The physical infrastructure includes power plants, roads, sewers, ports, banks, telecommunications, housing, hospitals, health care and environmental sustainability. But our infrastructure also includes strong societal and moral codes, the rule of law, and a government and political institutions that are stable. Also included are schools and the many other educational programs that contribute to a knowledgeable citizenry. In addition, though rarely included, is knowledgeable leadership, in both the private and public sectors. This leadership must have the will to improve and to continuously learn about its obligations to society.
Leadership needs to respect knowledge and the potential of people to use it.
Without a strong educational component in a society, and an environment that values knowledge and critical thinkers, there is little hope for that society to grow and develop. There is certainly no hope that it can sustain leadership in a global sense. Education is a foundation for which there is no substitute, whether that education takes place in a traditional way or on the factory floor. National security also requires a healthy market-based economy, with a strong industrial base of globally competitive industries that continuously improve their quality and productivity, and produce jobs and more jobs. Economic security is a major element of national security.