What is SUSTAINABLE SECURITY? CAP's Gayle Smith

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http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/06/sustainable_security.html That much of the world has lost faith in America bodes ill for our national security because our role in the world is secured not simply by our military power or economic clout, but also by our ability to compel other nations to follow our lead. The next president will have the opportunity to craft a modern national security strategy that can equip the United States to lead a majority of capable, democratic states in pursuit of a global common gooda strategy that can guide a secure America that is the worlds champion for all of us. But positioning America to lead in a 21st century world will take more than extending a hand to our allies, fixing a long list of misdirected policies, or crafting a new national security strategy that is tough but also smart. With globalization providing the immutable backdrop to our foreign policy, America is today competing on a global playing field that is more complex, dynamic, and interdependent and thus far less certain than in the past. Leading in this new world will require a fundamental shift from our outdated notion of national security to a more modern concept of sustainable securitythat is, our security as defined by the contours of a world gone global and shaped by our common humanity. Sustainable security combines three approaches: * National security, or the safety of the United States * Human ƒsecurity, or the well-being and safety of people * Collective ƒsecurity, or the shared interests of the entire world Sustainable security, in short, can shape our continued ability to simultaneously prevent or defend against real-time threats to America, reduce the sweeping human insecurity around the world, and manage long term threats to our collective, global security. This new approach takes into account the many (and ongoing) changes that have swept our planet since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union.