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American Foreign Policy

By Beacon Staff
By John Fuller

Since the beginning of the Cold War, liberals have wanted to cut the American superpower down to size.

In their view, America should submit to the collective wisdom of the EUnichs and the UN.

America should end its cowboy, unilateral approach and work harder to get along with diverse peoples.

What liberals forget is that as the world’s only superpower, America must lead.

If America doesn’t defend its sovereignty, security and economic interests, the whole world suffers.

Consequently, American foreign policy must be a long range, strategic approach to advance its interests, secure its freedom and neutralize its enemies. President Barack Obama’s administration has shown no interest in promoting those goals. Killing Bin Laden is not a foreign policy!

Unlike some liberals and conservatives, this author is not in favor of “nation-building” efforts that have consumed untold amounts of blood and treasure of the U.S. Despite the success of the Marshall Plan after WWII, our more recent efforts have been virtual failures.

Consequently, a conservative foreign policy would be to establish energy independence, promote a fiscally sound economy, return the dollar to its prior supremacy, encourage free trade, promote peace through military strength, and disdain apologizing for America.

 
By Joe Carbonari

The first goal of U.S. foreign policy ought to be to protect our nation’s physical well-being and economic health. To do so we need to maintain a degree of world order, which allows us to travel outside our borders with the expectation of reasonable safety and personal respect.

Being the most powerful country does not mean that we are all-powerful. It does, though, give us the advantage of being both feared and respected. Fear, however, being unpleasant, leaves people disliking those who bring it.

To avoid making unnecessary enemies, both in terms of numbers and virulence, fear must be used judiciously.

We live in a common world with cultures, economies, religions, and so on that distinguish us. This gives spice to our lives, but also requires us to show discretion, tolerance, and self-control if we are to retain enough cooperation for the functioning of a healthy, peaceful world.

All nations are comprised of and run by individuals, fellow human beings.

The more fully we recognize each other’s peculiar strengths, weaknesses, and proclivities, the more likely we are to be successful in pursuing our shared interests and in protecting ourselves if our interests conflict.

We must carry a big stick, but we should walk quietly.

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