This essay examines Murray Rothbard’s arguments that consider American foreign policy as imperialism; war as the health of the state; practical and ethical issues posed by nuclear weapons; the importance of nuclear disarmament; and the use of smears and propaganda by government actors to undermine antiwar views and generate public support for the state’s interventionist foreign policies. In each case it discusses the contemporary relevance of these issues.
Christopher J. Coyne is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Co-Editor of The Independent Review.
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Yuliya Yatsyshina is program manager in the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center, George Mason University.
Defense and Foreign PolicyEconomistsEconomyPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by Christopher J. Coyne
Spring 2025 The Nuclear Ratchet: Crisis, Leviathan, and Atomic Weapons
Spring 2025 What’s the Worst That Could Happen?: Existential Risk and Extreme Politics
Fall 2023 Kenneth Boulding: Knowledge, Conflict, and Power
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Other Independent Review articles by Yuliya Yatsyshina
Fall 2021 Police State, U.S.A.