YES YES AND YES! Written by Mr. Y:

It is time for America to re-focus our national interests and principles through a long lens on the global environment of tomorrow.  It is time to move beyond a strategy of containment to a strategy of sustainment (sustainability); from an emphasis on power and control to an emphasis on strength and influence; from a defensive posture of exclusion, to a proactive posture of engagement.  We must recognize that security means more than defense, and sustaining security requires adaptation and evolution, the leverage of converging interests and interdependencies.  To grow we must accept that competitors are not necessarily adversaries, and that a winner does not demand a loser.  We must regain our credibility as a leader among peers, a beacon of hope, rather than an island fortress.  It is only by balancing our interests with our principles that we can truly hope to sustain our growth as a nation and to restore our credibility as a world leader…  

Inherent in our children is the innovation, drive, and imagination that have made, and will continue to make, this country great.  By investing energy, talent, and dollars now in the education and training of young Americans – the scientists, statesmen, industrialists, farmers, inventors, educators, clergy, artists, service members, and parents, of tomorrow – we are truly investing in our ability to successfully compete in, and influence, the strategic environment of the future.  Our first investment priority, then, is intellectual capital and a sustainable  infrastructure of education, health and social services to provide for the continuing development and growth of America’s youth. 

Our second investment priority is ensuring the nation’s sustainable security – on our own soil and wherever Americans and their interests take them.   As has been stated already, Americans view security in the broader context of freedom and peace of mind.  Rather than focusing primarily on defense, the security we seek can only be sustained through a whole of nation approach to our domestic and foreign policies.  This requires a different approach to problem solving than we have pursued previously and a hard look at the distribution of our national treasure.  For too long, we have underutilized sectors of our government and our citizenry writ large, focusing intensely on defense and protectionism rather than on development and diplomacy.   This has been true in our approach to domestic and foreign trade, agriculture and energy, science and technology, immigration and education, public health and crisis response, Homeland Security and military force posture.  Security touches each of these and must be addressed by leveraging all the strengths of our nation, not simply those intended to keep perceived threat a safe arm’s length away.

Mr. Y is a pseudonym for CAPT Wayne Porter, USN and Col Mark “Puck” Mykleby