TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135380/page/1

American parochialism is particularly evident in foreign policy. Economically, as other countries grow, for the most part the pie expands and everyone wins. But geopolitics is a struggle for influence: as other nations become more active internationally, they will seek greater freedom of action. This necessarily means that America’s unimpeded influence will decline. But if the world that’s being created has more power centers, nearly all are invested in order, stability and progress. Rather than narrowly obsessing about our own short-term interests and interest groups, our chief priority should be to bring these rising forces into the global system, to integrate them so that they in turn broaden and deepen global economic, political, and cultural ties. If China, India, Russia, Brazil all feel that they have a stake in the existing global order, there will be less danger of war, depression, panics, and breakdowns. There will be lots of problems, crisis, and tensions, but they will occur against a backdrop of systemic stability. This benefits them but also us. It’s the ultimate win-win.

This, I think, is perhaps the most integral change in this new world system. Because international free trade and associated political development benefits countries so strongly, they have an overwhelming interest to remain a part of the international system. It therefore becomes self-sustaining and a driver of peace and stability, rather than precariously-built as older, empire-based systems were. And it is inherently more beneficial to all involved.