America rests on shared values rather than shared ethnicity.
Leadership experts and the public alike extol the virtues of transformational leaders - those who set out bold objectives and take risks to change the world. We tend to downplay 'transactional' leaders, whose goals are more modest, as mere managers.
American power in the world relies on these ideals of openness and critical debate.
As we think of power in the 21st century, we want to get away from the idea that power's always zero sum - my gain is your loss and vice versa. Power can also be positive sum, where your gain can be my gain.
Transformational leaders are important because they make choices that most other leaders would not.
Terrorism is like jujitsu: The small players win if they make the large player use his strength against himself.
We live in a world of diverse cultures, and we know very little about social engineering and how to 'build nations.' And when we cannot be sure how to improve the world, hubristic visions pose a grave danger.
