The Best Political Essay this Year

Fareed Zakaria's How to Restore America's Place in the World is an important essay, perhaps the best political essay I've read this year. Fareed has been writing for Newsweek for several years, and he's always been articulate and clear-headed. But this essay is particularly important, and it comes at a critical time. We in America stand at a crossroads as a nation. We have, in many ways, gone off path.

Before us now is a choice between a dark future of insularity and fear, and a much different future -- a bright future as a open, confident, resilient microcosm of the world and advocate for all humanity across national, ethnic, and religious boundaries.

To make the difficult choice to commit to the bright future, we must change our path and recommit to principles we previously held dear, but now fear. We must embrace freedom of religion and separation of religion and state. We must relish our role as a melting pot of peoples from around the world. We must encourage free trade of commerce and culture. We must hold ourselves to a higher moral standard than our enemies. And we must engage all nations and peoples of the world with openness and respect, even if the favor will not always be returned.

It does not mean relinquishing strength. It means having the confidence to apply that strength in concert with others in the world, for the good of all.

If you can only carve out time (and stomach) for one political essay this year, this may be the one.