The United States is strategically lost twixt the gilded memory of a global Pax Americana benevolently presided over by the world’s erstwhile sole superpower, and the uncertainties of an emerging multipolar, neo-mercantilist world that is a work in progress and whose end state is unknown. In this transition period while America tries to find its bearings, Washington’s disoriented decision-makers are squandering U.S. power without purpose to safeguard nebulous vital national interests that cannot be clearly articulated against imaginary threats that are inflated by incendiary rhetoric. 

It’s time to press the reset button and rediscover and reimagine America’s vital national interests to serve as a compass to exit the strategic cul-de-sac of the present and navigate the challenges of the future. 

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The essential first step is to look to the Founding Fathers of the republic for guidance. Alexander Hamilton, writing as “Pacificus,” certainly had the most succinct answer: “Self-preservation is the first duty of a Nation.” Hamilton’s preoccupation was on actual and imminent foreign threats.

To his credit, President Donald Trump in his national security strategy echoes Hamilton’s formulation: “First and foremost, we want the continued survival and safety of the United States as an independent, sovereign republic whose government secures the God-given natural rights of its citizens and prioritizes their well-being and interests.” Unfortunately, in its actions (such as launching the war against Iran, supporting a proxy war against Russia, and engaging in a trade war against China), the Trump administration seems to have lost sight of Hamilton’s North Star in a hubristic quest for global hegemony.

So, as America celebrates its semiquincentennial anniversary, it’s appropriate to clearly articulate our understanding of the vital national........

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