Center for a New American Security

CNAS President Dr. John Nagl testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday, September 16, 2009, at 2:30pm, in Room 419 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Dr. Nagl will discuss U.S. strategy in Afghanistan at the hearing called by SFRC Chairman, Senator Kerry, "Exploring Three Strategies for Afghanistan."

An important new book titled Difficult Transitions by Kurt M. Campbell and James B. Steinberg.  Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power is a bipartisan guide for incoming presidents and their foreign policy teams who seek to survive the landmines and booby traps that await them.

When the Berlin Wall collapsed on November 9, 1989—signaling the end of the Cold War—America and the West declared victory: Democracy and free markets had prevailed and the United States emerged as the world’s triumphant superpower. The finger-on-the-button tension that had defined a generation was over, and it seemed that peace was at hand.

The next president of the United States must forge a new national security strategy in a world marked by enormous tumult and change and at a time when America’s international standing and strategic position are at an historic nadir. Many of our allies question our motives and methods; our enemies doubt American rhetoric and resolve. Now, more than at any time since the late 1940s, it is vital to chart a new direction for America’s global role.

In a critical election year, the debate over America’s national security strategy has been overwhelmed by a persistent focus on essentially tactical issues such as: the number of troops in Iraq; whether or not America should engage in diplomacy with Iran; and the status of the search for Osama Bin Laden. Important as such issues are, they do not address the more critical and fundamental arguments over America’s purpose and place in the world. Finding Our Way attempts to bridge the gap in the current national security debate by bringing together ideas from across the academic and policy spectrums in one accessible volume. Edited by Michèle Flournoy and Shawn Brimley, and including contributions from Robert Art, G. John Ikenberry, Barry Posen, Frederick Kagan, and Sarah Sewall, Finding Our Way provides a compelling and accessible snapshot of the current grand strategy debate. Readers will find essays advocating contrasting ideas on vital U.S. interests, key threats facing America, the utility of international partnerships and alliances, the use of military force, the implications of Iraq on American strategy, and the need to restore a positive view of American power. This volume is an ideal primer for scholars and students interested in the contemporary debate over American power and purpose in a changing world.

Years of debate over the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the so-called “war on terror” have prevented Americans from grappling with the deeper challenges posed by changes in the international system.  Beyond the threats posed by terrorism, new great powers such as India and China are rising, the process of globalization is accelerating, and the challenges of climate change and energy security grow more ominous by the day. The absence of an overarching strategic framework beyond simple debates over wartime tactics has contributed to an erosion of America’s position in the world. The authors of Making America Grand Again argue that America’s leaders must broaden their strategic aperture and recognize the value in renewing their commitment to sustaining the pillars of the global system – common global goods such as stability in key regions, a vibrant global economy, and fair access to the global commons. Arguing that America’s Cold War strategy consisted of two parts – containing the Soviet Union while building and sustaining a resilient international system – the authors lay out a case for why sustaining America’s power and influence in the 21st century requires reinvesting in, and innovating within, the very global architecture that helped make America a superpower. 

The inability of many states in the developing world to govern and police themselves effectively or to work collectively with their neigh­bors to secure their regions represents a global security capacity deficit that can threaten U.S. interests. Effectively addressing this security deficit will require a new approach, one that is more preventive and indirect in its nature, that seeks to husband American power, and that reconciles America’s values, interests, and commitments with its finite resources over the long haul.

In testimony given to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Flournoy writes that "In the last two decades, the United States has experienced some truly stellar military victories: rolling back Saddam Hussein’s aggression against Kuwait in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, establishing a secure environment for the implementation of peace accords in the Balkans, driving the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and toppling Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime in a matter of weeks."

This essay explores the complex nature of the next president’s national security inheritance and offers recommendations for how the next president should begin to chart a new course to restore America’s credibility, influence and power in the world. In the face of skeptical publics at home and abroad, a deeply divided nation and Congress, disillusioned and wary allies, and tenacious adversaries, charting this new way forward for America will likely be the most difficult, vexing, and time-consuming challenge the next president will face. It will also be the most important. How he or she manages the inheritance will in large part determine whether U.S. security and influence will wax or wane still further in the years to come.