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Three issues central to the outcome [of the Afghan war] should enter the public debate as his strategy is launched.

The first is America’s place in the world in the 21st century. Officials from Moscow to Beijing, from Iran’s revolutionaries to Somalia’s pirates, will scrutinize this last-ditch U.S. effort — and weigh their actions, reactions and interactions with the United States on how Obama’s effort fares.   

Failure by the world’s mightiest military power, backed by the largest military alliance, to uproot the Taliban — a force without an air force, armored corps, long-range artillery, satellite intelligence or powerful foreign backer — would vividly illustrate the limits of U.S. power. The consequences could dwarf those of the defeat in Vietnam, even if the loss of life was smaller. . . .

U.S. standing in the Islamic world is also at stake. The historic rule of thumb is that winners have influence; losers don’t. Winners get to set standards. Their ideas get more attention. Their leaders gain greater authority.  

And the outcome of the U.S. confrontation with various branches of al-Qaeda and the Taliban is pivotal to the future of the Islamic world. Almost a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Muslim world is at a crossroads. Polls show key Muslim societies are increasingly rejecting  extremism. . .  

Finally, U.S. interests in the wider region are also at stake, notably on two fronts.   

Obama’s strategy will deeply affect India, the world’s largest democracy. Long-standing tensions between Pakistan and India have taken the world closer to the brink of nuclear war than any conflict has since World War II. . .

Just as worrisome are the stakes with Iran, which borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghanistan has become for Iran what Iraq once was: a surrogate battlefield with the United States. . .

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