[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              OUR ROLE AS THE WORLD'S INDISPENSABLE NATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to continue my series of 
discussions about the future of American grand strategy. Last week I 
suggested that we strive to remain and even bolster our role as the 
world's indispensable nation, and that should guide our thinking as we 
consider the imperatives that define our national interest.
  Indispensable nation is a term with significant potential for 
misunderstanding, particularly in this time when our global credibility 
has ebbed. We must be careful how we explain our intent. Most 
importantly, we must ensure that our actions meet our words.
  Just as a person cannot demand respect, only earn it, so it is for 
nations too. So we should define indispensable to mean that we inspire 
by our standards, not coerce, with our demands. We should strive to be 
indispensable, not because our wrath is feared, but because our 
strength is valued.
  The point is, it's a fine one but essential nonetheless that our role 
as the world's indispensable nation cannot come by internal 
proclamation, but rather by external validation.
  The engines of our claim to leadership in the future are the engines 
that made this country great in the first place, our robust economy 
that provides opportunity while connecting us with the rest of the 
world in productive partnerships and in our unceasing pursuit of what 
is right, fair and just, even when we fall short of those ideals. To 
the extent we veered off course in those areas, whether because of 
crippling energy dependence, unprecedented levels of foreign debt, our 
departure from sound constitutional practices, or even when and how we 
marshal our forces for war, we must refocus internally to address those 
challenges and master them once again.
  If we redouble our efforts, we can recapture the international 
prestige that more than anything else translates our unmatched power 
into the ability to alter the course of world events. As part of this 
course correction, we must recall the essential truths about war and 
international relations that were stated so well by Clausewitz and Sun 
Tzu. I mentioned several of these to our current president in 2002, but 
we lost sight of these truths in Iraq.
  As we do that, there is no reason why we cannot gain the confidence 
to understand that the term ``challenge,'' even in the international 
context, need not always have an adversarial meaning. In our daily life 
we are challenged by those around us, and we come out the better for 
it.
  We are challenged by our professors to be better students. We are 
challenged by our coaches to be better athletes. We are challenged by 
our clergy to be better people. We are challenged by our spouses to be 
better partners.
  All of these relationships help refine us, and, in so doing, enrich 
our lives so that all benefit. We might regard many of our 
international challenges in much the same way. In the free marketplace 
of ideas, are those ideas that the United States exemplifies clearly 
superior? Do we remain the guarantor of liberty and the natural ally 
against tyranny? Do we provide the best economic and social 
opportunities for all people with whom we interact?
  We need not see that as solely an external challenge. It's also a 
challenge within ourselves, and we should not miss the opportunity to 
refine the good things about America so that we remain the obvious, the 
indispensable choice for a continued global leadership role.

                          ____________________