Kochin on the Framers and National Security

Michael S. Kochin Tel Aviv University and Claremont McKenna College, has posted The Constitution Viewed from Without:

The drive for constitutional reform in the 1780’s was largely motivated by the perception that until the Federal government was strengthened the United States would not be able to meet its foreign and security policy challenges. Once I put the foreign and security policy difficulties of the 1780’s on the table, I will address two questions: First, why does The Federalist argue for the foreign and security policy need for the Union when nobody who opposes the 1787 Constitution argues against the “perpetual Union” created by the Articles? Second, what is the pressing “crisis” in foreign and security matters that, in Publius’s view, should persuade the remaining states to ratify the constitution hastily?