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SALT LAKE CITY -- In a time of seemingly perpetual partisan gridlock, some feel the promise of the American Dream is increasingly beyond reach: they believe winning the lottery is more likely than getting ahead by working hard and playing by the rules. Fortunately, the recent National Strategic Narrative points to a new path forward for America. It frames our national policy discussions and decisions regarding investment, security, economic development, the environment, and foreign engagement well into the 21st Century.
The Narrative was written by Navy Captain Wayne Porter and Colonel Mark Mykleby (USMC, Ret.), former senior assistants for strategy to Admiral Mike Mullen, when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the Pentagon. It is published online by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Narrative outlines principles of security, prosperity, and sustainability as necessary conditions for achieving the American Dream.
America's greatest resource is our young people, who will shape and execute their vision needed to take our country forward into an uncertain global future. Fair competition, equal opportunity, and hard work can create for them a true sense of achievement, which requires our commitment now to creative innovation, entrepreneurial drive, and unbridled imagination, implemented by investing energy, talent, and resources into their education and personal growth.
America's sustainable prosperity requires economic development, global diplomacy, domestic and foreign trade, agriculture and energy, science and technology, rational immigration, robust education, public health and crisis response, homeland security, and an appropriate military posture in a contested world. Fair competition - of ideas and enterprises, among individuals, businesses, and other countries - will once again drive America's greatness across the spectrum of human endeavor. Accomplishing this begins by rebuilding a vital economy with low rates of unemployment, affordable health care and high-quality education, thriving urban centers and carefully planned rural communities, low crime, and a sense of common purpose underwritten by personal responsibility.
Sustaining American security means more than providing a strong defense. To be secure, we must regain the credibility of our core national values and again be a beacon of hope for all, not just a well-defended fortress. By balancing our national interests with our nation's principles, we can restore the American Dream as an achievable promise to all. For Americans of vision and goodwill, the National Strategic Narrative shows how our true appreciation of smart growth, credible influence, converging interests, and necessary interdependencies can transform gridlock into agreement on a feasible path forward.
