The recognition which any proclamation of a specific principle of foreign policy receives will depend, in case it conflicts with the actual or possible interests of other nations, upon the military and naval power with which it can be maintained.

The question as to whether a particular doctrine is unwholesomely aggressive depends, consequently, not upon the mere fact that it may provoke a war, but upon the doubt that, if it provokes a war, such a war can be righteously fought.

Does the Doctrine as usually stated, possibly or probably commit the United States to an unrighteous war--a war in which the United States would be opposing a legitimate interest on the part of one or a group of European nations?
Does an American foreign policy of the "Monroe Doctrine and the Golden Rule" proclaim two parallel springs of national action in foreign affairs which may prove to be incompatible?
There is a danger that such may be the case.

The Monroe Doctrine in its most popular form proclaims a rigid policy of continental isolation--of America for the Americans and of Europe for the Europeans.

European nations may retain existing possessions in the Americas, but such possessions must not be increased.