About the Author: John Macejka is a Sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill studying both Political Science and Consulting with a minor in history.

About the piece: I’ve always wondered if US involvement in the Middle East is justifiable, and while studying terrorism I recognized the persistent costs and uncertainty of success. Then, after reading about the prospective benefits of democratic peace, I realized potential domestic gains and decided to analyze the costs compared to the benefits of US involvement. The following is an essay examining the ideal extent of US democratization efforts globally, which undertakes a case study of both Iraq and Afghanistan before returning to the aforementioned central question.

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