I agree with the general sentiment expressed by David Frengel’s letter regarding the unprincipled entangling alliances of the United States and their relationship to economic risk. Far before President George H.W. Bush spoke of a “new world order,” entangling alliances became the norm when the rational American foreign policy embodied by the Monroe Doctrine was jettisoned by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, and Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat. Since genuine American self-interest was abandoned as a guiding principle, pragmatic calculations regarding the worldwide balance of power have led the U.S. in the exact opposite direction from that envisioned by the Founders. What is desperately needed is a resurrection of the Monroe Doctrine. Unfortunately, if any politician of either major party advocated this position today, it likely would render him or her instantly non-viable because of how unknown the ideals of the Monroe Doctrine have become.
