“Let us have an American foreign policy that reflects American character The modesty of true strength. The humility of real greatness.”
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“I’m not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say, ‘This is the way it’s got to be.’ […] I think one way for us to end up being viewed as ‘the ugly American’ is for us to go around the world saying, ‘We do it this way; so should you.'”
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“Somalia started off as a humanitarian mission and changed into a nation-building mission. And that’s where the mission went wrong. The mission was changed. And as a result, our nation paid a price. And so I don’t think our troops ought to be used for what’s called ‘nation building.’ I think what we need to do is to convince the people who live in the lands [themselves] to build the nations. Maybe I’m missing something here ? we’re going to have kind of a ‘nation-building corps’ from America?”
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“If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. Our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power and that’s why we’ve got to be humble. [We should be] proud and confident in our values, but humble in how we treat nations that are figuring out how to chart their own course.”
–George W. Bush, the non-interventionist presidential candidate
(quoted in Ron Paul: The Revolution)