The United States doesn't do what it does in the world for altruistic reasons. Nobody set out to be the world's government.

Let me remind you all that the first task of American foreign policy is to reduce threats to the United States.

The United States contributes to peace in both by serving as a buffer between and among regional powers that, while not preparing for armed conflict, do not fully trust one another.

To call the American role in the world imperial was, for many who did so, a way of asserting that the United States was misusing its power beyond its borders and, in so doing, subverting its founding political principles within them.

The United States plays, for the most part, a constructive global role, and to the extent that that role shrinks, other countries, even those most critical of what America does abroad, will suffer.

It devolves upon the United States to help to motorize the world.