The “America First” Principle and the U.S. War with Iran

What does it truly mean for a nation to act in its rational self-interest on the world stage? Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for a discussion on why America is right to adopt self-interested foreign-military policies, as captured in the phrase “America First.” The U.S. national interest entails preserving liberty and capitalism. Salsman explains how this egoistic principle fueled the launch of the U.S. war with Iran and so far has guided its conduct. But U.S. victory must be swift, definitive, and devoid of the “nation building” which violates the America First principle. Salsman argues that a future Middle East without dominance by theocratic Islamism could prove as beneficial to U.S. interests as did the end of the U.S.S.R. and the Cold War in the 1990s.

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The “America First” Principle and the U.S. War with Iran is an episode from The Atlas Society Presents - The Atlas Society Asks by The Atlas Society.

This episode is 01:00:06 long.

This episode was published on Mar 18, 2026.

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