Even the most basic building blocks of U.S. power appear chipped and worn. Our military has been deployed to the point of exhaustion, including our National Guard and Reserves. Our international economic leadership has been hurt by an inconsistent approach to trade and by budget policies that have spun the gold of surpluses into the straw of record deficits. Our alliances in Europe and the Asian Pacific have been strained. And on nuclear weapons, human rights, and the rule of law, we are thought to be hypocrites.

Your job as president will be to recapture what has been lost and to proceed from there. You must begin with the understanding that our right to lead is no longer widely accepted. We have lost moral legitimacy. If we fail to comprehend this, we will not know how to formulate a successful strategy. We will be like a lawyer who assumes that, because of past triumphs, she has the jury in her pocket when she hasn’t, precisely because the jury resents being taken for granted.

In Kennedy’s time, the memory of World War II was part of every adult’s consciousness; so, too, was America’s role in rebuilding Western Europe and helping Japan to become a democracy. The rehabilitation of former Axis powers was seen as a luminous accomplishment. America’s leadership was still disputed, but its credentials were acknowledged. The country that had stood up to Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo had earned, at a minimum, a respectful hearing from people everywhere.

We can no longer assume that our understanding of our own history is widely shared. Relatively few hear the word “America” and think first of the Battle of Lexington or the landings at Omaha Beach. To those under the age of twenty — the majority in many countries — the cold war confrontation between freedom and communism means little. To many, the Statue of Liberty has been replaced in the mind’s eye by a hooded figure with electrodes. In marketing terms, the American brand needs a makeover.

Amid the swirl of events these past fifteen years, four trends pose a clear and present danger to American interests — first, terror and the rise of anti-Americanism in the Arab and Muslim worlds; second, the erosion of international consensus on nuclear proliferation; third, growing doubts about the value of democracy; and fourth, the gathering backlash against globalization due primarily to the widening split between rich and poor.

There is a fifth potential danger that could exacerbate the other four. Historically, America has responded to periods of deep involvement overseas by trying to withdraw. This was true after World War I, after Vietnam, and again following the cold war. As secretary of state, I devoted much of my energy striving to convince Americans that history had not ended when the Berlin Wall came down. Contrary to present perceptions overseas, the American people would much prefer to concentrate on problems at home than throw our weight around internationally. This is particularly the case when our efforts abroad go unappreciated. After Iraq, Americans will be reluctant to take risks. And so we should be, but not so reluctant that new threats are allowed to grow.

We are in a cantankerous mood. We were reminded by Hurricane Katrina that the fight against poverty and injustice in our own society remains unfinished. We worry that our jobs are being exported and our borders overrun. There is much going on in the world that we don’t understand and feel increasingly disinclined to try. A recent poll found that 42 percent of Americans say the United States should “mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can.” Tending to one’s own affairs is a virtue in America, and not much is expected of foreigners in any case. Why not disengage? Why shouldn’t we let others take the lead?

As president, it will be your responsibility to answer these questions.  It is essential that you restate the case for, and redefine the content of, American leadership. This is not 1808 or 1908. If the tools of American power are allowed to rust, alternative powers will fill the void. Some will do no harm; others will do no good. The time will arrive when we must awaken again, and there is a risk that we will respond too late. Far better to remain vigilant. We have unique capabilities; we must use them for the right purposes.

We should be reassured by the fact that the American people are viewed more favorably than our policies and that many people who are angry at some of what we do nevertheless want us to succeed overall. The same polls that show a decline in our popularity also suggest that the globe is not eager for a superpower rival to emerge — China’s military ambitions are viewed with suspicion; Russian leaders are distrusted; Iran’s president is positively disliked. The disappointment with us arises when we are thought to act without regard to the interests and concerns of others: when, for example, we dismiss the advice of Arabs and Turks before invading a country in their neighborhood; when we oppose a treaty on climate change or an international criminal court, instead of working with others to improve those arrangements; or when we make a political football out of immigration policy while simultaneously demanding that Mexico give top priority to the fight against illegal drugs.

You get inaugurated for the first time just once, so make the most of it. As soon as you begin to speak, America’s voice will change. Around the globe, ears that have closed will open at least for a moment; so, too, will minds. Be certain of the signature phrase you want. With FDR, it was “All we have to fear is fear itself.” With JFK it was “Ask not.” With George H. W. Bush, it was something about a “fresh breeze.” Clinton talked about change (“We force the spring”) and our forty-third-president —remember this? — pledged that America would “show purpose without arrogance.”

Aim high, but keep your words down to earth. It is in the nature of presidential candidates to paint a rosy picture of what the world would be like in the event they are elected, as if the skies would open so that justice and righteousness might flow down. Expect no such gift. You are about to inherit a peck of troubles with no power over the heavens and little enough here below.

Excerpted from “Memo to the President Elect” by Madeleine Albright. Copyright © 2008 Madeleine Albright. Excerpted by permission of HarperCollins Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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