Statecraft:

When Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke Monday at William and Mary College in Virginia, he could not have been expected to criticize his commander-in-chief or be dispassionate about ongoing military missions he is managing from the Pentagon. Yet Gates’s speech, which contrasted idealism in foreign affairs with realism, was remarkable for its implicit repudiation of President Bush’s past policies.

If one factors out his loyalist defense of the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the secretary’s unmistakable gist was that so-called neo-conservatives who talk of spreading freedom and democracy around the world — by force if necessary — are breaking with more than two centuries of American statecraft. Gates left no doubt that he regards such “idealists” as wrong-headed.

Gates cited no examples to illustrate the damage when policy makers stray too far from realism. Iraq is an example of idealism gone wrong, where an elected government kept in power by the US is dominated by religious parties.

Then again, the occupation of Iraq may have less to do with spreading democracy. The Pentagon chief’s case for a realist approach has a valuable implication: policy makers need to

know when to make a stand on principle and when the best option is a deal with the devil.