Guardians of the West

The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do. - Samuel P. Huntington

In a word, in order to survive and to prosper, democracies need to infuse a Spartan spirit into their Athenian thinking. To maintain the peace, prepare for war. A democracy too soft will soon perish. - Michael Novak

Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems a people with such responsibilities. Toward all other nations, large and small, our attitude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words, but in our deeds, that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all their rights. But justice and generosity in a nation, as in an individual, count most when shown not by the weak but by the strong. While ever careful to refrain from wrongdoing others, we must be no less insistent that we are not wronged ourselves. We wish peace, but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it because we think it is right and not because we are afraid. No weak nation that acts manfully and justly should ever have cause to fear us, and no strong power should ever be able to single us out as a subject for insolent aggression. - Theodore Roosevelt

The President is the elected leader of the United States of America. His first and foremost function in the international arena is to maintain and uphold the interests of the United States. There are plenty of times when these interests mesh with those of foreign states. To this end, the President from time to time enters into bilateral and multilateral treaties, agreements and understandings. And there are plenty of times when it is in America’s interest for the President to pursue a policy of international comity. But he must never, ever, allow international interests to trump American interests, especially when it comes to matters of national security. - Robert

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Guardians of the West

100 facts, 1 opinion

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