We shall be judged more by what we do at home than by what we preach abroad.  Nothing we could do to help the developing countries would help them half as much as a booming U.S. economy.  And nothing our opponents could do to encourage their own ambitions would encourage them half as much as a chronic, lagging U.S. economy.  These domestic tasks do not divert energy from our security—­they provide the very foundation for freedom’s survival and success.

III.

Turning to the world outside, it was only a few years ago—­in Southeast Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, even outer space—­that communism sought to convey the image of a unified, confident, and expanding empire, closing in on a sluggish America and a free world in disarray.  But few people would hold to that picture today.

In these past months we have reaffirmed the scientific and military superiority of freedom.  We have doubled our efforts in space, to assure us of being first in the future.  We have undertaken the most far-reaching defense improvements in the peacetime history of this country.  And we have maintained the frontiers of freedom from Viet-Nam to West Berlin.

But complacency or self-congratulation can imperil our security as much as the weapons of tyranny.  A moment of pause is not a promise of peace.  Dangerous problems remain from Cuba to the South China Sea.  The world’s prognosis prescribes, in short, not a year’s vacation for us, but a year of obligation and opportunity.

Four special avenues of opportunity stand out:  the Atlantic Alliance, the developing nations, the new Sino-Soviet difficulties, and the search for worldwide peace.

IV.

First, how fares the grand alliance?  Free Europe is entering into a new phase of its long and brilliant history.  The era of colonial expansion has passed; the era of national rivalries is fading; and a new era of interdependence and unity is taking shape.  Defying the old prophecies of Marx, consenting to what no conqueror could ever compel, the free nations of Europe are moving toward a unity of purpose and power and policy in every sphere of activity.

For 17 years this movement has had our consistent support, both political and economic.  Far from resenting the new Europe, we regard her as a welcome partner, not a rival.  For the road to world peace and freedom is still long, and there are burdens which only full partners can share—­in supporting the common defense, in expanding world trade, in aligning our balance of payments, in aiding the emergent nations, in concerting political and economic policies, and in welcoming to our common effort other industrialized nations, notably Japan, whose remarkable economic and political development of the 1950’s permits it now to play on the world scene a major constructive role.

No doubt differences of opinion will continue to get more attention than agreements on action, as Europe moves from independence to more formal interdependence.  But these are honest differences among honorable associates—­more real and frequent, in fact, among our Western European allies than between them and the United States.  For the unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion.  But the basic agreement of this alliance on fundamental issues continues.