I talked about the need for American leadership, I talked about the importance of the United States to a more peaceful world, a world that has been quite turbulent in recent years, and needs a strong American anchor.

Rice frames U.S. power as stabilizing rather than merely self-interested: “leadership” and an “anchor” suggest a country that holds an unsettled international system steady. The phrasing implies a post-crisis or post-conflict moment (“turbulent in recent years”) in which American engagement is presented as necessary for peace, not optional. It also reflects a classic foreign-policy argument associated with U.S. primacy—that global order depends on U.S. commitments, alliances, and willingness to act. The rhetoric is justificatory: it seeks to normalize an active U.S. role by casting it as a public good for the wider world.