A strong, bipartisan commitment to global leadership has informed America’s foreign policy since it emerged from World War II. Today, however, the global architecture conceived, built and maintained by the United States is in jeopardy. Without American leadership, the myriad challenges to international security posed by rising powers and terrorist groups alike will threaten the security, prosperity, and freedom of the United States and its allies.

At the same time, some Americans are questioning both our capacity to lead on the world stage and the wisdom of doing so. US engagement abroad, at its core, has always been about helping the American people and protecting US interests. But ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with an uneven economic recovery, have led some at home to reassess the costs and benefits of American global leadership.

The next president will face a choice between reaffirming America’s leadership role in the international arena and abdicating that responsibility to someone else. The space created by American disengagement would be filled— and there is no way to guarantee that rising powers would share America’s values or interests. The time has come to reaffirm the importance of American leadership in international affairs, and we should ask all presidential candidates if and how they plan to do it.

Read the full article at: 5 questions every presidential candidate should answer: American internationalism edition