Fogh Rasmussen - The will to lead: Americas indispensable role in the global fight for freedom

To

Annelise, Marie, and Karoline

Martha, Marcus, and Johannes

To the American people,

Soon, you will elect a new president of the United States. As a foreign citizen, I dont have a vote in that election, but perhaps I have a voice. Coming from Europe, having served as prime minister of Denmark and secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and worked closely with the two most recent presidents of the United States, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, I have a clear message and plea to the American people: The world needs a policeman. The only capable, reliable, and desirable candidate for that position is the United States. We need determined American global leadership.

The world is on fire. The Middle East is being torn up by war, terrorism, and humanitarian catastrophes that have forced millions of people to flee. Europe is almost sinking under the refugee burden and internal political division. In North Africa, Libya has collapsed and become a breeding ground for terrorists who are spreading instability throughout the region. In Eastern Europe, a resurgent Russia has brutally attacked and grabbed land by force from Ukraine. China is flexing its muscles against its neighbors around the South China Sea. North Korea is a rogue state that threatens its neighbors and the United States with a nuclear attack.

There is a link between the American reluctance to use hard power and this outbreak of fire. If the United States retrenches and retreats, or even if the world thinks that American restraint reflects a lack of willingness to engage in preventing and resolving conflicts by using military force if need be, it leaves a vacuum that will be filled by the bad guys. Nowhere is this more evident than in Russias and President Vladimir Putins behavior. While Europe and America slept, he exploited the vacuum to launch a ruthless military operation in support of the Assad regime and to present Russia as a global power challenging the United States. In Europe, he is trying to carve out a Russian sphere of influence and establish Russia as a regional power capable of diminishing American influence. And this is what is at stake for the United States: Autocrats, terrorists, and rogue states are challenging the American leadership of an international rules-based order, which was created after World War II and has secured the world an unprecedented period of peace, progress, and prosperity.

The next few years will determine the future world order and Americas place in it; and in all probability, it will fall to the next US president to make the crucial decisions that will define that future. We are experiencing an intensified struggle between the forces of oppression and the forces of freedom. If the United States withdraws to concentrate on nation building at home, the forces fighting against liberal democracy and our way of life will gain ground, and the United States will be faced with stronger foes, weaker friends, and a more insecure world.

We have seen again and again that crises breed crises. Force is still a factor. And if we fail to defend freedom and democracy, the forces of oppression will seize their opportunity. We have seen again and again that appeasement doesnt lead to peace. It just incites tyrants. Any failure to counter oppression will only invite further oppression. That is the lesson of the twentieth centurya lesson we must never forget. So while military action remains the last resort, we must be able to resort to it when we need tonot to wage war but to build peace.

Im a European classical liberal who has always counted on American leadership. Whenever we needed it in the past, it was there. Now I find myself in the unaccustomed position of exhorting the United States not to abandon its vital role as champion of freedom and guarantor of the global order. I grew up in a small European country, Denmark, which has continually had strong ties to the United States. In my family we have always felt a great gratitude to the United States for the sacrifices that the American people made to liberate Europe from Nazism and protect us against Communism.

My father was a farmer and benefited from the Marshall Plan that President Harry S. Truman launched. From my earliest childhood I remember how my parents were inspired and excited by President John F. Kennedys leadership and youthful energy. And as a young politician, I traveled to the United States and saw President Ronald Reagans infectious optimism and firm belief in the supremacy of freedom and capitalism, which finally led to the collapse of Communism and the end of the Cold War. As prime minister, I supported President George W. Bush on Afghanistan and Iraq and his freedom agenda to promote liberty and democracy, and as secretary-general of NATO, I worked with President Barack Obama on Afghanistan and Libya, the reinforcement of our territorial defense in Europe, and reforms of our transatlantic alliance. Throughout, I have been guided by a firm belief that America has an indispensable role in the global fight for freedom.

President Truman showed strong leadership and effective conduct by establishing the world order that for nearly seven decades secured an unprecedented peace, development, and wealth. President Kennedy came to stand as a beacon for the free world with his energetic and eloquent communication. And President Reagan led the United States and the world to the victory of freedom over Communism and oppression by his firm conviction of American exceptionalism. Hopefully, future US presidents will combine President Trumans effective conduct, President Kennedys inspiring communication, and President Reagans firm conviction. This would prepare the ground for strong American global leadership and a better and safer world.

The United States is an exceptional nation, not in the sense that Americans are necessarily better than other people in the world, but it is an undeniable fact that the United States occupies an exceptional position in the world. When it comes to size and strength, the United States is unmatched as the worlds only superpower with a global reach. But even more important, the colonization, creation, and development of the United States and its mature, solid democratic institutions are truly exceptional. America is the inspiring flame of freedom, the shining city on the hill that people from all over the world feel attracted by and would like to live in. But that exceptionalism comes with exceptional obligations and responsibilities to defend and promote the principles upon which our free societies are built: individual liberty, democracy, and the rule of law. If America chooses not to intervene early in crises and support the friends of freedom, it will end up having to intervene later, when the enemies of freedom begin to strike at American interests. America is destined to lead. The ancient Greeks believed that you cannot escape your destiny and that the gods will punish you if you try. America should heed the advice of the ancients, play its role as a global leader with conviction, and avoid the unnecessary pain and suffering that come with resisting your destiny. America cannot escape its fate.

I have dedicated this book to our six grandchildren: our American grandchildren, Annelise, Marie, and Karoline, and our Danish grandchildren, Martha, Marcus, and Johannes. Living on both sides of the Atlantic, they are a testament to our strong personal transatlantic bond, and hopefully they will grow up in a secure world where freedom and democracy will prevail over oppression and autocracy thanks to determined American leadership.

With all my best wishes,

Anders Fogh Rasmussen