“We must recognize that security means more than defense,” they write. After ending the 20th century as the world’s most powerful country, “we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable form of energy.”

The two officers each have more than 20 years of service, and now work as special strategic assistants to Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Their paper, which is not an official policy document, was published last month by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, and is available on the center’s Web site, wilsoncenter.org.

The killing of Bin Laden demonstrated a commitment to justice, Captain Porter said. “It was also a cathartic event for thousands of people around the world who have lost relatives to this sociopath,” he said. Yet both officers cautioned that the death of one man could easily be overestimated.

“When Saddam Hussein was discovered in his spider hole, everyone thought, ‘Hallelujah, the war is over,’ and it was really just beginning,” Colonel Mykleby said Tuesday by phone from his home in South Carolina. “The big, bad daddies, taking them out — it’s not the answer. It’s part of it. The job is not done yet. There are still bad guys who are out there, and it’s going to be part of the fabric of our world. This is a critical moment to talk about a narrative that isn’t just focused on threats.”