We'd Better Take Notice.

       Wow! I just finished reading a scary article in Foreign Policy entitled Backing Into World War III. Foreign Policy is publication that is neutral in so far as politics are concerned. The thrust of the article is to explain how revisionist powers forced the great wars of the past and how the great, stabilizing powers of those times allowed the revisionists to force those wars.
       From the Napoleonic wars to WWI and WWII, the stabilizing great powers backed down by refusing to maintain their own power and influence. Look at the U.S. after WWI. We refused to take on the responsibility of stabilizing the world order and wound up fighting WWII.
       The article then tries to show how over the last two and a half decades and including the current administration, we again began to back away from the responsibility of maintaining the world order. After the end of the cold war, America seemed to feel no responsibility or at least a lessening of that responsibility to maintain the status quo. As a result Russia and China are flexing their muscles more and more.
       We can't back away from our world responsibility or world dominance. It's for the good of all mankind. As we back away, our smaller allies begin to fear for their safety. They will flow to the other side or form smaller, weaker alliances to protect themselves without us. This will only encourage Russia and China to be more aggressive.
       At any rate the article makes a strong case for a militarily strong America, anxious to fulfill its role as the only superpower in the world and it's strong desire to maintain the world order with a vibrant, democratic, free world society. America first is a dangerous idea. It suggests America only, to our allies and friends. We do need to be more powerful but to do that we must have an up to the minute infrastructure that can feed and fuel a stronger military and society.