America does not start wars. America fights wars to end wars -- to restore or preserve peace, and to prevent tyranny and oppression. Achieving the three basic goals of defense listed above, requires the United States to take a leadership role in maintaining a world in which:

• Critical regions are stable, at peace, and free from domination by hostile powers.
• The global economy and free trade are growing.
• Democratic norms and respect for human rights are widely accepted.
• The spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) and other potentially destabilizing weapons technologies is minimized.
• The international community is willing and able to prevent and, if necessary, respond to calamitous events.

The Imperative of Engagement
In order to preserve The Defense Department bases its long-range planning on a theory called The Imperative of Engagement which assumes that the U.S. must continue to maintain a world-class military force, capable of engaging in combat anywhere in the world for the next 15 - 20 years.

Or, as stated in the official Department of Defense 2000 Annual Report to the President, "If the United States were to withdraw from its international commitments, relinquish its diplomatic leadership, or forfeit its military preeminence, the world would become an even more dangerous place, and the threats to the United States, its allies, friends, and interests would be even more severe."

Realistically, the United States is, and has for some time been, the only nation in the world capable of conducting effective large-scale military operations outside its own borders. This unique ability to act as a sort of "world's top cop" has resulted in a number of alliances that, while maintaining peace and stability in key regions of the world, require the almost constant presence of the U.S. military.

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