Power and Superpower: Global Leadership and Exceptionalism in the 21st Century

June 11, 2007, 1:00pm – 2:30pm

About This Event

We are pleased to invite you to a luncheon discussion on the recently released book, Power and Superpower: Global Leadership and Exceptionalism in the 21st Century, published by the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation.

The United States entered the 21st century as a global leader, emulated for its ideals as much as respected for its power to shape events. During the 20th century, American leadership served as the bedrock for the international order, promoting prosperity and peace both at home and abroad. But in the first years of the new century, a U.S. foreign policy exemplified by war in Iraq, the rejection of international treaties, and disregard for traditional allies gave the impression to many that the United States had abandoned its role as a responsible leader. Power and Superpower calls for a foreign policy that encompasses all of America’s strengths and respects the commitments we share with the rest of the world, the only sure path to America’s continued global leadership and influence. In this volume, some of the United States’ most distinguished and experienced policymakers and experts identify pressing foreign policy issues facing the United States and provide analysis and answers for creating a progressive foreign policy that harnesses power in support of a peaceful and prosperous world.

The panelists will discuss the themes of the book and explore how a sense of American exceptionalism informs U.S. foreign policy, the impact of those policies on U.S. national security, and whether a sense of exceptionalism in foreign policy is beneficial for the United States.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, says that Power and Superpower is "A comprehensive review of the needed change of course in America's global engagement-daunting in its scope and ambitious in its objectives."

Thomas Pickering, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Ambassador to the United Nations, says Power and Superpower is "An excellent series of wide ranging essays by some of our most experienced foreign policy thinkers. It will give a clear sense of why we are in such deep trouble, how we got there, and most importantly some trenchant thoughts on what to do about it. A must read for all who follow foreign policy closely."

Anne Marie-Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, says "Power and Superpower is one-stop shopping for all Americans determined to get out country back on track. It offers an outline for a new American century that is genuinely consistent with American values—a century not of torture and terrorism, but liberty, democracy, and justice under law."

Featured Speakers:
Ambassador James Dobbins, Director, RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center
Charles Kupchan, Professor of International Relations, Georgetown University
William Schulz, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Moderator:
Spencer P. Boyer, Director of International Law and Diplomacy, Center for American Progress

Location

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Resources

Transcripts

• Full event transcript (PDF)
  

Biographies

Ambassador James Dobbins is director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center. He has held State Department and White House posts, including assistant secretary of state for Europe, special assistant to the president for the Western Hemisphere, special adviser to the president and secretary of state for the Balkans, and ambassador to the European Community.

Charles Kupchan is professor of international relations at the School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University, and a senior fellow and director of Europe studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. From 1993 to 1994, he was director for European affairs on the National Security Council. He wrote his chapter while he was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

William Schulz is senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and adjunct professor of international affairs at The New School University. From 1994 to 2006, he served as executive director of Amnesty International USA, a position he assumed after fifteen years with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), the last eight (1985–93) as its president.

Spencer P. Boyer is director of international law and diplomacy in the National Security and International Policy Department at the Center for American Progress. He was previously the executive director and War Powers Initiative director at the Constitution Project, based at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, and has served with international courts and tribunals in The Hague, Zurich, and Paris.