Hard Power

Our ideas about national security have changed radically over the last five years. It has become a political tool, a “wedge issue,” a symbol of pride and fear. It is also the one issue above all others that can make or break an election. And this is why the Democratic Party has been steadily losing power since 2001. In Hard Power, Michael O’Hanlon, an expert on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, and Kurt Campbell, an authority on international security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explain how the Democrats lost credibility on issues of security and foreign policy, how they can get it back — and why they must. They recall the successful Democratic military legacy of past decades, as well as recent Democratic innovations — like the Homeland Security Office and the idea of nation-building — that have been successfully co-opted by the Republican administration. And, most importantly, they develop a broad national security vision for America, including specific defense policies and a strategy to win the war on terror.