Foreign policy encompasses a wide range of issues, from the diplomatic relations that are essential for the security of all nations to economic cooperation, humanitarian aid, and dealing with global issues like climate change or pandemics. It includes determining which countries to engage with, how best to secure our allies, and how to deal with the rising and threatening powers of today.
In many countries, people are divided about how active their nation should be in world affairs. Left-leaning people see a moral duty to be involved in the world and help countries with fewer resources than their own. Right-leaning people, on the other hand, believe that their country has a limited amount of resources and should focus on domestic problems and strive for self-sufficiency.
The United States should promote a global order that advances U.S. values and interests, including democracy, human rights, and free enterprise. It should use its military power, economic clout, and political influence to break the deadlocks that prevent progress on everything from promoting peace in the Balkans and Northern Ireland to preserving financial stability around the globe.
It should work to strengthen and adapt proven international institutions and arrangements, such as NATO’s recent transformation into a collective defense organization that is protecting the citizens of an ever-expanding north Atlantic region and doing for Europe’s east what it did for Europe’s west. It should also support policies that tie any federal funding of foreign activities—be it military or diplomatic or development assistance—to clear objectives that directly benefit Americans.
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