To the honourable Mister Weaver,
I must say that I am most impressed with your stated manifesto. It is a peerless combination of economic sense, pragmatic policy and ideological loyalty. I had considered throwing my hat into the ring for the presidential race, but I am now more than willing to support your bid for the White House.
My only quibble is with your foreign policy. You call for estrangement with the United Kingdom. I do not believe that this is prudent, considering the current international climate. The following is an essay on why I believe it is essential for our security that Anglo-American cooperation is not only continued, but strengthened. If you agree to this plan, then I would gracefully ask if I could serve in your cabinet as Secretary of State and put it into practice.
Setting aside all issues of benefit, there is an immense symbolic value to the Liberal Alliance. The United Kingdom and the United States are the two powers of liberalism and democracy. Even the name of our alliance signifies its inherent decency: the Commonwealth, implying equality and parity. By contrast, the Triple Alliance is composed of the two most reactionary regimes in Europe and a militaristic monarchy that barely qualifies as a parliamentary democracy. Its official name – the League of the Three Emperors – betrays its autocratic roots; it exposes the alliance as a conspiracy between rulers, not a concordat between nations. It is based on self-interest, not idealism. It has no aspirations beyond preserving the power of its signatories, compared to the divine mandate imposed by the Commonwealth. Therefore, the Commonwealth is a powerful symbol of American uniqueness – a world order based on the principle of peace and liberty, not war and conquest.
The practical effects of the Commonwealth are also bountiful. The British Empire spans a third of the globe. Their influence is felt everywhere from Paris to Peking. The Indian Army alone is half a million men strong. While it is true that the United States enjoys overall naval supremacy, British cooperation ensures that we also have regional naval supremacy: the Royal Navy is the dominant power in the Mediterranean, North and Baltic seas – areas that we must control in order to combat the Triple Alliance. Because of the Commonwealth, the Russian fleet at Sevastopol cannot cross through the straits. Because of the Commonwealth, the Austrian port of Rijeka lies within reach of British gunboats. Because of the Commonwealth, the German navy dares not depart from Wilhelmshaven. Because of the Commonwealth, every sea and ocean on God’s earth is patrolled and protected by the United States and the United Kingdom, whose collective naval might outnumbers the combined naval assets of every other power in the world.
It has been the policy of these United States to never act in Europe without a continental ally. If we spurn the United Kingdom, we are unlikely to find new friends. France will defer to the British line for her own security. Turkey is pliable but weak, incapable of acting against either Austria or Russia alone and certainly not both. That leaves only a clutch of second-rate powers which will drain America for their own interests without providing any clout to advance ours. We need a strong, reliable partner that shares our ideals and our interests. We shall not find a more qualified candidate than the United Kingdom.
More importantly, we will not find an ally more capable of resisting the Triple Alliance. What we face is a continental bloc, not a world alliance. Our enemies are united only by their common distrust, and nothing more. All three powers were enemies prior to this point. It was only a few years ago that Russian troops were invading Konigsberg; it was not much longer than that when Prussia and Austria were vying for influence in Central Europe. The United States need simply chip away at the Triple Alliance and it will disintegrate. Our priority, then, is to isolate Russia from Germany and thus restore their enmity. In order to succeed we must not challenge the Triple Alliance directly, but on its periphery.
If we wish to defeat the Triple Alliance, we must look not to Europe, but to Asia. In Europe, the League of the Three Emperors is strong. Germany is the most powerful country on the continent; Austria is too weak to resist her; Russia has temporarily abandoned her Balkan ambitions and is thus unwilling to oppose her. But if we look to Asia, the Triple Alliance vanishes. Germany and Austria have no interests in China. Russian foreign policy, however, is dictated by her desire to expand into Manchuria and Mongolia and carve up the Qing Empire. Here she is isolated, for Germany and Austria have no means of aiding Russia in China and little want to do so. The United Kingdom has no wish to see the fate of Turkey befall China and so will combat Russian advances without hesitation.
Conversely, it is in Asia where the Liberal Alliance is strongest. British India is a regional powerhouse, spreading her wings from Persia to China. The Philippines provide a base from where the United States can exert its influence – and more critically, its military might. A war in Asia would see Russia standing alone against Great Britain and America. No sooner would war have erupted then the Indian Army would be pouring into Persia and Afghanistan, while American troops were deployed in an amphibious operation against the Russian Far East. Russia’s naval assets in Asia would be swiftly despatched; the Baltic and Black Sea flotillas would be trapped in their docks by British mastery of the seas. With reinforcements thousands of miles away in Europe, the United States could occupy the East at its leisure while the British beared the brunt of the fighting in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
My intentions are thus In order to uphold the Empire of Liberty we must reduce the Pacific Ocean to an American Mare Nostrum, encircled by American allies and protected by the United States Navy. To achieve this, we must bring China into our circle of friendship and so safeguard her from foreign influence. By doing so, not only will we advance the cause of the Chinese reformists but we will also thwart Russia’s designs on Northern China and so quash Russian ambitions in the East. Defeated, outnumbered and surrounded, Russia shall have no choice but to turn her gaze back to the Balkans. By defeating Russia in the East, we will set her on a collision course with her allies in the West. We will subvert the Triple Alliance without sacrificing a single American marine for the privilege.
- Anton Maxim
