but many of those occurred in our own hemisphere.
As I said, the hemispheric restriction is wholy made up. The Monroe doctrine only applies to the Americas.
Initially the US could only assert itself on this continent and it did so. As the country got stronger we started expanding to the entire non-european hemisphere (viz. Hawaii, Japan, Phillipines, China). By the end of those "magical" 150 years mentioned by Buchanan the US had already fought in World War I.
Pat Buchanan likes to pretend that the US is not a global power, that it has no global interests and that reinstituting the dark ages is the solution to modern problems. Reality is the USA is the most powerful country in the world, with strategic interests in the gold mines of Rusia and South Africa, in the nickel mines of Canada, in the coffee and cocoa plantations of Africa, in the oil fields of the Middle East, in the engineering rooms of Germany, in the vineyards of France, in the tomato plantations of Mexico, the copper mines of Chile, the beef market of Argentina.
The USA must act on those interests to keep its way of life, its living standard, and its internal and external security. It should act with restrain and good judgement and with respect to other countries rights, but it must (and does) act to protect its interests. |
