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291. Transforming U.S. Intelligence

Author:
Jennifer E. Sims and Burton Gerber
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Georgetown University Press
Abstract:
Intelligence failures prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the “missing” weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq have reminded Americans that good intelligence is crucial for national security. Indeed, the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States led quickly to the enactment of legislation restructuring the intelligence community, underscoring both the capacity of American citizens to change their most secretive governmental institutions and their appreciation of the importance of the intelligence mission. The families of the victims of September 11 recognized their opportunity to reform the U.S. government's intelligence service and, remarkably, they did so. At the end of 2004 President George W. Bush signed into law the first strategically significant changes in the American intelligence system since it was created at the end of World War II.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Defense Policy, Terrorism, Insurgency, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
United States

292. Boots On The Ground: Increasing the Size of the Army To Meet The Missions of the 21st Century

Author:
Aaron Scholer
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Third Way
Abstract:
In the wake of 9/11 and the war in Iraq, the United States Army has been asked to shoulder enormous burdens with a force that remains almost unchanged in size since it was drawn-down following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The occupation of Iraq and other duties around the world have required the greatest sustained deployment of the American military since the height of the Vietnam War, but the Army has not been allowed to take substantive, permanent measures to grow larger to meet this challenge. Moreover, despite a dramatic 37% increase in defense spending since 9/11, the Bush Administration has yet to request a permanent increase in size for our main fighting force. Consequently, the Army is facing the greatest mismatch between its mission and its manpower since the mid-1930s, when Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur, deeply concerned about the military's thin ranks and the lack of urgency in government circles about that state of affairs, remarked that “the secrets of our weakness are secrets only to our own people.”
Topic:
Defense Policy and Military Strategy
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Soviet Union

293. Can America Rebuild the Crumbling State of U.S.-Asia Relations?

Author:
Kishore Mahbubani
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
Ambassador Mahbubani's address looked at previous American actions that built "reservoirs of good will" that ultimately assisted America in its ideological victory in the Cold War, especially in Asia: its sharing of the "American dream" with the world; its openness to foreign students; the international order built by the United States after 1945; and, finally, the stabilizing effects of its military presence in East Asia. However, the end of the Cold War has brought changes, and the gulf between America's self-perception and the way it is seen in the Islamic world, and China in particular, demonstrate the dwindling of those good will reservoirs.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, China, America, and East Asia

294. If Not Balancing, What? Forms of Resistance to American Hegemony

Author:
Jeremy Pressman
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
While traditional understandings of international affairs would predict the formation of a balancing coalition against the dominant U.S. position in world affairs, some analysts now contend that the U.S. advantage is so comprehensive and so unprecedented that we have not seen and will not see balancing behavior on the part of second tier powers like China, Russia, Japan, and Germany. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the absence of balancing means the United States will not face any meaningful opposition in the international arena. Though in the short term a bloc of states is unlikely to form a counter-coalition. the historical form of resistance to dominant powers other states still find important ways to resist U.S. dominance.
Topic:
International Relations and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Japan, China, and Germany

295. Nuclear Deterrence, Preventive War, and Counterproliferation

Author:
Jeffrey Record
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
During the Cold War, the principal function of nuclear weapons was to deter nuclear attack. Nuclear deterrence was not considered a tool of nonproliferation. The primary mechanisms for halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons were the nonproliferation regime established by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 and the U.S. extension of nuclear deterrence to states that might otherwise have sought security through the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States

296. Nonlethal Weapons and Capabilities

Author:
Paul X. Kelley, Richard L. Garwin, and Graham T. Allison
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
In the four weeks of “major conflict” in Iraq that began on March 19, 2003, U.S. forces demonstrated the power of training, transformation, and joint operations. However, the ensuing support and stability phase has been plagued by looting, sabotage, and insurgency. Wider integration of existing types of nonlethal weapons (NLW) into the U.S. Army and Marine Corps could have helped to reduce the damage done by widespread looting and sabotage after the cessation of major conflict in Iraq. Incorporating these and additional forms of nonlethal capabilities more broadly into the equipment, training, and doctrine of the armed services could substantially improve U.S. effectiveness in achieving the goals of modern war. Nonlethal weapons and capabilities have much to offer also in the conduct of war, in the prevention of hostilities, and in support of homeland defense. Indeed, a force using nonlethal weapons and capabilities has the potential of achieving combat and support goals more effectively than would a force employing only lethal means. How to achieve these benefits is the subject of this report.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Defense Policy, and War
Political Geography:
United States and Iraq

297. Eliminating Adversary WMD: Lessons for Future Conflicts

Author:
Rebecca K.C. Hersman and Todd M. Koca
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
As tensions between Iraq and the United States worsened in mid-to-late 2002 and as preparations began for Operation Iraqi Freedom, policymakers and military planners began to wrestle with the challenges posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Indeed, Iraqi defiance and deception in the face of United Nations (UN) sanctions, coupled with growing fears of WMD transfer to terrorist organizations—most prominently al Qaeda—were two primary reasons for confronting Saddam Hussein. Just as in the first Gulf War in 1991, deterring and defending against possible Iraqi use of WMD against coalition forces were key concerns for planners. However, as the crisis escalated in 2002, Department of Defense (DOD) planners began to foresee another challenge: how to remove comprehensively and permanently the threat of Iraqi WMD, not just to U.S. troops but also to the Middle East region and the world.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

298. Shaping U.S. Policy on Africa: Pillars of a New Strategy

Author:
Johnnie Carson
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
In the four decades since most African states achieved independence, the continent has never been a foreign policy priority for the United States. During the early years of American engagement with Africa, Washington focused its attention on preventing communist countries from gaining major military bases or monopolistic concessions over any of the continent's important strategic minerals. Although the United States provided large amounts of development assistance and food aid to a number of African states, most American interest and support was directed toward African countries and leaders who were regarded as Cold War allies. In those countries still struggling for independence, the United States usually supported African insurgents who were pro-Western and anticommunist in their orientation. In South Africa and Namibia, Washington generally professed great sympathy for eventual majority rule and independence but largely supported the status quo out of fear that liberation groups allied with the Soviet Union or China would win power in any political transition.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, China, America, Washington, and Soviet Union

299. A Way Out of the Mesopotamian Morass? The Case for a Partitioned Iraq

Author:
Ivan Eland
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
The United States has plunged into an Iraqi swamp. The swashbuckling victory in the first Gulf War led to the most egregious sin that can be made in the military affairs—hubris and underestimation of the enemy. The U.S. and Soviet superpowers made the same mistake respectively in Vietnam in the sixties and seventies and Afghanistan in the eighties. But as those quagmires fade from memory, government officials apparently have to relearn the same lessons.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Democratization, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Soviet Union, and Vietnam

300. Tactical nuclear weapons: Europe's redundant weapons of mass destruction

Author:
Hugh Beach
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
THIS PAPER EXAMINES the case for the withdrawal of US tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) from European soil on the following grounds: The new strategic context makes redundant the original purpose of these weapons' deployment. There is a concern that these weapons will play a part in the new US doctrine of pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons to achieve military objectives. There is a need to buttress the non-proliferation regime through reducing the circumstances in which nuclear weapons might be used rather than undermining that regime by devising new purposes for nuclear weapons. The removal of all TNW from nuclear arsenals(especially those in the former Soviet Union) would constitute an important act of disarmament that would increase international and regional security. Their removal would also avoid the enormous (opportunity) cost of sustaining these deployments through planned modernisation of storage facilities. Their removal would be another step towards fulfilling the political commitments made by the US and the other established nuclear powers under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
United States and Europe