Should be remembered that Machiavelli was a failed politician who spent the rest of his life trying to convince others he should be put back in charge.
Never worked.
War in the modern world does not and cannot pay for itself. The Romans paid for their’s by looting temples and selling people into slavery. Don’t think many Americans would support either. I know I wouldn’t.
The immensely greater wealth of the modern world, as opposed to the classical world, is based on a diverse thriving economy. There is simply no way to loot such an economy without destroying it, which leads us straight to the Goose and the Golden Egg.
I suspect there are very, very few Americans interested in becoming colonists in Syria, Iraq or Libya.
You are aware that the Roman colonies were very different from those of the 19th century, aren’t you?
It is your option to casually dismiss the wisdom of the ages.
Machiavelli was imprisoned for his politics.
You didn’t read my post, so there is no point in engaging you any further.
Through war, we fashioned a free nation on a continental scale, and then we remade the world so that it is safe for America and our ideals by winning three world wars: WW I, WW II, and the Cold War. Indeed, if we look to the world as it was in 1914 and as it is today, we have accomplished many of the goals declared by Wilson. Today, as with the Roman world, the bad and dangerous places in the world are where American power and influence are shunned.