On The Path To Sustainable Security

[Guest American for Progress]

Yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team, naming Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) as Secretary of State, retired Gen. James Jones as National Security Adviser, Robert Gates as Defense Secretary, and Susan Rice as U.N. Ambassador. The nominations signaled "a sweeping shift of priorities and resources in the national security arena" to create "a greatly expanded corps of diplomats and aid workers that, in the vision of the incoming Obama administration, would be engaged in projects around the world aimed at preventing conflicts and rebuilding failed states," observed the New York Times. An Obama adviser told the Times that Clinton, Jones, and Gates have all embraced "'a rebalancing of America's national security portfolio' after a huge investment in new combat capabilities during the Bush years." The appointments reflect Obama's commitment to seek sustainable security, which ties national security to the economic and political security of people around the world. "[T]he time has come for a new beginning," Obama said. "[W]e must pursue a new strategy that skillfully uses, balances, and integrates all elements of American power: our military and diplomacy; our intelligence and law enforcement; our economy and the power of our moral example."