WASHINGTON, D.C. –Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) today released the following statement applauding President Obama’s National Security Strategy, which he said breaks decisively with the Bush-era approach to the world. Instead of casting U.S. foreign policy through the prism of conflict, the new strategy emphasizes the cooperation we need to meet the most pressing threats to our security.
“President Obama’s National Security Strategy restores a reality-based approach to meet our security imperatives. The president recognizes we can’t achieve the world we want if we don’t recognize the world as it is today, and that combination of idealism and realism is the foundation of his strategy. This new strategy reflects a pragmatic worldview of the challenges we face and the reality and limits of the tools we have to meet them through the full arsenal of our power -- moral, diplomatic, and military. The Bush strategy acknowledged climate change as a security threat, but this new strategy aims to tackle it with concrete policies. The Bush strategy acknowledged the dangers of proliferation but rested on policies that unraveled global cooperation. This strategy aims to rebuild that frayed consensus. It promotes our values but recognizes that sometimes we have to work with those who don’t share them in order to get things done in a complicated world where shades of grey abound. It’s idealistic but sober, strong but smart. It recognizes not just what we aim to do but takes a pragmatic approach to getting it done.”
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