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1101. The Defense Monitor: Little Room in Politics for the Facts of the Matter

Author:
Philip E. Coyle, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Theresa Hitchens, Victoria Garcia, Colin Robinson, Krista Nelson, and Jeffrey Lewis
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Few things are more routinely abused than facts when people in government — any party, any branch — set out to make a decision. I've been reminded of this truth watching the current administration parry revelations that it manipulated “facts” about weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for the war against Iraq that Congress authorized a year ago this past week. But I'd learned it the hard way much earlier. During a 31-year career as an evaluator for the General Accounting Office and a staffer for four different U.S. senators from both parties, I spent a lot of time trying to use facts to influence decisions made by the U.S. government. The facts took a beating all too often.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and Iraq

1102. The Defense Monitor: Liberation and Occupation in Iraq

Author:
Michael Donovan
Publication Date:
07-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
S of this writing, 39 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq in the 10 weeks following the declared conclusion of the campaign to over throw Saddam Hussein on May 1. This fact stands in sharp contrast to the optimistic pre-war rhetoric of the George W. Bush administration regarding the “liberation” of Iraq and testifies to the arduous road that lies ahead.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and War
Political Geography:
United States and Iraq

1103. The Defense Monitor: Nuclear Recollections

Author:
Bruce Blair
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Rear Adm. Eugene (Gene) Carroll, our beloved colleague who passed away this February, often shared with me his recollections of the role he once played in planning for nuclear war. As quoted in his obituary in the Washington Post, Gene once wrote: “During the horrible confrontation with the Soviet Union we called the Cold War, I frequently stood nuclear alert watch on aircraft carriers. For a period of time my assigned target was an industrial complex and transportation hub in a major city in Eastern Europe … My bomb alone would have resulted in the death of an estimated 600,000 human beings. Multiply that by 40 or 50 times and you can understand what two carriers alone would have done.”
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Soviet Union

1104. The Defense Monitor: The World At War

Author:
Col. Daniel Smith
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
At the start of 2003, the United States remains focused on fighting global terrorism in general even as it zeroes in on Iraq as the nexus of evil. But a number of factors in play today make international support for such a venture less effusive than in 1990-91, when the last anti-Saddam “coalition of the willing” formed. Many economies, including those of three of the four big financial supporters of the 1990-91 war — Japan, Germany, and Saudi Arabia — are weaker. Any war would be relatively more expensive. Suspicions about U.S. motives, fueled by the Bush administration's initial unilateralism, remain alive despite Washington's patient work in obtaining a UN Security Council resolution on new inspections. Germany has declared it will provide no forces; use of Saudi Arabian airbases to launch combat missions against Iraq remains unclear; and troop contributions, as well as moral support, from other Arab states such as Egypt and Syria may not materialize.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Iraq, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt

1105. Canada and the Future of Continental Defense - A View from Washington

Author:
Dwight N. Mason
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The United States and Canada have had a long and successful defense relationship. This relationship is based on a shared understanding that North America is a single military theater and that each country has an obligation to the other for its defense. Over time this basic understanding had led to a steady expansion and deepening of our defense relationship and the creation of a number of institutional arrangements to manage it. One product of these arrangements has been a partnership style of continental defense management that has proved to be successful despite the disparities in resources and responsibilities and, sometimes, the policy differences between our two countries. This structure is now beginning to be threatened by the decline in the resources and capabilities of the Canadian Forces. Nevertheless, there are things that both countries separately and together could do to improve the situation.
Topic:
Defense Policy and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, Canada, and North America

1106. An Attack on Iraq: The Military, Political, and Economic Consequences: Scenario Briefing

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
There are major uncertainties about the military outcomes and political ramifications of an attack on Iraq. Really three sequential sets of scenarios: The prelude to war and the different ways in which war can occur. The actual process of conflict. The post-conflict occupation of Iraq and the way in which an independent Iraqi regime emerges.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

1107. Providing Security for the People: Security Sector Reform in Africa

Author:
Ann M. Fitz-Gerald and Anicia Lalá
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The subject of Security Sector Reform (SSR) and all its permutations and combinations, has evolved considerably over the last thirty years culminating in a re-branded, more holistic 'package' of actors, policy and programmes. It is an area that now garners interest across the wider security sector, and includes uniformed institutions and organisations such as the police, gendarmerie and the military, as well as the non-uniformed actors that play an important oversight role with regard to political, legislative, and budgetary processes.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Development
Political Geography:
Africa

1108. Report Of The South-South Dialogue On Defence Transformation

Author:
Anicia Lalá
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The objective of the conference was to promote the debate about defence transformation in the context of Ghana, inject local content and transparency, and enhance Ghana's ability to gain ownership of the process. The departure point was the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) of the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence (GMoD), whose primary objective is to strengthen the capacity of civil staff of the MoD in managing the defence sector. In order to highlight the challenges of defence transformation under African conditions, the presentations included the experiences of South Africa, Uganda and Sierra Leone, delivered by respective nationals.This initiative was part of a collaborative effort between the GMoD, the British Defence Advisory Team (DAT) and the African Security and Dialogue Research (ASDR) and followed a two-week defence management course for civilian staff mounted by Cranfield University. Conference participants included civilians and military from the GMoD and the Ghanaian Armed Forces, parliamentarians, academics, representatives from the Ministry of Interior and the Intelligence services as well as members from civil society organizations (CSOs) equally attended the meeting.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Civil Society
Political Geography:
Africa

1109. GFN-SSR Advisory Group Meeting

Author:
Ann Fitz-Gerald
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
Robin Luckham opened the meeting by thanking all members for attending, particularly after two busy days spent in London at the SSR International Forum. He emphasised how well the Forum had gone and how successful the team had been with the level of participation, bearing in mind the current political uncertainty.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
London

1110. Cross-border business activities in the Small and Medium Enterprise sector in the Southern Adriatic border areas of Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author:
Ivo Grkovic and Nikola Kalafatovic
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Analyzing the area of our interest and its economic perspective requires us to take a step back into the past and conclude that history repeats itself. Traditionally, this has been the area of trade, communication, as well as war. The last fifty years, up until the disintegration of ex-Yugoslavia, represented the longest period of peace in this region of different cultures, nations and history. In ex-Yugoslavia, these differences did not represent a limiting factor, and therefore the transport of people as well as goods was free and unlimited. Although the state borders existed, in the legal sense they were not of great importance. We can say that people living in this region were both geographically and economically directed towards each other. However, economic differences were present, and Croatia ranked as the second most developed state of ex-Yugoslavia (after Slovenia).
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Montenegro