Just over a year from now, the country will face a critical national election. But between now and then, Democrats must cross a threshold of credibility on national security issues before much of the public will listen to the rest of their powerful case for firing the incumbent.
Recent events in Iraq and the Middle East generally, compounded by the Bush administration's chronic failure to obtain international support for U.S. policies, have emboldened some Democrats to believe that the facts on the ground alone can erase the big advantage Republicans hold on national security issues.
That is wishful thinking. Simply exploiting administration policy failures without laying out a coherent critique of the GOP philosophy toward the rest of the world will take Democrats only so far in challenging Bush's claim that the country is more secure than it was when he took office. More importantly, Democrats must offer a clear, bold, and principled alternative strategy for advancing U.S. values and interests in a dangerous world if they are to refute Republican efforts to label them as untrustworthy on national security issues.
To that end, a distinguished group of 15 national security experts convened by the Progressive Policy Institute have drafted an important new document aimed at reconnecting Democrats with their proud tradition of muscular internationalism. Entitled "Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security Strategy," this manifesto was released yesterday at a Washington press conference emceed by PPI President Will Marshall, and attended by special guest speakers, Sens. Joe Biden and Evan Bayh.
"Progressive Internationalism" proposes a six-step national security agenda for the Democratic Party and for the United States:
- Advance democracy abroad to make us safer at home: Arguing that America's power should serve our democratic ideals, the authors call for a new push for political and economic reforms in the greater Middle East, which has emerged as the world's most unstable and dangerous region. Their strategy for encouraging forces of reform and modernization in the region includes a new Middle East Trade Initiative to spur growth and development, new aid for governments that embrace openness and accountability, and a crash program to reduce America's dependence on oil.
- Prevent terrorists and dangerous regimes from acquiring weapons of mass destruction: If during the Cold War we faced an arms race to build weapons, we are now in a race to keep them out of the wrong hands. Democrats would pursue a collective approach in dealing with the dangerous situation in North Korea by engaging the United Nations and North Korea's neighbors; and would focus on preventing the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) through expansion of the successful Nunn-Lugar program, rather than relying on military preemption of the use of WMD.
- Plug gaps in homeland defense: Democrats would bring an overdue sense of urgency to defending our homeland by creating America's first-ever domestic intelligence organization; offering state and local leaders useful guidance based on genuine threat assessment; merging terrorist watch lists and ensuring information sharing among law enforcement agencies; and by investing in resources to equip police, fire fighters and public health officials with the tools needed to protect their communities.
- Transform the U.S. military and use it more effectively: Democrats would make room for investments to modernize and sustain America's military superiority into the future by dismantling obsolete Cold War infrastructure, working toward assuring the "information dominance" clearly necessary in dealing with today's threats, and making smarter use of American military power. They would also press for an expanded NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, and maintain a robust military presence in Iraq until security and stability have been achieved.
- Reinvigorate America's strategic alliances: Democratic presidents have made America's strategic alliances a cornerstone of their foreign policy. Democrats still believe that our alliances are as important as ever. They intend not to abandon them, but to reorient them to new challenges by strengthening and reforming international institutions such as NATO, the United Nations, the international financial institutions, and the World Trade Organization.
- Restore American global economic leadership: Democrats would revive U.S. leadership in the global economy by restoring the dynamism of the American economy through a rejection of the Bush administration's policies of fiscal recklessness; offering a fundamentally new approach to trade and economic relations with the Muslim world; renewing and expanding trade agreements and negotiations; and encouraging reform of multilateral lending institutions to tackle corruption and poverty more vigorously.
Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, hailed "Progressive Internationalism" as addressing the Democratic Party's need for a national security doctrine that offers "a better approach, a coherent plan, and a superior strategy" as compared with the administration's policies. Recognizing the negative stereotypes of Democratic weakness on national security, Biden also said the document laid out a clear alternative to "the neoconservative right and the non-interventionist left."
Bayh, a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, emphasized the continuity of "Progressive Internationalism" with the rich tradition of Democratic national security thinking that stretches back to Thomas Jefferson, and that encompasses such critical contributors to the world's peace and freedom as Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. This tradition, he said, puts America on "the right side of human history, and the right side of human nature" in stressing the universal power of the values of freedom, democracy and mutual respect among nations.
As the authors of "Progressive Internationalism" conclude: "The party that led America out of isolation in the 20th century is prepared to lead America out of unilateralism in the 21st century. We are confident that a new Democratic strategy, grounded in the party's tradition of muscular internationalism, can keep Americans safer than the Republicans' go-it-alone policy, which has alienated our natural allies and overstretched our resources. We aim to rebuild the moral foundation of U.S. global leadership by harnessing America's awesome power to universal values of liberal democracy."
Democrats take notice: It's not enough to attack Bush's foreign policy blunders, and it's less than useless to give the impression that Democrats will replace unilateralism with isolationism or an allergy to the use of force. Democrats have a principled tradition in foreign policy and national security that's more urgently relevant than ever. It's time to let the world -- and the American people -- know it.
Blueprint Keywords: Extra Security Strategy
