Defense, Not Offense

The Autonomist Principle Applied

Autonomism begins with a simple rule: your autonomy ends where another person's begins.

This principle doesn't stop at our borders. If we believe that every person is sovereign over their own life, then we must believe it for people everywhere — in Mexico, in Canada, in Iran, in China, in Russia, in every nation on Earth.

And if people are sovereign, then so are the nations they form. Other countries have the same right to self-determination that we claim for ourselves.

Words matter. The language we use reveals the purpose we intend. A department of "defense" should defend — not invade, not occupy, not overthrow, not nation-build.

What We've Been Doing

Look at America's military history since World War II:

We've overthrown governments in Iran, Guatemala, Chile, and elsewhere. We've invaded countries that didn't attack us. We've propped up dictators who served our interests. We've bombed nations into rubble and then left the rubble.

How many of these actions were defense?

Iraq didn't attack us. Afghanistan's government offered to hand over bin Laden. Libya posed no threat. Syria posed no threat. None of our regime-change operations made Americans safer — most made us less safe by creating enemies and chaos.

"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other."

— James Madison

The Founders warned us. We didn't listen.

The Doctrine Shift

The Vision: A Shield So Strong We Don't Need a Sword

This is not fantasy. The technologies are emerging:

• Missile defense systems capable of intercepting ICBMs before they reach their targets — not the partial, unreliable systems of today, but comprehensive shields that render nuclear first strikes useless
• Drone and autonomous defense networks that can identify and neutralize threats before they reach American soil
• Cyber defense that protects our infrastructure from digital attack
• Space-based detection that sees launches the moment they happen
• Directed energy weapons that can disable incoming missiles at the speed of light

The goal is not to threaten other nations. The goal is to make threatening us pointless.

The Autonomist Defense Principles

1. Defense of American soil is absolute and non-negotiable. Any attack on American territory will be met with overwhelming defensive response. The homeland is inviolable. This is the one area where we spare no expense and accept no compromise.
2. Other nations' sovereignty is respected as we wish ours to be. We do not invade. We do not overthrow. We do not install governments. We do not occupy. What we would not accept being done to us, we do not do to others.
3. War requires a declaration by Congress — and a clear endpoint. No more "police actions." No more "authorizations for use of military force" that last decades. If it's worth fighting, it's worth declaring. If it can't be won, it shouldn't be started.
4. No permanent foreign bases. American troops belong on American soil, with American families, contributing to American communities. We are not the world's police force.
5. Defense technology prioritized over offensive capability. Research and funding should flow toward shields, not swords. Missile defense, not missile offense. Interception, not invasion.
6. Nuclear stockpiles reduced as defensive capabilities mature. The goal is a world where nuclear weapons are unnecessary because they cannot accomplish their purpose. As defense improves, offense becomes obsolete.
7. Veterans honored through care, not endless deployment. Support those who served. Stop creating new veterans through unnecessary wars. The best way to honor military families is to stop sending their children to die for unclear purposes.
8. Military-industrial complex brought to heel. Defense contractors serve the nation's security needs — not the other way around. No more wars sustained to sustain profits.

What About Allies?

Autonomism is not isolationism. We recognize that we exist in a world with other nations, and that cooperation serves mutual interests.

But cooperation must be mutual:

• Alliances should be defensive pacts, not entangling obligations. If an ally is attacked, we help defend them. We do not follow allies into offensive wars of choice.
• Wealthy allies should fund their own defense. Europe can afford its own military. Japan can afford its own military. South Korea can afford its own military. American taxpayers should not subsidize the defense of rich nations.
• Trade, diplomacy, and cultural exchange should be robust. Minding our own business militarily doesn't mean cutting ourselves off. It means engaging as equals, not as overlords.

What About Real Threats?

The world contains hostile actors. China's military is growing. Russia invades its neighbors. Iran and North Korea pursue nuclear weapons. Terrorism persists.

We are not naive. But we ask: which approach actually makes us safer?

Has global military presence stopped China's rise? Has regime change in the Middle East reduced terrorism? Has decades of intervention brought peace?

The evidence suggests our offensive posture has created more threats than it's eliminated. Every drone strike that kills civilians creates new enemies. Every occupation generates resistance. Every intervention destabilizes regions for decades.

The alternative: be so defended that attacking us is suicide, and so unintrusive that no one has reason to.

The Path Forward

This transformation doesn't happen overnight. It requires:

1. Massive investment in defensive technology — missile defense, cyber defense, drone interdiction, space-based systems
2. Gradual withdrawal from foreign bases — planned, coordinated, giving allies time to develop their own capabilities
3. Shift in military culture — from global power projection to homeland defense
4. Congressional reassertion of war powers — no more executive wars, no more forever authorizations
5. Negotiated nuclear reduction — as defensive capabilities prove themselves, stockpiles become bargaining chips for global disarmament

The goal is not weakness. The goal is strength so absolute that it never needs to be used offensively.

The goal is a nation that minds its own business — not because it can't project power, but because it doesn't need to.

The goal is an America that other nations respect rather than fear, trade with rather than arm against, emulate rather than resist.

The goal is autonomy — for us, and for everyone else.

"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none."

— Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, 1801

The Founders knew. It's time we remembered.