America and the World

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/07/opinion/letters/america-international-relations.html

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To the Editor:

Re “As the U.S. Disengages, Peril Ahead for the World” (Op-Ed, June 15):

François Delattre, France’s departing ambassador to the United Nations, eloquently calls on America to rise above preoccupation with daily provocations and insults to our values and to civil discourse. He urges us to see the potential consequences of America’s shocking, changing role in the world: withdrawal from leadership, from multilateralism, from indispensable partner for the common good.

We cannot afford to be so distracted by a daily torrent of rants from across the spectrum (but, yes, more from the right than from the center and the left) that we lose sight of ourselves as people who have a great deal in common. We each have a leadership role to play for peace and stability.

We are people in this together: rural and city, middle and coasts, liberal and conservative, senators and representatives and voters.It means you and me and our neighbors here and beyond our borders.

I am grateful for Ambassador Delattre’s urgent call to be our best selves and engage responsibly at home and around the world, with our historical partners (like France) as well as with newer partners. We can’t afford to just throw up our hands and retreat to our corners.

Stephanie RedmanBloomfield Hills, Mich.