American foreign policy is spread too thin. The current strategic approach is not effective, and as it grows increasingly unsustainable, it sets the United States up for failure. Concerned Veterans for America’s new report, Realism in Practice, offers a different path forward, guided by the principles of realism and restraint.

America’s strategic environment has changed significantly since its victory in the Cold War. After a generation where the United States could afford to pursue any objectives it chose, America now faces growing constraints at home and more capable adversaries abroad. Taken together, these factors limit U.S. freedom of action more than in recent decades. The United States has to start making real choices about which of its interests matter most.

Realism in Practice argues that aligning America’s foreign policy ends with its available means is the best way to protect U.S. vitals interests over the long-run.

America can avoid overextending itself by calling on our allies to take greater responsibility for their own defense in more parts of the world and by focusing our military resources on our vital security interests. The United States can also support many of its regional goals more effectively by rediscovering creative diplomacy and economic engagement. Our military should remain second-to-none, but America should use it only as a last resort when vital interests are on the line.

Seeing the world as it is, not as we wish it to be, is the best path forward for U.S. foreign policy. Realism in Practice offers a wakeup call for an overdue reality check in American strategy.

America sits at a strategic crossroads. For decades, the United States has set objectives that are increasingly beyond U.S. capabilities to credibly achieve if strenuously challenged. America also faces growing domestic and international constraints that limit U.S. freedom of action to a far greater extent than shortly after the Cold War. What’s worse, policymakers continue to overuse military approaches as their main tool for addressing our nation’s strategic challenges, damaging our armed forces’ readiness and neglecting other pillars of American national power. With America’s strategic ends, ways, and means so misaligned, our vital national interests are under greater long-term threat.

To secure vital American interests in our rapidly changing world, policymakers need to look at our strategic situation honestly, not with wishful thinking. Balanced, prudent foreign policy that more holistically employs America’s advantages offers our nation its most effective strategic path forward.