Policing the globe is not America’s job. Protecting the interest of wealthy allies like Denmark and other European states is not America’s job. Sacrificing its people’s lives and wealth to suppress tragic but irrelevant conflicts around the globe is not America’s job.

Washington should focus on the defense of the United States—its people, territory, system of ordered liberties and property. What that requires will change over time as circumstances evolve. But America’s mandate begins with America, not Denmark or anywhere else.

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He also is a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan.

Image: Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Flickr/DVIDSHUB.