Why the World Still Needs Mr. Big

The problem is that the United States hasn't exactly acted as a pillar of stability in the recent past. Succumbing to imperial temptation, it has spurned friends and international institutions. Theoretically, the solution is quite simple: this über-power must close the gap between its enormous strength and its damaged legitimacy. Coercion does not win friends, and vast power, especially when liberally used, generates counterpower, resentment and resistance. So strength must be tempered by responsibility.

The next occupant of the White House might well remember the golden age of American diplomacy in the second half of the 20th century, when Washington pursued its interests in a host of international institutions—from the United Nations to NATO, from the IMF to the WTO—which were built and maintained by the United States. They all had one common denominator: they served U.S. interests by serving those of others. It was not goodness but prudence that turned overwhelming might into leadership.

Or, to put it in coldly strategic terms: if Mr. Big does not contain himself, others will, and the "city upon a hill" that the pilgrims sought to build in the New World will become a high but very lonely place.

Joffe is publisher-editor of Die Zeit, a fellow of Stanford's Institute of International Studies and Hoover Institution, and the author of"Überpower: The Imperial Temptation of America."

© 2007