Opinions & Editorials

 Following are Opinions and Editorials and Occasional Papers.  Click on any link to read the full text. For earlier submissions, you can access our Archives.

NOTE: These publications reflect the views of the authors and not The Eisenhower Institute.

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Opinions and Editorials

French Lessons: The French Experience in Algeria and its Relevance for the United States in Iraq
by John W. Kiser

January 2004 - The U.S. is in danger of repeating another French debacle. The first, of course, was Viet Nam. Then, a cautionary voice such as General Maxwell Taylor's warned of not repeating French mistakes. But the French experience was widely dismissed in America as irrelevant. The French were yellow, hadn't won a war since Napoleon and they were small and weak. America was big and strong. Today, there are voices being raised about Iraq becoming another Vietnam. Similarities do exist; however, a more appropriate analogy might be Algeria.

George Marshall's World, And Ours
by General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (ret.)

December 11, 2003 - In early December 1953, Gen. George C. Marshall was en route to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in reconstructing Europe. The five-day passage aboard the Andrea Doria was a rough one, and the general had a terrible cold. Marshall had intended to use the voyage to draft his acceptance speech, but his illness prevented him from doing so. He landed in Europe with a few central ideas in his head but nothing on paper.

Contemporary U.S. Counter-Terrorism Strategy:
The Right Recipe or Missing/Mismeasured Ingredients?
by Jason Wittemen

October 11, 2003 - Last month the United States' war on terrorism entered its third year. To date the U.S. has achieved many successes countering threats to its national security and vital interests posed by Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic terrorist networks. Without question, the use of military force has been fundamental to U.S. accomplishments, and without question, it will continue to play a central role for the foreseeable future. Even so, a preponderance of evidence suggests that the current strategy's predominant tactical reliance on military actions (and similar, complimentary quantitative measures) has come at the expense of insufficiently developing other, more diplomatic, qualitative tactics that must also be implemented in order for the U.S. to achieve a sustainable, long-term victory in the war.

NATO Transformation: Pillars from the Past for Building the Future
by General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (ret.)

October 7, 2003 - The substantially changed world security environment of the 21^st Century demands comparably substantial changes within NATO. They amount to a full scale transformation to re align the Alliance to meet the new, more uncertain challenges. This transformation, however, is compounded by the lack of common purpose among member nations and deep fractures within NATO.  

NATO in Iraq? But Not Yet
by Sean Kay, non-resident fellow and associate professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University

August 26, 2003 - The United States is suffering severely from George W. Bush's failure to establish a true multilateral coalition, with international legitimacy, for the war and its aftermath in Iraq. As one soldier on average dies each day, and as the costs of the Iraqi engagement are doubling, Washington has begun to hear a bipartisan call for bringing NATO into the management of Iraq.

A Holistic Peace Process for the Middle East
by Yehezkel Landau

January 2, 2003 - With the Oslo peace process in shambles, and Israelis and Palestinians feeling demoralized after almost two years of war and terror, it is time to explore other ways of healing this seemingly intractable conflict.

Occasional Papers

The Middle East Peace Process; the Case for Jaw-Jaw not War-War
by Michael Ancram

April 17, 2007 - Transcript of the speech at the Eisenhower Institute by the Right Honorable Michael Ancram QC MP in the British House of Commons and the former deputy leader of the Conservative Party. Having recently returned from a trip to the Middle East region (Beirut, Damascus, and Jerusalem), where he held a series of meetings with representatives from all sides concerned in the recent tensions, Ancram was particularly qualified to provide insight into the slowly evolving and combustible peace process there.

Reconsidering Ike's Health and Legacy:
A Surprising Lesson in Duty at the Little White House Presidential Retreat
by Robert P. Watson and Dale Berger

There have been many good leaders throughout history. Often times we do not appreciate or understand the true depth of what makes these individuals great until they have departed this world, and it takes both historians and the public time to reflect on the totality of the individual's actions and life's work to render history's judgment. Recent scholarship on Eisenhower has resulted in a reshuffling of the presidential ratings with the thirty-fourth President now ranked by scholars in the nine to twelve range, up from "average" to "near great" status. So, questions obviously remain regarding the legacy and status among scholars of the American presidency of the man who, as Supreme Allied Commander, saved the free world from fascism and had such a decisive impact upon the course and direction of the post-war order. One of the relatively unknown - and understudied - aspects of Eisenhower's life was his 1955 trip to the "Little White House" presidential retreat in Key West, Florida. This visit, which was taken as part of the therapy for his health ordeal, provides some interesting insights not only into the President's health but into his character and governing style, relevant to the ongoing discussion of Eisenhower's legacy.

Dealing with Weapons of Mass Destruction: Framing a Strategy
by General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (ret.)

2003 - The dangers and challenges weapons of mass destruction pose call even now for the utmost of skill and commitment to counter them, with a rigorous assessment in depth and detail of the risks and threats they embody, and clear strategic policies, programs and actions to deal with them. The issues and implications are so profound and far reaching that searching examination and debate are imperative. Yet there are some key steps we can take in framing that discussion.

Atomic City: Russia's Leading Nuclear Weapons Facility
by Susan Eisenhower

On July 12, I stood to speak before two hundred former Soviet weapons scientists, engineers, industrialists and generals in a closed city in the heart of Russia's Ural Mountains. I was the only foreigner at a gathering to mark the 70th birthday of Russia's leading nuclear weapons designer Evgeny Avrorin, hydrogen bomb designer par excellence.

The Future of International Cooperation in Space
by Thomas Graham, Jr.

July 8, 2003 - As part of The Eisenhower Institute Future of Space project, Senior Advisor Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. delivered a paper entitled, "The Future of International Cooperation in Space," to the National Security and Military Space Workshop at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.

The Law and the Military Use of Outer Space

May 1, 2003 - Briefing by Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE Newport, Rhode Island

Threat to Satellites of a High Altitude Nuclear Detonation (PDF 3MG)

In this presentation Dr. Dennis Papadopoulos, Professor in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Maryland, addresses the potential consequences for satellites of a nuclear explosion in space.

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