The following story was published in the CASE Dean’s Newsletter for June 2025. It was submitted by Samuel “Bo” Mahaney, lecturer in history and political science at S&T.

Date: June 8, 2025
Authors: Students of the Missouri S&T 2025 National Security Policy Course
Contact: Major General Samuel C. Mahaney, USAF (Ret.), Director, Missouri S&T Policy and Armed Forces R&D Institute — smn2w@mst.edu

It’s time to stop trying to remake the world in our image—and start making it more stable.

For too long, U.S. national security has chased ideological crusades, clinging to Cold War reflexes, and hoping for different outcomes from the same tired playbook. Vietnam. Iraq. Afghanistan. Each a brutal lesson in the cost of exporting democracy or flexing superpower muscle without purpose. And now our policy (or lack there of) seems to have no ideological basis whatsoever.

What are we doing? Where are we going? How will we get there?

We, the students of Missouri S&T’s 2025 National Security Policy Course, believe it’s time for a new sense of direction. We propose a Global Stability Approach—a tough-minded, common-sense strategy that prioritizes American security, economic resilience, and a steady world order over outdated dogma.

This is no ivory tower theory. It’s the result of hard analysis—dissecting what hasn’t worked:

• Great Power dominance that escalates rivalries.
• Balance of Power games that invite arms races.
• Wilsonian idealism that collapses in fragile states.

AGlobal Stability Approach isn’t retreat. It’s smart leadership. Not more force—more foresight. We offer a path forward: a global system built on cooperation over chaos, prosperity through partnership, and peace sustained by strategic investment.

What does that actually look like?

Rebuild the economy as a national security engine.

You can’t lead the world if you can’t build your own stuff. We must reindustrialize America—revive domestic manufacturing with tax incentives, innovation hubs, and supply chain resiliency. Deregulate energy production—fossil and green—to break dependency on adversaries. Slash our reliance on China by deepening trade with allies like India and Japan. And balance the damn budget. Curb waste. Tame inflation. Reinvest in education, small business, infrastructure, domestic mining of critical minerals and rare earth elements (REEs)—the lifeblood of the AI-driven future. Economic strength is national power. Time to act like it.

Deter threats—without creating new ones.

Want to check China? Forge a deeper alliance with India. Want to secure the Indo-Pacific? Support Japan’s call for a regional NATO. Want collective defense? Have Europe and Pacific allies share the burden—and the bills. Protect global shipping lanes, harden missile defenses, secure chokepoints like the Malacca Strait, and build redundancy into global supply chains. And don’t sleep on space—it’s already the next front line, and we’re behind.

Talk to our enemies—because war sucks.

Engaging China and Russia isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom. Confidence-building measures, economic interdependence, and crisis hotlines reduce the chance of miscalculation. Track II diplomacy and cultural exchange humanize rivals. Arms control and crisis protocols add guardrails. And soft power—education, science, the arts—reaches hearts where threats can’t.

Promote democracy—but don’t shove it down throats.

Democracy matters—but forced democracy backfires. Afghanistan and Iraq taught us that pushing too hard, too fast breeds chaos. Instead, support functioning democracies with aid, tech, and training. Empower reformers with tools, not tanks. Build legal systems, press freedom, and digital literacy. Democracy grows when people choose it—not when we demand it.

Secure the homeland—with brains, not just brawn.

A secure border doesn’t mean cruelty—it means clarity. Let’s stop conflating crime and immigration. Foreign-derived crime requires tough enforcement to destroy smuggling networks and drug cartels. But let’s also admit the obvious: America doesn’t have a high enough birthrate to fill its workforce. We need immigrants—and we need a legal system that welcomes the skilled and the willing. Why are we ignoring this?

Meanwhile, cybersecurity must be treated like a warfront—funded, staffed, and future-proofed. Public health is national defense; pandemics and bioterror require surveillance and stockpiles. At home, radicalization is defeated not just by surveillance, but by trust—community policing, civic education, and a society ready to spot and stop the threat before it starts.

Yes, there are risks. But paralysis is worse.

Trillions spent. Thousands of lives lost since we started dabbling in what hasn’t worked: Great Power dominance, Balance of Power games, and Wilsonian idealism.

Are we safer? Stronger? More respected?

It’s time to start thinking, time ditch the slogans and embrace strategy. American strength isn’t measured by fear—but by how many nations want to partner with us.

Here’s what we recommend—now, not next decade:

• Invest $500 billion over five years in AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, critical mineral and REE mining, domestic energy, and advanced manufacturing.
• Allocate $2 billion for humanitarian stabilization in high-risk conflict zones.
• Convene a Pacific Security Summit by 2026 with India and Japan to build a NATO-equivalent for the Indo-Pacific.

This is the Global Stability Approach.
It’s bold. It’s realistic. It’s long overdue.

The world is watching. Let’s give them a reason to believe in American leadership again.