One of the distinct advantages of a world without clear and present dangers is that it allows such improvisation. The Clinton administration failed to establish a cohesive foreign policy. Too often, the administration took actions abroad with little regard for the consequences. For although it is more difficult to specify interests in the absence of obvious threats to them, it is not at all clear that the advantages of doing so disappear when dangers do. Even in benign environments, purposefulness has its purposes, the chief one of which is to prevent the dissipation of resources.
Resources are always finite, but the uses to which resources can be put are potentially infinite.
One could very well build roofs before laying foundations, or insist that all who drive between cities find their own way, or invite each player to devise his or her own rules for playing a game. But it would make little sense to do these things because of the materials, time, and energy that would be wasted along the way. Whether in a benign or a hostile environment, using resources efficiently requires some sense of priorities, some vision of where you want to go. A second reason for setting priorities is to prevent others from setting them for you. The pattern was one of disconnected rather than interconnected actions.