“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me”[1]
It’s a bit like that. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s National Defense Strategy is somewhat isolationist, focusing on threats to U.S. sovereign territory (including allegedly from unauthorized migration) and Taiwan, and little else, even as the military sinks small boats alleged to be smuggling drugs in the Caribbean. It expressly de-emphasizes alliances around the world.[2]
Which, if actually implemented, would permit Vladimir Putin to restore the Russian and Soviet Empires, as he has expressly stated he wants to do.[3] It would permit Xi Jinping to enforce his claim to the South China Sea.[4] It would permit Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to pursue his dream of restoring the Ottoman Empire.[5] And that’s just off the top of my head.
And there’s no reason, really, to believe that all these wannabe emperors would end their ambitions there. Our present system of social organization depends on ever more resources—and hence, ever more land.[6] There will always be some excuse, some slight that can be exploited to justify further conquest.
Vladimir Putin believes—and I think Donald Trump agrees—in Nathan Hodge’s paraphrase, that “there are two categories of state: The sovereign and the conquered.”[7] When we concede this view, we doom ourselves to a scenario in which eventually, all those other emperors will come for and fight over the United States. When we have no allies left—because they’ve all been conquered—and those empires have the industrial base, the agriculture, and the military might of the entire world. It is ultimately an apocalyptic worldview.
Because there’ll be no one left to defend us.
[1] Martin Niemöller, “First They Came,” Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, n.d., https://hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/
[2] Noah Robertson et al., “Military leaders voice concern over Hegseth’s new Pentagon strategy,” Washington Post, September 29, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/29/hegseth-national-defense-strategy-trump-dissent/
[3] Nathan Hodge, “Restoration of empire is the endgame for Russia’s Vladimir Putin,” Cable News Network, June 11, 2022, https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/10/europe/russia-putin-empire-restoration-endgame-intl-cmd; Julian O’Shaughnessy, “I’m reconquering just like Peter the Great, insists Vladimir Putin,” Times, June 10, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/president-putin-creates-police-department-to-impose-martial-law-xqhlt79fn; Reuters, “Hailing Peter the Great, Putin draws parallel with mission to ‘return’ Russian lands,” June 9, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hailing-peter-great-putin-draws-parallel-with-mission-return-russian-lands-2022-06-09/
[4] Center for Preventive Action, “Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 17, 2024, https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/territorial-disputes-south-china-sea
[5] Alan Mikhail, “Why Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Love Affair with the Ottoman Empire Should Worry The World,” Time, September 3, 2020, https://time.com/5885650/erdogans-ottoman-worry-world/
[6] John H. Bodley, Victims of Progress, 5th ed. (Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2008).
[7] Nathan Hodge, “Restoration of empire is the endgame for Russia’s Vladimir Putin,” Cable News Network, June 11, 2022, https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/10/europe/russia-putin-empire-restoration-endgame-intl-cmd