Our country’s enemies now are rarely nations but rather terrorists and guerilla foes. They carry out unspeakable atrocities against innocents. We are tempted to believe that a crushing military victory will rid us of their evil. Our victory in World War II tends to be the standard by which we measure all wars since.

Yet even that war was not a pure success. It left the Cold War in its wake, which we fought differently than World War II. Though we fought small wars, we avoided the big one between the Soviets and the West. Our military was essential for our protection, but we did not depend on military efforts alone or primarily. Diplomacy and development were tools that we used, not always wisely, but well enough that World War III was avoided.

More important were our victories over racism and poverty and prejudice that gave us the moral high ground in the waning days of the Cold War. Of course, such victories are never complete. We fight them again and again, even as we consider recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.

Defeating our enemies in the twenty-first century requires patience, not revenge. We must reassess our moral strengths: the worth of each individual, regardless of differences; opportunities for work that allow a decent standard of living; concern that the vulnerable among us are given chances to overcome the barriers that hold them back. We cannot win in Syria or Iraq or Afghanistan if we don’t nurture the moral high ground that divides us from our enemies.