In a 1901 speech, then President Theodore Roosevelt said, “speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far.” Roosevelt did not make up the phrase, which had existed as a proverb for a long time. But it is his use of the words that brought that proverb to prominence in American lexicon.

There are some things we know about the recent experience with the Chinese Spy Balloon. There are a lot more things we don’t know about it and the three other “objects” that we downed by U.S. missiles. In spite of so many unknowns, I think we can make reasonable postulates about the impact that the last few weeks have had or are likely to have on U.S. Foreign Policy.