What about force in foreign policy? You have said that any free nation
had the right to invade Nazi Germany during World War II . . .
RAND
Certainly.
PLAYBOY
. . . And that any free nation today has the moral right—though not
the duty—to invade Soviet Russia, Cuba, or any other “slave pen.” Correct?
RAND
Correct. A dictatorship—a country that violates the rights of its own
citizens—is an outlaw and can claim no rights.
PLAYBOY
Would you actively advocate that the United States invade Cuba or the
Soviet Union?
RAND
Not at present. I don’t think it’s necessary. I would advocate that which
the Soviet Union fears above all else: economic boycott, I would advocate a
blockade of Cuba and an economic boycott of Soviet Russia; and you would see
both of those regimes collapse without the loss of a single American life.
PLAYBOY
Would you favor U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations?
RAND
Yes. I do not sanction the grotesque pretense of an organization
allegedly devoted to world peace and human rights, which includes Soviet
Russia, the worst aggressor and bloodiest butcher in history, as one of its
members. The notion of protecting rights, with Soviet Russia among the
protectors, is an insult to the concept of rights and to the intelligence of
any man who is asked to endorse or sanction such an organization. I do not
believe that an individual should cooperate with criminals, and, for all the
same reasons, I do not believe that free countries should cooperate with
dictatorships.
PLAYBOY
Would you advocate severing diplomatic relations with Russia?