Reflection on Liberal/realist debate

The perspectives of realism and liberalism appear to be more diverse than we can imagine. Realism (concerns the security and military of the state) and Liberalism (concerns the rights of the individual and masses) vary from each nation due to their political history. Liberalism in Europe carried the same ideals of the rights of the individual as stated in the US constitution but the different working classes, which were affected by the dramatic changes brought on by the Industrial revolution, created multiple reactions and movements. However, I found that in times of war, the people sacrifice their individual rights and adopt a realist perspective for the safety of their nation.
This is evident in all European history but I found that it varies in the US. Ever since the Vietnam war, United States civilians adopt a new structure of beliefs on deciding if war is legitimate, which came down to three questions: Where we attacked first, by whom, and where did it occur? These questions have to be supported by proof otherwise the civilians will be reluctant to go to war. Pearl Harbor and the September 11th attacks are considered examples of legitimate acts of war for unlike the Roman empire that strikes before trouble occurs, we tend to attack only if we are attacked first. After those events, we pledged our faith in the government for we were scared of being attacked again. However the responses to these events differed in a way. When Pearl Harbor occurred we were set to attack two major military giants (and Italy) so we contributed everything to win. 9/11 was perpetrated by a group that is able to move their headquarters from nation to nation but is easier to fight with than the Axis powers. The public reaction was different for the effects of George Orwell's 1984, convinced them not to surrender all their rights for war effort. Indeed, the effects of that novel created a new perspective on the operations of the State that the baby Boom generation hasn't understood but which the post-Soviet generation (1989- current) could.