21st Century George Kennan?

It was after the second World War that George Kennan articulated the policy of containment, which, despite many hiccoughs, served this nation well for almost sixty years. But, the times have changed. We have different problems, strengths and opportunities. We need a new over-arching strategy. The Princeton Project on National Security has published a first draft of what that strategy might be. The project has been in the works for three years and has had input from people of all persuasions. The overall leaders are George Schulz and Anthony Lake. The authors of the final report are G. John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter.

A couple of quotes from the report:

"Still, some of the greatest moments in our history have come from standing for our values and defending them on behalf of others as well as ourselves. We have recognized at those moments, as we should recognize today, that we have to stand with other nations rather than above them, and that we must play by the same rules that they do if we are to achieve common goals. And if we truly believe that our values are universal, then we cannot think that we have a national monopoly on their interpretation or implementation."

"The world we seek will not emerge overnight. Indeed, spreading liberty under law may still be an apt guide for American national security policy at the beginning of the 22nd century. Yet Dean Acheson once remarked that it would be a foolish gardener who tore up his plants each morning to see how much they grew overnight. Instead, the gardener should seed the garden and wait. George Shultz, one of Acheson’s successors, also emphasized the importance of gardening – cultivating relations with other nations on a regular basis and tending to little problems before they become big problems. The process is slow; the results take time."

"And we will recognize that if we seek to lead a world of liberty under law, then we must lead by example, as a bastion of ordered liberty and a champion of liberal order."

A basic assumption of the report is that the world we have today lacks "a single organizing principle for foreign policy like anti-fascism or anti-communism". The basic objectives of the strategy are a secure homeland, a healthy global economy, and a benign international environment. To meet these objectives we need a strategy that is multidimensional, integrates hard and soft power, interest- rather than threat- based, grounded in hope rather than fear, pursued inside-out, and adapted to the information age.

Other points made:

Democracy is not measured solely by elections. We need to strive for a world of mature liberal democracies. To help bring this world about we need a strategy for creating the conditions necessary for a successful liberal democracy. We need governments that are popular, accountable and respectful of people's rights.

The institutions - World Bank, UN, NATO, WTO - that served us well during the Cold War and after are broken and need to be fixed. A new institution - one of mature liberal democracies working for the common good should be established.

Force is sometimes necessary, but should be proportionate and used based on intelligent intelligence.

We need to talk with people, those who are are allies and those who are perceived of as our enemies as long as they disavow terrorism and other forms of civic violence.

The War on Terror has legitimized the terrorists and let them call the shots. They are criminals and should be treated as such.

We need to work with China and other Asian nations to help them achieve legitimate goals and become stakeholders in a world of international order.

Security involves not only combating terrorism and dealing with enemies, for the enemy could be a pandemic. Improving our ability to deal with such a situation is as much a part of the security strategy as other components.

Oil - a nasty word - has to be addressed. We cannot be secure in a world where we and other nations are addicted to oil.

Finally, we can't be secure unless we correct some basic domestic problems - a troubled health system, a broken communications system and a troubled public education system.

It's good, sound, sensible stuff. I urge you to read at least the Executive Summary.