The New America Foundation's Robert Wright made a compelling case in Sunday's New York Times for a foreign policy paradigm that he labeled “progressive realism.” The approach he outlined entailed actively leveraging a more robust system of international institutions, adaptable to both new threats and economic opportunities, in pursuit of U.S. national self-interest through intrusive weapons inspections, enforcement of new environmental and labor standards, humanitarian efforts, and so on.

President George W. Bush's decision to make Social Security privatization his top second-term priority is proving to be an extraordinary gift to liberals. At the very least, his plan to fundamentally transform the nation's most successful governmental program has unified and energized a progressive community that otherwise seemed destined to be fractious and despondent after a crushing electoral defeat. While the outcome of the Social Security debate in Congress is far from certain, public-opinion polls and the dynamics on Capitol Hill at this early stage indicate that liberals have a solid chance to defeat privatization and earn their first big win since, well, a very long time ago.