US National Defense for the 21st Century

US national security in the post-World War II years has been dominated by an internationalist/globalist policymaking establishment which scorns longstanding non-interventionist American traditions as "isolationist". As part of a revitalized debate over the future of the United States role in the world, this volume reviews and critiques flaws in the establishment's strategic thinking and the policies they have wrought. Edward A. Olsen advocates an enlightened non-interventionist foreign and national security policy for the US based on a healthy form of inclusive civic nationalism which spurns both the nativist xenophobic stereotypes wrongly associated with neo-isolationism and embraces continued American economic and diplomatic engagement in world affairs. After examining what is flawed in the United States' existing strategic vision, the virtues of non-interventionism are evaluated as the basis for a recommended new US strategic vision and restructuring of US defensive capabilities. Based on a proposed "Grand Exit Strategy", the scope of, and procedures for, American strategic disengagement from entangling military obligations worldwide are surveyed by region. The prospects for the United States implementing a non-interventionist policy through the political process and the likely national and international consequences are candidly evaluated.