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Afghanistan: Preventing a Return to a Failed State
In advance of the March 31-April
1, 2004 Berlin Donor Conference for Afghanistan, the
CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project released a
special report on the status of reconstruction efforts
in Afghanistan. The report evaluates progress in priority
areas--health, education, refugees and internally displaced
persons, transportation, and communications--and makes
recommendations. "Reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan
thus far...have been plagued by woefully inadequate security
measures and funding commitments from the international
community," the report states. "Without a dramatic increase
in international focus and resources, Afghanistan could
deteriorate into that which the international community
has been working to prevent--a failed state serving
as a breeding ground for terrorists and narco-traffickers."
Read the
report>,
PCR Project
Reforming Africa's Oil Sector
Fradique de Menezes, president
of Sao Tome and Principe, Pedro de Morais, Angolan finance
minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (l), Nigerian finance
minister, General Charles Wald, deputy commander, U.S.
European Command, and Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), joined other
prominent Africa and energy experts to discuss accountability
and transparency in Africa's oil industry at a conference
hosted by CSIS on Tuesday, March 30. "The U.S. government
should pursue sustained, high-level engagement, bilaterally
and multilaterally, to promote transparency and reform
in all African oil-producing nations," stated a CSIS
report released at the conference. "The United States
should devise clear and transparent benchmarks for regional
behavior, complementary to the standards of the Millennium
Challenge Account." Read
the report>
 Security
and Development in the Western Balkans
Dimitrij Rupel (l), minister
of foreign affairs for Slovenia, Erhard Busek, special
coordinator for the Stability Pact for South Eastern
Europe, Amb. Carlos Pascual, State Dept. coordinator
of U.S. assistance to Europe and Eurasia and the foreign
ministers of Montenegro and Croatia, discussed the recent
violence in Kosovo, Euro-Atlantic integration, and prospects
for increasing security and economic development throughout
the western Balkans at a conference hosted by CSIS on
Monday, March 29. "The challenge for the outside world
is how to promote effective and legitimate democratic
governance across the region," said Janusz Bugajski,
director of the CSIS East Europe Project. "In Kosovo
and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the international community
faces an additional challenge: what to do about the
extraordinary powers of its post-war missions, which
are in tension with the wider objective of democratization
and establishing the rule of law." Read
the report> , Eastern
Europe Project
 Anthrax
Case Study:
Countering Bioterrorism
An April 2002 CSIS report proposing
ways to protect the U.S. homeland against biological
attacks has been released by the Department of Defense
(DoD) after a Freedom of Information Act request filed
by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). The
report, based on a case study of the October 2001 anthrax
attacks in Washington, D.C., emanated from a December
2001 forum featuring senior national and local government
officials and public health and law enforcement professionals
who contributed to the U.S. response to the anthrax
attacks. Although the conference was unclassified and
the materials produced were based on public sources,
DoD did not publicly release the report, which was written
under contract with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
DoD provided a redacted version of "Lessons
from the Anthrax Attacks: Implications for U.S. Bioterrorism
Preparedness," which can be accessed on the FAS Web
site.
Defense Reform for a
New Strategic Era
A new CSIS report proposes
a reorganization of the civilian component of the Department
of Defense that will result in the first truly integrated
Pentagon. "Too often, the current organizational structure
of the Military Departments, the Joint Staff, and the
Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) unnecessarily
overlap, resulting in duplicative and, in some instances,
overly large staffs that require wasteful coordination
processes and impede necessary innovation. The U.S.
national security apparatus requires significant reforms
to meet the challenges of a new strategic era," the
report states. Read the report>,
Summary>
Former Secretary of
State Introduces International Opinion Poll
The Pew Global Attitudes Project
released a new poll gauging international sentiment
toward the United States, the war on terrorism, the
future of Iraq and related topics one year after the
start of the Iraq war at a CSIS briefing on Tuesday,
March 16. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright,
chair of the project, introduced the survey. Andrew
Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for People
and the Press, Patrick Cronin, CSIS director of studies,
and Kurt Campbell, director of the CSIS International
Security Program, joined her in a discussion of the
poll's results. Listen to the Audio>
CSIS Analysts Assess
Madrid Bombing Fallout
Anthony Cordesman, CSIS Burke
Chair in Strategy, Simon Serfaty, director of the CSIS
Europe Program and Brzezinski Chair in Global Security
and Geostrategy, Arnaud de Borchgrave, director of the
CSIS Transnational Threats Initiative, and Robin Niblett,
CSIS Executive Vice President and European Studies fellow,
assessed the impact of the Madrid bombings on transatlantic
relations, European politics, and the war on terrorism
at a CSIS forum on Tuesday, March 16. "This is not a
Spanish public afraid of fighting the war on terrorism,"
Niblett said. "This is a public that will punish a government
that appears to have reached out further than where
public support was." Event
Transcript> , Listen to the Audio>
Strategic
Trends in South Asia
On March 17, 2004, Ambassador
Teresita Schaffer, Director of the CSIS South Asia program,
testified before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
of the House International Relations Committee. Her
testimony titled Strategic Trends in South Asia focused
on recent India-Pakistan peace talks, the issue of nuclear
proliferation and terrorism in Pakistan and U.S. foreign
policy options in the region." Read
the Testimony>
Experts
Analyze the Facts, Myths and Potential Policy Responses
to Global Outsourcing
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.),
Chris Padilla, assistant U.S. trade representative for
Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison; Laurence
Meyer, CSIS distinguished scholar and former member
of the Board of Governors Federal Reserve System; Chris
Israel, chief of staff at the Department of Commerce;
Lael Brainard, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution;
James Lewis, senior fellow and director, CSIS Technology
and Public Policy Program; and Sherman Katz, CSIS Scholl
Chair in International Business, analyzed the facts,
myths and potential policy responses to global outsourcing
and other global economic forces influencing the U.S.
economy at a March 10 CSIS event. Event
Transcript> , Listen
to the Audio>
S.
Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Covers N.
Korea, Economics
Ban Ki-moon, minister of foreign
affairs and trade of the Republic of Korea, discussed
U.S.-Korean relations at a special East Asia Strategy
Group session hosted by CSIS and the Korea Economic
Institute on Friday, March 5. Ban's remarks focused
on developments in the U.S.-ROK alliance, ROK policy
toward North Korea, U.S.-ROK economic relations, and
global affairs. “I can confidently say that, regardless of Korea’s volume of trade with China and Korea’s regional cooperation with other countries, Korea-U.S. alliance will always remain the central pillar of Korea’s diplomacy,” Ban said. “Stronger ties with China and Russia will in fact contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and to strengthening Korea-U.S. relations. We need to foster cooperative ties with these two countries, especially because we need their constructive roles in resolving our most precious issue – the North Korean nuclear issue.” Read
Mr. Ban's speech>
Hong
Kong Secretary for Security Addresses Hong Kong's Role
in Regional Security
On February 20, 2004, Ambrose
Lee Siu-kwong, secretary for security of the Hong Kong
Special Administration Region (HKSAR), spoke at a special
public session of the CSIS East Asia Strategy Group.
In his remarks, Secretary Lee addressed key security
challenges to Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region,
including terrorism, drug-trafficking, and effective
immigration, customs, and trade controls. Read
the Secretary's Speech>
HIV/AIDS
Lessons from India
Eighteen years after the first
AIDS patient was diagnosed in the country, India has
entered a critical period in its fight against the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. A CSIS HIV/AIDS Task Force delegation to India
in January 2004 concluded that although India does not
have the high prevalence rates that have devastated
some African countries, the country's epidemic has started
to affect large parts of the general population in many
parts of the country. With 1 billion people, a weak
public health infrastructure, high mobility both within
the country and increasingly around the world, and a
complex social structure, India's response to this looming
"breakout"-a stage when the infection is no longer confined
to the high-risk populations and breaks out into the
general population-will hold lessons not only for other
"second wave" countries grappling with the HIV virus,
but also its neighbors in South Asia, who share similar
socioeconomic characteristics. Read
more> India
at the Crossroads - Confronting the HIV/AIDS Challenge
Back to the Front: Russian
Interests in the New Eastern Europe
The anticipated re-election
of President Vladimir Putin does not engender confidence
and security in Eastern Europe. Evidence indicates that
Putin's Kremlin is seeking to regain Russia's influence
and leverage throughout the former Soviet bloc and to
limit Western penetration in the region. In the newest
Donald W. Treadgold Paper in Russian, East European,
and Central Asian Studies published by the University
of Washington, entitled Back to the Front: Russian
Interests in the New Eastern Europe, Janusz Bugajski,
director of CSIS's East European project, analyses Moscow's
policies toward its former satellites. He examines four
main zones of Russian penetration: the European Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS), the Baltic region, the
Central European states, and South East Europe. The
CIS is viewed by Putin as essential for regaining a
broad sphere of primacy and power projection toward
Europe. The Baltic states are considered as a vital
buffer against Western influences in the former Soviet
territories. The Central Europeans are perceived as
a potentially negative source of attraction for their
CIS neighbors which Moscow attempts to neutralize. And
finally, the South East European or Balkan region is
viewed as an important zone of Russian interests because
Western influences can be challenged in the post-conflict
turmoil. The issue of Russian foreign policy toward
east Europe will be substantially expanded in Bugajski's
upcoming book Cold Peace: Russia's New Imperialism
in Eastern Europe scheduled to be published in
the fall of 2004. More>
Wallander Previews Russian
Presidential Elections
Celeste A. Wallander, director
of the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program and CSIS Trustee
Fellow, analyzed priorities for U.S. foreign policy
after the Russian presidential election on March 15
at the Kennan Institute. Wallander called on the United
States "to engage Russia as it is on a pragmatic basis,
and without apologies for U.S. capabilities, interests,
and intentions, on the same basis as we recognize and
take into account Russia's." The U.S. and Russia must
address arms control, global terrorism, weapons of mass
destruction, and energy while making "long term stability
concerns in relation to the Russian Federation" a priority.
Read the Speech>
Hear Wallander
on the Kojo Nnamdi Show>
Experts Analyze Future
of Saudi Arabia's Oil Reserves
Matthew Simmons, president
of Simmons and Company International, and two Saudi
Aramco executives, Mahmoud Abdul-Baqi, vice president,
exploration, and Nansen Saleri, manager, reservoir management,
analyzed the future of Saudi oil production at CSIS
on Feb. 24. Simmons questioned the long-term viability
of Saudi oil reserves while Abdul-Baqi and Saleri discussed
Aramco's management practices, future production capabilities,
and the potential for discoveries in Saudi Arabia. "As
the world's largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia's ability
to maintain or increase its supply is a key factor in
maintaining the global oil market because there is no
substitute for Saudi oil," said Robert Ebel, chairman
of the CSIS Energy Program. Mr.
Ebel's Remarks , Mr.
Simmons' presentation,
Mr. Abdul Baqi and Dr. Saleri's presentation , Listen
to the Audio , Event
Transcript
Winning
the Hispanic Vote
Presidential candidates have
crunched the numbers and determined that the Hispanic
vote, especially in electoral-vote rich states like
Florida, California, New York, and New Jersey, is politically
valuable. Unfortunately, their outreach efforts have
been misguided when it comes to tapping into this promising—and
quickly growing— demographic. So far, they have done
little more than parade around a few Hispanic politicians
whom they have corralled into endorsing them, and practiced
their bad Spanish on us, which out of respect we have
quietly suffered now for a number of elections. More>
The Choice: Global Domination
or Global Leadership
Zbigniew Brzezinski. New York:
Basic Books, 2004, 256 pp.
Reviewed by Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs,
March/April
2004
Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Jimmy
Carter, has written one of the most important books
on U.S. foreign policy since September 11. Among the
handful of practitioners who write seriously and often
about U.S. foreign policy, only Henry Kissinger (another
import) can compare with Brzezinski in terms of historical
knowledge and imagination. When it comes to what might
be called the "philosophy" of foreign policy -- the
relationship of U.S. power and policy to broader historical
and cultural trends -- no statesman of Brzezinski's
generation is in his league. And no Democrat of any
age can match Brzezinski's grasp of the national interest
and its sometimes difficult relationship to the values
of liberal society.
The Choice shows these talents hard at work. Brzezinski takes readers on a tour d'horizon of U.S. foreign policy, discusses the inevitable contradictions and tensions that enmesh a democratic society that is also a global hegemon, criticizes the Bush administration, and articulates his own vision of the way forward -- all in a little over 200 pages. Even those who do not accept Brzezinski's critique of the Bush administration will admire the sagacity of his views; for Democrats attempting to assemble a serious and thoughtful alternative to Bush's foreign policy, The Choice is indispensable.
more>
CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS
On February 12, 2004, Sens.
Bill Frist and Russell Feingold cochaired a full session
of the CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS. Keynote speakers
included U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Randall
Tobias, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula
Dobriansky, Reps. Barbara Lee, Betty McCollum, and Jim
McDermott. The session opened with discussion on pragmatic
options for strengthening the President's Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief, including enhancing coordination
with international partners, creating an emergency response
mechanism in the office of the global AIDS coordinator,
and ensuring gender equity in programs and access to
treatment. The second half of the session centered on
developing a coherent strategy towards Second Wave states
and included a trip report from the recent Task Force
delegation to India, and updates on planned delegations
to China, Russia, and Ethiopia.
Webcast and transcript provided by the Kaiser Family
Foundation http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/csis/12feb04
,
CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS
, India at the Crossroads
,
Botswana's Strategy
to Fight HIV/AIDS , Breaking
the Cycle: Ensuring Equitable Access to HIV Treatment
for Women and Girls
Former USTRs Analyze
U.S.-China Commerce, Subsidies and Outsourcing
Former United States Trade
Representatives Charlene Barshefsky, William Brock,
William Eberle, Clayton Yeutter and Carla Hills (L)
analyzed U.S. trade policy on Friday, Feb. 13, at a
seminar hosted by CSIS. Speakers examined the Doha round,
agriculture, U.S.-China trade relations, U.S. efforts
to conclude regional and bilateral FTA's, the Free Trade
Area of the Americas and outsourcing. "This is a difficult
time for U.S. trade policy," said Sherman Katz, CSIS
Scholl Chair in International Business. "With both Doha
and the Free Trade Area of the Americas barely moving,
Congress in no mood to take up regional and bilateral
free trade agreements while lost jobs are a major concern,
and the just concluded U.S.-Australia FTA is so riddled
with major exceptions to protect U.S. agriculture that
it sends a gloomy signal about U.S. capacity to open
our markets." Listen
to the Audio>
Former CPA Adviser Slocombe
Discusses Strategy for Sovereign Iraq
Walter B. Slocombe, former
Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) adviser for national
security and defense and former U.S. Undersecretary
of Defense for Policy, discussed Iraq's national security
strategy at CSIS on Monday, Feb. 9. Slocombe addressed
plans to bolster Iraq's national security and America's
role in shaping Iraqi defense policy and capabilities.
"Central to the security effort and indeed to much else
in the transition is Iraqis assuming an increasing share
of the burden of providing for their own security,"
Slocombe said. "To that end a range of security forces
are being developed. A key element in this is the creative
initiative of the American military leadership to establish
an Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, the ICDC, to work closely
with coalition military forces." Read
the transcript> , Listen
to the audio>
Americans
and Homeland Security
Almost daily the public hears
news of potential terrorist activity both here and abroad.
Are Americans suffering from code orange "burnout"?
How can the government best communicate with the American
public, and how can the public best respond to help
strengthen homeland security. The Center for Strategic
and International Studies hosted a conference in September
2003, with generous assistance from the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation and the National Association of Chain Drug
Stores Foundation to explore ways to strengthen the
homeland security partnership with the American people.
The conference report provides important insights from
Congress, the federal government, academia, and the
private sector - indicates that U.S. preparedness depends
upon individual citizens knowing what to do and what
to expect in times of crisis. Read
the report>
Experts Outline Sudan
Peace Report
Rick Barton, co-director of
the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project(L), Stephen
Morrison, director of the CSIS Africa Program, Bathsheba
Crocker, co-director of the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction
Project, and Dina Esposito, consultant to the CSIS Post-Conflict
Reconstruction Project, presented their independent
report on issues to consider in a post-peace Sudan at
CSIS on Tuesday, February 10. Panelists discussed the
current state of the peace process, challenges in the
post-peace period, and possible roles for the United
States and the international community in a post-conflict
environment. Listen
to the audio> ,Read
the transcript>
CSIS Panel Analyzes
Economic, Energy, Social, Political Trends in Saudi
Arabia
Anthony Cordesman, CSIS Arleigh
A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Robert Ebel, chair, CSIS
Energy Program, Jon Alterman, director, CSIS Middle
East Program, and Daniel Benjamin, senior fellow, CSIS
International Security Program, discussed their December
trip to Saudi Arabia and analyzed security, social,
political, energy and economic trends in the country
at CSIS on Jan. 30. The CSIS analysts examined Saudi
Arabia's struggle with terrorism, the security environment,
prospects for political reform and the future of the
Saudi energy sector. During their trip to Saudi Arabia,
the CSIS delegation met with a range of officials and
non-governmental leaders.
Event Transcript
, Ten
Reasons for Reforging US and Saudi Relations , Middle
Eastern Energy After the Iraq War: Current and Projected
Trends , Listen to the Audio: Anthony
Cordesman , Robert
Ebel ,
Jon Alterman , Daniel
Benjamin, Questions
and Answers.
Iraqi Debt Relief - Former Secretary of State James
Baker's Speech
The annual Alfalfa Dinner took
place in Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening, January
24th. CSIS Chairman, former Senator Sam Nunn, and CSIS
President, John Hamre, hosted 200 Alfalfa members and
guests at a mid-day luncheon where they heard from former
Secretary of State James Baker, on his current role
as special envoy for President Bush. Baker spoke about
his mission traveling around the world seeking debt
relief for Iraq.
Read the speech >
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