Donald Trump’s rise to political prominence was fueled in part by his rejection of the foreign policy orthodoxy that had dominated Washington for decades. For much of the post-Cold War period, American foreign policy was shaped by an interventionist mindset associated with neoconservative thinking. Administrations from both parties embraced ambitious projects that ranged from democracy-promotion and humanitarian interventions to nation-building efforts in distant regions.

A little over two weeks ago, on April 7th, the U.S. national debt crossed $39 trillion. Since then, another $150 billion has already been added to the ledger. While major news outlets missed the milestone, every trillion is worthy of mention.

In 1977, Murray Rothbard wrote an article in response to an issue of Reason Magazine where the main feature of the month was a debate between interventionism and non-interventionism. 

In the final chapter of his excellent collection of essays, Classical Liberalism and the Austrian School, Ralph Raico turned to the worthy work of historian Arthur Ekirch to confront a question that should trouble anyone still inclined to think of the United States as a republic of limited government: how did a nation born in revolt against empire become the world’s greatest military machine and sole imperial power?

Since the ceasefire on April 8 and Trump’s apparent capitulation to Iran, it appears the Iranians will levy a toll on all oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The details are still unclear, but according to The Hill citing the Financial Times, the Iranian Republic will levy $1 per barrel of oil to be paid in bitcoin on all traffic out of the Persian Gulf.

In Herman Melville’s final novella, Billy Budd, a ship’s captain named Edward Vere orders the hanging of a sailor he knows to be morally innocent. Billy Budd struck a superior officer and killed him, but only because he was falsely accused of mutiny and could not speak in his own defense. Vere is not confused about any of this. He tells the drumhead court exactly what he believes: that Billy is innocent in the eyes of God and nature. Then he argues for the death sentence anyway, on the grounds that the Mutiny Act—the law of the British crown—demands it.