The Responsibility Doctrine

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgments They would like to thank Shadi Hamid, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, and Anne-Marie Slaughter for their useful comments and suggestions. The views expressed herein are their own. Notes 1. Important sources on emerging and established powers jointly fulfilling “responsibility” include: Richard N. Haas, The Opportunity (New York: Public Affairs, 2004); Nina Hachigian and Mona Sutphen, The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008); G. John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Forging a World of Liberty Under Law: U.S. National Security in the 21st Century,” Final Paper, The Princeton Project on National Security, September 27, 2006, http://www.princeton.edu/~ppns/report.html; Bruce Jones, Carlos Pascual, Stephen John Stedman, Power and Responsibility (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2009); Michael Schiffer and David Shorr, eds., Powers and Principles (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009); Steven Weber and Bruce Jentleson, The End of Arrogance, (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2010). 2. “Barack Obama's Inaugural Address,” New York Times, January 20, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text-obama.html?pagewanted=all. 3. Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, “Remarks by the President at the U.S./China Strategic and Economic Dialogue,” July 27, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-uschina-strategic-and-economic-dialogue. 4. “The National Security Strategy Report,” May 2010, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdf. 5. For an eloquent encapsulation of this essential idea, see Anne-Marie Slaughter's remarks in “We're in for a Heck of a Ride,” CNN, September 7, 2012, http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/07/opinion/opinion-roundup-obama/index.html. 6. U.S. Department of State, Remarks by Geoffrey Pyatt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, “U.S.–India Strategic Partnership: A Way Forward,” Press release, April 27, 2012, http://www.state.gov/p/sca/rls/rmks/2012/188935.htm. 7. Samuel Charap, “Reset This,” Foreign Policy, August 12, 2011, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/08/12/reset_this?page=0,2. 8. U.S. Department of State, Remarks by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam July 23, 2010, http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/145095.htm. 9. “China Has ‘Ample Capacity’ to Avoid Hard Landing,” China Daily, July 19, 2012, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-07/19/content_15600176.htm. 10. U.S. Department of State, speech by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, “Foreign Policy Address at the Council on Foreign Relations,” Washington, DC, July 15, 2009, http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/july/126071.htm. 11. Michael Lewis, “Obama's Way,” Vanity Fair, October 2012, http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-barack-obama. 12. “Mitt Romney's Analysis of Barack Obama's Libyan Policy,” radio interview transcript, Hugh Hewitt, March 21, 2011, http://www.hughhewitt.com/transcripts.aspx?id=e3bf5a59-b9c6-4a10-846b-f573a9a9d74d; Andy Barr, “Sarah Palin ‘Profoundly Disappointed’ by Obama's Libya Speech,” Politico, March 28, 2011, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52106.html; Charles Krauthammer, “Obama and Libya: The Professor's War,” The Washington Post, March 24, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obama_and_libya_the_professors_war/2011/03/24/ABPjvmRB_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage. 13. President Reagan kept a plaque with this favorite quotation on his Oval Office desk. “Reagan the Man,” The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-the-man.aspx. 14. Edward Truman, “The G-20 is Failing,” Foreign Policy, April 12, 2012, http://www.piie.com/publications/opeds/oped.cfm?ResearchID=2089 15. President Obama's remarks on the TPP make it clear China is welcome to join if it adjusts its practices. “Obama Says He Would Welcome Discussions with China on Joining TPP,” China Trade Extra, November 17, 2012, http://chinatradeextra.com/201111162382363/China-Trade-Extra-Documents/Text-Document/obama-says-he-would-welcome-discussions-with-china-on-joining-tpp.html. 16. U.S. Department of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, “Remarks at a United Nations Security Council Session on the Situation in Syria,” at the UN in New York, January 31, 2012, http://m.state.gov/md182845.htm. 17. U.S. Senate, “New START Treaty Floor Speech,” Press release, December 15, 2012, http://lugar.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=329022&; U.S. Senate, “Isakson Will Vote to Ratify New START Treaty,” Press release, December 21, 2010, http://isakson.senate.gov/press/2010/122110newstart.html. 18. Closed-door meeting with US officials, July 2012. 19. James Mann, The Obamians, (New York: Viking, 2012), pp. 191–196. 20. Congressional Research Service, “Iran Sanctions,” by Kenneth Katzman, (Washington, DC, October 15, 2012), pp. 17–18, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS20871.pdf. 21. The White House, “President Obama Addresses the UN General Assembly,” video, September 23, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/video/President-Obama-Addresses-the-UN-General-Assembly#transcript. 22. U.S. Department of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, “Remarks at the U.S. Institute of Peace China Conference,” March 7, 2012, http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/03/185402.htm. 23. Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, “Remarks by President Obama,” speech in Prague, April 5, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Barack-Obama-In-Prague-As-Delivered. 24. Michele Kelemen, “Clinton Steps Up Calls For A Halt To Violence In Syria,” NPR, February 25, 2012 http://m.npr.org/story/147384716. 25. “International Condemnation of Russia–China veto on Syrian Crisis,” Al Arabiya News, February 5, 2012, http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/05/192615.html. 26. “International Condemnation of Russia–China veto on Syrian Crisis,” Al Arabiya News, February 5, 2012, http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/05/192615.html., for all quotations in this paragraph. 27. Security Clearance (blog), “A Conversation with Clinton and Panetta,” CNN, August 16, 2011, http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/16/a-conversation-with-clinton-and-panetta/. Additional informationNotes on contributorsNina HachigianNina Hachigian is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. She is the co-author of The Next American Century: How the US Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise and worked on the staff of the National Security Council under President ClintonDavid ShorrDavid Shorr is a program officer at the Stanley Foundation