Russia under Vladimir Putin has revealed itself to be such an imperial power. Its economy is tiny — smaller than Germany’s — but Putin has nevertheless devoted significant resources to building a military capable of exerting global power. He sent Russian troops to Syria to prop up that nation’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, and supports Venezuela’s repressive regime. Russia does not have a “border dispute” with Ukraine; it is committed to eliminating U.S. global supremacy and, by extension, the democratic order that hegemony sustains.

This is why “America First” principles dictate widespread, intelligent global engagement. That does not require the United States to chase every will-o-the-wisp threat, nor does it require U.S. military engagement to beat down every potential enemy. Such wrong-headed thinking is what led us into 20 years of believing that Islamist terrorism was the primary threat to U.S security when the real threat was the growing economic and military strength of two autocratic regimes, China and Russia. It also led to the growing isolationist sentiment that too many “America First” adherents espouse. The United States still has a historical obligation to keep autocrats in their lands and reduce their ability to spread their influence and threaten us.