Other people’s struggles in far-away lands can feel pretty remote. But the case for American leadership in the world, particularly when it comes to supporting liberty abroad, is an argument worth making. The 2026 midterms offered another reminder – with fresh examples of Russian meddling in the election – that authoritarian powers seek to manipulate American citizens, our democracy, and our way of life.
“Freedom is necessary for peace,” President George W. Bush said bluntly while observing the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Those decades-old attacks still serve an important lesson about what can happen when extremism thrives in a closed society – and how it can impact us here at home.
It’s reasonable that this argument isn’t top of mind for many of us. We’re all balancing responsibilities at home and at work, with colleagues, family, and friends. Those pressures are both tangible and urgent: the price of gas, putting food on the table, childcare, or Mom’s upcoming surgery.
Still, a free world is good for America, and it affects us more than we might think. Around the world, democracies – governments accountable to their people who can prosper under the fair and transparent rule of law – are far less likely to interfere in American elections, be seduced by extremism, or to attack their neighbors … or the United States. So, we need policies that support freedom worldwide to counter authoritarian regimes.
An understandable refrain from skeptics, though, is that we need to get our own house in order before helping others.
What may surprise some, though, is that Americans still want to champion democratic values overseas. According to the Reagan Institute’s 2026 summer survey, most Americans favor U.S. engagement and leadership in the world. More than that, 81% agree on some level that America has a “moral obligation to stand up for human rights and democracy” globally. And, since 2024, the Reagan Institute’s research shows a significant plurality of Americans (nearly half) strongly supporting this idea of championing human rights and democracy abroad.
Only a few years removed from 9/11, in his second inaugural address, President Bush made the case that tyranny overseas ultimately breeds resentment and violence against the world.
“There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment and expose the pretensions of tyrants and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom,” President Bush said.
Authoritarian regimes and nonstate actors like the Islamic State group, and the oppressive tactics they embrace, pose grave national security threats to the United States. This could mean military, terrorist, or cyber attacks that cause widespread chaos and violence. All have the potential to negatively impact things like gas and food prices. Threats could also manifest as personalized attacks like transnational repression or coercive sharp power targeting American values like free expression.
We need policies that tackle these realities by addressing the root cause of the problem. Democracy and human rights can be better integrated into the U.S. national security strategy under a coherent vision of how these things are connected. Prioritizing and confronting what is known as CRINK – China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea – provides a way to do just that.
One of CRINK’s clear aims is to undermine the American-led democratic world order that has benefited free nations and free enterprise for nearly a century. Thwarting those ambitions – and weakening CRINK – demands a strategy that revitalizes the American-led order. That means modernizing defensive capabilities, strengthening individual freedom, fostering open and fair markets, punishing human rights abusers, and expanding accountable governance.
Such a strategy also recognizes that America shouldn’t be left to deal with this challenge alone. Instead, it needs to lead and bolster values-based alliances that amplify U.S. power, contain CRINK ambitions, and protect human rights.
Drawing from the Bush Institute’s Malign Alignment policy recommendations about CRINK, America has an array of options for advancing free societies.
America and its allies can expand their “soft power” through both the public and private sectors. Free societies naturally empower their own people, something totally alien to authoritarian regimes. The United States has enjoyed decades of success reaching oppressed populations through reliable information efforts like Voice of America or supporting civil society, accountable government institutions, and political parties through the National Endowment for Democracy and its core institutes.
Authoritarian regimes often crave the veneer of legitimacy, and they don’t like being labeled as pariah nations that brutalize their people. There are different ways Washington can press on this insecurity by imposing reputational costs on authoritarian government abuses. The State Department has the authority to issue atrocity determinations, which can be used to great effect to support communities like Burma’s Rohingya, China’s Uyghurs, and persecuted minorities under the Islamic State group.
Additionally, both the administration and Congress should consistently, firmly, and publicly insist on the release of political prisoners when meeting with authoritarian government officials at all levels. This effort could be enhanced through the force of legislation that codifies support for political prisoners, official monitoring of their well-being, and punishment for those that harm them into U.S. law.
And, more broadly, Congress should continue to recalibrate sanctions legislation – like the Global Magnitsky Act – that directly targets human rights abusers. Of course, those efforts need the administration to consistently implement and enforce these laws to be effective.
American freedom is tied on many levels to the state of liberty globally. A foreign policy that supports democracy and freedom shouldn’t be viewed as naive idealism. Support for free and democratic societies converges with securing democracy here at home and our deepest-held values.
To repeat President Bush’s words, “Freedom is necessary for peace.” That’s why such policies benefit all of us.
