Ambassador Stephen Krasner's orienting principle for foreign policy (and military management)

Max G. Manwaring

"The principle security threat of the past several centuries -- war between or among major powers -- is gone. Two new types of threats have been introduced into the global security arena. Violent nonstate actors and other indirect political, economic, and social causes of poverty, social exclusion, corruption, terrorism, transnational crime, the global drug problem, and gangs are a few examples of these "new" threats to global security and stability. More and more, national security implies protection -- through a variety of nonmilitary and military ways and means -- of popular interests that add up to well-being. This broadened definition of the contemporary security problem makes the concept so vague as to render it useless as an analytical tool. The genius of Ambassador Stephen Krasner, however, helps solve the problem. His orienting principle for foreign policy and military...