Former President George W. Bush, who has largely stayed out of political affairs since leaving the White House, spoke out Thursday against the state of political discourse in the country, and called for reforms in civic education and cybersecurity.

"We've seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty," Bush said.

"Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions, forgetting the image of God we should see in each other," he added.

The former president made the remarks at the George W. Bush Institute in New York City, during a national forum on freedom, free markets and security.

In many ways the president's speech was a repudiation of political ideals that have gained more mainstream attention lately through President Trump's platform  -- including a harder line against immigration.

Bush said these ideals, however, were part of our shared values as Americans.

"We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism – forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America," Bush said. "We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade – forgetting that conflict, instability, and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism.

"We have seen the return of isolationist sentiments – forgetting that American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places, where threats such as terrorism, infectious disease, criminal gangs and drug trafficking tend to emerge.

"In all these ways, we need to recall and recover our own identity. Americans have a great advantage: To renew our country, we only need to remember our values."

Former President Bush said protecting American freedoms requires a new effort to harden the country's defense, particularly in the area of cybersecurity and improving our electoral system. He called Russia "a hostile power [trying] to feed and exploit our country's divisions." 

"According to our intelligence services, the Russian government has made a project of turning Americans against each other," Bush said. "This effort is broad, systematic and stealthy, it’s conducted across a range of social media platforms. Ultimately, this assault won’t succeed. But foreign aggressions – including cyber-attacks, disinformation and financial influence – should not be downplayed or tolerated."

The president also said strengthening America's citizenship, especially among young people, is key, with a new push for civic learning in schools. The president says this is the only real way to combat prejudice and bigotry. 

"This means that people of every race, religion, and ethnicity can be fully and equally American," Bush said. "It means that bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed."

Information from CNN was used in this report.