STRATEGIC

Introduction 7
live with. Therefore, we begin with an assessment of these three strategic
orientations by considering a posture of international restraint and
domestic renewal. This option, which we call “Come Home America”
adopts a narrow definition of U.S. interests, sets modest global objectives,
and accepts minimally acceptable outcomes, in exchange for
limiting America’s exposure to a more unstable world and freeing up
resources for domestic renewal. The second strategic option embraces
the traditional view of the United States as an “indispensable nation.” 12
It sees America’s role as the chief promoter of the liberal international
order and aspires to more maximalist goals. The third strategic concept
would keep the United States fully engaged in the world, but primarily
for the purposes of advancing the economic well-being of the United
States and its friends. Like the first option, it would attempt to set limits
on U.S. global security obligations. Readers who remember previous
political campaigns might think of this as “It’s the (Global) Economy,
Stupid.” 13 It accepts globalization of the economy as inevitable and
even desirable, and uses U.S. foreign policy to help make it work better
for the American people. Each alternative is developed as a plausible
strategic concept in the context of the contemporary American debate.
We do not endorse or recommend any of them. We assume that policymakers
will mix and match policies as circumstances demand.
For each strategic orientation, we explore the core political beliefs
and underlying assumptions about how the world works. The saying in
government that “he who controls the assumptions controls the policy”
remains true even as an administration revisits and revises its thinking
over the course of its term. After analyzing the assumptions, we correlate
options for global activism with budgetary constraints and levels
of risk—recognizing that risk perceptions are subjective and also that
12 This term was coined by Madeleine Albright: “If we have to use force, it is because we
are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other
countries into the future, and we see the danger here to all of us.” Madeleine Albright, Today,
NBC, February 19, 1998.
13 This was the campaign slogan of James Carville, Bill Clinton’s campaign manager, during
the 1992 presidential race. Carville held that many voters who did not believe that the 1990
recession was actually over would vote against the party in power. See Robert J. Samuelson,
“It’s Still the Economy, Stupid,” Washington Post, February 3, 2016.