Splendid Isolation: A Sane Foreign Policy For America
A proper foreign policy for the US would be consistent with and recognize the limitations placed upon our country by the physical world in which we live.
First of all it would recognize that all countries, including the US, have limited resources. These resources are provided by the private economy; there is no other. All government spending, for whatever reason and however justified, weakens the private economy. Most importantly, the US must reject the myth of “war prosperity”. Military spending detracts from an economy’s productive capacity. It uses precious capital to produce non-consumable goods and robs the economy of some of its most productive citizens. A nation’s leaders must recognize that frugality in a nation’s military spending is as important for the nation’s long term welfare as is frugality in one’s personal household spending .
Secondly, a sane foreign policy would distinguish between what is in one’s true national interest and what is not. It would not embark on military adventures or commit the nation to future military action when national security is not threatened. Furthermore, a sane foreign policy would recognize that it is impossible for the US to judge disputes in foreign lands, as if it were an impartial jury deciding the guilt and innocence of the parties involved.
For the above reasons, the US would not intervene in the internal affairs of other nations, for it would not be able to understand the animosities which led to the conflict. Nor would it commit itself to an open-ended collective security treaty. Not only would such a treaty oblige the US to intervene militarily in long-standing foreign disputes, it would encourage new disputes to the degree that members of the alliance would feel less need to engage in difficult negotiations to find peaceful solutions to the inevitable frictions which arise among nations.
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