For half a century, Washington has played the noble fool, bleeding out in deserts among tribes that despise us, wiring billions to kleptocrats who laugh behind our backs, and preaching the soulless gospel of “compassionate conservatism” as if weakness dressed in moral language could substitute for strength.

But the current administration signals an end to that folly. The new National Security Strategy is not routine policy, it is a clarion call, a war cry, a declaration that America is done being the world’s ATM, chaperone, and sacrificial offering. It is retrenchment of national interests, realignment of foreign policy, and a pivot away from illusions shackling us for decades.

This is realpolitik in action, Machiavellian in foundation, the cornerstone of a new Pax Americana. The strat

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