Global issues should be on the minds of the people come voting time.

The president we elect – or re-elect – this year will face global problems and opportunities that are complicated almost beyond imagination.

Voters must choose someone who recognizes the world’s complexity but is nonetheless willing and able to promote and defend the universal values for which America has always stood – however unsteadily. Among them are freedom and the incalculable worth of each human life.

I wish a perfect candidate were running. There’s no such being. There never is. We must make do. But as we make our choices, it’s crucial to pay close attention not just to what candidates say about the kaleidoscope of domestic issues but also to their positions on foreign affairs and their ability to deliver on their visions.

The globe continues to shrink. What happens in Kabul and Karbala, in Karachi and Kazakhstan, in Kalinin, Kagoshima and Kuwait affects what happens in Kansas City and Kankakee. And vice versa.

As the planet’s dominant force, America must use its power and influence wisely. So that power must be in the hands of leaders who know that the tortuous dynamics of geopolitics act something like chaos theory, in which the flapping of butterfly wings in one hemisphere can ultimately produce hurricanes in another.

So what should voters look for? What questions must they ask? The list is too long for this space, but here are a few areas to think about:

• Terrorism. This evil force must be disabled, but that will require much more than military might. It also will require international cooperation and a will to understand and undo terrorism’s many causes, including at times our own complicity in creating those causes. If the goal is elimination of terrorism, we’re fooling ourselves. Rather, the civilized world must work to keep terrorism down to some tolerable level, even while recognizing that no level of terrorism should be tolerable.

• Religion. This is closely tied not only to terrorism but also to almost every story – foreign or domestic – in the newspaper. To understand the powerful forces of religion is not to control them, of course, but there’s no way to devise the right policies if we don’t recognize the central role religion plays. Religious motives are powerful. Commitments to God often override every other explanation for behavior. Presidents without a keen sense of religious history inevitably cause more problems than they fix.

• Globalization. This is not just about whether we export jobs to Mexico or sign international treaties regulating greenhouse gases. It’s economic, cultural, environmental, religious, high-tech and so much more. Yes, it’s about trade, but it’s also about whether the inevitable transitions caused by machinations in a global economy are handled fairly. It matters what we do to and for American workers who lose jobs because of these seismic shifts. But it also matters whether we’re creating an international economic system that makes sense and makes the wisest use of resources and skills.

• Energy. It’s closely related to globalization, especially energy from oil. For decades America has winked at the oppressive governments of countries – especially in the Arab world – willing to sell us lots of cheap oil. It’s been a bargain with the devil. Whoever we elect must help us find alternative sources of environmentally friendly energy and persuade us to conserve. Oil gluttony is our Achilles’ heel.

• The culture wars. Most people see this as mostly an American debate over such matters as abortion, prayer in schools and the coarsening of our entertainment industry. But American culture is the planet’s 800-pound gorilla. Arabs watch our TV shows – and many are horrified by the casual sex and other indications of wanton immorality. Africans, Asians, Europeans, South Americans and others learn about America and its values from our movies, our music.

Many such people still understand that America is a land of freedom and opportunity, but they wonder whether such advantages are worth the price. A president must speak for our core values while acknowledging that freedom sometimes degenerates into license.

There’s much more, including how to handle a trial for Saddam Hussein, but this is a start on subjects to which presidential candidates and voters must pay attention. And by the way, if you get your election year news from just one source, you’ll wind up badly uninformed.

Bill Tammeus is an editorial page columnist for The Kansas City Star.

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