Foreign Policy

This week has brought a wave of national media attention to the grief of many who suffered the loss of loved ones in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Some marked the occasion with somber words and speeches of sorrow relived and ongoing. Some have marked the occasion with a call for renewed vigor for war efforts against those who practice a strategy of terror across the globe.

I am not an original thinker when I say this, but I believe we must recognize the necessity of confronting our own cultural insulation to the plight of the world in which we live. America is a great country of freedom, but the nations of the world in which we so often inject our influence do not always understand our culture or our aims or our vision for democracy across their lands. Some people do not begin to understand the reasons for our presence in their midst, but they do understand the pain of war, the suffering of continuing conflict and the sense of helplessness that confronts them on a daily basis as they try to exist in the midst of a war zone.

I do believe we have an obligation as citizens of a great land of opportunity and in contrast to the world…extravagance, to remember again what it means to be accountable as a nation of freedom for exercising that freedom with a respect for others who choose other forms of government different from our own. Nomadic peoples rarely organize across large territories with centralized government; it simply does not make sense to them in meeting their needs. Large historic family groups led by their own family leaders seldom extend their hand into other nation’s concerns when they are peacefully and happily ruling their own family bodies.

When America has injected its Big Brother presence into such situations, we rarely bring much beyond a temporary solution. Our long term strategies fail because we assume our cultural context will “sell” in this new place we have gone to bring “our way of life” to others. Americans do have a great blessing in the freedoms we share, but our problem is trying to transport it with force into the lives of others who are not “there” in their own perceptions or desires.

Settling the issues of generations of people groups who have been in conflict is equally baffling. We are not without “resolve” when we choose to exit a situation in which our continuing presence only increases hostilities and conflict. Winning is not the issue at this point. Nation-building is not possible from the position of the presence with the biggest guns -- it must derive from the hearts of the people.

I believe God gives us a responsibility to share with peoples of every nation, but in a way that reflects the love of God. Until we are ready to sacrifice as a nation in order to be stronger in faith and in our witness to the love of Christ, we will neglect to be more intentional in our own understanding of our world, and we will continue to be perceived as intruders and exploiters. Continuing to insist that a military withdrawal is “defeat” may mean suffering the consequences of pride that betrays any real sense of justice or freedom.