ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to present a persuasive case against neoconservative nation building to embrace, in a renewed form, the balance of power. Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of state of the treasury, saw the creation of a navy as essential to achieving goals of wealth and power. A policy introduced by President James Monroe at the annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823, it announced that the hemisphere was off-limits to the European powers. A German liberal philosopher, Ludwig von Rochau, authored the term, using it to describe the fact that ideas, regardless of morality, will not make an impact without some understanding of power and its mechanics. The United States may have never understood the value of realpolitik, particularly considering its neoconservative foreign policy. Neoconservative realism combines morality and power. The chapter also presents some of the key concepts discussed in this book.
