First Principles and Foreign Policy

Ted Bromund / August 23, 2010

One common way of thinking about foreign policy is that it exists in its own world, separate from domestic policy or the first principles on which a nation is founded. According to this view , the job of the foreign policy expert is to deal dispassionately with the world as it is, making no distinction between democracies and dictatorships, and shaping policy solely by cold-hearted consideration of the national interest.

The Heritage Foundation has never accepted this way of thinking. It believes that the first principles on which the United States was founded must guide its foreign as well as its domestic policy. Of course, the principles do not dictate precise policies, and they will not manifest themselves in the same way abroad as they do at home. That is because America is a nation of law, which assigns the Federal Government broad but limited powers. The world, by contrast, is governed not by law, but by strength, by treaty, and by custom. And that is one reason we must be guided by our first principles when we go abroad: We must respect the beliefs that made us—especially if we are to stand up for our interests and our values in a world that cannot be relied upon to defend them for us. (more…)