ABSTRACT
The national security of the United States is not only inextricably bound up with the peace of the world. The revolution of rising expectations means that both peace and security depend more and more on the provision of a tolerable quality of life to all the people of the world. The United States has a special role in helping to manage global change. Economic power, as a consequence, has also become more dispersed. The influence of Western Europe and Japan has grown relative to the United States. The United States is thus committed to a policy of constructive global engagement, a policy of trying to influence change in directions that are compatible with our interests and values. The effort to make human rights an essential standard of our foreign policy, while not establishing it as a precondition for all ties with other countries, has been difficult and demanding.
