Asserting that a multitude of factors, including rise of Asia, emergence of non-state actors and increasing cyber threats, have resulted in the US facing a fractured security landscape, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel today warned against a reduced American global engagement.
"Although Americans today are increasingly skeptical of foreign engagement and global responsibilities, it is a mistake to view those responsibilities as a burden or as charity. Let us remember that the biggest beneficiaries of American leadership and engagement in the world are the American people," Hagel said in an address to the Axelrod's Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
"Turning inward, history teaches us, does not insulate us from the world's troubles. It only forces us to be more engaged later - at a higher cost in blood and treasure, and often on the terms of others. This is perhaps more true than ever in today's globalised world.
"Walking away from the world, and our relationships, is not an option for the United States of America," he said.
"The rise of Asia, the explosion of youth populations in the Middle East and Africa, new technologies bringing people closer together and new threats emanating from these technologies like cyber, deepening global economic interdependence and the diffusion of global economic power, a resurgence of nationalism and sectarian conflict around the world, new sources of energy in this hemisphere and elsewhere, climate change and more frequent and destructive natural disasters - all these realities are challenging and will continue to challenge America's security and prosperity," he said.
While many of these threats are borderless, America and its allies face a stern test in this unprecedented confluence of today's global challenges emanating within and between nation-states - including the civil and sectarian war and humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, Iran's destabilising activities, simmering tensions between China, Japan, and Southeast Asian nations, Afghanistan's continuing struggle for security and stability, and Russia's blatant aggression in Ukraine, he said.
Observing that working with allies and friends, American leadership must respond to these challenges and help shape the forces that will shape the future, Hagel said the US must lead with a robust and comprehensive use of instruments of power, employing cultural, educational, economic, diplomatic, development, and military tools alike.
"In the Asia-Pacific rebalance, we are employing all of our instruments of power to strengthen allies, underwrite the free flow of commerce, and help nations resolve disputes peacefully so all nations there can live in peace and freedom as their nations prosper.
