National security

With policies that keep us strong and safe, America can lead the world in the 21st century.

“I believe the future holds far more opportunities than threats if we exercise creative and confident leadership that enables us to shape global events rather than be shaped by them.”

HILLARY, JUNE 13, 2015

As secretary of state, Hillary worked to restore America's leadership in the world, after it was badly eroded by eight years of the Bush administration's go-it-alone foreign policy. Her tenure is marked by significant accomplishments, from building a global coalition to impose crippling sanctions against Iran, to brokering a ceasefire in Gaza and protecting Israel, to supporting President Obama's decision to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and much more.

Defending America and our core values is one of the cornerstones of Hillary’s campaign. When America leads with principle and purpose, other people and governments are eager to join us. Hillary’s framework of American leadership includes:

•Establishing a strong foundation. Our economy provides the foundation for our leadership, our diplomatic influence, and our military might. We succeed when we invest in our people, our infrastructure, and our technological edge. As secretary of state, Hillary went to bat for American companies and workers around the world, helping open markets and boost exports that created jobs back home.

•Keeping our homeland secure. As secretary of state, Hillary expanded global anti-terrorism cooperation and helped step up our efforts to go after terrorist recruitment, propaganda, and safe havens. As president, she’ll keep America safe and strong, while upholding our core values and principles.

•Making sure that our military is on the cutting edge. As a senator, Hillary was a champion for our men and women in uniform as a member of the Armed Services Committee. As president, she'll ensure the United States maintains the best-trained, best-equipped, and strongest military the world has ever known. America must also respond to the new challenges our veterans and military families face, providing them with the support they have earned and deserve.

•Following a vision for America that is centered on our core ideals. Hillary will continue her long-standing emphasis on gender equality and human rights, including the rights of LGBT individuals around the globe, and standing up for an open Internet to ensure that all people have equal access to information and ideas.

Hillary understands the importance of leading for the long term. We can’t stop the world from changing, but we can help to shape those changes. If America is smart, our advantages position us to meet new challenges and emerge safer and more prosperous. Smart, long-term leadership means:

•Never allowing Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. America and our allies, especially Israel, will be safer if we vigorously enforce the nuclear agreement with Iran and implement a broader strategy to confront Iran’s bad behavior in the region.

•Defeating ISIS. ISIS and the foreign terrorist fighters it recruits pose a serious threat to America and our allies. We will confront and defeat them in a way that builds greater stability across the region, without miring our troops in another misguided ground war. Hillary will empower our partners to defeat terrorism and the ideologies that drive it, including through our ongoing partnership to build Iraqi military and governing capacity, our commitment to Afghanistan’s democracy and security, and by supporting efforts to restore stability to Libya and Yemen.

•Holding China accountable. As secretary of state, Hillary reasserted America’s role as a Pacific power and called out China’s aggressive actions in the region. As president, she’ll work with friends and allies to promote strong rules of the road and institutions in Asia, and encourage China to be a responsible stakeholder—including on cyberspace, human rights, trade, territorial disputes, and climate change—and hold it accountable if it does not.

•Standing up to Putin. Hillary has gone toe-to-toe with Putin before, and she'll do it again. She'll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our European allies and help them decrease dependence on Russian oil. With our partners, Hillary will confine, contain, and deter Russian aggressions in Europe and beyond, and increase the costs to Putin for his actions.

In order to succeed, America must strengthen our current partnerships, and work to build new ones. In an interconnected world, people are hungry to partner with America, and many share our vision for the future. Hillary will strengthen our alliances and nurture new relationships across the globe. In order to ensure that America maintains successful global partnerships, she will:

•Strengthen alliances. From the Middle East and Asia to Europe and our own hemisphere, Hillary will strengthen the essential partnerships that are a unique source of America’s strength. That’s particularly true of Israel, which is why Hillary will continue to support Israel's ability to defend itself, including with Iron Dome and other defense systems. If anyone challenges Israel’s security, they challenge America’s security.

•Create partnerships for tomorrow. Hillary believes in free peoples and free markets. As president, she'll invest in partnerships in Latin America, Africa, and Asia with people and nations who share our values and vision for the future.

•Engage civil society. America has the opportunity to resolve familiar conflicts and nurture new democracies; to empower moderates and marginalize extremists; and to open markets and champion human rights. From engaging students and civil leaders to broadening our development partnerships to involve our businesses, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists, Hillary knows that America’s greatest assets are our diverse citizens and the vision of fairness and openness we offer the world.

America must adapt for the world of tomorrow. Wishful thinking will not prepare America for new and emerging threats. Preparing for the world of tomorrow means we must acknowledge:

•Climate change is not just a moral and economic issue, it is a defining national security challenge of our time. Safeguarding our country from rising sea levels and extreme weather requires domestic action and intensive global engagement. America must lead this effort, not back away from a threat to our security or an opportunity for our economy.

•Cyber attacks have profound consequences for our economy and our national security. Hillary will leverage the work of the public and private sectors—overcoming the mistrust that impedes cooperation today—to strengthen security and build resiliency for economy and infrastructure. Our country will outpace this rapidly changing threat, maintain strong protections against unwarranted government or corporate surveillance, and ensure American companies are the most competitive in the world.

•Highly contagious diseases are a constant threat. Warmer and drier conditions caused by global climate change, along with our increasingly interconnected world, enable germs to spread more quickly across the globe. America must remain vigilant and do more to prevent and contain outbreaks.