But in the communal joy of last week, many of us felt, for an instant, that Americans might still be capable of working together to meet threats and challenges far greater than Osama bin Laden.
One of her projects examines how the CIA and other government intelligence organizations adapt to meet threats posed by loosely-knit networks such as Al Qaeda.
While it is too early to declare Al Qaeda defeated, Americans should take comfort in this book's reminder that their government can adapt to meet threats as they change, keeping them safer — if not necessarily safe — from terrorism.
But action taken to meet threats always has an impact beyond the immediate context, and all states benefit from a shared global framework.
The national missile defense system that the president will review this summer is intended to meet threats from proliferant states like North Korea while preserving strategic stability.
Her message had to be clear: "We are not accepting that countries just get to sit back and let the United States meet threats that are going to roost in their worlds just as easily as they are in ours".
