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Article: Defense, National
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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DEFENSE, NATIONAL
DEFENSE, NATIONAL.
As in most countries, in the United States "national defense" is usually officially construed as the pursuit of all national interests by military means. Because of its location between two oceans, the weakness of its immediate neighbors, and the fortuitous presence of the Royal Navy during the nineteenth century, the United States seldom had to "defend" itself in any literal sense. Not until the advent of long-range nuclear weapons in the mid-twentieth century did the United States face a serious threat to its survival. The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., in September 2001 introduced a new challenge to American "national ...