Indispensable nation: the world needs the US

The U.S. is moving deeper into campaign season, which is likely to harden our internal divisions. Our nation’s rivals will amplify and exploit these divisions for geostrategic advantage.

Elections are about the national good. To that end, the parties must see their duty to rise above the debilitating partisan divide and unite behind a future-defining national priority: strengthening U.S. global standing and leadership.

Without meeting this imperative, we cannot possibly forge the robust economic, trade and security alliances and partnerships on which the nation’s long-term security and prosperity, and the future of democracy depend. 

Strong geopolitical, demographic and economic forces are drastically reshaping the global operating environment creating new, complex challenges to U.S. leadership and the ever-greater need for it. China’s economic rise exerts a tremendous gravitational pull on every market that lands its investments or provides its raw materials, expanding its authoritarian influence.

Russia’s status as a major energy producer has fueled its military buildup and created hesitancy in some quarters to confront its revanchist aggression. Coping with these and other challenges posed by the modern economic, geostrategic and security landscape will require new thinking and approaches rooted in the timeless values responsible for America’s unprecedented power and influence.

The greatest threats to America’s leadership, however, are not external or circumstantial. They are internal and self-inflicted over numerous administrations and congresses. The net effect is causing our allies and adversaries to question whether the U.S. can sustain the cohesiveness to lead, the stamina to stand up for its values and the conviction to live up to its commitments.  

Over the last decade, nations from around the globe have often questioned America’s unwavering commitment to the world’s most troublesome security challenges. For the last century, America has stood as the global defender of democracy and protector from totalitarianism. The watching world takes note of what it perceives as a quiet American withdrawal from its global leadership role. The current conflict and instability in the Middle East underscores that the Middle East Peace Process has languished despite decades of US intentions to see it to fruition. Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability remains largely unchecked, as do its attacks and harassment of foreign vessels in international waters, and continued support of terrorist proxies.  

This year, NATO — the most successful and consequential military alliance in history — celebrates its 75th anniversary. Yet the free world fears we might no longer appreciate the alliance’s utility or have the conviction to lead. Even U.S. support for Ukraine against Russian tyranny is in question. This projects a different nation than the one that courageously signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances in 1994, promising security assistance to Ukraine in connection with its commitment to abandon its nuclear weapons. 

Three imperatives are in order if the U.S. is to eliminate our friends’ fear and dash our rivals’ hopes about a voluntary U.S. departure from global leadership, and if we are to build the strong alliances needed for freedom to prevail in the 21st century. 

First, we must honor our word. Reliability between nations is fundamental to enduring trust and friendship. We must now demonstrate through our actions that our word carries weight. We must leave no question that America will stand up for its principles and honor its international commitments. We can no longer afford disappearing redlines. 

Today, this means providing aid and equipment necessary for Ukraine to defend itself and to secure the margins of free Europe. It means reassuring Taiwan we are unwavering in our commitment to its freedom and security. The foes of liberty must know that the U.S. will have its debates and disagreements but remains unshakeable in defense of our values and the fulfillment of our obligations.

Second, we must show the agility and competence to cope with a changing global operating environment. Techno-strategic competition is shaping the global future. Winning requires fresh whole-of-society strategies and strong public-private sector cooperation. Dynamic cross-sector partnerships are needed to fully harness the indispensable innovative and problem-solving capabilities of America’s unmatched private sector. They are our best hope for tackling today’s complex economic, technological, diplomatic and developmental challenges. America is uniquely positioned to forge such partnerships to out-innovate our rivals and counter state capitalism while building the strong multilateral commercial relations underpinning international prosperity and stability. 

Third, we must set an example worth emulating. A “house divided against itself cannot stand,” much less thrive and lead. Election years focus on our intramural disputes and differences, obscuring the common goals and aspirations that truly define us. 

America’s form of government has long been the envy of the world. Vigorous debate and strong disagreement are fundamentals of healthy democracy. However, so is functionality and the ability to forge and sustain political consensus. As the founders predicted, factionalism and unbridled partisanship is the greatest threat to the nation and cause of democracy, making it increasingly difficult to do the things we know we must do for our own good.  

Today, the nation’s divisive and degrading political culture is sapping our strength, turning off our friends, discouraging would-be allies and emboldening the rivals of freedom who have a very different view of human rights and the future of mankind than ours. Overcoming these perilous trends must top the national agenda if we are to ensure the nation’s security, prosperity and ability to lead in the years ahead.

Through it all the U.S. remains an indispensable nation and “the last, best hope of earth.” We have built the world’s largest and most innovative economy and the strongest military, principally because our form of government and its underlying principles are on the right side of history.  

Sustaining American leadership and the nation’s privileged, hard-earned and necessary role in the world is the defining challenge of the age. We must embrace the hard work of meeting this responsibility on which rests the future of the nation and the prospects for liberty and human progress. The world needs the United States. 

Gen. James L. Jones (Ret.), president and chairman of Jones Group International, is a former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps (1999-2003), supreme allied commander of NATO (2003-2006) and national security advisor to President Obama (2009-10). General Tod Wolters (Ret.) served as supreme allied commander of NATO from 2019 to 2022. Gen. Craig McKinley (Ret.) served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser (Ret.) served as Chief of Staff, U.S. Special Operations Command and Combatant Commander for United States Africa Command.