A Republic, Not an Empire:
Reclaiming Americas Destiny by
Patrick J. Buchanan
Right On The Mark
Anyone who has caught Pat Buchanans television appearances, or heard
his campaign rhetoric, will be surprised at his relatively evenhanded and
thoughtful tone as he writes--often quite persuasively--in favor of the
restoration of the political, military, and economic independence that
largely drove U.S. foreign policy in the 19th century. At the heart of A
Republic, Not an Empire is a well-written history of U.S. foreign policy
beginning with the end of the American Revolution, going through the First
and Second World Wars, Vietnam, and the end of the cold war, up to the
superpowers involvement in the Persian Gulf and the former Yugoslavia.
This section is bookended by, essentially, two very long op-ed pieces that
lay out Buchanans view of U.S. foreign policy: American interests should
determine all foreign-policy decisions. The twin foreign-policy goals of
interventionism and free trade that seem to drive the Clinton

administrations foreign policy are, Buchanan argues, the same pursuits
that brought the British Empire to ruin. Empires fall, he reminds us, through
war and too many foreign commitments. With the end of the cold war, he
suggests, U.S. foreign policy has become chaotic, driven by special
interests; the sum of U.S. global commitments has become greater than
the countrys ability to defend them. In the end, A Republic, Not an Empire
proposes, the only country the United States can completely rely on and
trust is itself. --Linda Killian
Personal Review: A Republic, Not an Empire: Reclaiming
Americas Destiny by Patrick J. Buchanan
The book is now almost ten years old, so why bother. After all, a lot
internationally has happened during the past decade--9-11, Afghanistan,
Iraq--while the author has since contributed a second, updated tome
(Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War) with a similar theme.
Nonetheless, A Republic, Not an Empire remains a topical work because it
roots Buchanan's foreign policy philosophy of "Enlightened Nationalism" in
our national experience, a history of which most Americans are only dimly
aware. His lengthy historical account remains highly educational, despite
the passage of time, to interested but non-scholarly readers.
Agree or not, the Founding Fathers' concept of enlightened nationalism is
a credo that only went into eclipse following Europe's collapse during
WWII. At that point, a philosophy of globalism became the only realistic
strategy for America in the face of a mounting Cold War. As a result of
Cold War necessity, the US became actively involved in the affairs of other
nations, contrary to the precepts of the older Founding Fathers America
First tradition. The trouble is that the Cold War is long over, while a
continuing globalism has sucked the republic into an interventionist role the
nation cannot possibly fulfill. Worse, such demands are destroying the
foundations of the republic as the ill-conceived Patriot Act shows. Hence,
the time is ripe to take another look at that older counsel that counts
domestic strength as the strongest defense in an unstable world.
Like any opinionated book, there are aspects to gainsay, but the thrust
should not be overlooked. In short, the volume's overriding value is to
revive an older tradition at a time when foreign policy elites are concocting
ever more overseas commitments. I think Buchanan is right-- in fact, the
time is ripe for a revival. The last ten years have confirmed the direction of
this book. The republic simply cannot survive more debacles rooted in
overseas meddling like 9-11 and Iraq. In addition, the economy has been
driven into the ground big-time, thanks in large part to international policies
that have shifted manufacture overseas. However, there are two aspects
of foreign policy determination that I think the author needs to deal with
more forthrightly.
First is the question of empire. Despite the book's title, Buchanan can't
seem to bring himself to call a spade a spade. But Americans need to
know that what has arisen since WWII is an American overseas empire,

anchored by 700+ military bases and a series of US-controlled financial
institutions like the IMF and World Bank. Whether it's also a "free world" is
a separate question, but it is an empire as any number of interventions
over the past 60 years demonstrate. By facing up to this, we situate a
disengagement more clearly within the anti-imperial tradition Buchanan
seeks to vindicate.
Second is the more serious question of how economically workable a
return to America-first would be. I'm no economist, but several money-
driven facts seem clear. Capital has no nationality. Investments go where
they earn the biggest profit regardless of the human damage. According to
orthodox theory, as I understand it, this all ultimately works out for the best
because of the invisible hand of the marketplace. But that's theory. The
fact is that free trade agreements like NAFTA have hollowed out the
economy, such that we don't even manufacture our own diapers anymore,
while our working people are being driven into low-wage penury. And if we
complain, Repubocrat elites tell us globalization represents an irresistible
force beyond challenge, and that the only alternative is a dreaded
"isolationism"-- a charge, incidentally, the author is at pains to rebut in the
book.
But these are basically the same people whose allegiance is to empire-
first and the trade agreements that further those aims. Seems to me that
reviving an enlightened nationalism would require re-industrializing our
economy ahead of such trade agreements, and that such a step, in turn,
would require reviving a system of tariffs and an active role for government
in directing economic policy. Now, just how feasible and what the
consequences of such an overhaul would be is, I think, a paramount
question whose time has nevertheless come. Buchanan has shown
himself willing to break from the Washington pack and take on fresh
thinking. I hope he and others pursue it. As a result of this seminal book,
the historical basis for such a re-direction is laid.
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