Afghanistan

I enjoyed this latter section of the President's speech last night. It is perhaps the clearest holistic indication to date of his view of America's role in the world:

As President, I refuse to set goals that go beyond our responsibility, our means, or our interests.  And I must weigh all of the challenges that our nation faces.  I don't have the luxury of committing to just one.  Indeed, I'm mindful of the words of President Eisenhower, who -- in discussing our national security -- said, "Each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration:  the need to maintain balance in and among national programs."

Over the past several years, we have lost that balance.  We've failed to appreciate the connection between our national security and our economy.  In the wake of an economic crisis, too many of our neighbors and friends are out of work and struggle to pay the bills.  Too many Americans are worried about the future facing our children.  Meanwhile, competition within the global economy has grown more fierce.  So we can't simply afford to ignore the price of these wars.
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But as we end the war in Iraq and transition to Afghan responsibility, we must rebuild our strength here at home.  Our prosperity provides a foundation for our power.  It pays for our military.  It underwrites our diplomacy.  It taps the potential of our people, and allows investment in new industry.  And it will allow us to compete in this century as successfully as we did in the last.  That's why our troop commitment in Afghanistan cannot be open-ended -- because the nation that I'm most interested in building is our own.

Now, let me be clear:  None of this will be easy.  The struggle against violent extremism will not be finished quickly, and it extends well beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan.  It will be an enduring test of our free society, and our leadership in the world.  And unlike the great power conflicts and clear lines of division that defined the 20th century, our effort will involve disorderly regions, failed states, diffuse enemies.

So as a result, America will have to show our strength in the way that we end wars and prevent conflict -- not just how we wage wars.  We'll have to be nimble and precise in our use of military power.  Where al Qaeda and its allies attempt to establish a foothold -- whether in Somalia or Yemen or elsewhere -- they must be confronted by growing pressure and strong partnerships.

And we can't count on military might alone.  We have to invest in our homeland security, because we can't capture or kill every violent extremist abroad.  We have to improve and better coordinate our intelligence, so that we stay one step ahead of shadowy networks. 

We will have to take away the tools of mass destruction.  And that's why I've made it a central pillar of my foreign policy to secure loose nuclear materials from terrorists, to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and to pursue the goal of a world without them -- because every nation must understand that true security will never come from an endless race for ever more destructive weapons; true security will come for those who reject them. 

We'll have to use diplomacy, because no one nation can meet the challenges of an interconnected world acting alone.  I've spent this year renewing our alliances and forging new partnerships.  And we have forged a new beginning between America and the Muslim world -- one that recognizes our mutual interest in breaking a cycle of conflict, and that promises a future in which those who kill innocents are isolated by those who stand up for peace and prosperity and human dignity. 

And finally, we must draw on the strength of our values -- for the challenges that we face may have changed, but the things that we believe in must not.  That's why we must promote our values by living them at home -- which is why I have prohibited torture and will close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.  And we must make it clear to every man, woman and child around the world who lives under the dark cloud of tyranny that America will speak out on behalf of their human rights, and tend to the light of freedom and justice and opportunity and respect for the dignity of all peoples.  That is who we are.  That is the source, the moral source, of America’s authority.

Since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, and the service and sacrifice of our grandparents and great-grandparents, our country has borne a special burden in global affairs.  We have spilled American blood in many countries on multiple continents.  We have spent our revenue to help others rebuild from rubble and develop their own economies.  We have joined with others to develop an architecture of institutions -- from the United Nations to NATO to the World Bank -- that provide for the common security and prosperity of human beings.

We have not always been thanked for these efforts, and we have at times made mistakes.  But more than any other nation, the United States of America has underwritten global security for over six decades -- a time that, for all its problems, has seen walls come down, and markets open, and billions lifted from poverty, unparalleled scientific progress and advancing frontiers of human liberty. 

For unlike the great powers of old, we have not sought world domination.  Our union was founded in resistance to oppression. We do not seek to occupy other nations.  We will not claim another nation’s resources or target other peoples because their faith or ethnicity is different from ours.  What we have fought for -- what we continue to fight for -- is a better future for our children and grandchildren.  And we believe that their lives will be better if other peoples’ children and grandchildren can live in freedom and access opportunity.  (Applause.)   

As a country, we're not as young -- and perhaps not as innocent -- as we were when Roosevelt was President.  Yet we are still heirs to a noble struggle for freedom.  And now we must summon all of our might and moral suasion to meet the challenges of a new age. 

In the end, our security and leadership does not come solely from the strength of our arms.  It derives from our people -- from the workers and businesses who will rebuild our economy; from the entrepreneurs and researchers who will pioneer new industries; from the teachers that will educate our children, and the service of those who work in our communities at home; from the diplomats and Peace Corps volunteers who spread hope abroad; and from the men and women in uniform who are part of an unbroken line of sacrifice that has made government of the people, by the people, and for the people a reality on this Earth.

Please join NDN on the evening of Wednesday, October 28 for an important discussion on the future of America’s involvement in Afghanistan. Leading the conversation will be two influential and knowledgeable guests: Congressman Adam Smith, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities of the House Armed Services Committee, and journalist Peter Bergen, the Co-Director of the New America Foundation’s Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative.

Congressman Smith will speak about his recent official trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Congressional outlook on the report on the war prepared by General Stanley McChrystal, and the Obama Administration's strategy. Bergen, who has visited Afghanistan frequently since 1993, will discuss the definition and possibility of American success in Afghanistan.

A brief reception including drinks and light hors d'oeuvre will begin at 6:30, with the discussion beginning at 7:00pm. If you are unable to attend, a live webcast will begin at 7:00pm as well.

NDN Event Space
729 15th St. NW, First Floor
Washington, DC
RSVP | Watch the Webcast

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NDN, a leading Washington, DC-based think tank, is adding major capacity to its key policy areas with the appointment of three new Fellows and a much-expanded role for one of its current Fellows. With the addition of James Crabtree of London, Nelson Cunningham of Washington, DC, and Joe Garcia of Miami as Fellows and a bigger role for current Fellow Mike Hais of Los Angeles, NDN will significantly increase the range and depth of its commentary.

James Crabtree, NDN Fellow: Based in London, Crabtree, an editor at Prospect, the UK’s leading monthly political magazine, has spent the last decade working in politics and journalism on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, he was a policy advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, wrote for the Economist and served in senior roles at the Insitute for Public Policy Research and various other UK think tanks. In the United States, Crabtree attended Harvard’s Kennedy School as a Fulbright Scholar and also worked as senior policy advisor to NDN's Globalization Initiative.

Crabtree will write about progressive politics from the UK and Europe, focusing broadly on what people "across the pond" think about U.S. issues. He also will provide perspectives on globalization, contributing commentary on current events and from his own travels such as his recent trip to Pakistan to look into the revolution in Pakistani media. Crabtree also will write about new technologies and media tools, analyzing the broad area of government transparency, openess and new techniques for political campaigning.

Nelson W. Cunningham, Chair, NDN’s Latin America Policy Initiative: Widely recognized as one of the nation’s foremost experts on U.S.-Latin America relations, Cunningham was special advisor to President Bill Clinton for Western Hemisphere affairs and advised the Obama campaign and transition team on Latin American policy issues. He is managing partner of McLarty Associates, an international consulting firm based in Washington, DC.
Cunningham will promote NDN’s long-standing commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, as well as to a progressive vision of globalization that looks to link the interests of Latin American and other developing nations more deeply with the United States. The Latin America Policy Initiative will focus on raising awareness of these issues in Washington, using NDN’s excellent relationships on Capitol Hill, the Administration and the NGO community. The initiative will also build concrete ties between the United States and our neighbors by sponsoring leadership training programs for promising young Americans in key Latin American countries.

Joe Garcia, NDN Fellow: Garcia, who previously served for more than three years as head of NDN’s Hispanic Strategy Center, has a long history of involvement in Cuban and Latin American issues and the fields of energy, foreign policy and human rights. In 1994, the late Governor Lawton Chiles appointed him to the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), where he advocated for lower monthly utility bills on behalf of Florida's families. In 1998, during Gov. Jeb Bush’s Administration, Garcia was elected Chairman of the PSC.

In 2000, the Cuban Amercian National Foundation named Garcia Executive Director. At CANF, he helped reshape U.S. Cuba policy and was a force for moderation in the Cuban American community. In 2004, NDN named Garcia head of its Hispanic Strategy Center for NDN. Garcia, based in Miami, serves on the Board of Directors of CANF and is one of the leading voices on U.S.-Cuba policy.

Garcia will write about U.S.-Cuban relations and other hemispheric issues.

Michael D. Hais, NDN Fellow: Hais, currently a Fellow at NDN and the New Policy Institute since November 2008 and affiliated with NDN since 2006, served for a decade as Vice President, Entertainment Research and for more than 22 years overall at Frank N. Magid Associates where he conducted audience research for hundreds of television stations, cable channels, and program producers in nearly all 50 states and more than a dozen foreign countries. Prior to joining Magid in 1983, Hais was a political pollster for Michigan Democrats and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Detroit. He received a B.A. from the University of Iowa, an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, all in political science. He is the co-author of Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics (Rutgers University Press, 2008), which New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani named as one of her 10 favorite books of 2008.

Hais, with Millennial Makeover co-author Morley Winograd, is one of the nation’s leading voices on the Millennial Generation, which has been the focus of much of his work for NDN. In his newly expanded role, Hais will examine important and interesting data from available public surveys and surveys commissioned by NDN and its affiliates. Themes and analysis will include attitudes toward race and ethnicity, the economy, foreign affairs, the Millennial Generation, but will not be limited to those topics. Hais is based in Los Angeles.