Obama's Foreign Policy Advice

Today we are starting to see the first outlines of the Obama foreign policy.  As we try and understand it, perhaps the foreign policy writings of Obama's new Deputy Chief of Staff, Mona Sutphen could be helpful.  About twelve months ago she published a book entitled The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise

In it, she lays out the case that the United States must get its own house in order, making sure that American children can compete, American workers can adjust, America's military remains cutting-edge, and American diplomacy entices rather than alienates. While America must be prepared for the possibility that a hostile superpower may one day emerge, it has to be careful not to turn a distant, uncertain threat into an immediate one. Washington should welcome the pivotal powers into a vigorous international order to share the burden of solving pressing global problems of peace, climate, health, and growth.

My conversation with Mona Sutphen: