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Article: The myth of America's "Free Security"(Reconsiderations)
- Article from:
- World Policy Journal
- Article date:
- June 22, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 World Policy Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Once, the story goes, there was a great and pure republic called the United States of America. It was governed by statesmen who husbanded the nation's power and exercised it prudentially. They thought little about world affairs because they were sheltered from the harsh realities of international power politics by two weak neighbors and two large oceans. England's Royal Navy policed the seas, establishing a Pax Britannica that sheltered the United States. Besides, America's history was not one of imperialism - with the exception of a few irrational spasms as in 1898 - but of economic growth and nation building.
With the rise of Germany at the turn of the century, ...