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he Soviet Union invaded Hungary to crush a revolution while Britain and France, seeking to regain the Suez Canal, collaborated with Israel in a war against Egypt.

backed away from challenging the Soviet suppression of Hungary, then forced America’s European allies into an ignominious retreat from Egypt.

Eisenhower had a larger goal — not upsetting the delicate balance of power in the Cold War. Above all, he sought to avoid greater conflict, especially when he was trying to start arms control talks with Moscow.

Today’s Russian menace and Islamic State horrors are threats to be sure, but largely because Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and other potential targets all contain within them ethnic groups and sects fighting over power and influence.

Both trace to political fragmentation in weak states living within unsettled borders. That leaves those states prone to internal dissent, and America’s recent minimalist posture has given these brewing troubles room to explode into crises.

rallying allies into coalitions that would ultimately share in managing peace and security. Which is where a sound strategy lies.

America’s allies will play that game, but only if they are sure we have a strategy and the staying power to see it through.

American grand strategy should identify these weak countries before they turn on themselves;

American policy today sees the world in fragments

So Mr. Obama’s big challenge is to help weak states reconcile, compromise and unite, and thus deny enemies a chance to start civil wars.