{"id":2136137,"date":"2023-12-29T14:42:01","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T19:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/200-years-later-the-monroe-doctrine-is-still-the-best-protector-of-u-s-interests\/"},"modified":"2023-12-29T14:51:49","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T19:51:49","slug":"200-years-later-the-monroe-doctrine-is-still-the-best-protector-of-u-s-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/200-years-later-the-monroe-doctrine-is-still-the-best-protector-of-u-s-interests\/","title":{"rendered":"The Monroe Doctrine remains the top defender of U.S. interests after 200 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F200-years-later-the-monroe-doctrine-is-still-the-best-protector-of-u-s-interests%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2136137&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Monroe Doctrine: A Blueprint for American Grand Strategy<\/h2>\n<p>This\u200b month marks the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine. If \u200ccelebration \u200d(or even acknowledgment) seems muted, that may be because policymakers and the public know little about the principles and grand strategy underlying\u200b the \u200ddoctrine.<\/p>\n<p>Few likely understand the doctrine because its meaning has been distorted \u2064throughout American\u2064 history, especially in the Progressive Era by\u2064 Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s corollary. Some see it, for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/features\/2023-12-03\/america-s-best-strategy-for-cold-war-ii-the-200-year-old-monroe-doctrine\">better<\/a> \u200cor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbc29.com\/2023\/12\/02\/activists-hold-mock-funeral-uva-grounds-monroe-doctrine\/\">worse<\/a>, as the beginning of America\u2019s commitment to\u2064 maintaining an international\u200d order \u2064by arms and diplomacy. But this is incorrect.<\/p>\n<p>The Monroe Doctrine was not a blueprint for establishing an international order, or even for American involvement throughout the Western Hemisphere.\u200c It was an expression of the \u2062moral principles and strategic thinking that animated foreign affairs for the first century of \u200dour national existence. It is also the blueprint for returning to a realistic\u200c grand strategy that can preserve American \u200bliberty \u200cfrom threats foreign and domestic.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Monroe\u200d Doctrine\u2019s Origins<\/h3>\n<p>President James Monroe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/documents\/seventh-annual-message-1\">articulated<\/a> what later became known as \u2063the Monroe Doctrine in his seventh annual message to Congress on\u200d Dec. 2,\u200d 1823. Its topic was the collapse of\u200b the Spanish Empire and the subsequent rise of \u2064independent nations\u2063 in Latin America. Henry Clay and other leading statesmen saw this as an opportunity to push American-style republicanism abroad.<\/p>\n<p>President Monroe and\u2063 Secretary of State John Quincy Adams took a more cautious stance. Monroe declared a policy of \u200dneutrality in the wars between Spain\u2062 and the newly independent republics of Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>He also promised not to interfere with existing European colonies or the affairs of the \u2062Old World, warning that \u200bany European\u2064 attempt to reassert control over those republics would be treated \u201cas the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.\u201d The Western Hemisphere would be off limits to any European nation that wished to maintain\u2063 amicable relations with the United \u200cStates.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Moral Principle of \u2062National Self-Rule<\/h3>\n<p>The first was the moral principle of national sovereignty. Monroe \u200bbelieved the right of a nation to govern itself was an axiom of \u200cthe law\u2062 of nations. He speaks of the \u201cjust principles\u201d on which the United States \u200brecognized the independence of new Latin\u200d American republics, who elevated themselves to an equal status\u2063 with the other powers of the Earth. By recognizing this equal status, nations can maintain peaceful relations with one another: \u201cIt is by rendering justice to other nations that we may expect it \u200bfrom them. It is by our ability to \u200dresent injuries and redress wrongs that we may avoid them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nations can expect peace if they are\u2062 willing to respect the citizens, territory, and commerce of other nations and are\u200c prepared\u2062 to defend their own. Echoing the Declaration of Independence, Monroe wished that\u200b the Greeks,\u200b who\u2062 were fighting a war of independence \u2062against the Ottomans, \u201cwould succeed in their contest and\u200b resume their\u200c equal station among the\u2062 nations of the\u200b world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet kind words are all Monroe was willing to offer the Greek revolutionaries. It is up to each nation to secure sovereignty for itself. Monroe declares that \u201conly when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced [do] we resent injuries or make\u200c preparation\u200d for our defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>America will not serve as the policeman of the \u200bworld, nor as the guarantor of a community of \u2064nations. Monroe had no\u200d intention of imposing our form of government on any other part of \u2063the \u200cworld, but only to protect \u200bAmericans\u2019 \u2064life, liberty, commerce, and sovereignty.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A False Justification for Nation-Building<\/h3>\n<p>The strategic principle \u2064embedded in the \u2063Monroe Doctrine can be traced back to the\u2062 beginning of \u200dthe\u200d nation. Arguing in favor \u200cof a firm constitutional union backed by a powerful navy in Federalist No. 11, Alexander Hamilton <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/fed11.asp\">outlined<\/a> what could be called a proto-Monroe Doctrine. He writes: \u201cThe world may politically, as well as geographically,\u2063 be divided into four parts\u200b each having a distinct set of interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Europe, he goes on to say, has successfully \u2062extended its power over the other three parts \u2014 Asia,\u200d Africa, and the\u200b Americas \u2014 and could continue to do so if left unchecked. Hamilton\u2019s solution was not to wage preemptive war or\u2063 impose sanctions against Europe, but to create \u201cone great American system\u201d \u2014 a union of states powerful enough to\u200c control the Atlantic seaboard and counter European economic and political influence in the hemisphere.<\/p>\n<p>How, \u200bthen, did the Monroe Doctrine come to be interpreted as a justification for \u2064nation-building and intervention abroad? As Walter McDougall <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Promised-Land-Crusader-State-Encounter\/dp\/0395901324\">argued<\/a>, 1898\u2062 marked the decisive turning point with the Spanish-American War. The United States embarked on a moral crusade to end the Spanish colonial government in Cuba and assumed imperial ambitions by the end of \u2063the war.<\/p>\n<p>With the acquisition of the Philippines and other Spanish colonies, America for the\u2063 first time governed territory that was never intended to gain statehood. Progressive imperialists like Sen. Albert Beveridge <a href=\"https:\/\/teachingamericanhistory.org\/document\/in-support-of-an-american-empire\/\">claimed<\/a> the principles of consent and national sovereignty in the \u2064Declaration of Independence applied\u2063 only to civilized nations, and that we have a moral duty \u2063to \u201cadminister government among savage and\u200b senile peoples\u201d for their own good.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s interventionists may not speak of savage peoples, but \u2064modern nation-building follows the spirit of early Progressive imperialism in assuming that \u200bthe founding principle of national sovereignty is outdated.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Roosevelt Corollary<\/h3>\n<p>Amid the Progressive \u200btransformation of foreign and domestic policy, President Theodore\u200c Roosevelt <a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/documents\/fourth-annual-message-15\">issued<\/a> his 1904 corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in his fourth annual message\u200d to Congress. Roosevelt claimed the right \u201cto the exercise of an international police \u2062power\u201d over Latin American nations that failed \u2064to\u200b uphold the standards of\u2064 civilization. \u2064Although the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/citizens-gather-in-washington-d-c-for-save-america-rally\/\" title=\"Citizens gather in Washington, D.C. for \u2018Save America Rally\u2019\">president claimed<\/a> we can better promote \u201cthe general uplifting of mankind\u201d by tending \u2063to our own affairs, he also spoke of rare, extreme cases \u201cin which \u2064we \u2064could interfere \u200dby force of arms as we interfered to put a \u2064stop to intolerable conditions in Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Roosevelt\u2019s message contains some elements of moderation and restraint, it is wrong to call it a\u2064 corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. \u201cTransformation\u201d would be a more accurate term. Roosevelt stripped the doctrine of \u200cits moral\u200c core \u2014 the right of national\u200d sovereignty \u2014 and created a new right for the United\u2063 States to interfere\u200b in the domestic politics of other nations.\u200d Once \u2062a \u200brepublic\u200b assumes the \u2064right to impose upon other nations its own standard of civilization, it no longer\u200c has a moral safeguard to prevent its slide into empire.<\/p>\n<p>The Roosevelt Corollary cemented the interventionist turn in American foreign policy. It is a short walk from\u200b Roosevelt\u2019s assertion to Woodrow Wilson\u2019s quixotic call\u2062 to make the world \u201csafe for democracy\u201d through armed intervention in the First World\u2062 War. From \u200bthere, \u200cit is another short walk to George H.W. Bush\u2019s\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/millercenter.org\/the-presidency\/presidential-speeches\/january-16-1991-address-nation-invasion-iraq\">commitment<\/a> to use American firepower \u201cto forge for\u2062 ourselves\u200c and for\u2062 future generations a new world order\u201d and to his son\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=4460172\">promise<\/a> \u201cto seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions \u2064in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our \u2064world.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lessons From the Monroe Doctrine<\/h3>\n<p>What lessons can we learn from the Monroe Doctrine today? Some have\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realcleardefense.com\/articles\/2021\/01\/30\/will_china_trigger_the_monroe_doctrine_658520.html\">called<\/a> for invoking the doctrine to <a href=\"https:\/\/roy.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/roy-and-salazar-reaffirm-monroe-doctrine\">counter<\/a> the threat of Chinese influence\u200b in the Western Hemisphere. No doubt, there are\u2062 good \u200dreasons to keep powerful rivals out of our backyard, and the Monroe Doctrine does speak to the \u2063strategic need to maintain our sphere of\u2062 influence.<\/p>\n<p>However, the more \u2064relevant lesson from the Monroe Doctrine is the need to return to the \u2063moral principle of national sovereignty. Once American policymakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-founding-fathers-6-prophetic-warnings-that-are-coming-true\/\" title=\"The Founding Fathers: 6 Prophetic Warnings That Are Coming True\">lost sight<\/a> of this principle, they lost sight of\u200c the limits\u2062 of intervention.<\/p>\n<p>Wilson\u2019s war\u200d to make the world safe for democracy paved the way for an even bloodier\u200d world war. The invasions of \u200bIraq and Afghanistan\u200d cost trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives and failed to build \u200dliberal \u200ddemocracies in the Middle \u2064East. Interventions in the Libyan\u200c and Syrian civil wars created a protracted migrant crisis and, once again, failed to deliver on their humanitarian promises. The billions\u2062 of\u2064 dollars of American armaments sent to Ukraine have only prolonged a brutal war between two Eastern European oligarchies and driven Russia further into China\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n<p>The moralistic internationalism that has animated much of the last 125 years of American foreign policy has also opened the door to foreign influence. From \u2062the British government\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/20th_century\/brycere.asp\">Bryce Report<\/a> in 1915 to Nayirah Al-Sabah\u2019s phony <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LmfVs3WaE9Y&#038;t=1s\">testimony<\/a> of Kuwaiti babies being ripped from incubators in the lead-up\u2064 to \u200cthe Gulf War, foreign governments\u2063 have fabricated atrocities to\u200d drag America \u200dby its heartstrings into\u200b costly wars.\u200d Reasserting national sovereignty as a moral principle and detachment from foreign\u2062 conflicts as a strategic imperative are the necessary preconditions \u2062to a\u2063 sensible foreign policy.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">America First \u200cForeign Policy<\/h3>\n<p>The ultimate aim of the Monroe Doctrine was to secure the conditions for liberty in our own nation. Intervention abroad sets the stage for imperial \u200bpolitics at home.<\/p>\n<p>As Angelo \u2062Codevilla noted, the national \u200csecurity state acts as a <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmind.org\/memo\/abolish-the-cia\/\">praetorian\u200c guard<\/a>, subverting \u200bthe will of elected\u200d officials (and,\u200d by extension, the people), \u200cwhenever it believes its preferences are threatened. Protracted engagement overseas\u2064 feeds the budgets and political capital of \u200bunaccountable agencies and bureaucrats.<\/p>\n<p>The CIA has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2014\/07\/31\/politics\/cia-spying-senate-apologize\/index.html\">spied<\/a> on the Senate Intelligence Committee out of fear of civilian oversight. Unelected officials such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/09\/05\/opinion\/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html\">Miles Taylor<\/a> in the Department of Homeland Security and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/threats\/2020\/11\/outgoing-syria-envoy-admits-hiding-us-troop-numbers-praises-trumps-mideast-record\/170012\/\">Jim\u200c Jeffrey<\/a> in the State Department have covertly disrupted presidential policies\u200b that conflicted with their policy preferences. Quincy Adams warned our governing \u200dprinciples could\u2062 change from liberty to\u2063 force, and the escalating use of <a href=\"https:\/\/amgreatness.com\/2022\/01\/27\/meet-the-capitol-polices-new-spy-chief\/\">surveillance<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/new-report-details-extent-fbis-weaponization-law-enforcement-against\">infiltration<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2023\/10\/13\/exclusive-fbi-targets-trump-followers-as-2024-election-nears-1831836.html\">repression<\/a> against opponents \u200bof the Biden administration prove him right.<\/p>\n<p>Some will undoubtedly argue the Monroe Doctrine \u2063is outdated in a \u200cglobalized age. Yet the oceans that insulated \u200bAmerica from\u200d her great\u2063 power rivals in the 19th century continue to do so today. Our fleets and nuclear umbrella deter peer competitors from threatening our soil. Whatever risks may come with returning to the restrained\u200b geopolitics of the Monroe Doctrine are outweighed\u2064 by the proven consequences of\u200c going abroad in search of monsters to destroy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"> <\/p>\n<h2> How can embracing the principles of national sovereignty and non-intervention, as outlined in the Monroe Doctrine, promote\u2063 peace and stability in the world<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Shadow government<\/a> that seeks to expand its power and\u200c influence \u200cboth domestically and internationally. This expansion comes at\u200b the expense of individual liberty and the sovereignty of\u200b other nations.<\/p>\n<p>The Monroe Doctrine\u2063 provides a blueprint for \u200can alternative approach, one that prioritizes the principles of national self-rule and non-intervention. By focusing on protecting American interests \u2064and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuban-embassy-in-d-c-targeted-with-molotov-cocktails-in-terrorist-attack-diplomat-says\/\" title=\"Cuban Embassy in D.C. hit by Molotov cocktails in 'terrorist attack,' diplomat claims.\">maintaining peaceful relations<\/a> with other nations, the United States can avoid the pitfalls \u2063of empire-building and costly \u200dforeign interventions.<\/p>\n<p>Returning \u2062to a Monroe \u2063Doctrine-inspired\u2064 grand strategy would also serve as a safeguard against the erosion of American liberty. As history has shown, prolonged wars and foreign\u200b entanglements often\u2062 lead \u2063to the expansion of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-biden-admin-considering-using-private-firms-to-conduct-warrantless-surveillance-of-u-s-citizens\/\" title=\"CNN: Biden Admin Considering Using Private Firms To Conduct Warrantless Surveillance Of U.S. Citizens\">national security state<\/a> and the \u200berosion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/quebec-is-now-under-the-equivalent-of-covid-martial-law-no-one-is-allowed-on-the-streets-after-8pm-till-5am\/\" title=\"Quebec Is Now Under the Equivalent of COVID \u2018Martial Law\u2019 \u2013 No One is Allowed on the Streets after 8pm Till 5am\">civil liberties<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion,\u2062 the Monroe Doctrine offers a valuable blueprint for \u2063American grand strategy. By embracing the principles of national sovereignty and non-intervention, the United States can protect its own interests while also \u200bpromoting peace and stability in the world. It is high time that\u200d policymakers \u200cand the public rediscover the true meaning and\u2062 significance of the Monroe Doctrine and its relevance \u2064in the 21st century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Monroe Doctrine turns 200 this month, but its significance remains largely unknown. Misunderstood and distorted over time, the doctrine&#8217;s principles and grand strategy are unfamiliar to policymakers and the public. This lack of understanding may explain the subdued celebration or acknowledgment surrounding this milestone, particularly during the Progressive Era<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2624,"featured_media":2136138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2136137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2624"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2136137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2136138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2136137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2136137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2136137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}