rise of China, becoming the dominant power in Asia and that the US would thus take responsibility for Japan's defense. Spykman was opposed to European integration and argued that US interests favored balanced power in Europe, rather than integrated power. The US was fighting a war against Germany to prevent Europe's conquest, and it would not make sense to federalize or to unify Europe after a war that had been fought to preserve balance. Legacy John Foster Dulles and the founders of the containment strategy would borrow heavily from Spykman, as well as Mackinder, when forging the American Cold War strategy. Quotations "Geography is the most fundamental factor in foreign policy because it is the most permanent." —from The Geography of the Peace "Plans for far-reaching changes in the character of international society are an intellectual by-product of all great wars." —from America's Strategy in World Politics "There are not many instances in history which show great and powerful states creating alliances and organizations to limit their own strength. States are always engaged in curbing the force of some other state. The truth of the matter is that states are interested only in a balance which is in their favor. Not an equilibrium, but a generous margin is their objective. There is no real security in being just as strong as a potential enemy; there is security only in being a little stronger. There is no possibility of action if one's strength is fully checked; there is a chance for a positive foreign policy only if there is a margin of force which can be freely used. Whatever the theory and rationalization, the practical objective is the constant improvement of the state's own relative power position. The balance desired is the one which neutralizes other states, leaving the home state free to be the deciding force and the deciding voice." —from America's Strategy in World Politics "[A] political equilibrium is neither a gift of the gods nor an inherently stable condition. It results from the active intervention of man, from the operation of political forces. States cannot afford to wait passively for the happy time when a miraculously achieved balance of power will bring peace and security. If they wish to survive, they must be willing to go to war to preserve a balance against the growing hegemonic power of the period." —from America's Strategy in World Politics "Nations which