2002 Publications Archives

2002

Opinions and Editorials

Occasional Papers

Articles

Opinions and Editorials

Once and Future Policy Planning: Solarium for Today
by Tyler Nottberg, manager of institute programs, The Eisenhower Institute

2002 - In his assessement of Project Solarium, Nottberg argues that the value of the exercise still has relevance today.

The Prague Summit: Beginning or End for NATO?
by Sean Kay, non-resident fellow and associate professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University

2002 -To citizens of the seven countries invited to join NATO, the November 2002 Prague summit understandably represents an extraordinary finish to a decade long effort to rid themselves of their domination by external powers. However, citizens of the "old" NATO countries might well be left wondering, what do we get from this? Does NATO really matter to the threats that confront us today?

Public Safety: The Risks of Going to War Against Iraq
by Sean Kay, non-resident fellow, Eisenhower Institute and 
Joshua Spero, professor of political science at Merrimack College 

Originally published November 3, 2002 in the Boston Globe - President George W. Bush has finally begun to address the American public with his case for war with Iraq. However, he has failed to explain the high risks associated with a major military operation. It is possible that a military invasion of Iraq, unilaterally or multilaterally, will significantly damage American national security.

Terrorism and Our Domestic Peril
by John W. Kiser

October 28, 2002 - By envoking the Washington, DC area sniper attacks and his experience studying terrorist violence in Algeria, John W. Kiser argues that errant US security policy might have the effect of inciting rather than suppressing additional acts of terrorism, and illustrates how such policy could contribute to the creation of a domestic situation plagued by sectarian violence and mass hysteria.

True Islam? A Comparison Between Two Competing Islamic Worldviews
by Makhtum Abdelkarim

September 2002 - Makhtum Abdelkarim, Spiritual Leader of the Turkmen Diaspora in Afghanistan, offers a Turkmen interpretation of Islamic fundamentalism of the type practiced by Mullah Omar and the Taliban. Through the use of several references to the Koran, Abdelkarim contests the validity of this version of Islam, which he describes as a narrow and unlearned political-ideological distortion of the religion. True Islam, he says, upholds and promotes human rights, justice and kindness, and it has the ability to help develop a healthy society.

Bush's First Step on a Long Road to Baghdad
by Sean Kay

Originally published September 19, 2002 in the Akron Beacon Journal - In last week's address to the United Nations, President Bush made an important tactical shift in America's campaign to remove Saddam Hussein as the leader of Iraq. A month ago, presidential advisers argued it was pointless to work with the United Nations and unnecessary for Congress to authorize war. On both accounts, Bush has shown a willingness to reject a rush toward unilateral war.  

Bush's Quandry
By Sean Kay

August 23, 2002 - A small group of neoconservative policymakers in the current Bush administration came to office determined to remove Saddam Hussein from power. These advocates have persuaded President George W. Bush to support "regime change" in Iraq and the talk of war grows daily. If the Bush administration is going to commit American men, women and resources to battle, it must better explain the risks.

Haste and the Homeland Plan
by Jeffrey Smith

Originally published June 18, 2002 in The Washington Post - President Bush's stunning proposal to create a new Department of Homeland Security deserves high marks as a bold effort to ensure our domestic security in the face of very real threats from terrorists and potentially hostile states. The plan to consolidate several existing government agencies makes, on first hearing, great sense.

Two Jobs for One INS
by Doris Meissner

Originally published March 28, 2002 in The Washington Post - Yes, mailing terrorists' visa approval notices was an inexcusable blunder. But if the political hurricane that followed fails to summon administration muscle and congressional approval for restructuring the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), another chance will have been squandered to place this overworked agency on the organizational footing required to do its job properly.

The President's Decision to Withdraw from the ABM Treaty
by Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky

March 2002 - In light of the rapidly approaching date of the US's formal withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky argues that President Bush's decision to pull out of the Treaty was a political act motivated neither by "extraordinary events" that have led the Treaty to be an impediment to safeguarding US national security, nor by the technical necessities of developing an operational missile defense system. Similarly, the implications of the decision will ultimately be defined by its political consequences rather than by its technical significance.

An Algerian Microcosm: Monks, Muslims, and the Zeal of Bitterness
by John W. Kiser

2002 - Kiser's book, The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love and Terror in Algeria touches many broad subjects: the Benedictine Rule and it's relevance to the problems of people living together in a community, the different ways Christians and Muslims live their faith, and the challenges of preserving one's identity and yet being open to change and growth.

In this story of friendship and sacrifice, of abduction and savagery, the argument is made that the monastic way of life represented by these monks of Tibhirine provides a common thread between the Muslim and Christian worlds, one that provides a window into the communal values of Islam and the importance of faith as a defining source of identity. Religion, a source of terrible conflict when lived in an exclusionist way and fueled by anger and hatred, is also the source of hope and healing when lived in the spirit of brotherly love and service to an inclusive God. The monks' experience, and more broadly the French experience in Algeria, gives hope to the unifying force of faith when lived sincerely and with purity of heart. Islam, warts and all, deserves to be considered as much a part of the "western" tradition as Judaism and Christianity. And, it has the power to heal itself as evidenced in Algeria.

Prevention of Arms Deployment in Space
by Lt. General Mikhail S. Vinogradov

January 17, 2002 - Both the United States and Russia are subject to all major international treaties and agreements that require using space for peaceful purposes only. It is in the interests of all humankind to ensure that the research and usage of outer space, including the moon and other celestial objects, pursues peaceful goals so that all may benefit.

Fugitive
by John Eisenhower

2002 - Eisenhower writes about how America's hunt for Pancho Villa and how it parallels America's hunt for Osama bin Laden. "Americans paid little attention to the sandy wastes and rugged mountains where the Fugitive lived. The few roads were poorly maintained. Towns and cities were far apart and hardly habitable once a traveler reached one. The impoverished citizens bore no love for Yankees and what central government existed was too weak to maintain either law or order. It just wasn't the kind of place we bothered to think about..."

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Occasional Papers

American Power and Purpose
by U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel

Speech to The Eisenhower Institute at the National Press Club - Washington, DC, September 30, 2002 - As President Eisenhower knew well, history allows no quarter for those blessed with the burdens of leadership. History also judges harshly those who unwisely, arrogantly, and dangerously squander great opportunities for mankind. America's role in the world comes not only from the extent of her power, but from the power of her principles. Periods of transition in world politics are usually accompanied by instability. The world faces such a challenge today. It will test America's power and principles. America's response will lay the foundation for its relationships in the world for the first half of the 21st century.

Counter-Terrorism and U.S. Security- Shaping a Strategy for the Future
by General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (ret.)

July 9, 2002 - Eisenhower Institute senior fellow Goodpaster has authored an occasional paper on the United States Government's approach to security and combating terrorism.

Galileo: A Cornerstone of the European Space Effort
by Xavier Pasco

May 2002- Pasco, a senior researcher at Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique in France, discusses the Galileo satellite navigation program, the recently approved European counterpart to the US GPS system, and analyzes the complex issues it represents for the relationship between the European Union and its member states, as well as its controversial role in US-European security and economic relations.

Prevention of Arms Deployment in Space

A paper presented by Lt. General Mikhail S. Vinogradov, Vice Chair, Committee of Scientists for Global Security, prepared for Eisenhower Institute Seminar, January 17, 2002.

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Articles

The Republicans Get Their Man
Summer 1952
by Bret Hovell

Although the summer of 1952 was a time of domestic prosperity, that did not necessarily connote domestic tranquility. The economy of the United States was on its way to producing an output of $350 billion, the largest to date. General Motors began building cars with air conditioning and the U.S. won seventy-six medals in the Olympic games in Helsinki, Finland, seven more than our Soviet rivals. Puerto Rico became the first self-governed commonwealth of the U.S.; Dr. Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine. America was reading Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny, and watching I Love Lucy.

Winter of Discontent
Winter 1951-52
by JT Dykman

1951-1952 was indeed a "winter of discontent" for the United States. Americans were frustrated by a stalemated war in Asia that had ended the career of General Douglas MacArthur because he wanted to win it and had tarnished President Truman who only seemed to want not to lose it. Americans were being killed and wounded in a conflict without movement, and no end was in sight. Senator Joseph McCarthy, (R) Wisconsin, was at the height of his domestic anticommunist accusations and could ruin any citizen with a whisper. National primaries would begin in late winter to select the next President and both parties were in disarray. President Truman refused to say if he would run again and no other candidate predominated the Democratic Party. The Republicans were split between conservative isolationists led by Senator Taft of Ohio and moderates like Henry Cabot Lodge who were shaken by the defeat of Dewey in 1948 and believed that in order to win this time the party needed entirely new, less dogmatic, leadership.

Eisenhower calls for a "United States of Europe"
Summer 1951
by JT Dykman

The Treaty of Washington, which created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had been signed in April of 1949, but eleven of the twelve signatory nations were only just beginning to rebuild their war-wrecked economies; their peoples were largely dispirited, their leaders remained badly divided on issues of defense and suspicious of collective security itself.

The Soviet Experience in World War II
By JT Dykman

Americans have little conception of the Soviet Union's experience in World War II. No cities in the United States were besieged, not a single bomb was dropped by an enemy airplane on any of our 48 states, no part of our population was enslaved, starved or murdered, and not one village, town or city was completely destroyed or even heard a shot fired in anger.

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