Part II: A New Persona for the U.S.A

In Part I of this piece (September 5), I outlined what I proposed should be the United States' "View of the World." I discussed the values that should shape the U.S. and priorities for U.S. policy. But do these things really create the new persona that will ensure the world that the U.S. is home to a good people? Do they articulate to the rest of the world that the U.S. is not a threat?

Probably not. Not until we intitutionalize our view of the world and our place in it. Not until we refine our values and how they relate to cultures that do not share them. Not until we position ourselves to make the hard choices...so that our values and our priorities truly guide our policies and actions.

If a nation selects leaders with whom we do not agree or whom we do not trust, we cannot relax our adherence to principles and take the "easy" way out by supporting their opposition, simply because that opposition is willing to express its support of the U.S. We have seen too many examples of the U.S. shifting is policies and compromising its values to support an underlying belief that, regardless what is good for the rest of the world, what really matters is what is important to us.

I do believe the U.S. still holds the potential of serving as a world leader and even a moral compass for the rest of the world, but only if we as a nation act as leaders and only if we avoid irrational patriotism and nationalism. Like fallible human beings, the United States government and its policies can be wrong. Like people of principle, the U.S. shows a much stronger "backbone" by acknowledging mistakes and changing. When we insist that our policies must be right because they are ours, we risk doing irreparable harm to our position in the world and we risk harm to our dignity as a nation.

Our persona should be one that demonstrates goodness; tolerance; and respect for the people of the earth, the creatures with which we share it, and planet itself.