Watching America

Watching America: "Perpetually looking for enemies, playing up crises and sending out troops to take military action has become the core and very essence of American culture and strategic thinking." From an op-ed article from China's military-controlled Jiefang Junbao [People's Liberation Army] newspaper. Unfortunately, it sounds true to me. The historical and sociological question it raises is, How did this come about, in a country that declared at its founding "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind"?