Gordon Adams, Professor of International Relations, School of International Service, American University
Biography provided by participant
Gordon Adams is a specialist on national security policy-making and resource planning. He has served in the executive branch as Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, where he had responsibility for resource planning across the full spectrum of the U.S. international engagement - military, foreign policy and intelligence. He is widely published, appears frequently in the media on national security issues, and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C.
There will be a tendency to answer this question by focusing on policy and personal relationships. Will she have an impact on policy, and, if so, which policies? And will she get along with the "team of rivals," which journalists love to write about. Between big policy issues and the personal politics at the apex of the executive branch, commentators risk missing the one big opportunity she has to bring about long-term change in US foreign relations: reforming the State Department and strengthening its ability to exercise leadership in US foreign relations. As proud as the State Department is, it… Read more
The crux of the issue here is whether the US has either the duty or the obligation to try to determine political outcomes in Latin America. Frankly, we have a tragic track record in this regard, with uneven support for democracy at best. Given that history, we are better off invited in to assist or mediate, not pontificating about democracy or verbally (or otherwise) trying to undermine "beard pullers" like Chavez. One day we may learn that we are neither the "exceptional" nor the "indispensable" nation, and that events and political change in other countries are not things we can… Read more
Some of this conversation is way overboard. Chavez is only a threat in the imagination. He is only really a problem for his own people and it is up to them to seek out the change they need and deserve. Better to examine why he had support to begin with, which had something to do with US regional policy under the Bush administration. It is seriously time for the US to engage differently in the region, a process begun carefully, maybe even too carefully, by the Obama administration. I hold no proxy for Zelaya, but, again, this is largely a… Read more
The end of the conflict in Iraq has always been up to the Iraqis. US leverage in that country has been on decline since the first year after the invasion and has been minimal, even with the surge. That has not kept the US from maintaining a large force in country, which could be withdrawn more quickly than it is being withdrawn (we are already behind the original one brigade a month pace promised by candidate Obama). I largely agree with Mike Vlahos' assessment of the possible vectors of continued conflict; they have always been present in Iraqi society and… Read more
Andrew Bacevich has asked the right question: what is the current role of the U.S. in the world? Sadly, I think the new administration is not asking this question, at least not yet. Instead, they're walking into a trap in Afghanistan, and soon, Pakistan, as well. The "experts" have gathered around this question, filing reports, doing analyses, appearing on the talk shows, shoveling "win" scenarios at the policy-makers. The risk for Obama is that Afghanistan (and Pakistan) become his Iraq or, to go further back, his Vietnam I was most struck by the juxtaposition of two stories in Sunday's… Read more
All the national security institutions in the U.S. government badly need a makeover. ODNI is not living up to its advocate’s expectations. State is at the brink of major change, with Secretary Clinton speaking the language of reform, and the critical appointment of a second Deputy Secretary of State for management and resources. DOD and the military services badly need to be reigned in, with the regular order of business restored and severe mission creep halted. Homeland security comes as close to a completely dysfunctional organization as exists in government; the new secretary has a real challenge. The White House… Read more
Every national security institution of the U.S. government is overdue for reform, from DOD to State to Homeland Security to Intelligence. The blunders, misuse, and lack of discipline in the entire national security universe have left an institutional shambles. The new administration, like many, may assume the classic Washington default position – just pick of the traces and keep doing what we have been doing. That would be a mistake. Intelligence (along with Homeland Security) underwent the biggest restructuring in the wake of 9-11. The jury is out, however, as to whether that restructuring made a substantial difference, especially given… Read more
A brief response to Hillary Leverett. A lot more humility, in general, would do U.S. statecraft a lot of good right now. Humility and caution are not a sign of weakness, but of strength. President Carter clearly made progress. And Bush I and Clinton both made a contribution, leading to Jordan joining the peace process. But there is the story about how many Californians it takes to screw in a light bulb -- one, but the light bulb has to want to change. In both of those cases, the parties were ready for change and needed help on the path.… Read more
I have to respectfully disagree with Hillary Leverett. We have spent many decades imaginging that simply by having the U.S. firmly seize possession of an issue, we can solve it. It is a meritorious wish, but this problem is not one to which the solution can be found by simply having us seize it. Multiple presidents have tried; the closest was probably Clinton. But this effort consistently founders on a politics in the region that we do not control, and a hatred and a history that go back many generations now. We can help; we can even help make… Read more
Sadly, I think the solution will only be found through fatigue and regime change, not through yet another redefinition of the right "map" and the "right number" of states. The Palestinians need to create a regime that is willing to sit down and talk and can command enough support to do so without leading to fratricide. The Israelis need to elect a regime that does not default to using force, assuming that will cause the Palestinians to submit., and that regime has to be able to survive another fratricidal assassination. Neither side can keep doing the same thing, time after… Read more
There is no way, specifically, of knowing what terrorist attempts were stopped, short of access to highly classified information. The nul hypothesis is that there was little or no effort, so far, to follow up on the 9-11 attacks. Underlying the question is the major contribution of the Bush administration in this effort: an overstatement of the threat, as part of a strategy of fear. the greatest contribution President Obama could make is to replace the message of fear with one of hope. And a major, multilateral investment in bringing the reality of that message to the many countries and… Read more
There are two important changes Secretary Gates could make to send a clear signal that a new sheriff is in town at the Pentagon. First, he could bring some discipline back to the defense budget process. For eight long budget years, now, the Department has relied on supplementals, not only to fund the war, but to fund a lot of "business as usual, as well. It is high time to restrict supplemental funding requests to needs that are truly unanticipated and not likely to be repeated. This no longer applies for much of our spending in Iraq, where costs are… Read more
Biography provided by participant
