CFR President on Why Foreign Policy Must Begin at Home

CFR President on Why Foreign Policy Must Begin at Home

May 2013

(Courtesy CFR)

The biggest threat to America's security and prosperity comes not from abroad but from within, writes CFR President Richard N. Haass in this provocative and important new book. In Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America's House in Order, Haass argues for a new foreign policy doctrine of Restoration. At home, the new doctrine would have the country concentrate on restoring the economic foundations of American power. Overseas, the United States would stop trying to remake the Middle East with military force, instead emphasizing maintaining the balance of power in Asia, promoting economic integration and energy self-sufficiency in North America, and working to promote collective responses to global challenges. This will require hard choices, but hard choices are called for. At stake is nothing less than America's future and the character of the coming era of history.

Related Reading: Bringing It All Back Home