Nation building at home: Why we need roads, bridges, and boring stuff like that

Nation building at home: Why we need roads, bridges, and boring stuff like that

by Stephen M. Walt

In The Origins of Alliances (1987), I wrote:

"...the domestic situation of the United States may be more important than anything else. External events impinge on U.S. power; internal conditions generate it. Losses abroad will add up slowly (if at all) and will be compensated by balancing behavior by allies and by the United States itself. Thus a final prescription is to avoid policies that jeopardize the health of the U.S. economy. It is far more important to maintain a robust and productive economic system than it is to correct some minor weaknesses in defense capability or to control the outcome of some insignificant clash in the developing world." (p. 284)

http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/11/27/nation_building_at_home