"I don't like the unsaid debates. These are the issues that pop up, almost out of nowhere, yet consume our political discourse.

Consider the controversy over the Dubai company's purchase of terminal operations at a half-dozen U.S. ports. Sure there was an argument about that specific action -- how it unfolded, how it raised questions about the Bush administration's due diligence or the implications for national security.

But that only reflected the surface issue. Dig deeper and there's an unsaid debate; a contest of ideas about how the United States interacts with the rest of the world."

Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: Economy complicates our role in the world (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 3/19)

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