America has a huge military presence in the world for a single, practical, reason: we’ve found that when we leave the rest of the world to themselves, they start wars that get us involved. It’s easier to prevent wars then to win them.

America is powerful. It’s tempting to believe we can use the power for good, to make peace in the world, a Pax Americana. The Romans created an era of peace militarily by crushing all opposition.  Should America do the same?

Can America do the same? Can we impose democracy on Syria, as we did Iraq? Can we pacify Eastern Africa, keep them from fighting? Can we spread ourselves that thin? Can we free Latin America from the grasp of lying dictators, who wear the facade of democracy while stealing from the people? if America imposes freedom on a people, is it still freedom?

 What ideals does America stand for? We stand for democracy, equal representation, freedom, the pursuit of happiness. We stand for truth, justice, and the right to speak.  All of these are weakened when we impose them on other people. It is not a choice to say, “you must choose your government, and if you choose the wrong leader we will invade you.” That is not freedom.  When America leads by force, she is weakened. When she leads with ideas, she is strengthened. Every country should find ideas they can contribute to the world.

 Our military is for defense. Pax Americana, as far as it’s come, was not imposed by military force. In the 200 years since the founding of the country, democracy has become the most common form of government in the world, not because it was forced on people. The ideal of democracy is so powerful that  now even many of the remaining dictators are forced to have show elections. The pen is mightier than the sword. If we are to change the world, it will be through ideas, not through force.

How can this work in practice? Here are some examples.

North Korea:
   We must let them know we will never attack them first. A lot of their strange behavior comes from fear that we will attack them; it’s the noise of a little dog.
   We want North Korea to stop being a threat and integrate with the world economy, and it is in their interest to do so, once they realize they don’t need to fight off the US threat.
   We can continue to add sanctions, so the leadership feels the pain of the people, but there must be clear actions North Korea can take to lift the sanctions.
   We must push them to have freedom of speech. Their people need to know what the world is like.
   
China:
   Americans feel sad that China is a dictatorship, but the majority of Chinese people support the dictatorship, so we should let them choose for themselves.
   The bad part is China doesn’t have freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is more important for a democracy than elections; if you can’t let people know why the government is bad, then they can’t make a real decision.
   At a minimum our leaders should vocally deplore the oppression of minority groups in Tibet and Western China.
   In many ways China is still an old, imperialistic system. They lack the rule of law, they don’t have freedom of speech, they are trying to expand and conquer other countries. It would be nice if we had a president who could discuss why these are problems, because the Chinese are brothers and sisters under God, and we want to help them have better lives if we can.

Palestine:
   We’ve done horribly on the Palestine issue. Palestinians have a goal they can never reach: the destruction of Israel. We absolutely need to make clear their true choice, that they will continue to suffer until they agree to peace with Israel. No negotiation will ever succeed until they realize this. There’s a lot of information the Palestinians lack to make good decisions.

The world is a dangerous place. We may need bases in Japan, to support and defend our friends on the Eastern front. It may be necessary to keep bases in Europe, so we can help our allies in the Middle East; but we should look forward to the day when our soldiers can come home, and go to war no more.

In America, there is only one reason to go to war: to defend our lives, our liberty, our families, and our friends. We don’t kill for economic reasons. We don’t kill for peace.