The commission's Phase 1 report, released Sept. 15, describes the emerging world of the next 25 years. Phase 2, due next April, will lay out a national security strategy appropriate to that world. Phase 3, in 2001, will propose changes to the nation's security infrastructure in an attempt to implement that strategy. Tens of millions of the poor may rise to middle-class lives free from the depredations of want and disease. Regions Aflame However, progress is a fragile process.
Nothing is guaranteed.
Dire scenarios of regions aflame, in the grip of despots, are also possible. And active American engagement in the world may be a necessary condition to fully realize the promise of the next century. Every effort must be made to ensure that this responsibility is discharged wisely. That does not mean that the United States will be the world's only guarantor of stability. Washington will still work with and within a variety of international organizations, the commissioners believe.