“Achieve Peace through Strength”

During President Donald Trump’s second inaugural address on January 20, he emphasized the need for the U.S. to achieving peace through strength. What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve got a story to illustrate this.

There is a park a mile away from my house, and I used to walk to it by myself for exercise. But one day, I stopped. There weren’t many people on the road to the park. I didn’t feel safe and had to constantly look around. This incessant circumspection overrode any benefits I gained from the walk, so I quit.

A few days ago, I got a can of pepper spray. It’s only a few inches long and fits perfectly in my hand. Because the can is bright purple, it’s highly noticeable. So yesterday I walked to the park alone. With my thumb placed on the spray button, I felt safe for the first time — and my walk was pleasant and relaxed.

When I got there, I saw a pit bull running toward me. I’m inveterately terrified of dogs, for no good reason. But I didn’t run away, nor did I scream. I let the dog run past me, so close that its head brushed against my pants.

I was shocked by my own composure. Usually, something like that would end disastrously or even comically. I attributed my calmness to the pepper spray in my hand. And perhaps my poise also deterred the pit bull from becoming aggressive.

Fear sometimes stems from one’s inability to defend oneself, which can lead to an irrational response to danger. On the other hand, a well-equipped defender displays confidence and cannot be easily bullied.

Threat Deterrence

Several young families were in the park, bathing under the California sun. A young mother who made eye contact with me noticed the gadget in my hand. Her baby was sleeping in a stroller, and her German shepherd was resting nearby. When the dog saw me, it got excited and tried to come to me, but she immediately stopped it with a firm, one-word command: “Sit!” She knew it was not a good idea for her dog to fellowship with someone holding pepper spray.

Sections of the park have trees and hidden spots. Years ago, when I walked alone there, I often imagined a scenario in which a criminal would dash from behind a tree and try to drag me away. I would shout for help, but no one on the other side of the park could hear me. I always walked as fast as I could through those secluded sections.

Having a bottle of pepper spray in hand, however, is truly a game-changer. It makes a statement, showing the potential attacker that I’m prepared, I’m determined to fight, and I will not be easily conquered. This likely will make the attacker think twice, and hopefully deter him from trying anything. It amazes me that a can of pepper spray is able to change the way I view the potential threat and how the potential attacker views me.

Deterrence reflects common sense. Take the Second Amendment, for example. It was not written to let citizens engage in warfare with the government, but to deter the government from becoming tyrannical against its own citizens. In addition, this amendment also makes the citizen believe that freedom is defensible, and we do not have to give in to draconian governmental orders — the way people in so many other countries do because it’s illegal to own a gun.

Deterrence is the most practical and the least expensive way to deal with threats. No wonder the mission of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is not “to fight and win the nation’s wars.” Rather, it is “to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.” Simply put, a strong U.S. military force convinces our potential adversaries that going to war against us will cost them far more than they might gain.

Returning to Basics

Sadly, for too long the DOD — under the administrations of both parties — has deviated from this mission. The DOD, conspiring with Congress, has undertaken wars that bore no significance to our nation’s security. Congressmen, the DOD, military contractors, and others who benefit from these conflicts have tried to perpetuate them, continually making financial gains while draining the nation’s treasury of billions of taxpayer dollars and shedding the blood of our youth. The unscrupulous practice of the military-industrial complex has driven us into deeper debt and weakened our nation’s credibility in foreign affairs.

Further, instead of building a strong defense force, the DOD has engaged in progressive wokeness, advocating DEI and transgenderism. During the Biden administration, a soldier’s race, gender and sexual orientation superseded the previous requirements that make good soldiers. Woke policies thus have forced the DOD to lower standards and diminished our formidable presence before the world, putting our national security at risk.

With Trump’s return to the White House, the tide has turned. The newly confirmed defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is determined to stop the practices of the military-industrial complex, eliminate woke ideology, and rebuild a strong military force in order to reestablish our national defense through deterrence.

As my story illustrates, deterrence can be accomplished through an object as small as a can of pepper spray. A formidable U.S. military force will definitely help carry out Trump’s vision to “achieve peace through strength.”

Chenyuan Snider was raised in Communist China and majored in Chinese language and literature in college. After immigrating to the U.S. and studying at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School, she became a professor at Christian colleges and seminary. She and her husband live in northern California and have two grown children.