US Presidency
1970

Today the great industrial nations of Europe, as well as Japan, have regained their economic strength; and the nations of Latin America, and many of the nations who acquired their freedom from colonialism after World War II in Asia and Africa, have a new sense of pride and dignity and a determination to assume the responsibility for their own defense. That is the basis of the doctrine I announced at Guam. Neither the defense nor the development of other nations can be exclusively or primarily an American undertaking. The nations of each part of the world should assume the primary responsibility for their own well being; and they themselves should determine the terms of that well being. We shall be faithful to our treaty commitments, but we shall reduce our involvement and our presence in other nations ' affairs. To insist that other nations play a role is not a retreat from responsibility; it is a sharing of responsibility.