The United States is at a strategic crossroads. Should we continue to focus our power on crises where we're weakest, or go to established strengths? One path -- the current one -- is to place our biggest bets on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq where the outcomes will be uncertain and, in any event, costly. The other path -- shaped by Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower -- is to emphasize building situations of strength with old allies like Germany and Japan and potential new partners like India, China and Russia, where we can expect some cooperation and positive results.

Of course, this is not a black-and- white choice, but a matter of priorities. There's no escaping the need to fight terrorism. Nonetheless, we face a fundamental decision about how to define...