Over 200 years ago, then-U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams warned how overseas militarism, even in the name of liberty, could change the very nature of the republic: "She (America) well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force." So how was JQA so prescient? We talk to author and president of the John Quincy Adams Society David Hendrickson about his new book and how these "maxims" have gone so far off the rails in today's foreign policy. In our first segment, Kelley and Dan talk about U.S.-trained commandos fighting for Russia, the dead JCPOA deal, B-52s in Australia, and more under-the-radar headlines.
More from Hendrickson:
Freedom, Independence, Peace: John Quincy Adams and American Foreign Policy (2022)
Europe's energy disaster -- The American Conservative, 9/13/22
Why this economic war on Russia breaks all the rules of the game -- Responsible Statecraft, 3/23/22
David Hendrickson on what John Quincy Adams would think about the US-led 'global order'