Magazine Spring 2024 Will We Put Country Before Party, Before Person?

Richard Haass began his talk at the 19th annual President’s Breakfast on a somber note. “This is a truly serious time,” he said. “I feel disturbed. People will look back at this moment

and see it as a hinge. Nothing is inevitable. History is not scripted. It can go lots of different ways. It could turn out poorly or well depending on decision-making and execution.”

A veteran diplomat who worked at the White House, State Department and Pentagon under four different presidents, Haass served as president of the Council on Foreign Relations for 20 years. He has written or edited 14 books on American foreign policy, but his latest work, “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens,” focuses on the United States.

“People often ask me what keeps me up at night,” Haass said. “It’s us. We’re the biggest factor in what happens in the world in this momentous time. Will we put country before party, before person?”

Haass summarized the current challenges. “The Cold War ended in 1989, but history has returned with a vengeance and a resumption of geopolitical struggle among nations. Of the three regions — Europe, the Middle East and Asia — two are defined by conflict, and the other faces it.”

Russian aggression against Ukraine began in 2014 with the takeover of Crimea and continues after two years of brutal war. Haass talked about what’s at stake. “It’s more than just Ukraine; it’s the basic rules of the world that territory can’t be acquired by force.”

In 1990, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait triggered a coalition of nations that returned the seized territory to Kuwait. “They wanted to ensure that a new era of history would not be defined by the aggression of neighbor invading neighbor,” Haass said.

“We now face more violent aggression and must turn it back to ensure it doesn’t succeed. Will we continue to do that and stand by the victims of violent aggression? It’s shocking and distressing to even ask this question. The whole world is watching what we do in Ukraine. It will determine what Russia does beyond Ukraine. It will set a precedent. Will norms be ignored? The result hangs in the balance after two years of success by Ukraine and its allies.”

Haass then turned to the Middle East. “The savage attack in Israel by Hamas has led to a response by Israel being questioned for its reasonableness and morality,” Haass said. “Where do we go from here? The situation in Gaza needs more than a military solution; a political dimension is missing from the Israeli response. We’re on a trajectory of open-ended war in Gaza. How do we now introduce a political dimension?”

In the future, Haass expects the world’s defining relationship to be between the United States and China. “Can we accommodate

We’re the biggest factor in what happens in the world in this momentous time.

China’s rise in a way consistent with ours?” he asked. “We fought China in the Korean War but then had limited cooperation and accommodation as we faced a common foe: the Soviet Union. Then we cooperated economically until the complications of trade imbalance and corporate theft. Can we find new, limited areas of cooperation? It’s the ultimate test for diplomacy and will define the character of the century if the United States and China can accommodate each other and cooperate in some way.”

Weak nations also pose a threat, and Haass named Sudan, Yemen, Mexico and Pakistan as examples. “They can’t govern or police themselves within their own borders,” he said. “How can we help them generate institutions, capacity and the adoption of good policies? They produce terrorists and pirates and criminals that cause problems for other nations.”

Haass finds hope because new technology — the MRNA vaccines and Zoom helped us during the COVID-19 pandemic. He sees climate challenge as a slow-motion crisis. “Will we come together diplomatically to respond?” he asked. “I think not. It will depend on technology that gets invented soon enough to get us through. It will take public-private partnerships to solve the problem, similar to the way we responded to AIDS.”

Haass believes the United States launched the most successful 75-year run in history with its entry into World War II. “We’ve forged alliances and institutions and led this success,” he says. “It’s the only time without a war between great powers. Wealth has increased exponentially, there are more people living in democracies than ever before, and we have longer life spans. It happened for a reason because the United States worked with partners to make it happen.

“Do we have the will to keep doing this? Helping Ukraine and the world has served us well. Will the United States have the will, consensus and cohesion to continue playing this role? Our willingness to do so will make an enormous impact on the world. And if we don’t, we won’t be able to insulate ourselves from the consequences.

“Will we put country before party, before person? We must insist that politicians do so. This is the year to get involved. Our success depends on the willingness of Americans to get better informed and to vote — and to encourage others to be involved, be civil, be willing to compromise and reject violence. Get into the conversation.

“What happens here will the affect the world, and what happens in the world will affect us here.”