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Soviet Union. Likewise, while the nationalism of America’s principal
rival, China, has become more assertive lately, the communist
regime’s clear priority – indeed, the key to its stability – is domestic
economic growth.
Indeed, the only obvious danger that the US faces stems from
weapons of mass destruction, which could proliferate or be used by
terrorist groups. But confronting this threat does not require a
massive military budget or huge deployments of US troops all over
the world. America has a much-needed opportunity to refocus on
itself – to recover its inner strength without withdrawing from the
world. As Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign
Relations, puts it, America must enter a period of “restoration” of its
fundamentals.
American foreign policy starts at home, and that means reining in
budget deficits over the long term, reviving economic growth and job
creation in the short term, and addressing the country’s deteriorating
infrastructure. Indeed, America’s “aged modernity” has become a
drag on its competitiveness, as well as an insult to its international
image and a risk to the safety of its citizens.
Moreover, imperial fatigue has set in. Recent US history has been
characterized by cycles of enthusiasm about foreign engagement. In
the mid-1970’s, following the war in Vietnam, America, guided by
President Jimmy Carter’s moralizing impulse, opted for
“regionalization” of its engagements. But, given that the Soviet threat
still existed, this effort came too early (and probably was carried out
in the wrong manner).
Today, by contrast, the starting point for a reassessment of American
priorities is more economic than ethical. But the reasoning is the
same, for it is based on the conviction that more America in the world
today implies less costly and confused interventionism tomorrow.
That means that US foreign policy itself – defined in recent years by

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