The book's main topics

Ch. 1  America and the world after Bush

In this introductory chapter I lay out the book's main themes, in particular the need for the US government and citizenry to move from a "Control paradigm" view of America's relationship with the rest of the world to one of "Global Inclusion"

Ch. 2  Traditional security challenges

In Chapter 2, I look at the vexing issues of terrorism and weapons proliferation and describe the strategies that a policy of Global Inclusion would suggest in these areas. Most of these strategies build on an approach called “human security,” which maintains that security is most reliably ensured by (a) recognizing that all the world’s peoples are interdependent with each other, and (b) building on that interdependence to address common problems—including the problem of insecurity—through common and cooperative efforts.

Ch. 3  The challenge of global inequality

At a global level, economic and social inequality has grown more acute over recent decades. A large proportion of the world’s people lack the basic requirements of human flourishing—or even, in many cases, human survival. This matters to Americans.  In Chapter 3, I describe changes we need to make in our aid and trade policies to level the world’s economic playing fields, and to start including in the global economy the hundreds of millions of the world’s families that are currently excluded from meaningful participation in it.

Ch. 4  Strengthening human rights

Too many states have failed to protect the rights of their citizens, or have  themselves badly abused their citizens’ rights. These failings have sparked movements in the West that advocated military invasions of abusive countries in pursuit of human rights improvements. But that approach has not worked well.  Chapter 4 will explore the alternative approaches that Global Includers would pursue, including working more cooperatively with the rest of the international community on this issue, and—crucially—working to ensure that Washington improves its own rights record and thus regains some credibility in international discussions on rights questions.

Ch. 5  Dealing seriously with climate change

Global warming has already started to undermine the livelihoods of millions of the world’s people, stoking conflicts and sending waves of impoverished migrants across international borders and treacherous seas. Chapter 5 indicates ways the United States should re-engage with the effort to combat global warming and build a sustainable global economy for the decades ahead. This re-engagement is a vital part of Global Inclusion!

Ch. 6  Global power shifts

In the balance among world powers, the main dimensions of strength have traditionally been seen as military power, economic power, human resources, and “soft power”—that is, reputational power. The United States remains predominant in raw military power. But Bush’s campaign in Iraq revealed that military power has become less effective than previously thought, while it also inflicted great damage on our country’s soft power and pushed up the U.S. national debt considerably. Chapter 6 charts these developments. It also shows, more encouragingly, that the institutions and norms established by a generation of U.S. leaders back in 1945 still provide a helpful framework within which we can address today’s shifting power balances in a nonviolent, inclusive, and constructive way.

Ch. 7  Rejoining the rest of the world

Chapter 7 notes that the challenges we face in the post-Iraq world are all closely linked to each other, and draws together many of the big themes that have informed the preceding chapters.  It calls on Americans to re-frame the concept of "national security" in a way that is more focused on the interests of the US citizenry than of the big military-industrial complex or other big business sectors.  It concludes with a "Top Ten" list of the broad principles that Global Includers would press for, for our country’s foreign policy.

Resource section: Action Toolkit and Topics Toolkit

In addition to the many charts and text-boxes that make Re-engage! informative and accessible to a wide range of readers, the book also includes Toolkits that give good suggestions for how to gain further information about the topics that engage you, and how to organize effective citizen actions around them.  These resources will periodically be updated on the Re-engage website.