Apologia Americana

What is America’s role in the world? We are committed to defend a quarter of the world’s population. We have bases in over seventy countries. The institutions we helped found after World War II, from the World Bank to NATO, are still operating and healthy. Yet we are more divided than ever, a polarization that is prompting worry from Berlin to Canberra to Jerusalem. According to a 2016 Pew Research poll, a majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle believe that the other party’s politics are not just misguided, but so misguided that they threaten the well-being of the nation. Abroad, Obama’s “red line” in Syria that turned out to be a bluff and Trump’s disinterest in NATO and other Western institutions have convinced many that America is in retreat while China and Russia ascend on the global stage. Polls show that a growing share of Americans say that the U.S. should be active in world affairs, more than at any time in the last 15 years. Yet we do not seem to be a nation capable of consistently projecting our values and influence abroad. Of what use is our military, economic, and diplomatic clout, if we cannot even agree on the content of our values?

[pullquote]Of what use is our military, economic, and diplomatic clout, if we cannot even agree on the content of our values?[/pullquote]

There are few nations that could turn their backs on the world as easily as America. Oceans and friendly nations surround us. We are a vast country, and have few needs that could not be met at home. But it does not take much insight to see that this would leave us much poorer. Our engagement with the world has helped foster the most peaceful and prosperous eras in modern human history. According to Oxford University’s Our World in Data project, the amount of deaths from war has plunged since 1946 to never-before-seen levels, less than a quarter of the average since 1400. At the same time, the World Bank notes, the number of people living in absolute poverty has plunged over the last decade. This has been in large part due to the world system underpinned by the United States. It has been the expansion of economic opportunity through global capitalism that has lifted legions out of poverty, and it has been the success of organizations such as the United Nations, along with the overwhelming military force of the United States, that has helped keep the peace. This has served the U.S. as well as the global community. Everything around us, from the made-in-Vietnam clothes we wear to the global connectivity of social media to the comfort and safety of international travel, is built on this history-defying period of peace and prosperity. And yet we appear to be turning our back on this bounty.

We have been here before. Throughout American history we have been called to define what it our nation stands for. In 1941, just before Pearl Harbor, the editor of Time/Life wrote that “this nation, conceived in adventure and dedicated to the progress of man…cannot truly endure unless there courses strongly through its veins from Maine to California the blood of purposes and enterprise and high resolve.” He echoes Abraham Lincoln, who in the depths of the Civil War spoke of this “new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” But as the Time/Life editor wrote on the eve of the second World War, “is there nothing between the absurd sound of distant cities, and the brassy trumpeting of majestic words?” What does it mean to stand for Democracy and Liberty, Freedom of Opportunity, and these beautiful yet hard-tograsp concepts? What separates us, practically speaking, from Beijing and Moscow? And is that thing, whatever it is, worth expending time and money? For what do we stand?

[pullquote]Throughout American history we have been called to define what it our nation stands for.[/pullquote]

In an age of division, we must come back to what unifies us. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote that

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such from as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

[pullquote]In an age of division, we must come back to what unifies us.[/pullquote]

This paragraph has informed and underwritten the United States for the last 241 years. It was radical then; it was a statement that seemed entirely out of context with the realities of how governments worked. If it seems less radical today, it is only because we have become used to the world it promises. All the principles that define America at its best – the Bill of Rights, the 13th and 19th amendments abolishing slavery and granting the right to vote to women, the Civil Rights Act – all have been reflections of this statement. With this paragraph, Thomas Jefferson created a platonic ideal of the United States as a land of perfect equality and freedom, with a government beholden to its people and created to serve them. That we have so frequently fallen short of this ideal serves as a reminder of the radical nature of its promise. We must re-engage with these values at home, to remind ourselves not of the many issues that divide us but rather the powerful few which unify us. We must then craft our foreign policies in service to these values.

Let these standards be our creed: that we stand for human freedom, the right of every man and woman to pursue their life as best they see fit. That we stand for freedom of expression, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience such that no person should be forced into silence for their beliefs. That we stand for opportunity and prosperity, where any person can succeed on their own merits and their own hard work, and through their labors pass on a better life for their children. That we stand for the rule of law, the absence of corruption, the honest competition of the marketplace, fairness in the courts, and all the other accouterments of a fair and just society. That we stand, above all, for the right of people to form their governments and pursue their lives as best they see fit, without fear of oppression, violence, or intimidation. Let this serve as our creed, at home and abroad.

These principles still have enormous power. In the very recent revolutions in Ukraine, Myanmar, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria and the protests in Hong Kong, Iran, and Venezuela the demands are all the same: honest, restricted government and economic prosperity. Venezuelans have taken to the streets for months in protest of the autocratic, socialist leadership of their country, and as I write this Iran is being rocked by its biggest protests in a decade, sparked by a poor economy and a feeling that the government is corrupt and unresponsive. These people are attempting to exercise their right to “alter or abolish” their governments, as they find them destructive to securing the ends of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Even when the phrasing is different, and the demands are articulated in a different language, the unmistakable cry for freedom remains the same.

Foreign policy is ultimately a question of belief. Do people believe that their government, created and supported by their participation, is a force for good in the world? Do they believe that active, purposeful engagement with the world is a gain for themselves and their communities? Our hard-won peace and prosperity cannot endure on their own. Indeed, they face unprecedented challenges. From the South China Sea to Crimea, tensions are on the rise. These challenges can only be met if we know and agree on our fundamental beliefs and principles. In an age where it seems so little unifies us at home, we must base our principles on the foundation of our society. It is not enough to speak of “engagement,” “isolationism,” “internationalism,” or even heady terms such as “liberty” and “democracy.” We must remember the radical promise of our founding document, and craft our foreign policy in service to those ends. Let our creed be defined by the practical promise of those high ideals: that if human beings are allowed to live their lives free from oppression and corruption, they will be empowered to create better lives for themselves and their children. These principles are as unifying as they are radical, as uncontroversial as they are revolutionary. Across the world, people have laid down their lives for the freedom to choose their own governments and the ability to build a more prosperous future for their children. Their freedom, and the peace and prosperity of our current age, are goals manifestly worth supporting and defending. And perhaps, by coming together behind universal principles abroad, we may begin to heal some of our divisions at home.

Christopher Hall ‘18 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at c.a.hall@wustl.edu.