Can a Free Republic be a Superpower? Part 1: Introduction

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address

The question above requires a book or a doctoral dissertation to thoroughly investigate and answer. In a short blog, the best I can do is to tee up the issues and provide a hypothesis. Before we start, however, we need to define the term “superpower” and the conditions within the Republic and how they have changed since its founding.

Britanica defines a superpower as:

“superpower, a state that possesses military or economic might, or both, and general influence vastly superior to that of other states. Scholars generally agree on which state is the foremost or unique superpower—for instance, the United Kingdom during the Victorian era and the United States during and immediately after World War II—but often disagree on the criteria that distinguish a superpower from other major powers and, accordingly, on which other states if any should be called superpowers.

A superpower is a state that cannot be ignored on the world stage and without whose cooperation no world problem can be solved.”

Athens was a democracy before the Peloponnesian War, and Rome was a Republic before Ceasar crossed the Rubicon. Athens left the democratic route during the war. The Melian dialog clearly shows Athens lost its way, seeking control over the Greek islands. Likewise, while Rome was a republic more in name and form before Ceasar, Ceasar’s actions killed the Roman Republic and ushered in the Roman Empire.

The founders of the Republic, who studied history, clearly understood these dynamics. We can see the evidence of their understanding in the Federalist Papers. The founders designed our Republic to limit central government power and keep the states sovereign in a federal structure.

Then came the Spanish American War, which ushered in the era of American Imperialism, as I discussed in Part 4: The Spanish-American War, the American Empire, and Progressivism. The 16^th and 17^th Amendments made the central government far more powerful and solidified its control. The aftermath of WWII, as I discussed in Part 6: WWII, clearly established the US as a dominant superpower. Part 1: Overview of the Inflection Points introduces the inflection point series that tracks the movement away from the founder’s concept to … something different and paved the way for a superpower.

The founders deliberately diffused power and made it difficult to consolidate it at the national level. Yet power and the capability to focus it and employ it is a requirement for a superpower.

The hypothesis is that a free republic that values liberty cannot be a superpower. As Lord Acton said, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and Frank Herbert (Dune) said power attracts the corrupt. As a state gathers power to be focused as a superpower, it corrupts and destroys freedom and liberty.

Some examples of where we went off the rails on the path to superpower:

• Breaking treaties with Indian tribes when we found there was gold or something else valuable on their lands.
• Potentially faking the Maine explosion to start the Spanish American War.
• Annexing Hawaii for Dole and engaging in the banana wars.
• Potentially faking the Gulf of Tonkin incident to get us into Vietnam.
• Exposing soldiers to nuclear blasts to study the effects.
• Giving soldiers LSD to test the effects without their knowledge or permission.
• The claim of WMD in Iraq led to the Iraq Invasion and war.

I cite these not to denigrate the Republic, but to show how we lost our way as we sought empire and power. While I cite the Spanish American War as the major inflection point, it actually started sixty or more years earlier. In The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Gordon S. Wood, states that by 1830, the remaining founders of the Republic were disillusioned with the country’s trajectory. Yet even Jefferson, perhaps one of the founders most disillusioned, nearly doubled the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase. This helped paved the way to the Mexican-American War and Manifest Destiny.

A free republic requires a virtuous, educated, and informed electorate. A superpower may have this, but if a state rises to the superpower status, it may, even if not by explicit design, lose its virtue and free thinking citizenry as it drives towards power. We need to heed Eisenhower’s warning in his farewell address.

The question is, can we regain a virtuous, educated, and informed electorate that keeps the military-industrial complex in check and still remain a superpower? That is the heart of the hypothesis. Subsequent parts will examine this question in more detail.