04-30-2011, 06:26 PM
Is there value in "Pax Americana," as a relatively benign strongman maintaining a presence around the world to promote stability? If so, then mass withdrawal can be more damaging in the long run than it may look today in a budget battle. The next question is how much is enough. And the trade-off is that it's hard for presidents to keep their hands off it to send it on dubious adventures, witness LBJ or Bush II, or even Reagan in Grenada, though it seems that conventional wisdom says Bush I used it properly.