparked more excessive violence. After seizing power, the Khmer Rouge killed a fantastic amount of the Cambodian population, including intellectuals, supposed dissenters, and the religious, in the attempt to establish agricultural communes. Basic life was obliterated: families were basically outlawed; currency was abolished; medical care and education were removed; everything was done communally-or you were killed. Almost a quarter of the population died.

We see the unanticipated effects of US foreign military involvement in the Middle East as well. The CIA’s training of guerilla militias in Afghanistan, indoctrinated to hate the invading USSR, lead to the formation of Al Qaeda. More recently, the CIA’s funding of Islamic fundamentalist groups in Syria to fight against Assad supported the rise of ISIS.

Who can tell what shocking and unforseen consequences US military involvement will have in unstable regions? We need to be mindful: human life is not cheap, and it is often the price paid due to the way we get involved to support our immediate agenda (even if this agenda is positive and moral in many ways, such as taking down a bloodthirsty tyrant). The world is a complicated place, so we need to understand, respect, and make decisions based on the perspectives of those on all sides of any given equation. This is likely one of the greatest struggles we will have to grapple with in the fight to promote peace throughout the world.