What Is the National Interest?

For almost half a century U.S. foreign policy has been based on internationalism—on the assumption that the security and prosperity of every place on earth is vital to America’s own. Internationalism, the author argues, has entailed enormous risks and costs—more than we can continue to bear or need to pay—and offers scant promise of success. It is time, he argues, for a new foreign-policy blueprint—a stripped-down strategy whereby the United States looks out for itself and recognizes that building its own strength, not creating a perfect world, is the best guarantor of its safety and well-being