What is the first principle of American foreign policy? This seems like rather an important question as we approach the selection of another commander in chief in an era of growing global instability, and six and a half years into a presidency that has yet to produce a coherent or recognizable “Obama Doctrine.”

The absence of a guiding principle is, on some level, a subtext of recent efforts to re-litigate the 2002-03 Iraq War debates. Yet there remains nothing resembling a unifying consensus on this core question within either of the two major political parties—let alone across both—on where our foreign policy should go next. But before you can analyze a proposed (or past) course for U.S. foreign policy, it is useful to start with first principles.