Barack Obama's essay on foreign policy for Foreign Affairs. Summary: After Iraq, we may be tempted to turn inward. That would be a mistake. The American moment is not over, but it must be seized anew. We must bring the war to a responsible end and then renew our leadership -- military, diplomatic, moral -- to confront new threats and capitalize on new opportunities. America cannot meet this century's challenges alone; the world cannot meet them without America.

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After thousands of lives lost and billions
of dollars spent, many Americans may be tempted to turn inward and cede our leadership
in world affairs. But this is a mistake we must not make. America cannot meet the
threats of this century alone, and the world cannot meet them without America. We
can neither retreat from the world nor try to bully it into submission. We must
lead the world, by deed and by example.
the security and well-being of each and every American depend
on the security and well-being of those who live beyond our borders. The mission
of the United States is to provide global leadership grounded in the understanding
that the world shares a common security and a common humanity.
To see American power in terminal decline is to ignore America's
great promise and historic purpose in the world
The best chance we have to leave Iraq a better
place is to pressure these warring parties to find a lasting political solution.
And the only effective way to apply this pressure is to begin a phased withdrawal
of U.S. forces, with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March
31, 2008 -- a date consistent with the goal set by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
To gain credibility in this effort, we must make clear that we seek
no permanent bases in Iraq. We should leave behind only a minimal over-the-horizon
military force in the region to protect American personnel and facilities, continue
training Iraqi security forces, and root out al Qaeda.
Changing the dynamic
in Iraq will allow us to focus our attention and influence on resolving the festering
conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians -- a task that the Bush administration
neglected for years.
In recent years, they have
all too often looked in vain. Our starting point must always be a clear and strong
commitment to the security of Israel, our strongest ally in the region and its only
established democracy.
Now more than ever, we must
strive to secure a lasting settlement of the conflict with two states living side
by side in peace and security. To do so, we must help the Israelis identify and
strengthen those partners who are truly committed to peace, while isolating those
who seek conflict and instability.
Tough-minded diplomacy,
backed by the whole range of instruments of American power -- political, economic,
and military -- could bring success even when dealing with long-standing adversaries
such as Iran and Syria.
Although we must not rule out using military force, we should not hesitate
to talk directly to Iran. Our diplomacy should aim to raise the cost for Iran of
continuing its nuclear program by applying tougher sanctions and increasing pressure
from its key trading partners.
At the same time, we
must show Iran -- and especially the Iranian people -- what could be gained from
fundamental change: economic engagement, security assurances, and diplomatic relations.
Diplomacy combined with pressure could also reorient Syria away from its radical
agenda to a more moderate stance -- which could, in turn, help stabilize Iraq, isolate
Iran, free Lebanon from Damascus' grip, and better secure Israel.
A strong military
is, more than anything, necessary to sustain peace.
We must use this moment both to rebuild our
military and to prepare it for the missions of the future.
We should expand our ground forces
by adding 65,000 soldiers to the army and 27,000 marines.
We must recruit the very best and invest in their
capacity to succeed. That means providing our servicemen and servicewomen with first-rate
equipment, armor, incentives, and training -- including in foreign languages and
other critical skills.
I will not
hesitate to use force, unilaterally if necessary, to protect the American people
or our vital interests whenever we are attacked or imminently threatened.
We must also consider using military
force in circumstances beyond self-defense in order to provide for the common security
that underpins global stability -- to support friends, participate in stability
and reconstruction operations, or confront mass atrocities. But when we do use force
in situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to garner the
clear support and participation of others
Finally, we must develop a strong international
coalition to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and eliminate North Korea's
nuclear weapons program. Iran and North Korea could trigger regional arms races,
creating dangerous nuclear flashpoints in the Middle East and East Asia. In confronting
these threats, I will not take the military option off the table. But our first measure
must be sustained, direct, and aggressive diplomacy -- the kind that the Bush administration
has been unable and unwilling to use.
We must refocus our efforts on Afghanistan
and Pakistan
We should
pursue an integrated strategy that reinforces our troops in Afghanistan and works
to remove the limitations placed by some NATO allies on their forces. Our strategy
must also include sustained diplomacy to isolate the Taliban and more effective development
programs that target aid to areas where the Taliban are making inroads.
To defeat al Qaeda, I will
build a twenty-first-century military and twenty-first-century partnerships as strong
as the anticommunist alliance that won the Cold War to stay on the offense everywhere
from Djibouti to Kandahar.
Finally, we need a comprehensive strategy
to defeat global terrorists -- one that draws on the full range of American power,
not just our military might. As a senior U.S. military commander put it, when people
have dignity and opportunity, "the chance of extremism being welcomed greatly, if
not completely, diminishes." It is for this reason that we need to invest with our
allies in strengthening weak states and helping to rebuild failed ones.
To empower forces of moderation, America
must make every effort to export opportunity -- access to education and health care,
trade and investment -- and provide the kind of steady support for political reformers
and civil society that enabled our victory in the Cold War. Our beliefs rest on
hope; the extremists' rest on fear. That is why we can -- and will -- win this struggle.
But today, NATO's challenge in Afghanistan has
exposed, as Senator Lugar has put it, "the growing discrepancy between NATO's
expanding missions and its lagging capabilities." To close this gap, I will rally
our NATO allies to contribute more troops to collective security operations
and to invest more in reconstruction and stabilization capabilities.
I will work to forge a more effective framework
in Asia that goes beyond bilateral agreements, occasional summits, and ad hoc arrangements,
such as the six-party talks on North Korea. We need an inclusive infrastructure
with the countries in East Asia that can promote stability and prosperity and help
confront transnational threats, from terrorist cells in the Philippines to avian
flu in Indonesia.
To that end, the United Nations requires
far-reaching reform. The UN Secretariat's management practices remain weak. Peacekeeping
operations are overextended. The new UN Human Rights Council has passed eight
resolutions condemning Israel -- but not a single resolution condemning the genocide
in Darfur or human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Yet none of these problems will be
solved unless America rededicates itself to the organization and its mission.
People around the world have heard a great
deal of late about freedom on the march. Tragically, many have come to associate
this with war, torture, and forcibly imposed regime change. To build a better, freer
world, we must first behave in ways that reflect the decency and aspirations of
the American people. This means ending the practices of shipping away prisoners
in the dead of night to be tortured in far-off countries, of detaining thousands
without charge or trial, of maintaining a network of secret prisons to jail people
beyond the reach of the law.
We need to invest in building capable, democratic states that
can establish healthy and educated communities, develop markets, and generate wealth.
Such states would also have greater institutional capacities to fight terrorism,
halt the spread of deadly weapons, and build health-care infrastructures to prevent,
detect, and treat deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and avian flu.
As president, I will double our annual
investment in meeting these challenges to $50 billion by 2012 and ensure that those
new resources are directed toward worthwhile goals.
I will couple our support with an insistent call
for reform, to combat the corruption that rots societies and governments from within.
I will do so not in the spirit of a patron but in the spirit of a partner -- a partner
mindful of his own imperfections.
Confronted by Hitler, Roosevelt said that
our power would be "directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil.
We Americans are not destroyers; we are builders." It is time for a president who
can build consensus here at home for an equally ambitious course.

Eli F 33Expand

Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century - Hillary Rodham Clinton

Clinton's essay on foreign policy for Foreign Affairs. Summary: The next U.S. president will have a moment of opportunity to reintroduce America to the world and restore our leadership. To build a world that is safe, prosperous, and just, we must get out of Iraq, rediscover the value of statesmanship, and live up to the democratic values that are the deepest source of our strength.

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After 9/11, the world rallied behind the United States as never before, supporting our efforts to remove the Taliban in Afghanistan and go after the al Qaeda leadership. We had a historic opportunity to build a broad global coalition to combat terror, increase the impact of our diplomacy, and create a world with more partners and fewer adversaries.
But we lost that opportunity by refusing to let the UN inspectors finish their work in Iraq and rushing to war instead. Moreover, we diverted vital military and financial resources from the struggle against al Qaeda and the daunting task of building a Muslim democracy in Afghanistan.
At the same time, we embarked on an unprecedented course of unilateralism: refusing to pursue ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, abandoning our commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, and turning our backs on the search for peace in the Middle East
. The next president will have a moment of opportunity to restore America's global standing and convince the world that America can lead once again. As president, I will seize that opportunity by reintroducing ourselves to the world. I will rebuild our power and ensure that the United States is committed to building a world we want, rather than simply defending against a world we fear.
The next president will be the first to inherit two wars, a long-term campaign against global terrorist networks, and growing tension with Iran as it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons.
The United States will face a resurgent Russia whose future orientation is uncertain and a rapidly growing China that must be integrated into the international system. Moreover, the next administration will have to confront an unpredictable and dangerous situation in the Middle East that threatens Israel and could potentially bring down the global economy by disrupting oil supplies
To meet these challenges, we will have to replenish American power by getting out of Iraq, rebuilding our military, and developing a much broader arsenal of tools in the fight against terrorism
There is a time for force and a time for diplomacy; when properly deployed, the two can reinforce each other. U.S. foreign policy must be guided by a preference for multilateralism, with unilateralism as an option when absolutely necessary to protect our security or avert an avoidable tragedy.
Make international institutions work, and work through them when possible. Contrary to what many in the current administration appear to believe, international institutions are tools rather than traps. The United States must be prepared to act on its own to defend its vital interests, but effective international institutions make it much less likely that we will have to do so. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have understood this for decades. When such institutions work well, they enhance our influence.
Calls for expanding civil and political rights in countries plagued by mass poverty and ruled by tiny wealthy elites will fall on deaf ears unless democracy actually delivers enough material benefits to improve people's lives.
Ending the war in Iraq is the first step toward restoring the United States' global leadership. The war is sapping our military strength, absorbing our strategic assets, diverting attention and resources from Afghanistan, alienating our allies, and dividing our people. The war in Iraq has also stretched our military to the breaking point. We must rebuild our armed services and restore them body and soul.
We must withdraw from Iraq in a way that brings our troops home safely, begins to restore stability to the region, and replaces military force with a new diplomatic initiative to engage countries around the world in securing Iraq's future.
While working to stabilize Iraq as our forces withdraw, I will focus U.S. aid on helping Iraqis, not propping up the Iraqi government. Financial resources will go only where they will be used properly, rather than to government ministries or ministers that hoard, steal, or waste them.
As we leave Iraq militarily, I will replace our military force with an intensive diplomatic initiative in the region. The Bush administration has belatedly begun to engage Iran and Syria in talks about the future of Iraq. This is a step in the right direction, but much more must be done. As president, I will convene a regional stabilization group composed of key allies, other global powers, and all the states bordering Iraq.
Finally, we need to engage the world in a global humanitarian effort to confront the human costs of this war. We must address the plight of the two million Iraqis who have fled their country and the two million more who have been displaced internally.
As we redeploy our troops from Iraq, we must not let down our guard against terrorism. I will order specialized units to engage in targeted operations against al Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorist organizations in the region.
Getting out of Iraq will enable us to play a constructive role in a renewed Middle East peace process that would mean security and normal relations for Israel and the Palestinians. The fundamental elements of a final agreement have been clear since 2000: a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank in return for a declaration that the conflict is over, recognition of Israel's right to exist, guarantees of Israeli security, diplomatic recognition of Israel, and normalization of its relations with Arab states.
U.S. diplomacy is critical in helping to resolve this conflict. In addition to facilitating negotiations, we must engage in regional diplomacy to gain Arab support for a Palestinian leadership that is committed to peace and willing to engage in a dialogue with the Israelis.
I will work to expand and modernize the military so that fighting wars no longer comes at the expense of deployments for long-term deterrence, military readiness, or responses to urgent needs at home.
We must develop a comprehensive strategy focusing on education, intelligence, and law enforcement to counter not only the terrorists themselves but also the larger forces fueling support for their extremism.
The forgotten frontline in the war on terror is Afghanistan, where our military effort must be reinforced. The Taliban cannot be allowed to regain power in Afghanistan; if they return, al Qaeda will return with them.
it would also signal to our NATO partners that the war in Afghanistan and the broader fight against extremism in South Asia are battles that we can and must win. Yet we cannot succeed unless we design a strategy that treats the entire region as an interconnected whole, where crises overlap with one another and the danger of a chain reaction of disasters is real.
We must also strengthen the national and local governments and resolve the problems along Afghanistan's border.
To maximize our effectiveness, we have to rebuild our alliances. The problem we face is global; we must therefore be attentive to the values, concerns, and interests of our allies and partners. That means doing a better job of building counterterrorist capacity around the world.
True statesmanship requires that we engage with our adversaries, not for the sake of talking but because robust diplomacy is a prerequisite to achieving our aims.
The Bush administration refuses to talk to Iran about its nuclear program, preferring to ignore bad behavior rather than challenge it.
As a result, we have lost precious time. Iran must conform to its nonproliferation obligations and must not be permitted to build or acquire nuclear weapons. If Iran does not comply with its own commitments and the will of the international community, all options must remain on the table.
On the other hand, if Iran is in fact willing to end its nuclear weapons program, renounce sponsorship of terrorism, support Middle East peace, and play a constructive role in stabilizing Iraq, the United States should be prepared to offer Iran a carefully calibrated package of incentives.
Neither North Korea nor Iran will change course as a result of what we do with our own nuclear weapons, but taking dramatic steps to reduce our nuclear arsenal would build support for the coalitions we need to address the threat of nuclear proliferation and help the United States regain the moral high ground.
To build the world we want, we must begin by speaking honestly about the problems we face.
Education is the foundation of economic opportunity and should lie at the heart of America's foreign assistance efforts.
In 1825, 50 years after the Battle of Bunker Hill, the great secretary of state Daniel Webster laid the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument that stands today in Boston. He exulted in the simple fact that America had survived and flourished, and he celebrated "the benefit which the example of our country has produced, and is likely to produce, on human freedom and human happiness." He gloried not in American power but rather in the power of the American idea, the idea that "with wisdom and knowledge men may govern themselves." And he urged his audience, and all Americans, to maintain this example and "take care that nothing may weaken its authority with the world."
Two centuries later, our economic power and military might have grown beyond anything that our forefathers could have imagined. But that power and might can only be sustained and renewed if we can regain our authority with the world, the authority not simply of a large and wealthy nation but of the American idea. If we can live up to that idea, if we can exercise our power wisely and well, we can make America great again.

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