Too often, when an effort fails, people rush to declare the entire concept invalid. “Regime change” has become one of those poisoned terms. It didn’t work in Afghanistan. Iraq remains a subject of fierce debate, and many argue it was a mistake there as well. From these examples, a sweeping conclusion is drawn: regime change never works.

That conclusion is lazy.

History shows that failure in one context does not invalidate an idea in all others. The real question is not whether regime change can work, but where, how, and under what conditions.