In the past, the United States has been generous in the face of drought, famine, and health in less fortunate countries, without a great deal of concern about payback or profit. Our foreign and economic policy, stemming from WWII, has not been transactional or mercantilist but was driven by great power competition. And while there has been a strong liberal component to the rhetoric we use to justify our policies, shorn of the rhetoric, our economic and military assistance has been based heavily on the expectation that we are stronger vis a vis other major powers when we have allies, and cooperative relations with much of the world, even when there is no immediate payback.