Outside View: National security in the 21st century

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Last Sunday Barack Obama's national security adviser, retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, made the television morning talk show rounds. Perhaps the most provocative question fired at him was why he was playing a far less visible -- and critics would add even an invisible -- role than his more famous predecessors such as Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Jones' answer was simple and direct as befitting a former commandant of the Marine Corps and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

"This is a different century," Jones calmly replied, meaning that however tough and dangerous the major issues were in the past, in today's more complex and complicated world, new ideas, tools, methods and organizational schemes were crucial both inside and out of government. That understanding is far more important than the visibility of the personalities who have sat in his White House office. ....