President Obama's National Security Strategy in 2015: Strong and Sustainable American Leadership

President Barack Obama confers with National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice at Konstantinovsky Palace during the G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia. September 6, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The President's National Security Strategy (NSS) is the blueprint for America's leadership in the world -- how we address global challenges while advancing our nation's interest, values, and vision for the future. 

The Administration released its first NSS in 2010, a time when we were in the process of bringing two wars to a responsible end, emerging from the Great Recession, and re-asserting our leadership on the world stage. 

Now, America's resurgence is real -- we are stronger than we've been in many years. Today, the President's National Security Advisor Susan Rice outlined our new NSS in 2015 at the Brookings Institution -- one that lays out what we need to get done in the near-term to secure America for the long-term. 

As Rice said, a strong and sustainable American leadership is key to building greater peace and prosperity throughout the world: 

Strong and sustained American leadership remains essential, as ever. Think for a minute where the world would be today without decisive U.S. leadership. Ebola would be spreading throughout West Africa and likely to far corners of the world. Instead, America galvanized the world to roll back this horrible disease. Without us, Russia would be suffering no cost for its actions in Ukraine. Instead, the ruble is in a free fall, and Russia is paying dearly for flaunting the rules. Without us, there would be no military campaign or sixty countries countering ISIL’s advance. There would be no prospect for a global deal on climate change; no pressure for Iran to be at the negotiating table; and, no potential for trade that meets a higher standard for our workers and businesses.

Here are the 4 key ways we will advance a strong and sustained American leadership: 

1. We will advance the security of the United States, its citizens, and U.S. allies and partners by: 

• Maintaining a national defense that is the best trained, equipped, and led force in the world
• Reinforcing our homeland security to protect Americans from terrorist attacks and natural hazards
• Striving for a world without nuclear weapons and ensuring nuclear materials don't fall into the wrong hands
• Developing a global capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to biological threats like Ebola through the Global Health Security Agenda

Read the other key ways the President's plan enhances our security here. 

2. We will advance a strong, innovative, and growing U.S. economy in an open international economic system by: 

• Strengthening American energy security and increasing global access to reliable and affordable energy to bolster economic growth and development worldwide
• Advancing a trade agenda -- including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership -- that creates good American jobs and shared prosperity 
• Leading efforts to reduce extreme poverty, food insecurity, and preventable deaths with initiatives such as Feed the Future and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

Read the other key ways the President's plan promotes economic opportunity and prosperity here. 

3. We will advance respect for universal values at home and around the world by: 

• Holding ourselves to the highest possible standard by living our values at home even as we do what is necessary to keep our people safe and our allies secure
• Leading the way in confronting the corruption by promoting adherence to standards of accountable and transparent governance
• Leading the international community to prevent and respond to human rights abuses and mass atrocities as well as gender-based violence and discrimination against LGBT persons

Read the other key ways the President's plan encourages respect for universal values here. 

4. We will advance an international order that promotes peace, security, and oppor­tunity through stronger cooperation by:

• Strengthening and growing our global alliances and partnerships, forging diverse coalitions, and leading at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations
• Pursuing a stable Middle East and North Africa by countering terrorism, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and reducing the underlying sources of conflict
• Promoting a prosperous, secure, and democratic Western Hemisphere by expanding integration and leveraging a new opening to Cuba to expand our engagement

Read the other key ways the President's plan promotes stronger partnerships and cooperation here. 

"Our unparalleled leadership is grounded in America’s enduring strengths and guided by a clear sense of purpose," Rice said. "The challenges ahead will surely continue to be many and great. Progress won’t be quick or linear. But, we are committed to seizing the future that lies beyond the crisis of the day and to pursuing a vision of the world as it can and should be."