“Statues and Statecraft”

Although the march of history has brought with it contemporary political problems that the Founders’ could never have imagined in detail, Dr. David Corbin and Dr. Matthew Parks believe that America’s early statesman still have much to say today through the Federalist Papers. But what could these essays say about America’s foreign policy today? In “Statues and Statescraft,” Corbin and Parks argue that the best way to turn opponents into friends is to make friendship “in their interest.”

One year into his first term, Obama’s approval rating abroad was 51%. Today, his approval rating stands at 41%, even after he “spoke of the need for united efforts against terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change, global poverty, genocide, and the metaphorical ‘walls’ that divide one people from another.” Obama made many speeches of humility abroad, yet his approval rating has not recovered. Why? The answer, Corbin and Parks argue, lies in Federalist 4.

“The American founders also understood that physical force is not the only useful tool in international relations,” Corbin and Parks write. “But, as we see in Federalist 4, they had a very different notion of what it means to cultivate foreign friendships.”

Click here to read what Federalist 4 has to say about American foreign policy.