It’s time for American to be “re-branded,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said at a March 11 discussion on her new book, Memo to the President Elect: How Can We Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership.
   
“We talk about America as an exceptional nation, but we can’t ask that exceptions be made about us,” said Albright, who is Georgetown’s Mortara Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy

The professor is not the only one talking about the future of the nation’s foreign policy – Georgetown’s Institute of Diplomacy (ISD) recently released a report, America’s Role in the World: Foreign Policy Choices for the Next President.

Albright lists in her book five key foreign-policy issues facing the next administration in the foreign policy arena: fighting terrorists without creating more terrorists or anti-Americanism; dealing with the proliferation of nuclear weapons; restoring value to the concept of democracy; managing the negative aspects of globalization and the growing gap between the rich and poor; and dealing with global warming and climate change.
She argues that the war in Iraq has become the greatest disaster in American foreign policy in terms of unintended consequences.

“We Americans like to think of ourselves as exemplars of generosity and virtue, but to many people in many places, we are selfish, imperious, and violent,” Albright advises the next president in her book. “The voters will want you to transform this perception while also protecting us, defeating our enemies, and securing our economic future…”

Albright, who teaches the course America’s National Security Tool Box at Georgetown, also touched on North Korea and countries in Africa including Sudan, Kenya and the Congo, as well as Latin America, India and China as regions needing close attention.

“A world of different issues have been put into play,” she said. “We need to get our priorities set and restore America’s reputation.”
Scholars at ISD argue that the next president cannot waste any time tackling critical issues abroad.

“Traditionally, U.S. administrations take forever to get settled in,” noted Chester Crocker, James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies and co-chair of the project that produced the report. “The point we’re trying to make is we can’t afford that. We have too many challenges; it’s too important a moment with too many issues. We can’t do business as usual.”

ISD assembled a group of former administration officials, scholars and foreign affairs practitioners who assessed general strategic priorities and outlined 13 foreign-policy choices facing the next administration.
After making sure the next administration is staffed with qualified and competent people, and encouraging bipartisan support in Congress, the next president must address the country’s dependence on foreign oil and face the challenge of globalization, the report states.

America should then focus on promoting U.S. values abroad and working together with allies and coalitions to address major global challenges such as relations with Iraq, Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Like Albright, the report authors also discuss dealing with terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and environmental challenges.
Voters can also learn something from the study, said Casimir Yost, director of ISD and project director of the report.

“Listen carefully to what a candidate is saying on an issue,” he said. “But imagine what the other possibilities are with respect to that issue. We’re providing a guide to what are some of the most important foreign-policy choices that will confront the next administration.”

Yost notes that despite the challenges facing the next president, this is a chance for the next president to provide guidance to the nation about foreign policy priorities for the future, and give the country a sense of America’s mission.

“After the November elections, this is an opportunity for the winner to lay out his or her vision of where this country should go internationally,” Yost says. “And, in effect, lay out a strategic framework for how decisions are going to be made in the presidency to follow.”

Source: Blue & Gray (March 17, 2008)