Council Comments
Miriam Sapiro
President, Summit Strategies International

On September 11, 2001, the world stood strong with America as we readied our response to the worst act of terrorism this country has faced. But today even NATO allies shun our policies. We have been weakened less by fear of Al Qaeda than by our government's misdeeds and misadventures. We have lost more than the lives of thousands of civilians and soldiers; we have lost our moral bearings. Whoever takes office in 2009 - Democrat or Republican - will inherit tremendous problems in nearly every area.

The most important international legal challenge facing the new President will be to restore America's faith in the rule of law, both at home and abroad. We should not want a Constitution of the United States, or a Charter of the United Nations, so malleable that almost anything goes. Such an approach undermines our security rather than strengthens it. This is not to say that international rules of the road are never broken. There are times when a nation believes its most vital security interests are threatened, and no other option is viable. But those situations should constitute the exception, not the rule. The next President must not be not afraid to interpret the laws of the United States as they were written, and to seek to change them through the legislative process when that is warranted. The next President should not be afraid to work with the rest of the world - allies, partners and even foes - to address our most pressing problems. The next President should not be afraid of forging new rules and regimes to deal with economic deprivation, environmental degradation and other common threats to global sustainability and prosperity. Above all, the next President should be ready to exert genuine leadership to create a comprehensive, inclusive approach to the most pressing challenges to our national security that emanate from terrorism, nuclear proliferation, pandemic disease, and a combination of these threats.