Global Leadership

Joseph I. Lieberman, an independent Democrat, is a former senator from Connecticut. Jon Kyl, a Republican, is a former senator from Arizona. They co-chair the American Enterprise Institute's American Internationalism Project . The case for American retrenchment has gained new traction in Washington. Much as in the past, economic problems and public war-weariness have spurred calls from Democrats and Republicans alike for neo-isolationist policies — demands for retreat from the world clothed in the language of...

Joseph I. Lieberman, an independent Democrat, is a former senator from Connecticut. Jon Kyl, a Republican, is a former senator from Arizona. They co-chair the American Enterprise Institute's American Internationalism Project . The case for American retrenchment has gained new traction in Washington. Much as in the past, economic problems and public war-weariness have spurred calls from Democrats and Republicans alike for neo-isolationist policies — demands for retreat from the world clothed in the language of...

Below are the remarks of Sen. John Kerry as delivered to the Democratic National Convention on September 6, 2012: Thank you. Thank you. In this -- in this campaign we have a fundamental choice. Will we protect our country and our allies? Advance our interests and ideals? Do battle where we must and make peace where we can? Or will we entrust our place in the world to someone who just hasn't learned the lessons of the last decade? We've all learned Mitt Romney doesn't know much about foreign policy.

Our military and national security interests are at a critical juncture. As a former colleague of Chuck Hagel's, I know that he is a good man with a record of service and sacrifice that deserves respect. While his service is commendable, the lens through which his nomination as defense secretary must be considered needs to be both broader and more refined. Whether he is the right person to lead the Defense Department should be determined by his judgment, his fundamental view of America's role in the world and his assessment of the...

Regarding Michael Makovsky and Blaise Misztal's Dec. 9 op-ed, " Obama shifts toward containment ": The Obama administration's shift from preventing a nuclear Iran to promising to "isolate" a nuclear Iran is not just an abdication of global leadership, it is also an example of wishful thinking. Not only would a nuclear-armed Iran spark an arms race across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, it would also leave Tehran emboldened to aggressively expand its power and influence across the region, with little fear of...

PRESIDENT OBAMA took office in 2009 with a soaring message of inclusiveness and optimism that proved overly ambitious in the bleak economy he inherited. As he swears his oath for a second time, the nightmarish collapse is a memory, thanks in part to his leadership, and the potential for growth and renewal very real. We hope, given the opportunity, he will rededicate himself to being a president who is bigger than party and above partisan squabbling. Americans remain pessimistic or at best fretful, but on balance there's no country with which they ought to want to...

With the American superpower trapped between two wars abroad and economic crisis at home, the time could be ripe for a new force to assume the mantle of global leadership. How about Bangladesh? It's not as nutty as it sounds. Economists Vijaya Ramachandran and Enrique Rueda-Sabater propose a simple system for deciding who gets to run the world. Call it the Two Percent Doctrine: If your country has either 2 percent of the planet's people or 2 percent of the world's gross domestic product, you're in, a proud member of a committee...

Our military and national security interests are at a critical juncture. As a former colleague of Chuck Hagel's, I know that he is a good man with a record of service and sacrifice that deserves respect. While his service is commendable, the lens through which his nomination as defense secretary must be considered needs to be both broader and more refined. Whether he is the right person to lead the Defense Department should be determined by his judgment, his fundamental view of America's role in the world and his...

In the State of the Union Address last Wednesday, President Obama said ?the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy and America must be that nation.? At the same time, on the other coast, 75 clean energy investors, entrepreneurs, and researchers were debating whether the U.S. can gain this leadership position. They agreed that even though Silicon Valley leads the world in technology, it is not clear if it will ever lead in Cleantech.

As the heroic captain Richard Phillips reminded us when he offered himself instead of his crew to the pirates, sea captains, like all good leaders, are expected to sacrifice themselves and their personal interests to protect those under their command. What are other examples of leaders who have succeeded or failed to live up to this obligation? Retired Navy Capt. Bob Schoultz directs the master of science in global leadership program at the University of San Diego's School of Business Administration.

PRESIDENT OBAMA took office in 2009 with a soaring message of inclusiveness and optimism that proved overly ambitious in the bleak economy he inherited. As he swears his oath for a second time, the nightmarish collapse is a memory, thanks in part to his leadership, and the potential for growth and renewal very real. We hope, given the opportunity, he will rededicate himself to being a president who is bigger than party and above partisan squabbling. Americans remain pessimistic or at best fretful, but on balance there's no country with which they ought to want to...

Here is a transcript of President Obama's remarks as he nominates Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to the Cabinet position of Secretary of State, replacing Hillary Clinton. PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon, everyone. You know, when I took office, our nation was engaged in two wars and Al Qaida was entrenched in their safe havens. Many of our alliances were frayed and America's standing in the world had suffered. Over the past four years, we've begun a new...

Below are the remarks of Sen. John Kerry as delivered to the Democratic National Convention on September 6, 2012: Thank you. Thank you. In this -- in this campaign we have a fundamental choice. Will we protect our country and our allies? Advance our interests and ideals? Do battle where we must and make peace where we can? Or will we entrust our place in the world to someone who just hasn't learned the lessons of the last decade? We've all learned Mitt Romney doesn't know much about foreign policy.

Executive Director, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition Liz Schrayer serves as the founding Executive Director of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, responsible for the overall direction and strategy for the influential and well-respected broad-based coalition. Ms. Schrayer also serves as President of Schrayer & Associates, Inc., a nationwide political consulting firm specializing in grassroots organizing. Prior to beginning her own firm, Ms. Schrayer served as the national Political Director of AIPAC...

Regarding Michael Makovsky and Blaise Misztal's Dec. 9 op-ed, " Obama shifts toward containment ": The Obama administration's shift from preventing a nuclear Iran to promising to "isolate" a nuclear Iran is not just an abdication of global leadership, it is also an example of wishful thinking. Not only would a nuclear-armed Iran spark an arms race across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, it would also leave Tehran emboldened to aggressively expand its power and influence across the region, with little fear of...

Only Germany can save the euro zone, therefore Germany must — such is the refrain heard around the world. For non-Germans, it is increasingly hard to understand why the country is not moving forcefully to stop the debt crisis. This past week's coordinated action by the world's top central banks to strengthen global lending only underscored the need for urgent action in Europe. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who sees the continent " on the edge of a precipice ," made a dramatic appeal Monday for...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke called for optimism about the long-term future of the U.S. economy yesterday, arguing that the nation has always emerged stronger from periods of economic despair. In a commencement speech at Boston College's law school, Bernanke spoke with an unusually personal tone of his unlikely voyage from son of a small-town pharmacist in South Carolina to Harvard University student to one of the world's most powerful economic policymakers. After saying that "the business reporters should go get...

It is the global economy this time, stupid. Even the Bush administration now accepts that serious international economic coordination is needed to overcome the shattering financial crisis that has reduced the final days of the U.S. election season to slogan-mongering irrelevance. The campaign promises of Barack Obama and John McCain -- to revitalize the national economy single-handedly while painlessly providing expensive new benefits to the electorate -- are the political equivalent of collateralized debt obligations or junk...

LONDON The first week of August 2011 will be remembered as a singularly irrational, wasteful and shameful moment in the political and economic history of the United States. It reflected much of what is wrong with the priorities of our political elites and the obsessions of those who now hold effective veto power over our government. It began with the world hanging on to every development in the debt-ceiling negotiations as it fretted over whether Washington's dysfunction would lead to American default and global calamity.