Foreign Policy Begins at Home

To deter would-be foes and provide security to friends and allies, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations' Richard Haass argues Americans must be able to come together across partisan divides 

By Richard Haass August 22, 2023
Carnegie Reporter Fall 2023Emerging Global Order
Young girls draw American flag in chalk on the sidewalk

Young girls color the American flag with chalk on a sidewalk. (Credit: LWA/Dann Tardif via Getty Images)

I have spent my career studying, practicing, writing about, and speaking on American foreign policy, and a question I frequently hear is, “Richard, what keeps you up at night?” Often, even before I get to answer, the person posing the question suggests potential answers. Is it China? Russia? North Korea? Iran? Terrorism? Climate change? Cyberattacks? Another pandemic?

In recent years, I started responding in a way that surprised me and many in the room. The most urgent and significant threat to American security and stability stems not from abroad but from within, from political divisions that for only the second time in U.S. history have raised questions about the future of American democracy and even the United States itself. These divisions also make it near impossible for the United States to address many of its economic, social, and political problems or to realize its potential. Many Americans (for a range of reasons) share my concern; according to a recent poll, a plurality (21 percent) believe that “threats to democracy” is the most important issue facing the country, surpassing cost of living, the economy, immigration, and climate change.

Deep political divisions make it difficult— or even impossible — to design and implement a steady foreign policy at a time when what happens in the world deeply affects what happens at home.

The deterioration of our democracy also has adverse consequences for our country’s ability to contend with Russian aggression, a much more capable and assertive China, and a host of other regional and global challenges. Deep political divisions make it difficult — or even impossible — to design and implement a steady foreign policy at a time when what happens in the world deeply affects what happens at home. Similarly, a country at war with itself cannot set an example that people elsewhere will want to emulate. If democracy fails here, democracy will be endangered everywhere.

My belief is that U.S. democracy can be saved only if Americans across the political spectrum come to accept that citizenship involves more than their asserting — or the government’s protecting — what they understand to be their rights. I have come around to the view that our very concept of citizenship needs to be revised, or better yet expanded, if American democracy is to survive. Respect for individual rights remains basic to the functioning of this or any democracy, but rights alone do not a successful democracy make. A democracy that concerns itself only with protecting and advancing individual rights will find itself in jeopardy, as rights will come into conflict with one another. When they inevitably do, it is essential that there is a path for citizens to compromise or a willingness to coexist peacefully and work with those with whom they disagree.

Beyond rights, obligations are the other cornerstone of a successful democracy — obligations between individual citizens as well as between citizens and their government. Obligations — akin to what Danielle Allen calls “habits of citizenship” — are things that should happen but that the law cannot require. For a culture of obligation to coexist alongside a commitment to rights, we need nothing less than a “Bill of Obligations” to guide how we teach, understand, and conduct our politics.

The Bill of Obligations

Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that obligations — things that should happen but that the law cannot require —are the key to preserving a healthy democracy. In his new book, Haass spells out 10.

  1. Be informed 
  2. Get involved 
  3. Stay open to compromise
  4. Remain civil
  5. Reject violence
  6. Value norms 
  7. Promote the common good 
  8. Respect government service
  9. Support the teaching of ethics
  10. Put country first

Implicit in all this is the conviction that American democracy is most decidedly worth keeping. This American experiment has been a sanctuary for tens of millions of immigrants fleeing persecution or seeking opportunity, and a safe harbor for political expression and religious freedom. Our nation is also an engine of innovation, creating unprecedented wealth for hundreds of millions of people and increasing average life expectancy by decades for its citizens. Beyond its borders, the United States proved central to defeating fascism in World War II, navigating a Cold War that ended peacefully and on terms largely consistent with American interests and values, and fashioning a world order that for all its flaws ended the colonial era and built international arrangements that have brought greater prosperity, freedom, and health to literally billions of people.

Yes, American democracy has also come up short in meaningful ways. There is an enormous gap between the words of the Declaration of Independence — “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” — and reality, including but not limited to the treatment of Native Americans and the institution of slavery and the status of women. This country has failed to adequately deal with discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or country of origin. Equal opportunity for many has been a hope rather than a reality. Nor has the country always lived up to its stated values and principles abroad, frequently supporting leaders who showed little fidelity to democratic values or the rule of law.

After January 6, 2021, Chinese television was filled with images of the violence and disarray at the U.S. Capitol. This is instructive. China and its government-dominated authoritarian model would likely be the principal beneficiaries if democracy here were to fail. Those who purport to be tough on China are being anything but if they weaken democracy here in the United States. Similarly, a country paralyzed by internal divisions will be in no condition to help shape international responses to global challenges that could define this century, including but not limited to infectious disease, climate change, the spread of nuclear weapons, and terrorism. All of this would come at great cost to Americans and to others, as little stays local for long in a globalized world.

What is at stake does not end at the water’s edge, at the country’s borders. A United States that is divided and defined by politics will be in no condition to set an example that others will want to emulate. This was a theme central to President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural address: “Our nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home. And we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.” The perceived failure of American democracy to function and deliver provides an opportunity for authoritarian regimes to justify their repression of their own citizens and others. In order to deter would-be foes and provide security to friends and allies, Americans must be able to come together across partisan divides. Our current political atmosphere is a recipe for diminished U.S. influence, the expansion of Chinese and Russian sway, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and increased conflict in the world. As I have argued for nearly a decade, foreign policy begins at home.

Edited preface from the book The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard Haass. Copyright © 2023 Richard Haass. Used by permission of Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Richard Haass was president of the nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations from 2003 to 2023. An experienced diplomat and policymaker, he served in the Pentagon, State Department, and White House under four presidents, Democrat and Republican alike. A recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal, the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award, and the Tipperary International Peace Award, he is the author or editor of 15 other books, including the bestselling The World: A Brief Introduction, A World in Disarray, and Foreign Policy Begins at Home.

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