Admiral William H. McRaven: We Are the Good Guys

There’s no shortage of voices out there reminding us just how bad things are.

It’s easy to dwell on division, dysfunction, and decline. But the whole idea of launching The Next Move was to focus on the vision—on what we are fighting for, not just what we’re fighting against.

Admiral William McRaven embodies that vision. He’s one of America’s most effective special operators. He oversaw the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips, and the mission that brought down Osama bin Laden. There have literally been blockbuster films made about his most important missions.

But beyond his success on the battlefield, the thing that strikes me about him is his unique voice. He fights not only to defend the American nation, but also the values that define it. Just last week, at RDI’s Heroes of Democracy gala, Admiral McRaven’s remarks highlighted something that drew me to the US in the first place: Americans are the good guys. Or at least they can be.

Admiral McRaven asks what happens when they’re not.

How will we inspire the youth of America to serve? Will we tell them that they are vital cogs in the business transaction? That their sacrifice got us a better deal at the bargaining table?

I’m not an American, and I’m not so young anymore. But when I was young, growing up behind the Iron Curtain, I looked to the US as a beacon of liberty. So I’d add one question to McRaven’s: How can *this* America possibly shine a light into the darkest corners of the world?

Well, Admiral McRaven has an alternative.

Watch or read his speech. I promise it will be time well spent.

— Garry Kasparov

After I retired from the military, I had the honor of running the University of Texas system for several years. While I have stepped down from that particular job, I still teach a graduate course on national security decision-making at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. As part of the course, the students have to role play members of the national security council and then I give them a challenging geopolitical scenario which they must solve.

For seven years now, we have had a Russia invasion scenario into the Baltics, a pandemic coming from South America, provocation by the North Koreans, Iranians and Chinese and a drone strike on a terrorist leader. But, before I ask them to solve these problems, I give them an intellectual framework for thinking about difficult decisions.

The framework is a series of questions. As the members of the President’s cabinet and the national security decision-makers--the first question they must answer is “Who Are We?” Who are we as a nation? Because, if we don’t know who we are as a nation, if we don’t understand our principles, our values, our strengths, our limitations and our aspirations, then all the decisions that follow-- will be flawed.

When I pose this question to the class—who are we as a nation, they give the usual responses. We are a democracy, a representative government, we believe in the rule of law, separation of powers, individual freedom, free speech and the right of assembly, human rights, and above all they recognize that the constitution is the law of the land.

But invariably someone will shout, “we are the good guys!”

Yes, we are the good guys. We are the guys who fought Fascism and communism, totalitarianism and terrorism. We are the guys that rebuilt Europe and Japan after World War II. We are the guys that show up every time there is a natural disaster around the world.

We are the guys who provide aid and comfort to the weak and downtrodden. We are the guys that free the oppressed and stand up for the little guy. We are the good guys. We are Americans. That’s what we do.

Now, certainly we are not without our faults and many times in the course of American history we have embarked on self-serving crusades and military adventurism—but those times have paled in comparison to the good we have done in the world. Our values, our principles have been our north star, our guiding light in dealing with our own citizens and the rest of the world.

However, in February I attended the Munich Security Conference and the word I heard the most—from the rest of the world—was transactional. America has become transactional. We have told the world in no uncertain terms that we will only help if it is good for America; only if we get something in return for our assistance.

Now, every nation’s leader seeks to put their country first. That is how it should be. We should never be too naïve in our dealings with other countries. But, if the values that made us America are no longer important on the world stage, if we are only transactional, if we only care about the best deal we can get, then how will we differentiate ourselves from Russia or China?

If we are no longer the good guys, doing good in the world in hopes that it will improve the lives of our global citizens and thereby lift all humanity, then how will we inspire the youth of America to serve? Will we tell them that they are vital cogs in the business transaction? That their sacrifice got us a better deal at the bargaining table? If the words etched on the monuments and the facades of the great buildings are meaningless, where will we find our heroes?

If we don’t continue to represent hope for the world, then what kind of nation will we become?

In the forty years of my leadership journey, I have found that the great leaders, those with the most power, are also those who wield their influence with great ease and great compassion—making all those around them better. It is the same with nations. If we think that by being coercive to our neighbors, by leveraging our military, economic and diplomatic power against our friends, by strong-arming our allies—that it will make us a richer, more powerful, more respected country, we are mistaken.

When nations, like people, believe you are acting in good faith, for good reasons, they are more likely to trust you with their businesses, their human capital, their security and their lives. If they think you are only in it for self-serving purposes, then no amount of deal making will stand the test of time and when you need your friends and allies the most, they may not be there.

We are at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. If two-hundred and fifty years of this American experiment have taught us anything, it is that nothing is guaranteed.

In his seminal work, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville talked about the dangers of democracy. He feared that in a democracy the majority could become oppressive, silencing the minority and enforcing conformity. He feared that without strong civic engagement, individuals might withdraw from public life leaving the power to the state. He feared that a powerful central government could erode individual freedoms. He feared that economic success and personal gain would come at the expense of civic engagement.

But he offered a solution. To guarantee that our democracy stayed strong we needed engaged citizens, independent institutions, a free press, an educated citizenry and a decentralized government.

But we also need something else to guarantee our democracy stays strong. We need courage.

We need the courage to speak up against intolerance and injustice. No American should live in fear of their government. We need the courage to defend free speech and the freedom of assembly. We need the courage to protect the rights of all Americans. We need the courage to safeguard human dignity at home and abroad. We need the courage to challenge those who would undermine free and fair elections. We need the courage to demand our representatives act in the nation’s best interests.

It’s time to find our courage and do what’s right. We cannot sit on the sidelines and watch this experiment in democracy falter or fail.

Jimmy Carter once said, “The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself—always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested—by adversity.”

Today, our democracy is being tested by adversity, but I know that we will prevail. Because I have great faith in the principles that formed this nation. I have great faith in the constitution and those that are charged with upholding it. And I have great faith in the American people.

And when we have passed that test and we are stronger as a nation—the world will once again look to America and say—those are the good guys.

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