Benjamin Franklin Speaks on Foreign Affairs

“Having represented, at various times, the States of Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, as well as the United States in several European countries, I have a fair understanding of the different ways of thinking in other countries.  People do not, and given their circumstances should not, think or act the same way.  You will remember when, during our last Convention, I counseled that every member should “doubt a little of his own infallibility…”  This would appear to me to be good advice for the United States today.  We should not advocate that every country change to our form of government.  We should provide factual information to all on what works for us and what doesn’t work for us – and why if we know why.

“If there were only one answer, then we should not be the United States of America, but simply combine all State governments into one Federal government and call ourselves Columbia (if that weren’t already taken), or maybe Turkey (if that weren’t already taken.)  We agreed before, and it is still true, that there is strength and power in the diversity of governments within the nation.  And, as long as we learn from our differences, we have an opportunity to continually get better as a Nation.  Similarly, there is value in the diversity of the world’s nations and our purpose should not be to make all the same but to help each to learn from all others and make good decisions about the course of their own nation.

“As a general principle we should support our friends, in every way, against external threats but not interfere with strictly internal threats.  After all, our country was born out of an internal threat.  The difficult issue that arises today is that of non-state threats, those that cross geographical boundaries.  Many of these fulfill the definition of a “country” in every respect except for possessing a defined territory.  They have armies; they have treasuries; they have diplomats; they have citizens.  We should treat such threats just as we would a country that threatens us.  There should be no sanctuary for them just because they are within a country, if that country is not at war with them then they are allied with them and they too are our enemy.