patrick.net

American strategies since the end of the Cold War have fallen short—they have been laundry lists of wishes or desired
end states; have not clearly defined what we want but instead stated vague platitudes; and have often misjudged what we
should want.

After the end of the Cold War, American foreign policy elites convinced themselves that permanent American domination of
the entire world was in the best interests of our country. Yet the affairs of other countries are our concern only if
their activities directly threaten our interests.

Our elites badly miscalculated America’s willingness to shoulder forever global burdens to which the American people saw
no connection to the national interest. They overestimated America’s ability to fund, simultaneously, a massive
welfareregulatory-administrative state alongside a massive military, diplomatic,

intelligence, and foreign aid complex. They placed hugely misguided and destructive bets on globalism and so-called
“free trade” that hollowed out the very middle class and industrial base on which American economic and military
preeminence depend. ...

In sum, not only did our elites pursue a fundamentally undesirable and impossible goal, in doing so they undermined the
very means necessary to achieve that goal: the character of our nation upon which its power, wealth, and decency were
built. ...

Competence and Merit – American prosperity and security depend on the development and promotion of competence.
Competence and merit are among our greatest civilizational advantages: where the best Americans are hired, promoted, and
honored, innovation and prosperity follow. Should competence be destroyed or systematically discouraged, complex systems
that we take for granted—from infrastructure to national security to education and research—will cease to function.
Should merit be smothered, America’s historic advantages in science, technology, industry, defense, and innovation will
evaporate. The success of radical ideologies that seek to replace competence and merit with favored group status would
render America unrecognizable and unable to defend itself. At the same time, we cannot allow meritocracy to be used as a
justification to open America’s labor market to the world in the name of finding “global talent” that undercuts American
workers. In our every principle and action, America and Americans must always come first.

The Era of Mass Migration Is Over – Who a country admits into its borders—in what numbers and from where—will
inevitably define the future of that nation. Any country that considers itself sovereign has the right and duty to
define its future. Throughout history, sovereign nations prohibited uncontrolled migration and granted citizenship only
rarely to foreigners, who also had to meet demanding criteria. The West’s experience over the past decades vindicates
this enduring wisdom. In countries throughout the world, mass migration has strained domestic resources, increased
violence and other crime, weakened social cohesion, distorted labor markets, and undermined national security. The era
of mass migration must end. Border security is the primary element of national security. We must protect our country
from invasion, not just from unchecked migration but from cross-border threats such as terrorism, drugs, espionage, and
human trafficking. A border controlled by the will of the American people as implemented by their government is
fundamental to the survival of the United States as a sovereign republic.