Nation building - due to "American exceptionalism"

MinnPost - The end of American exceptionalism:

"The centerpiece of U.S. national security policy going back basically to the late 1940s is what I call the sacred trinity. Three big principles.

Principle number one: That the United States configures its forces not to defend the United States, but for global power projection.

Second principle, the United States, uniquely, unlike any other country in the world, maintains those forces and establishes a global military presence -- not simply the huge network of bases but overflight agreements and access to ports and that kind of thing -- to facilitate the projection of power.

And then the third principle is this principle of global interventionism.

I see nothing in the Obama administration that is going to question those three principles. In that sense, the continuities vastly overwhelm the discontinuities between Obama and Bush.'"

It's a fascinating essay that suggests that the United States will continue to get embroiled in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan - even under presidents like Obama - because of a philosophical belief about America's role in history and the world.