America's credibility has been tarnished during the past five years. Reclaiming the mantle of global moral leadership is one of the most important things I hope to accomplish as president. To lead the world in addressing the challenges of our century, America must restore our moral authority. Restoring our moral authority isn’t just about feeling good about ourselves. When the world looks to America for leadership, we are stronger and safer, and so is the rest of the world.

Restoring our moral authority means leading by example, and making clear that hard challenges don't frighten us, but call us to action. We believe in a world where nations can come together to meet the great challenges and do great things to give the next generation the same opportunities that we've had, and the chance to do better.

We must move beyond the wreckage created by one of the greatest strategic failures in U.S. history: the war in Iraq. Rather than alienating the rest of the world through assertions of infallibility and demands of obedience, as the current administration has done, U.S. foreign policy must be driven by a strategy of reengagement. We must reengage with our history of courage, liberty, and generosity. We must reengage with our tradition of moral leadership on issues ranging from the killings in Darfur to global poverty and climate change. We must reengage with our allies on critical security issues, including terrorism, the Middle East, and nuclear proliferation. With confidence and resolve, we must reengage with those who pose a security threat to us, from Iran to North Korea. And our government must reengage with the American people to restore our nation's reputation as a moral beacon to the world, tapping into our fundamental hope and optimism and calling on our citizens' commitment and courage to make this possible. We must lead the world by demonstrating the power of our ideals, not by stoking fear about those who do not share them.

There is no military solution to the problem in Iraq; we need to have a political solution. All of the parties in Iraq need to take responsibility for the future of their country, and that will only happen when they realize that American troops are really leaving. I have proposed a plan to immediately withdraw 40,000 to 50,000 combat troops and bring home the rest in nine or ten months.

We need to intensify U.S. efforts to train the Iraqi security forces. We need to step up U.S. diplomatic efforts by engaging in direct talks with all the nations in the region, including Iran and Syria, to bring a political solution to the sectarian violence inside Iraq, including through a peace conference.

As we withdraw our combat troops from Iraq, we will most likely need to retain some troops in quick reaction forces across the border to prevent genocide, regional spillover of a civil war, or an al Qaeda safe haven.

As president, I will only use offensive force after all other options including diplomacy have been exhausted, and after we have made efforts to bring as many countries as possible to our side. I believe military force is justified to protect our vital national interests; to respond to acts of aggression by other nations and non-state actors; to protect treaty allies and alliance commitments; to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons; and to prevent or stop genocide.

As president, I will fundamentally transform America’s approach to the world. As part of my $5 billion initiative, I will bring high-level attention to help people in five priority areas: global poverty, primary education, preventive health, and greater economic and political opportunity.

I believe that the United States must be a global leader in the fight against poverty. Despite its importance to our national security, the United States still lacks a comprehensive strategy to fight global poverty. Solving global poverty is both a moral imperative and a security issue: poverty creates a safe harbor for instability, extremism, and terrorism. My strategy against global poverty will require every weapon in our national security arsenal.

Education is critical to bringing countries out of poverty, but more than 100 million young children are not in school. I will endorse the goal of universal basic education by 2015 and commit $3 billion a year to this cause—enough to enroll 23 million children—and encourage our allies to provide the remaining $7 billion needed. I will invest in effective public education where available and community-based schools in other areas.

In addition to an education, school offers a safe environment and a place for immunizations, fresh water, and an adequate diet. The benefits of education are particularly strong for girls: with education, they marry later, have fewer and healthier children, and are better paid in the workplace. However, many children are denied the opportunity to go to school because their families cannot afford the fees, their communities are too poor to have a school, or they must work.

Millions of people suffer and die from easily preventable diseases. More than 10 million children die each year before their fifth birthday from preventable diseases, many of which—like diarrhea—are preventable with clean water and basic sanitation. I will help fight the Three "Killer Diseases." Developing countries suffer from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. I will build on current initiatives such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the President's Malaria Initiative, and U.S. bilateral tuberculosis programs also create a new public-private program with major pharmaceutical companies and other industry groups to reverse the spread of the three deadly diseases and provide universal access to preventive and treatment drugs by 2015.

Political and organizing rights enable poor citizens to force their countries to create progressive laws, reduce oppression, and increase economic stability. The right to own property—barred for many citizens in some developing countries—reduces poverty and increases stability. I will invest in microenterprise. Successful microfinance programs making loans averaging less than $200 spark entrepreneurship while drawing a 98 percent repayment rate. Microinsurance can provide an inexpensive and effective way for poor families to avoid bankruptcy from death, illness, and funeral expenses. I will increase resources for non-profits running these programs five-fold.

I believe we should work with NATO, one of the world's most effective security organizations, to make sure the UN process will be as rapid, tough, and effective as possible. We saw the success of NATO in the Kosovo operation under President Clinton. Its member countries have some of the most accomplished militaries in the world. I called for a combination of U.S. and NATO actions to accelerate the peacekeeping process and the genocide. American airlift capabilities, logistical support and intelligence operations should be deployed to assist U.N. and African Union peacekeeping efforts in Darfur. The U.S. should convene within an emergency meeting of NATO's leadership to act on Darfur. NATO countries should support the deployment of U.N. troops with logistical, operational, and financial support. NATO should es tablish a no-fly zone over the region, to cut off supplies to the brutal Janjaweed militias and end Sudanese bombing of civilians in Darfur. Finally, NATO member countries should impose new multilateral sanctions on the Sudanese government as well as individuals complicit in the genocide.

The energy crisis is serious. Due to global warming, we could live on a dramatically different planet within decades. Climate change could cause hundreds of millions of people to suffer water shortages and tens of millions to be flooded out of their homes annually. By 2080, hundreds of millions could starve. Meanwhile, America's need for imported oil forces it to rely on unstable and even hostile countries.
Our generation must be the one that ends our nation's dependence on oil and ushers in a new energy economy. If we harness American ingenuity to reach for transformative change, we can emerge from the crisis of global warming with a new energy economy that stimulates innovation, brings the family farm back to life, and creates jobs in America's farms and industries. 

I have proposed a market-based approach to ending global warming and leading the world to a new global climate change treaty. I will set an economy-wide limit on the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, reducing emissions by 80 percent by 2050. At the same time, a cap-and-trade system will use market forces to reduce pollution in a cost-effective and flexible manner with the sale of permits financing investment in a New Energy Economy Fund.
Second, I will create a new energy economy and 1 million new jobs by investing in clean, renewable energy. The New Energy Economy Fund would jumpstart clean, renewable, and efficient energy technologies, taking into account both energy and economic needs. These steps, similar to those championed by the Apollo Alliance initiative, will spark innovation, create a new era in American industry, and bring new life to our family farms.

Third, we need to find a way to use coal without heating the planet. As president, I will require that all new coal-fired plants be built with the required technology to capture their carbon dioxide emissions, so plants built today will be able to permanently and safely store their carbon emissions tomorrow. I am committed to investing $1 billion a year in research and testing to jumpstart the means to store large amounts of carbon dioxide safely underground.

Finally, I will meet the demand for more electricity in the next decade through efficiency, instead of producing more power. It is often cheaper and cleaner to save energy rather than produce more of it.

I believe that the U.S. should actively participate in binding international agreements regarding climate change. I have created an energy plan that calls for the capping of US carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gas production by 20 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050. My plan also calls for the investment in and implementation of clean energy technologies. These technologies will require a significant sum of money for both research and implementation. This plan will not matter at all if developing nations continue to lack the means to reduce emissions as they industrialize. I believe developing countries must be included in any climate change treaty. To bring them to the table, I will share America's clean energy technology in exchange for binding greenhouse reduction commitments.

When America doesn't engage in these international institutions, when we show disrespect for international agreements, it makes it extraordinarily difficult when we need the world community to rally around us to get them there. We should be the natural leader in all of these areas, and, certainly, we should be a member of the International Criminal Court and we should cooperate with its ongoing investigations. The U.S. is committed to bringing war criminals and perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice. We will always stand by this commitment. I strongly believe in the principles underlying the Court—to ensure that criminals are brought to justice. While I believe deeply in the mission of the ICC, we must be able to protect American servicemembers from politically-motivated prosecutors. I believe we can do this while joining the court and assisting in its investigations.

We are a natural leader of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The United States has extraordinary human and practical resources to support a relatively new multilateral organization like the ICC. Supporting the ICC will ensure that those who commit the most serious crimes against humanity are punished even if national courts are unable or unwilling to do so. This will help promote lasting peace and security, enable members of communities victimized by these crimes to rebuild their lives, and send a strong message to all would-be tyrants that their crimes will not go unpunished.

The Millennium Development Goals were agreed to by all member nations of the U.N., including the United States. We must work hard to ensure that the MDGs are met.

The MDGs are the underlying goals of my proposals to fight global poverty and improve global sanitation, drinking water, and preventive health care.

Education is critical to bringing countries out of poverty, but more than 100 million young children are not in school. Girls account for about 57% of all out of school children. In 2002, 24 million girls were denied access to education in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Universal primary education will help lift African nations out of poverty, while also providing vital basic knowledge about disease prevention that could significantly impact the public health problems in the region. As president, I will support universal basic education by committing $3 billion – enough to enroll 23 million children – and encourage our allies to provide the remaining $7 billion necessary to achieve universal basic education by 2015.

Public health is tied not only to education and poverty, but also to sanitation and preventive care. In an effort to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, I will build on current initiatives such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the President's Malaria Initiative, and U.S. bilateral tuberculosis programs also create a new public-private program with major pharmaceutical companies and other industry groups to reverse the spread of the three deadly diseases and provide universal access to preventive and treatment drugs by 2015. I will double the U.S. investment in clean water. I will also convene an international summit of government, businesses, and non-profits to agree on necessary investments to make water safe worldwide by 2015.

I will also invest in preventative health care in poor countries, beginning with increased vaccinations and the provision of sterile equipment and basic medications. Fully immunizing a child against the top six childhood killer diseases—measles, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tuberculosis and tetanus—costs just $17 and can save the lives of 2.5 million children each year.

Stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and technology is one of our most important international goals, and we need to do much more to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and keep these weapons out of terrorists’ hands. Instead of producing new nuclear weapons, we need to focus our attention on keeping America safe through proven methods, such as securing the existing stockpile of weapons and ensuring that terrorists are denied access to them, strengthening security at our ports and vital infrastructure – like chemical and power plants -- and investing in maintenance of our equipment after the disastrous war in Iraq.

We should aspire to a nuclear-free world. The U.S. must abide by our commitment to NPT, and set an example for others to follow. Working with the international community to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles will be one of my top priorities as president. The very existence of nuclear weapons and the possibility that new states might acquire them presents one of the greatest threats to international peace and stability. States like Iran and North Korea can sell dangerous technologies to terrorists intent on doing us harm. Nearly two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, hundreds of tons of nuclear materials—enough material to produce over 60,000 Hiroshima-size bombs—and 20,000 nuclear warheads remain at risk in Russia. A recent study concluded that 60% of the country’s nuclear materials have not been secured. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has failed to address t his challenge in any serious, sustained way—a policy failure that must be reversed. The U.S. will set the example for others to follow by making sure we abide by our own NPT commitments. This means opposing any plans to build new nuclear weapons and gradually reducing existing stockpiles in conjunction with other nations such as Russia.

Within six months of taking office, I will convene a summit of leading nations to develop a new Global Nuclear Compact, which will increase the international community’s role in providing access to fuel for peaceful nuclear programs and for reacquiring and storing wastes produced by them; strengthen security for existing stocks of dangerous nuclear materials; limit the capabilities of dangerous states to make such materials; and ensure more frequent verification that materials are not being diverted and facilities not being misused. International experts should be given authority to mount challenge inspections, without notice, in countries that have a record of past noncompliance with their obligations. Any country that joins the NPT, and then opts out, or that violates the rules of the Global Nuclear Compact, will be subject to strong, immediate and multilateral penalties aimed specifically at its military capabilities.

Humanitarian aid is often imbalanced. We've got one agency on steroids—the Pentagon—while the civilian agencies are on life support. As president, I will help rebalance the delivery of civilian services throughout the federal government.

Civilians with training and experience need to be involved in stabilizing states with weak governments, and providing humanitarian assistance where disasters have struck. We need bankers to set up financial systems, political scientists to implement election systems, and civil engineers to design water and power systems. As president, I will create a "Marshall Corps," modeled on the military Reserves, of up to 10,000 expert professionals who will help stabilize weak societies, and who will work on humanitarian missions.
I will create a “Marshall Corps” to stabilize weak and failing states. Weak and failing states create hotbeds for terrorism and create regional instability that creates security dangers for the U.S. and our allies. The Marshall Corps will be modeled on the Reserves systems and will consist of 10,000 professionals who will work on stabilization and humanitarian missions. I will also implement new training for future military leadership and create a new undersecretary for stabilization efforts and a new senior stabilization position within the Joint Staff to coordinate these efforts.

Yes. I support the formation and funding of the United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS). The UNEPS, an emergency response service, will allow the international community to respond rapidly and effectively to crises. UNEPS can help prevent early stage crises from escalating into national or regional disasters. It is an important step in providing the world community with the international emergency service it needs.

Yes. I will work to make the “Responsibility to Protect” a standard in the international community. The international community shares a collective responsibility to protect the world’s population from genocide, massive human rights abuses, and other humanitarian crises. This response should be the exercise of first peaceful, and then, if necessary, coercive, including forceful, steps to protect civilians. My plan for the situation in Darfur—where the United States would aggressively lead an international effort, through NATO member nations, to support the ongoing UN peace effort there, is a good example. America can lead both through words and actions in gathering nations to stop genocides and other humanitarian disasters.

I would work with the Senate to ratify all of these treaties.

We should restore the right of habeas corpus. We should protect our troops and our values by upholding the Geneva Conventions anywhere American security forces -- military or civilian -- are engaged. We should also end the practice of extraordinary rendition.

Yes. America must never torture. We must aggressively gather intelligence in accordance with proven methods, but torture is not a viable interrogation strategy. Valuable information can be gained through interrogation, both about past and future attacks, and we must do everything we can to gather this information to keep us and our allies secure. At the same time, we must avoid actions that will give terrorists or even other nations an excuse to abandon international law. Detainees in places like Guantanamo Bay can not continue to be held without charge and without access to lawyers.

As president, I will close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, which has become a symbol that galvanizes our enemies and alienates our allies.

The United Nations is a valuable and essential multilateral organization, both for America’s interests and those of the world community. It has made incredible progress on peace, human rights, and development. However, international institutions like the United Nations must always be ready to adapt to remain relevant and must always seek to improve themselves. We must all work together to reform the United Nations and make the organization spends its members’ contribution monies efficiently and effectively, and that cronyism and corruption are prevented.

As President, I will support the full and timely payment of U.S. assessments to international institutions, including the United Nations. We need to keep our promises and pay our bills. Not funding our part of U.N. peacekeeping makes it less likely for troop contributing nations to do their part. And that makes it harder for current missions to succeed and for new missions to get off the ground.

Yes, I have a valid U.S. passport.

Over the last several years, I have spent a substantial amount of time on trips abroad, including Africa, the Middle East, and India, working on issues that are important to me, from poverty to peace. These experiences have helped me realize that to change the image of America there must be fundamental, transformational change around the world . Not change for the sake of change, but change for the sake of getting to where we know the country and the world can be, should be, and needs to be. If we are going to lead from this point in the 21st century, we must lead with a bold and confident step – confident in the greatness of the American idea, and bold in our plans to make it real. To lead the world in addressing the challenges of our century, America must restore our moral authority.

Restoring our moral authority isn't just about feeling good about ourselves. When the world looks to America for leadership, we are stronger and safer, and so is the rest of the world. Restoring our moral authority means leading by example, and making clear that hard challenges don't frighten us, but call us to action.