A Moral Imperative

“A nation’s foreign policy should reflect its values and ideals.” - George F. Kennan

“Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.” - George C. Marshall

“Thus, moral values and a commitment to human dignity have been not an appendage to our foreign policy but an essential part of it … It is the difference between tyranny and freedom, an age-old struggle in which the United States never could, and cannot today, remain neutral.” - From the U.S. State Department

Washington's rhetoric in the years following World War II and the early stages of the Cold War was infused with ideals, supporting self-determination, defending freedom, and halting the rise of authoritarianism. This was a strategic use of U.S. soft power, not merely political posturing.

By portraying itself as the “arsenal of democracy,” America set itself apart from the repressive, covert governments of the Soviet bloc with its free press, open institutions, and competitive political system. The Marshall Plan was portrayed as a selfless deed, civil rights advancement as evidence of self-assess and its alliances as multilateralism collaborations rather than empires. Even in cases where its foreign policy was motivated by self-interest, leaders frequently presented choices as moral commitments, as if the US was acting to protect universal human rights in addition to its own security.

The truth, of course, was more nuanced. The moral high ground was weakened during the same period by coups, interventions, military industrial complex hypocrisies. However, both domestically and internationally, the narrative, the conviction that the United States had the capacity and duty to protect the liberal democratic order was strong. It produced the overarching myth that America's power lay not only in its wealth or weaponry but also in its moral convictions.