Senator Hart's commernts merit attention. Our Founding Fathers combined a respect for ideas as they stayed grounded in reality. They worked at building a common enterprise while preventing abuses of power. They understood how we govern ourselves will directly influence what our international perspective and posture will be.

Senator Hart's wise reference to the importance of international respect  shows the necessity of what Joseph Nye named "soft power." The US will be influential in international matters if it earns respect from peoples around the world and the nations that represent them.

Let us continually carry forward a public discussion about what the elements of international respect are.

David Cohen