Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will [the United States'] heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. . . . She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force. . . . She might become the dictatress of the world. She would no longer be the ruler of her own spirit.--John Quincy Adams, the USA's "greatest secretary of state" according to my American Foreign Policy textbook Posted by Randy at September 12, 2005 12:46 PM | TrackBack
*cheers, whistles, stomps on the floor, applauds . . . etc.*
Posted by: Blame Jared at September 12, 2005 01:27 PM*grin*
Posted by: paigels at September 12, 2005 01:28 PM"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Posted by: Knight's Disciple at September 12, 2005 04:01 PM"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."-John Stuart Mill;English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)
Posted by: Knight's Disciple at September 12, 2005 04:04 PMI think that there is a lot to be said for Quincy Adams' position. I believe that America has become far too close to a world dictator than I would prefer. However, I would like to point out that the world Adams lived in was very different than our own. Isolationism in American politics was tried twice in the last century...and it was one of the factors leading to both world wars. An honest question: would the world be a better place if America had not "gone abroad in search of monsters to destroy" in 1918 and 1941? I think that there is a balance between the extremes, and, like most balances, it is extremely hard to find.
Posted by: Barbour at September 12, 2005 05:52 PMActually, I would argue that 1918 was a vindication of non-intervention. It was precisely the interlocking alliances of the European powers that caused the war (one of the stupidest in history), and the American intervention was not necessarily of decisive value.
World War II is more difficult, but I would like to point out that America's entry into the war was perfectly consistent with isolationism, given the declaration of war by Japan and Germany. We were not looking for monsters to destroy abroad; we were defending ourselves after an attack. Furthermore, to end the war, we had to enter an alliance with the Soviet Union, a worse government than Hitler's. That is precisely the sort of compromise Quincy is warning against in this quotation.
Now, regarding Edmund Burke ("All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing") ... there are many different ways for good men to "do something." History has recorded many examples of good men doing something that turned out to be dreadfully wrong.
In this quotation, Quincy is advocating neither that the US do nothing nor that the US avoid war at all costs. He is saying only that the US should not bring freedom to others by force. This, he says, would actually compromise the core principles of freedom. That leaves open many options for spreading freedom, including the very most powerful: leadership by example, as we refuse to get involved in the power plays that tempt all governments.
Posted by: Wilson at September 13, 2005 01:37 AM*cheers, whi- . . . well, see above*
Posted by: Blame Jared at September 15, 2005 01:20 PM