Defining America's role on the global stage - American Thought

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), May, 2003 by Chuck Hagel

ON MARCH 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, with Pres. Harry Truman at his side, gave one of the greatest speeches of our time. Its power and majesty are not limited to time and place, although Churchill's warning of a Soviet "Iron Curtain" in Europe vividly captured the communist threat of that era. That day, he also conveyed something unique and special about America's international role: "... The United States stands at this time at the pinnacle of world power. It is a solemn moment for the American democracy. For with this primacy in power is also joined an awe-inspiring accountability to the future. As you look around you, you must feel not only the sense of duty done, but also you must feel anxiety lest you fall below the level of achievement. Opportunity is here now, clear and shining, for both our countries. To reject it or ignore it or fritter it away will bring upon us all the long reproaches of the aftertime."

With new eras come new challenges, and today the U.S. again stands at a pinnacle of power and again bears a heavy burden for securing a better tomorrow, for our citizens and for all the peoples of the world. At this critical juncture, the success of our actions will be determined not by the extent of our power, but by an appreciation of its limits. America must approach the world with a sense of purpose in global affairs that is anchored by our ideals, a principled realism that seeks not to remake the world in our image, but to help make a better world.

We must avoid the traps of hubris and imperial temptation that come with great power. Our foreign policy should reflect the hope and promise of America tempered with a mature wisdom that is the mark of our national character. In this new era of possibilities and responsibilities, America will require a wider-lens view of how the world sees us, so that we can better understand the world, and our role in it.

Just as Churchill pointed out in 1946, when historic opportunities for leadership are before us, they cannot be rejected, ignored, or frittered away. There would have been grave consequences if the U.S. had shrunk from its responsibilities in 1946, as there will be grave consequences if America shrinks from today's challenges. The war in Iraq and a long-term engagement with the Middle East offer as much peril as promise. We also face an urgent threat from North Korea and the potential for nuclear war between India and Pakistan. The AIDS epidemic in Africa, Russia, and Asia poses one of the most-deadly threats to all humanity. Moreover, we cannot overlook our own hemisphere, where Colombia and Venezuela are involved with continued violence and instability.

The complexities of an interconnected world give us little margin for error in dealing with these great international challenges. The first priority for the U.S. and all sovereign nations is to protect its citizens. To do so we must build and sustain global institutions and alliances that share our interests and values. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior under Pres. Franklin Roosevelt, put it powerfully in a speech on May 18, 1941, when he said, in response to those who urged the U.S. to stay out of World War II, that American support for Britain was "the sort of enlightened selfishness that makes the wheels of history go around. It is the sort of enlightened selfishness that wins victories. Do you know why? Because we cannot live in a world alone, without friends and without allies."

The serious obligations of global leadership come with a price. Beating the burdens and costs in defeating global terrorism, countering nuclear proliferation by nations and terrorist networks, and ending poverty and hunger on this planet are investments in our own security, as well as in the stability and security of the world. Security at home cannot be separated from dangers abroad.

The war against international terrorism and its sponsors is unlike any one we have ever known. There is no battlefield, no clash of armies. It is a war fought in the shadows and recesses of the world. Terrorism breeds among the hopeless and the alienated, in societies where democracy and economic opportunity are out of reach for most people. Military power alone will not end this scourge of mankind. Victory will require extensive international cooperation in the intelligence, economic, diplomatic, law enforcement, and humanitarian fields. It will require a seamless network of cooperation between the U.S. and its allies.

Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are the enemies of all peoples--not just Americans. We must build relationships upon this common denominator of common interests. The U.S. cannot defeat terrorism alone.

America's ability to build lasting and flexible coalitions will be the measure of our success, the only assured means of long-term security for future generations. We cannot lose sight of the wider view of what is before us, that it is about much more than Iraq. We are setting the tone for America's role in the word for the next decade and beyond. At this critical time, our policies and our rhetoric should not create distance between the U.S. and its allies. If that is the price of waging war in Iraq, then victory, in the long run, in the war on terrorism, in the Middle East, on the Korean peninsula, and against weapons of mass destruction will not be ours. As Churchill reminded us, the "aftertime"--the long run--is what measures victory.