U.S. in the World

...Two new books – The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria and The Second World by Parag Khanna – argue that the new global economy power will be more dispersed and multipolar.

"Mr. Zakaria believes we are experiencing modern history's third great power shift, after the rise of the West from the 15th century on, and the rise of the U.S. in the 19th century. But he argues that this latest transition is not so much about the decline of America as… more

Nuclear terrorism is an urgent threat, but policy debates have been dangerously dominated by caricatured depictions of terrorist groups and potential plots. In his latest book, On Nuclear Terrorism, Michael Levi argues that an obsession with worst-case scenarios and finding perfect defenses has blinded us to important opportunities to confront the nuclear threat.

On Jan. 30, the Nuclear Strategy & Nonproliferation Initiative drew together Levi and New America’s Priscilla Lewis and Jeffrey Lewis to engage in a discussion of… more

The Dream Speech Project of the U.S. in the World Initiative at New America Foundation invites Americans to ask themselves what they’d like to hear their elected leaders say to the nation about the global challenges we face and how we should engage with the rest of the world.   In July, a one-hour syndicated radio program based on the Dream Speech Project aired on more than 200 stations across the country and several stations abroad.  “If I Ran the Zoo:… more

Dr. Mark P. Lagon is Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (since January 2004). In this capacity, he has broad responsibility for multilateral policy development, negotiations and administration, particularly within the United Nations system. He has lead responsibility for UN-related human rights and humanitarian policy, UN administration and reform, as well as the IO Bureau's public diplomacy and outreach programs.

Dr. Lagon previously served as a Member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, where he focused… more

President Bush is likely to face in the not too distant future a “bleak binary choice” regarding Iran that juxtaposes two fundamental options that have profound geostrategic consequences. The first of these is to launch a military operation against Iran's perceived nuclear capacity, and the other is to acquiesce and adjust to Iran's eventual acquisition of nuclear weapons. These are the two framing options in the debate -- but concerned members of the foreign policy establishment are racing to construct… more

The U.S. in the World Initiative supports the work of advocates and experts who promote pragmatic, principled, constructive, and collaborative U.S. global engagement -- and… more