The Federalists vs. Anti-Federalist discussions are really interesting. From a certain perspective, the United States was so successful because it was a minarchy with the minimum amount of centralized power possible. Then some rich white people came along, did a secret congressional congress meeting, and (from the little I understand) gave more central power to the federal government than the original states anticipated. From my perspective, "security against foreign danger" is an out-dated concept in today's connected world. It's certainly not (again, from my perspective) improved by intervening with military force in any and every country around the world. Blowback is the result, and it's not pretty.