peace through strength

The phrase and the concept date to ancient times. Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD 76–138) is said to have sought "peace through strength or, failing that, peace through threat."{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVXFkh-tlBcC |title=Following Hadrian? |author=Elizabeth Speller |publisher=Oxford University Press |date= Oct 14, 2004 |page=69|isbn=9780195176131 }} Hadrian's Wall was a symbol of the policy.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/mar/14/hadrians-wall-lights-illumination |title=Legions of sightseers attend Hadrian's Wall illumination |author=Martin Wainwright |website=TheGuardian.com |quote=Designed as a symbol of Hadrian's contemporary-sounding policy of "peace through strength", the wall marked the northern frontier of the Roman empire. |date=14 March 2010 |access-date=September 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110083411/http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/mar/14/hadrians-wall-lights-illumination |archive-date=10 November 2013 |url-status=live}}

The first US president, George Washington, enunciated a policy of peace through strength in his fifth annual message to Congress, the 1793 State of the Union Address.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qvfCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=Invitation to Peace Studies |publisher=Oxford University Press |author=Houston Wood |year=2015 |pages=24–25 |isbn=9780190217136 |access-date=April 29, 2018}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/georgewashington0000unse_h3e6/page/24/mode/2up?q=%22peace+through+strength%22 |title=George Washington and the Origins of the American Presidency |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |author=Mark J Rozell |year=2000 |page=24 |isbn=9780275968670 }} He said:

There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washs05.asp |title=Fifth Annual Message of George Washington |work=1793 State of the Union Address |location=Philadelphia |author=George Washington |date=December 3, 1793 |access-date=April 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416060426/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washs05.asp |archive-date=April 16, 2018 |url-status=live }}

In Federalist No. 24, Alexander Hamilton argued for peace through strength by stating that strong garrisons in the west and a navy in the east would help to deter potential conflicts with Britain, Spain and various Native American peoples.{{cite book|title=The Federalist Papers|year=1999|publisher=New American Library, a division of Penguin Books|location=New York|isbn=0-451-52881-6|pages=157–158}}

Peace Through Strength is the motto of the Eighth Air Force, established in 1944.

Peace Through Strength (1952) is the title of a book about a defense plan by Bernard Baruch, a World War II adviser to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, published by Farrar, Straus and Young.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5icdAAAAMAAJ|title=Peace through strength: Bernard Baruch and a blueprint for security|first=Morris Victor|last=Rosenbloom|date=1 January 1952|publisher=American Surveys in association with Farrar, Straus and Young, New York|via=Google Books}} For supporters of the MX missile in the 1970s, the missile symbolized "peace through strength."{{cite news |title=Perspective: Cold War Relic; All It Touched Off Was a Debate |author=Fred Kaplan |author-link=Fred Kaplan (journalist) |newspaper=The New York Times |date=18 September 2005 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE6D81F31F93BA2575AC0A9639C8B63&scp=9&sq=peace%20through%20strength&st=cse |access-date=18 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227233209/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE6D81F31F93BA2575AC0A9639C8B63&scp=9&sq=peace%20through%20strength&st=cse |archive-date=27 February 2017 |url-status=live }}

During Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign in the United States, the Republican Party spent about $5 million on TV ads promoting Goldwater's foreign policy position of "Peace through Strength."{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iREHODXtO-wC&pg=PA76 |page=76 |title=Posters, Propaganda, and Persuasion in Election Campaigns Around the World and Through History |author=Steven A. Seidman |publisher=Peter Lang |date=2008 |isbn=9780820486161 |access-date=2016-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103012352/http://books.google.com/books?id=iREHODXtO-wC&pg=PA76 |archive-date=2014-01-03 |url-status=live }} President Gerald Ford alluded to the concept in his 1977 State of the Union Address.{{cite web|title=Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union|website=The American Presidency Project|date=January 12, 1977|access-date=March 9, 2024|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-reporting-the-state-the-union-0}} In 1980, Ronald Reagan, who had campaigned for Goldwater in 1964, used the phrase during his election challenge against Jimmy Carter by accusing the incumbent of weak, vacillating leadership that invited enemies to attack the United States and its allies.{{cite news |title=Politics Starts at the Water's Edge |author1=Kiron K. Skinner |author2=Serhiy Kudelia |author3=Bruce Bueno de Mesquita |author4=Condoleezza Rice |newspaper=The New York Times |date=17 September 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/opinion/15skinner.html |access-date=18 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422214645/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/opinion/15skinner.html |archive-date=22 April 2019 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z0VQ4vFwPU |title=Peace Through Strength (1980 Political Commercial) |publisher=YouTube |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705170327/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z0VQ4vFwPU |archive-date=2015-07-05 |url-status=live }} Reagan later considered it one of the mainstays of his foreign policy as president.{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/about/presidents/ronaldreagan |title=Biography of Ronald Reagan |author=White House |publisher=United States Government |access-date=2009-07-19}} In 1986, he explained it thus:

We know that peace is the condition under which mankind was meant to flourish. Yet peace does not exist of its own will. It depends on us, on our courage to build it and guard it and pass it on to future generations. George Washington's words may seem hard and cold today, but history has proven him right again and again. "To be prepared for war," he said, "is one of the most effective means of preserving peace." Well, to those who think strength provokes conflict, Will Rogers had his own answer. He said of the world heavyweight champion of his day: "I've never seen anyone insult Jack Dempsey."{{cite web|url=http://reagan2020.us/speeches/address_on_national_security.asp|title=Reagan 2020 - Ronald Reagan - Address on National Security|access-date=2012-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009165158/http://reagan2020.us/speeches/address_on_national_security.asp|archive-date=2016-10-09|url-status=live}}

The approach has been credited for forcing the Soviet Union to lose the arms race and end the Cold War.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000lars |url-access=registration |title=Historical Dictionary Of Arms Control And Disarmament |author=Jeffrey Arthur Larsen |chapter=Peace through Strength |page=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000lars/page/168 168] |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date=2005}} "Peace Through Strength" is the official motto of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).{{cite web|title='Peace Through Strength' - The Official Web Site of CVN 76 USS Ronald Reagan|url=http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/cvn76/Pages/default.aspx|publisher=United States Navy|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005203603/http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/cvn76/Pages/default.aspx|archive-date=October 5, 2012|url-status=dead}}

"Peace Through Strength" has appeared in every party platform of the Republican Party since 1980.{{cite web|title=Republican Party Platform of 1980|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25844|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026064027/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25844|archive-date=October 26, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Republican Party Platform of 1984|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25845|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011010329/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25845|archive-date=October 11, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Republican Party Platform of 1988|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25846|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011004455/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25846|archive-date=October 11, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Republican Platform of 1992|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25849|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011004503/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25849|archive-date=October 11, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Republican Party Platform of 1996|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25849|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011004503/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25849|archive-date=October 11, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Republican Party Platform of 2000|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25849|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011004503/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25849|archive-date=October 11, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=2008 Republican Party Platform|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=78545|publisher=The American Presidenty Project|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112230334/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=78545|archive-date=November 12, 2008|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Republican Platform|title=We Believe in America|url=http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_exceptionalism/|publisher=Republican National Committee|access-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017010250/http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_Exceptionalism/|archive-date=October 17, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Huntley|first=Steve|title=Romney's Foreign Policy: Peace Through Strength|url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/huntley/15634669-452/romneys-foreign-policy-promotes-peace-through-strength.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203132948/http://www.suntimes.com/news/huntley/15634669-452/romneys-foreign-policy-promotes-peace-through-strength.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2013|access-date=October 12, 2012|newspaper=Chicago Sun Times|date=October 8, 2012}}{{cite news|last=Editorial|title=Romney's Peace Through Strength|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/8/romneys-peace-through-strength/|access-date=October 12, 2012|newspaper=Washington Times|date=October 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410171856/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/8/romneys-peace-through-strength/|archive-date=April 10, 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Walshe|first=Shushannah|title=Paul Ryan Describes Mitt Romney Foreign Policy as the 'Peace Through Strength Doctrine'|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/paul-ryan-says-mitt-romney-foreign-policy-is-peace-through-strength-doctrine/|newspaper=The Note, ABC News|date=September 12, 2012|access-date=June 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111031841/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/paul-ryan-says-mitt-romney-foreign-policy-is-peace-through-strength-doctrine/|archive-date=January 11, 2020|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/ted-cruzs-hugely-expensive-plan-for-a-huge-military/462993/ |title=Ted Cruz's Hugely Expensive Plan for a Huge Military |work=The Atlantic |author=David A. Graham |date=February 16, 2016 |access-date=July 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622225841/http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/ted-cruzs-hugely-expensive-plan-for-a-huge-military/462993/ |archive-date=June 22, 2016 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-trump-channels-reagan-promising-peace-1481076359-htmlstory.html|title=Trump channels Reagan, promising 'peace through strength'|author=Mark Z. Barabak|date=December 6, 2016|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=December 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211131418/http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-trump-channels-reagan-promising-peace-1481076359-htmlstory.html|archive-date=December 11, 2016|url-status=live}}

On assuming office in January 2017, Donald Trump cited the idea of "Peace Through Strength" as central to his overall "America First" foreign policy.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trumps-national-security-adviser-says-foreign-policy-will-emphasize-peace-through-strength/2017/01/10/e4652c08-d767-11e6-b8b2-cb5164beba6b_story.html |title=Trump's national security adviser says foreign policy will emphasize 'peace through strength' |newspaper=Washington Post |author=Karen DeYoung |date=January 10, 2017 |access-date=January 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118221141/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trumps-national-security-adviser-says-foreign-policy-will-emphasize-peace-through-strength/2017/01/10/e4652c08-d767-11e6-b8b2-cb5164beba6b_story.html |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |url-status=live }} As such the introduction to US National Defense Strategy of 2018 states: The US force posture combined with the allies will "preserve peace through strength." The document proceeds to detail what "achieving peace through strength requires."US National Defense Strategy, (Washington: Department of Defense, 2018), p 1, 6, https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807132339/https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf |date=2018-08-07 }}

In Taiwan, "peace through strength" is a slogan of Taiwanese nationalism, meaning to emphasize Taiwan's sovereignty, strengthen its military power, and work with the United States and Japan to guard against possible aggression by the People's Republic of China.

Lai Ching-te, the eighth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), emphasized "peace through strength" even before he became president.{{Cite web |title=I'll pursue peace through strength, Lai says |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/01/10/2003811874 |date=January 11, 2024 |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=Taipei Times }} On June 19, 2024, president Lai reiterated that "peace must rely on strength, which is to say avoiding war by preparing for war to achieve peace".{{Cite web |title=Taiwan president says only military strength can keep the peace with China |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-president-says-only-military-strength-can-keep-peace-with-china-2024-06-19/ |date=June 19, 2024 |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=Reuters }}

In remarks delivered regarding the Strategic Defence Review (2025), UK prime minister Keir Starmer said that the UK is moving to "warfighting readiness" in order to show potential adversaries that the country is "ready to deliver peace through strength."{{Cite web |date=2025-06-02 |title=PM's remarks on the Strategic Defence Review: 2 June 2025 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-remarks-on-the-strategic-defence-review-2-june-2025 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-06-03 |title=PM vows to make Britain ‘battle-ready’ — but funding row threatens to derail plans |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/keir-starmer-strategic-defence-review-funding-row-b2762439.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

For Andrew Bacevich, "belief in the efficacy of military power almost inevitably breeds the temptation to put that power to work. 'Peace through strength' easily enough becomes 'peace through war.{{' "}}{{cite news |title=The Western Way of War Has Run its Course |author=Andrew Bacevich |newspaper=CBS News |date=4 August 2010 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-western-way-of-war-has-run-its-course/ |access-date=20 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110084721/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/04/opinion/main6742001.shtml |archive-date=10 November 2013 |url-status=live }}

Jim George of Australian National University used the term to describe part of what he argued was the Straussian and neoconservative foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration.{{cite journal |author=Jim George |date=June 2005 |title=Leo Strauss, Neoconservatism and US Foreign Policy: Esoteric Nihilism and the Bush Doctrine |journal=International Politics |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=174–202 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.ip.8800106|s2cid=143465538 }}

The mock inversion "strength through peace" has been used on occasion to draw criticism to the militaristic system of diplomacy advocated by "peace through strength".{{cite book |title=Polite Protesters: The American Peace Movement of the 1980s |pages=[https://archive.org/details/politeprotesters0000lofl/page/103 103]–104 |author=John Lofland |url=https://archive.org/details/politeprotesters0000lofl |url-access=registration |year=1993 |publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=9780815626053 }} Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich adopted the slogan "Strength Through Peace" during his 2008 presidential run as part of his platform as a peace candidate against the Iraq War.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rzXqCEJPhLMC&pg=PA29 |title=The Race for the 2008 Democratic Nomination: A Book of Editorial Cartoons |editor=Eric Appleman |publisher=Pelican Publishing |year=2008 |page=29 |isbn=9781455610808 |access-date=2016-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103012423/http://books.google.com/books?id=rzXqCEJPhLMC&pg=PA29 |archive-date=2014-01-03 |url-status=live }}

During Reagan's presidency, the non-profit American Security Council Foundation (ASCF) and its for-profit direct-mail provider, Communications Corporation of America, sought to influence United States foreign policy by promoting the idea, but after the Soviet collapse of 1991, ASCF fell into obscurity, and other organizations continued to promote the slogan.{{cite web |url=http://www.americansecuritycouncil.org |title=The American Security Council Mission Statement |access-date=9 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214221814/http://www.americansecuritycouncil.org/ |archive-date=14 December 2010 |url-status=live }} The Heritage Foundation and the Center for Security Policy (CSP) have also used the term in print.{{cite journal |author=Kim R. Holmes |year=1995 |title=Geo-Conservatism; Why Conservatives Are Better Than Liberals at Foreign Policy |journal=Policy Review |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |issue=71 |page=38 |url=https://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001643939 |author-link= Kim Holmes}} The ASCF registered a trademark for the phrase in April 2011.{{cite web|title=Peace Through Strength|url=http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4008:gfrhmd.2.3|publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office|access-date=15 September 2012|date=April 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916164152/http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4008:gfrhmd.2.3|archive-date=16 September 2018|url-status=live}} In September 2012, ASCF filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against CSP and Frank Gaffney,{{cite web|title=American Security Council Foundation v. Center for Security Policy, Inc. et al|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2012cv01486/155957/|work=District of Columbia District Court|publisher=Justia|date=September 7, 2012|access-date=September 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110083114/http://dockets.justia.com/docket/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2012cv01486/155957/|archive-date=November 10, 2013|url-status=live}} prompting the Washington City Paper to ridicule ASCF's Director of Operations, Gary James, for editing the online encyclopedia Wikipedia article titled 'Peace through strength' so that it was "drenched in ... ASCF references".{{cite news|last=Sommer|first=Will|title=No Peace for Hawkish Think Tanks Over Reagan Slogan|url=http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2012/09/14/no-peace-for-hawkish-think-tanks-over-reagan-slogan/|newspaper=Washington City Paper|date=September 14, 2012|access-date=September 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221051/http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2012/09/14/no-peace-for-hawkish-think-tanks-over-reagan-slogan/|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=live}} Following a counterclaim by the CSP alleging that the trademark application had been fraudulent, in August 2013 the ACSF announced that it had settled the lawsuit with the CSP and would cancel its trademark claim.{{cite web|url=http://www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org/press-release/ronald-reagans-legacy-preserved-aflc-wins-favorable-settlement-in-trademark-battle-over-famous-slogan/|title=Ronald Reagan's Legacy Preserved: AFLC Wins Favorable Settlement in Trademark Battle over Famous Slogan|date=August 5, 2013|author=American Security Council Foundation|access-date=April 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412031228/http://www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org/press-release/ronald-reagans-legacy-preserved-aflc-wins-favorable-settlement-in-trademark-battle-over-famous-slogan/|archive-date=April 12, 2015|url-status=live}}

• Big Stick ideology
• Collective security
• Demoralization (warfare)
• Doublethink in the 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which features the phrase "war is peace"
• Gunboat diplomacy
• Might makes right
• Mutual assured destruction
• Pax Americana
• Reagan Doctrine
• Si vis pacem, para bellum
• Right of conquest
• World peace
• Security dilemma

{{Reflist}}

{{Peace}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peace Through Strength}}

Category:Military doctrines

Category:International security

Category:International relations terminology

Category:National security

Category:Peace

Category:Nuclear warfare