"Neutrality is a negative word. It does not express what America ought to feel. We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the foundations on which peace may be rebuilt"
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Wilson pushes back against the idea that staying neutral is enough. Neutrality, he suggests, only defines what a nation refuses to do; it has no positive content. By calling it a negative word, he argues that a great power should be guided not by fear of entanglement but by affirmatively held principles. The United States, in his view, ought to feel responsible for nurturing the conditions under which a durable peace can take shape.
The line comes from the World War I era, when Americans bitterly debated whether to remain aloof from the European conflict. Wilson had initially urged neutrality in fact as well as in name, yet he also framed American neutrality as moral engagement rather than indifference. Submarine warfare, the rights of neutrals, and the fate of small nations pressed him to articulate a stance that went beyond mere abstention. He sought to move public opinion from a defensive posture of keeping out of trouble to a constructive mission: upholding law, freedom of the seas, open covenants, and the security of weaker states.
The phrase preserve the foundations on which peace may be rebuilt signals an agenda of international norms and institutions that would later culminate in the Fourteen Points and the vision of a League of Nations. Peace, for Wilson, was not simply the absence of war; it required shared rules, transparency, and collective guarantees. Neutrality, if it became a synonym for passivity or self-centered quiet, could not supply those pillars.
Rhetorically, he turns caution into purpose. He does not dismiss prudence, but he refuses to let caution be the last word. By recasting American restraint as an active commitment to principles that make peace possible, he prepares the country for a role as architect rather than bystander, claiming that moral leadership is itself a form of engagement and that true peace demands more than staying out of harm’s way.
The line comes from the World War I era, when Americans bitterly debated whether to remain aloof from the European conflict. Wilson had initially urged neutrality in fact as well as in name, yet he also framed American neutrality as moral engagement rather than indifference. Submarine warfare, the rights of neutrals, and the fate of small nations pressed him to articulate a stance that went beyond mere abstention. He sought to move public opinion from a defensive posture of keeping out of trouble to a constructive mission: upholding law, freedom of the seas, open covenants, and the security of weaker states.
The phrase preserve the foundations on which peace may be rebuilt signals an agenda of international norms and institutions that would later culminate in the Fourteen Points and the vision of a League of Nations. Peace, for Wilson, was not simply the absence of war; it required shared rules, transparency, and collective guarantees. Neutrality, if it became a synonym for passivity or self-centered quiet, could not supply those pillars.
Rhetorically, he turns caution into purpose. He does not dismiss prudence, but he refuses to let caution be the last word. By recasting American restraint as an active commitment to principles that make peace possible, he prepares the country for a role as architect rather than bystander, claiming that moral leadership is itself a form of engagement and that true peace demands more than staying out of harm’s way.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
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