The world, as the sagacious former United Nations Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan once observed, is a dangerous place. The world is perhaps even more dangerous than it has been since the height of the Cold War, when, oddly, the bipolar global struggle between the West and the Soviet Union provided some sort of framework. We have no such luxuries of bipolarity now. There will be no strategic arms talks in Reykjavik between the West and Al Qaeda. Also: as the center of geopolitical power veers eastwards and America concentrates on its war on terror, hotspots flare across the globe. Russia continues to confound, of late in South America; Al Qaeda is ratcheting up tensions; the Congo is in political disarray; Somalian piracy threatens to extend beyond the Gulf of Aden. And let's not forget the global financial crisis, which China, unfortunately, is using to its advantage when in dialog with the West.

These problems each and all have shown all of us the limits of unilateralism. "Hard Power" -- or the use of sticks instead of carrots in approaches to National Security -- has given way, in this incoming Obama administration, to "Soft Power." Soft power is the ability to coerce nations to follow our lead in multilateral agreements because they are attracted to our culture, our economic successes and our political values. America, a mighty nation-in-progress founded on values -- religious tolerance and liberty -- is, with the right national security and foreign policy team under the right president, the textbook definition of soft power, by definition acutely aware of matters of righteousness and justice. Enter: Barack Obama.

As the cabinet of President-elect Obama begins to take shape, his United Nations ambassador -- in this new, multipolar moment -- will be one of the more important choices he can make on the global stage. Obama is slated to reveal his national security team in early December. According to The New York Times and ABC News, Susan E. Rice -- a longtime friend and a former assistant secretary of state -- has emerged as a frontrunner. Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of JFK and an early Obama supporter, has also been mentioned for the prestigious post. Kennedy is also mentioned as a possible ambassador to the Court of St. James (Britain) and the Holy See (the Vatican). Former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton, who chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and was also the vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission and co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, has also been mentioned among the chattering classes as a possible UN pick. All of these choices exhibit, to differing degrees to be sure, experience, intelligence, diplomacy and -- dare I say it? -- glamor, which all factor into a working equation of the sort of "soft power" that the United States will need to attract other international actors to the legitimacy of U.S. policies.

The American ambassador to the UN will have a lot of heavy lifting to do, reinvigorating the tarnished American brand in the Security Council and on the floor of the General Assembly. Remember: the 2006 Israeli-Lebanon War ended because of Security Council Resolution 1701. How many more wars of the future will find conclusion through a Security Council Resolution?

It truly matters who Obama picks for UN Ambassador.

[Image: State.gov]