ABSTRACT
International relations scholars have long debated what strategies established powers adopt when responding to potential challengers. A schizophrenic policy develops in which the United States allows rivals to rise economically while seeking to prevent an increase of diplomatic power and military capabilities proportional to their new economic status. The public choice perspective predicts that the United States would do a combination of both, depending on which concentrated interests have more to gain or lose at the point at which any particular decision is made. The ideals of liberal internationalism continue to be very important in influencing American behavior, particularly with regard to the use of force. American leaders consistently emphasized the unacceptable nature of the communist regime, and administrations until Franklin Delano Roosevelt were practically united in recognizing the Soviet Union as a threat to Western Civilization.
