America Would Be Better Off Following Washington's Example

In 1795, in a letter to Gouverneur Morris, George Washington stated: 

My policy has been, and will continue to be, while I have the honor to remain in the administration of the government, to be upon friendly terms with, but independent of, all the nations of the earth. To share in the broils of none. To fulfil our own engagements. To supply the wants, and be carriers for them all: Being thoroughly convinced that it is our policy and interest to do so.

Sadly, Washington's principles have not been followed.  Since 1890, America has engaged in the Spanish American War, two world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and somewhere around two hundred foreign military operations that have affected, sometimes on multiple occasions, nations such as Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Chad, Chile, China, Congo, Cuba, Dalmatia, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Russia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Virgin Islands, Yemen, and Yugoslavia.  With a rate exceeding 1.6 military operations per year, modern America has achieved an almost perpetual state of war; perhaps this is why the United States is hated and called imperialistic in many venues.

Not all military operations are unjust and it is not wrong for America to defend herself and legitimately protect her interests.  However, she should not be the "policeman of the world", engaged in entangling alliances, squandering her resources and sacrificing the prosperity of her people to interfere in the domestic and regional affairs of other nations.  In his Farewell Address, Washington advised:

The Great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign Nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements let them be fulfilled, with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence therefore it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships, or enmities.... (September 19, 1796) 

Each nation is responsible for its own fate and the people of other nations have the right to self-determination.  Other cultures, possessing different histories and beliefs, establish ideals, governments,  alliances, policies, and controversies that reflect their values, traditions, and circumstances.  To borrow from  Washington such issues "are essentially foreign to our concerns."    He further stated:

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other.  (September 19, 1796) 

Essentially, while the United States should maintain a friendly disposition to all nations, she should remain aloof from their problems and turmoil.  Since other nations do not share her history and veneration of liberty, she should not tolerate their deleterious influence against her institutions and values.  Moreover, she should never allow herself to be pitted by one against another so that her interests become secondary or subservient to those of others.  A bellicose spirit, perpetual war, and preoccupation with the interests of others is inconsistent with Washington's virtuous foreign policy and hazardous to liberty and national sovereignty due to invitations for innovation, expedients, and obligations that are executed in the name of security.

America would be better off following Washington's example.  While she should always be capable of defending herself from attack and be ever ready to decisively defeat belligerent acts, her interrelationships should be marked by neutrality and commerce, not international welfare and persistent military action. Her first duty is to her people, not foreign interests. Her focus should be national prosperity and the preservation of the liberty that was earned by men like Washington.  Let the world fend for itself.