People are being told to be alarmed about alleged foreign interference in the upcoming presidential election. Maybe they should be understanding rather than alarmed. The U.S. government conducts a wide-ranging interventionist foreign policy, which can substantially affect other countries. That has included frequent interference in elections and other political operations. So why wouldn’t the governments there not only take an interest in U.S. elections but also perhaps attempt to exercise some influence over the voters? Much is at stake militarily and economically.

American  politicians used to say, “Politics stops at the water’s edge.” However, after America had turned into an empire, Felix Morley, the classical liberal critic of U.S. foreign intervention, commented that politics stops at the water’s edge only when policy stops at the water’s edge, which it no longer did.

If we want foreign countries to ignore American elections, the U.S. government should go back to ignoring foreign countries. End the foreign entanglements! Americans should be free to trade with anyone, but the government should pull back to the water’s edge—and much further.