America was born into geopolitics . The Republic’s first decades were shaped by the rivalry between the British and French empires, and George Washington used his farewell address to warn his countrymen against permanent foreign entanglements. For much of the next century and a half, they listened. Then came the World Wars , and after them a choice without precedent: not just to engage with the world but to organize it. Every American President from Harry Truman onward committed the country to