The Foreign Service Journal, November 2008

Charting a New Course After taking a hard look at where the ship of state (and State) has ended up, we can develop strategies to deal with the many pressing issues we have left largely unattended in recent years, such as managing our relations with emerging regional orders and dealing with rising powers like Brazil, China, India and Russia, re-emerging coun- tries like Germany and Japan, failing states like Pakistan, and angry, isolated nations like Iran, North Korea and Burma (Myanmar). Functional issues that have been neglected include reform of the global trade, investment and monetary sys- tems to protect our prosperity, and that of the many other countries that depend on the value of our currency; and the long-overdue formulation of effective multilateral responses to transnational issues like terrorism, pandemic disease, the environment, climate change and security of food, energy and natural resource supplies. These are all formidable challenges, but there is no reason to doubt that we can meet them — if we marshal the world’s peoples and their resources behind a common effort. For decades, the world looked to the United States for solutions. We Americans were good at providing them. We have the capacity to do so again. In the self-indulgent final decade of the last century, Americans saw lit- tle reason to focus on foreign affairs. In the first decade of this century we have been long on assertive patriotism but short on realism, vision and states- manship — qualities we have histori- cally exemplified. Those traits enabled us to create a new order of peace, progress and prosperity after World War II. And we have the talent and ability to define a world order for the 21st century, as well. As we prepare to enter a new decade, we have within us the poten- tial to rise again to the challenge of global leadership. And we have the duty to do so. If the United States leads, we can once again persuade the world to follow. N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 We have been long on assertive patriotism but short on realism, vision and statesmanship — qualities we have historically exemplified.