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Chapter I. Overview of America's National Security Strategy  

 Section Overview

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        It is the policy of the United States to seek and support democratic movements and

        institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our

        world.  In the world today, the fundamental character of regimes matters as much as the

        distribution of power among them.  The goal of our statecraft is to help create a world of

        democratic, well-governed states that can meet the needs of their citizens and conduct

        themselves responsibly in the international system.  This is the best way to provide

        enduring security for the American people.

         

        Achieving this goal is the work of generations.  The United States is in the early years of

        a long struggle, similar to what our country faced in the early years of the Cold War.  The

        20th century witnessed the triumph of freedom over the threats of fascism and

        communism.  Yet a new totalitarian ideology now threatens, an ideology grounded not in

        secular philosophy but in the perversion of a proud religion.  Its content may be different

        from the ideologies of the last century, but its means are similar:  intolerance, murder,

        terror, enslavement, and repression.

         

        Like those who came before us, we must lay the foundations and build the institutions

        that our country needs to meet the challenges we face.  The chapters that follow will

        focus on several essential tasks.  The United States must:  

 

        ·  Champion aspirations for human dignity;

     

        ·  Strengthen alliances to defeat global terrorism and work to prevent attacks against us

             and our friends;

     

        ·  Work with others to defuse regional conflicts;

     

        ·  Prevent our enemies from threatening us, our allies, and our friends with weapons of

             mass destruction (WMD);

     

        ·  Ignite a new era of global economic growth through free markets and free trade;

     

        ·  Expand the circle of development by opening societies and building the infrastructure

             of democracy;

     

        ·  Develop agendas for cooperative action with other main centers of global power;  

     

        ·  Transform America's national security institutions to meet the challenges and

             opportunities of the 21st century; and

     

        ·  Engage the opportunities and confront the challenges of globalization.

National Security Strategy    1