Question

According to Kennedy, what is the question of the New Frontier?

How is the world changing?
Why won’t the old ways work anymore?

Will the US succeed in a changing world?
Today our concern must be with the future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do. . . . Can a nation organized and governed such as ours endure? That is the real question. Have we the nerve and the will? Can we carry through in an age where we will witness not only new breakthroughs in weapons of destruction, but also a race for mastery of the sky and the rain, the ocean and the tides, the far side of space and the inside of men’s minds? Are we up to the task – are we equal to the challenge? . . . That is the question of the New Frontier.

—John F. Kennedy
July 15, 1960

Answer 1

1) What is the question of the New Frontier?
- Kennedy’s question is essentially: “Can a nation organized and governed such as ours endure?” — i.e., do we have the nerve, will, and capacity to carry the United States through a rapidly changing age and meet the new challenges it brings.

2) How is the world changing?
- The old era is ending and rapid scientific, technological, and geopolitical change is underway: breakthroughs in destructive weapons, and a competitive “race” to master new domains — the sky, weather, oceans and tides, outer space, and even “the inside of men’s minds” (ideas, ideology, and psychology).

3) Why won’t the old ways work anymore?
- Because these changes create new kinds of threats and competitions that existing institutions, habits, and policies were not designed to meet. The old complacency, methods and organizations lack the imagination, scientific investment, political will, and coordination required to succeed in technologically driven, global, and ideological contests. Kennedy argues the country must adapt its organization, leadership and resolve to be equal to those challenges.