Addressing Global Threats and Alliances

We are at an inflection point.

An inflection point not only in the history of my nation,

but an inflection point in the whole of our civilization.

The threats we face today

are every bit as real

as they were on the dramatic stage of antiquity.

National interest did not vanish in the face of international institutions.

War

did not disappear simply because we preferred peace.

Other states continued to arm, to seek influence, to

compete for territory, and technology, and resources, and

markets, and energy, and power.

And now there is war again.

There is new competition between tw-- great powers again.

There is vulnerability, aggression, terrorism, a whole

universe of new threats and attacks again.

And so we must rebuild our institutions and our alliances to

face these threats together,

understanding that the purpose of these things is not to abolish the

sovereignty of the nations that constitute them.

It is to defend them,

and that nations need not abandon their distinct identities

in order to recognize their common interests.