ABSTRACT
The classically liberal doctrine that peace is the normal, prevailing condition of advanced humanity, and war exceptional and transient, would seem to apply quite well to the American past. Vast oceans and unthreatening, weaker neighbors America's 'inheritance of free security' made possible small militaries during long periods of peace. American history was not shaped by counterparts of a Watch on the Rhine. Three Big Wars the Civil War and two World Wars interrupted but also stimulated the nation's economic, geographic and demographic expansion. President George W. Bush was widely mocked for advising that Americans continue to travel and shop, when asked what contribution citizens might make to the 'war on terror' and for his thought that Americans are sacrificing for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars because they see scenes of war on television and must wait on long lines at airports for security clearance America conquered a continent without large armies and wartime budgets.
