The world is not ready for the post-US era, and countries like China and India must play a far greater role in strengthening the existing institutions of world peace and, where appropriate, building new ones that can promote a positive agenda of security, dignity, rights and prosperity across the globe.
The world community is not there yet, and until it is, the world needs a new kind of US leader — a leader able to inspire Americans to fix their problems at home and work with partners across the globe in promoting a common agenda as bold and progressive as the order that was built from the ashes of World War II 60 years ago.
The Beijing Olympics could be remembered as a new “Sputnik moment” for the US, inspiring the country to meaningfully face the music of a changing world.
But the US can make it so only by recognizing the great challenges it faces and taking bold steps toward addressing them, at home and with allies abroad.
Jamie Metzl is the executive vice president of the Asia Society and a former member of the National Security Council under former US president Bill Clinton.
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