The paper that every American needs to read...RIGHT NOW!

Huge hat tip here to intrepid Philadelphia blogger Susie Madrak, for spreading the good word about an amazing new paper (PDF file) -- called "A National Security Narrative" and highlighted in Foreign Policy magazine -- that really cuts right to the quick of what this whole crazy debate about the future of the United States of America is all about. The article's main point is that America's basic security as a nation in the 21st Century depends not on continuing to try to dominate the world militarily but on developing our resources, which is mainly our people through better education but also our renewable resources, our infrastructure, etc. Exactly the ideas that are pushed by progressives (and occasionally and half-heartedly by the Obama administration) and get blocked by the American exceptionalism crowd. Even as each backwards step makes America less exceptional.

No, what's really incredible about the paper is the authors -- two active-duty-military staff members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. They describe the views expressed in their paper as "personal," but it's hard to imagine their higher-ups are not endorsing their viewpoint in some fashion. Indeed, this really needs to become the viewpoint of our leaders, if it's not already. Here's a good summary in an introductory section from Princeton professor Anne-Marie Slaughter: