I want to share with you a passage from my dissertation. It is on how the Founders understood peace. In the post-WWII era the popular discourse emphasizes the need for “unconditional surrender” or squaring off with our “near peer adversaries.”
The Founders did not see the world through this lens. Instead, they drew a sharp distinction between enemies (those with whom we were directly at war) and friends (everyone else). As soon as a war ended, then America went back to being friends with the former foe.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Regime Critic to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.