Sovereignty as Responsibility

This article examines the development of a new normative principle of international order, sovereignty as responsibility; its communitarian implications; and the ways in which the newly conceived responsibility of the “international community” to protect the people of states failing to live up to their responsibilities as defined by international norms can come to terms with the notion of democratic self-government.     

What Is Democracy? Liberal Institutions and Stability in Changing Societies

Is it possible to export democracy? That question underlies current U.S. foreign policy, and answering it requires an operational definition of democracy that distinguishes its essential attributes from circumstantial ones. Liberal representative government under law, sustained by a political culture that accepts open disagreement and demands accountability, provides the only form of democracy that has sustained itself over time. Democracy typically emerges from within a society, and history demonstrates the difficulty of making democracy work. Imposing it externally presents further challenges while risking a backlash. The project of spreading democracy must therefore be separated from the objective of establishing a stable order favoring American interests so that the latter end can be achieved by more modest means.     

A Strategy for Success: Innovation Will Renew American Leadership

While the foreign policy discussion in the United States today is focused upon the Iraq War and Islamist terrorism, America also faces other, more long-term challenges to its physical security and economic prosperity: the threats posed by our declining economic competitiveness and our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. As in the past, America's ability to prevail over these challenges will depend on its technological and industrial leadership, and especially our ability to continuously recreate it. The United States needs a national strategy focused upon developing new technologies and creating new industries.