On October 31, 2006, the United States scored a diplomatic victory when North Korea agreed to reenter nuclear disarmament talks after weeks of tension following North Korea’s October 9th nuclear test. The United States has taken a leadership role in dealing with North Korea, just as it has done in virtually every international crisis in recent memory, from the war in Iraq to the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In his own day, Thomas Jefferson recognized that the United States had the potential to become very powerful, and he fully expected the new nation to one day assert its strength over other nations. However, he expressed concern about how the United States would use its power, as many critics of American foreign policy have been doing for decades. In June 1815, Jefferson wrote to Thomas Leiper:
“Not in our day, but at no distant one, we may shake a rod over the heads of all, which may make the stoutest of them tremble. But I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power, the greater it will be.”
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