Sentence:  All week long the President clearly was playing a larger personal role in foreign affairs ; in effect , he was practicing what he preached in his Berlin message two weeks ago when he declared : `` We shall always <WSD>be</WSD> prepared to discuss international problems with any and all nations that are willing to talk , and listen , with reason '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)