SAIS Review of International Affairs

The severe global economic contraction that began in 2008 accelerates the transition to a new age of international politics, one characterized by weak but reassertive states, rising powers, waning American primacy, shifting media ecology, and aroused and empowered societies. This new age of political ferment requires a dramatic reassessment of the way the United States formulates and conducts its national security strategy. This article explores the nexus between our foreign policy and politics across domestic and foreign boundaries on several key national security challenges. It recommends a new diplomacy employing public diplomats deeply attuned to the cultural and political particularities of human plurality in the global public square.