Grass-roots view of Trump’s security strategy

In coming days, the White House will issue a strategy on dealing with foreign threats. But most Americans are already on the front lines of such work. They need thoughtful help from presidents.

|
AP Photo
Some of the Facebook ads linked to a Russian effort to disrupt the American political process and stir up tensions around divisive social issues are photographed in Washington Nov. 1. The ad were released as representatives of leading social media companies faced criticism on Capitol Hill about why they hadn't done more to combat Russian interference on their sites and prevent foreign agents from meddling in last year's election.

Are you now alert to Russian-backed fake news? Better able to defend your computer from hackers in distant lands? More conscious of foreign gangs in your neighborhood or possible foreign terrorists in public spaces? Are you coping with addicts who use heroin smuggled into the United States?

Do you shop for imported goods not made with slave labor? Or rely on energy sources that won’t contribute to stronger hurricanes?

Like it or not, as the world gets smaller, more Americans are now on the front lines of their nation’s toughest security issues. And like any diplomat, spy, or general, they are becoming more conscious of each new threat and setting priorities to deal with them. Most of all, they are forced to be clear about which values drive their responses.

Welcome to the process of writing the National Security Strategy. In coming days, the Trump White House is expected to release its first version of this formal document. Since 1986, Congress has required every president to define an explicit and grand plan for national security. Over recent months, Trump officials have consulted a range of people from lawmakers to foreign-policy experts to find some consensus and then lay out priorities.

The periodic document is aimed at helping citizens hold their government to account and assuring them that Washington considers their safety paramount. It also provides transparent signals to both allies and adversaries about US goals, thus reducing uncertainty and preventing new threats.

Mr. Trump has the final word on this year’s document and, according to his national security adviser, the catchphrase for the White House approach is “principled realism.” It is expected to call for a stronger focus on homeland security and better moves to raise the economic competitiveness of American businesses. And, of course, it will present ways to deal with North Korea, Iran, China, Russia, and terrorist groups.

Yet despite this latest policy setting by government, an increasing share of the task of coping with foreign issues – or solving them – lies with the American public. They are the ones coming to terms with immigrants in the country illegally, such as offering them sanctuary or refusing to deal with them. They are adjusting to industries closed down because a foreign competitor stole the technology for a patented product. They are debating the role of Islam and its followers in American society. Their local election officials are trying to protect vote-counting machines from foreign meddling.

These up-close issues require as much of a moral reckoning for individuals and local communities as does the collective process of producing the National Security Strategy. The global has not only become local but it also requires an awakening to the values at work in dealing with each threat.

Perhaps in the future, presidents will recognize just how deeply issues of national security have become everyday realities. Voting for new leaders, paying taxes, or joining the military is no longer the sum total of public engagement with foreign issues. Security from outside threats now lies closer to everyone’s thinking, demanding even more thoughtful responses.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Grass-roots view of Trump’s security strategy
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2017/1211/Grass-roots-view-of-Trump-s-security-strategy
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe