"When [the Cold War] was over in 1990, America was suddenly at a loss for a new cause to live for, fight for, and, if need be, see its sons die for," he observed. And it is not for the lack of trying.
George Bush wanted the US to build a "New World Order," while Bill Clinton championed liberal interventionism in the Balkans. George W. Bush thought that the US was meant to prevent Iraq, Iran and North Korea from building nuclear weapons.
"At the peak of his prestige, like Pope Urban II, Bush declared a global crusade for democracy. This ended like many of the crusades. Democratic elections were won by Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and, after the Arab Spring, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt," Buchanan noted.
None of these causes managed to transform into a true and lasting calling for the whole nation like the need for the victory in the Cold War did, which united the country and defined its life for four decades.
"Other than supporting Israel, maintaining access to Gulf oil, and resisting ISIS and al-Qaeda, upon what do Americans agree? … America is a nation divided, not only upon the means we should use to attain our ends in the world, but upon the ends themselves," he concluded.
