A nation must think before it acts.
The most important national security challenge for the next president will be rebuilding a domestic consensus on America’s role in the world. Unless the president can answer fundamental questions voters are asking, she or he will be hobbled in foreign policy. Only having done that can our next president proceed to adopt policies and develop strategies that manage a rising China and a declining Russia, organize countries with common interests to stanch the wildfires burning in the Middle East, and reclaim for our country the international stature that fosters our security and prosperity.