A year ago, Dr. Dan Goure wrote for inFOCUS Quarterly, “Nations, like nature, abhor a vacuum. It must be filled… Political vacuums can readily be filled by raw power and the domination of the strong over the weak. Or they can be filled by the rule of law and a community of nations.”
At that time, we had hoped for an American resurgence, but the Summer 2014 issue of inFOCUS is devoted to America’s continued political and military withdrawal from international affairs, coupled with defense cuts, and the rise of powers with interests that are proving at odds with our own. The cumulative effect is to make any medium-to-large-scale American military action close to impossible to contemplate, regardless of need.
David Adesnik offers a historical look at the true meaning of American exceptionalism. Mackenzie Eaglen, Seth Cropsey, and Peter Huessy respectively provide accessible understandings of the defense budget, the traditional foreign policy role of the U.S. Navy, and the perils of failing to modernize our nuclear arsenal in the face of Iran, China and Russia. After Secretary Kerry renounced the Monroe Doctrine in 2013 after 190 years as a fixture in American foreign policy, Ilan Berman worries about our southern neighbors. Dan Blumenthal does the same for the Pacific, and Hillel Fradkin and Scooter Libby remind us that our withdrawal didn’t begin this year. Shoshana Bryen reviews, “The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future.”
Don’t miss our interview with outgoing House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, one of America’s most articulate spokesmen for America’s value to maintaining peace, security and freedom in the world, and the trouble likely to emerge as we abdicate strategic power to others.
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Sincerely,
Matthew Brooks, Executive Director
