The United States emerged from World War II as the architect of the international order — the United Nations, the Marshall Plan, NATO, the Bretton Woods institutions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whatever the contradictions and hypocrisies of American foreign policy in the decades since, the framework itself — rules-based, multilateral, grounded in international law and human rights — represented a genuine and transformative vision for how nations could coexist and cooperate.
That framework is under assault from within. The withdrawal from international agreements, the denigration of alliances built over generations, the embrace of authoritarian leaders while democracy backslides globally, the use of tariffs and economic coercion as first-resort tools — these are not the actions of a country that believes in the order it built. They are the actions of a declining power trying to extract short-term advantage at the cost of long-term leadership.
American strength is not solely military. It is the credibility that comes from being a country that means what it says, keeps its commitments, and treats its allies as partners rather than subordinates. It is soft power — the appeal of American values, culture, and institutions — which cannot be sustained when those institutions are being undermined at home.
A coherent American foreign policy for this moment requires re-engaging with the multilateral institutions we helped build, treating climate change and democratic backsliding as the security threats they are, and rebuilding the diplomatic capacity that has been systematically hollowed out.
But the deeper question is what American leadership looks like in a multipolar world where we are one significant power among several. What does constructive engagement actually mean? What are we willing to give as well as take?
What does responsible American leadership in the world look like? Submit your vision.