"The vision, ideas, and solutions they put forward in this book have the potential to redeem American foreign policy." -- Brent Scowcroft
"I salute the Managing Global Insecurity (MGI) project and this book, Power and Responsibility, for undertaking the challenging endeavor of strengthening and improving our current means of international cooperation. This book sets a platform from which to take forward the vital agenda of restoring American leadership and creating a more effective international system." -- Madeleine K. Albright
"Power and Responsibility offers timely, relevant, and responsible advice on America's future foreign policy. The authors address our need to strengthen our alliances and forge relationships based on common interests. Addressing twenty-first century challenges will require engaging the world with strong leadership and a twenty-first century frame of reference." -- Chuck Hagel
WASHINGTON, March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As soon as he was sworn into office on January 20, 2009, President Barack Obama was immediately faced with security threats unconstrained by borders. From climate change, nuclear proliferation and terrorism to conflict, poverty, disease and economic instability, these threats overwhelm an outdated and unrepresentative post-World War II international security system. In their important and timely new book, Power and Responsibility: Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats (Brookings Institution Press; March 3, 2009; $32.95), Bruce Jones, Carlos Pascual, and Stephen John Stedman argue that, in order to advance its own interests, the United States must learn to govern in an interdependent world, exercise leadership through cooperation and forge a new compact with the world's traditional and emerging powers.
With a new approach to sovereignty and cooperation, Power and Responsibility outlines a vision for an international order that can promote global security and prosperity for the next 50 years. The authors argue that international cooperation must be built on the principle of responsible sovereignty--the idea that in an interconnected world, sovereignty entails obligations and duties toward other states as well as to one's own citizens. The first step in strengthening international relations will be the restoration of American credibility and leadership, particularly American re-commitment to a rule-based international system. In addition, the U.S. must institutionalize cooperation with rising powers and promote effective international institutions that will provide legitimacy, mobilize resources and deliver on top global challenges.
The result of a collaborative project on Managing Global Insecurity, Power and Responsibility also draws its findings from the project's Advisory Group, composed of prominent figures from the United States and abroad, including Madeleine Albright, John Podesta, Richard Armitage, EU High Representative Javier Solana, former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, and one-time Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
As President Obama takes his first steps into his term, the time has arrived for a serious rethinking of American global leadership for the 21st century.
About the Authors
Bruce Jones is director of the Center for International Cooperation at New York University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He recently served as deputy research director for the United Nations High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change.
Carlos Pascual is vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at Brookings. He previously served as coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization at the State Department and as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Stephen John Stedman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings. He recently served as assistant secretary-general and special advisor to the UN secretary-general.
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and innovative policy solutions. For more than 90 years, Brookings has analyzed current and emerging issues and produced new ideas that matter -- for the nation and the world.
Power and Responsibility: Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats
By Bruce Jones, Carlos Pascual, and Stephen John Stedman
Brookings Institution Press
Pub date: March 3, 2009
6 x 9 ¿ 360 pages
cloth, ISBN 978-0-8157-4706-2, $32.95/22.99 pounds Sterling
