These decades have also seen unprecedented improvement in the human condition on a global scale. The establishment and strengthening of the global economic and security commons has been beneficial for the United States. I was proud to play a part in this process as a cabinet member in the Nixon and Reagan administrations. China and Russia have now become members of the World Trade Organization. The creative contributions to these efforts by the Truman and Eisenhower administrations extended, with a few dips and valleys, through the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, at which time Russia began to take part in the global economy. These developments resulted in what could be called a global economic and security commons in which the United States took the lead and its allies-and, eventually, its reconstructed adversaries-played strong roles. This era also led to the formation of the United Nations to help preserve the peace and support the emergence of the European Community. In addition, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established to deal with currency issues and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (now the World Bank) was founded to deal with the development needs of devastated countries and, subsequently, the needs of countries with low per-capita incomes. It was in this environment that there emerged the concept of containment, the establishment of NATO, and the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) with its rounds of agreements lowering barriers to trade. Seeing this, and recognizing that the Soviet Union was an aggressive and dangerous adversary, this group realized the urgent need to construct a different kind of world. They reflected on the events of the first part of the twentieth century: two world wars, the first ended with a vindictive treaty and both with immense casualties (around 70 million people, civilian and military, in World War II alone), the Holocaust, and the Great Depression with the accompanying explosion of protectionism and competitive currency devaluations. We must identify constructive ways to influence the changing world for the well-being of the United States as well as for the benefit of all.Īs World War II was drawing to a close, a group of gifted and creative people from the United States, Great Britain, and other Allied countries gathered to plan for the future. We have moved from a period when we in the United States took the lead role in the construction of a global economic and security commons to a world that is awash in change. We now face these difficult issues at a particularly challenging time. It offers thoughts on how to: do a better job of governance get our economy back on track take full advantage of current prospects for twin revolutions in the field of energy take on the debilitating problems associated with addictive drugs conduct an energetic, professional, and tough-minded diplomacy and confront the security issues posed by nuclear weapons.
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