Is it up to the U.S. to fix the Middle East?

• Author: Hagel, Chuck
• Position: National Affairs

NINETY YEARS AGO, the world was in a period of wrenching and bloody transition. War raged in Europe. It was a conflict triggered by a series of tragic misjudgments stemming from decades-old resentments and shifting European alliances, and fueled by the Industrial Revolution--the most deadly war the world ever had known. Within a year, the U.S. would shake off its historic isolationism and engage in its first global conflict.

The Treaty of Versailles brought an end to the fighting, but it did not bring resolution. The U.S. retreated from a position of world leadership back into its shell of irresponsible isolationism. The world economy collapsed, and lingering global resentments continued to heighten. Roughly 20 years later, harsh postwar reparations and arrogant nationalism gave rise to an even deadlier period of global transition--World War II.

America's leaders, however, had learned from the failed and dangerous policies of the first half of the 20th century. After WWII, the U.S. became an indispensable leader. Along with our allies, we created organizations of global interests and common purpose like the United Nations, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (now the World Trade Organization), NATO, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and dozens of other multilateral institutions. Leaders such as Harry S Truman, George C. Marshall, Dean Acheson, Cordell Hull, Arthur Vandenberg, and Dwight Eisenhower led in the rebuilding of Europe and Japan.

We surely live in a different world today, but once again it is a world in transition--and the lessons learned after World War II still apply. American leadership remains indispensable, and the alliances that we formed are as vital today as they were then. For decades, the U.S. used its power and influence to help forge international consensus on vital issues. America's leadership inspired the trust and confidence of a generation of governments and nations around the world because we pursued common actions that reflected common interests with our allies, remained committed to global engagement, and exercised our power with restraint. We made mistakes to be sure. It was imperfect. There were differences with our allies. Yet, despite the glitches and shortcomings, the U.S. and its allies contributed to world stability and the spread of freedom and prosperity.

Today, the world and America are in deep trouble. In a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations in November 2005, I warned that the world's trust and confidence in the U.S.'s purpose has eroded seriously. We increasingly are not seen as the wellspring of consensus that for decades helped create alliances and coalitions grounded in common objectives and interests. This is in contrast to a very troubling trend toward isolationism that currently is emerging in the U.S. This trend is a looming concern that may not be obvious, but is manifest across seemingly unconnected events and issues. We must avoid the trap of limiting our power through mindless isolationist remedies to difficult and complicated problems.

In the 1930s, the threat of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany was not taken seriously. Most did not recognize this threat until World War II was upon them. There was, however, a voice sounding the alarm. Throughout the 1930s, Winston Churchill urged his countrymen and Europe to see the world through the clear lens of reality--not through the blurred optics of misplaced hope. On Oct. 3, 1938, Great Britain's House of Commons debated the Munich Agreement that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had negotiated with Hitler. Many saw this agreement as the assurance of peace with Germany. Churchill disagreed, proclaiming, "Can we blind ourselves...