Conservatives, much like other political groups, are not expected to have a unified position on policies that transcend almost all corners of the globe and cover numerous personal, and at times contradictory, interests. But there are some principles that are common to any definition of a conservative approach to foreign policy.

What we are discussing is American conservatism, which is something separate and different from European, East Asian, or Middle Eastern conservatism. It begins with an American ideology that finds its roots in the writings of the Founding Fathers, who themselves were an enlightened group of men who were familiar not only with the American mind but also with Aristotle, Cicero, Locke and others.