Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

Former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel meets with Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III to talk about “America: Our Next Chapter.” Hagel serves on many advisory boards and chairs the Atlantic Council of the United States, a non-partisan organization that “promotes constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the central role of the Atlantic community,” according to the council’s website.

Known as an independent thinker and politician, the Republican former senator offers a recent observation about elected leaders: “We have allowed our country … to drift, I think, dangerously close, to … defining who you are, everything in life by ideology,” Hagel says. “When you do that, you shut your receivers down, and it is transmitters 24 hours a day. You can’t learn, you can’t understand, you can’t educate yourself, you can’t govern if you do that.”

A democracy could be taken “off a cliff” if independent thinking and consensus are long absent from governing. Leaders must focus on what is right for the country, not for the party, Hagel says, expressing optimism that the country will right itself.

The conversation turns to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the future of the Middle East. Alliances based on common interests are key to finding resolutions, Hagel says. A single powerful nation, such as the United States, cannot unilaterally solve global problems. “Great powers usually have learned too late the limitations of their power,” he says. “The wise powers that have sustained their ability to lead in the world are those who have understood that for some time.”

Hagel represented Nebraska for two terms in the Senate (1997–2009), where he was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Intelligence Committees. He is the author of America: Our Next Chapter, which examines challenges confronting the nation in the twenty-first century.

About Sen. Chuck Hagel

Hagel represented Nebraska for two terms in the Senate (1997–2009), where he was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Intelligence Committees. He is the author of America: Our Next Chapter, which examines challenges confronting the nation in the twenty-first century.