[WCUSP] Fwd: Hartung and Berrigan in the World Policy Journal

[Odile Hugonot Haber]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Frida Berrigan <BerrigaF at newschool.edu>
Date: Mar 14, 2007 3:45 PM
Subject: Hartung and Berrigan in the World Policy Journal
To: Frida Berrigan <BerrigaF at newschool.edu>


Dear Friends,

We're busy putting the finishing touches on our big nuclear report,
watching the fervor over the federal prosecutors' firing with fervent
interest and enjoying the automatic sunshine of a new and improved
daylight savings time.

And, at the same time, we are proud to announce that the Winter issue
of the World Policy Journal includes articles by both Bill Hartung and
Frida Berrigan in their "Policy Postcards to a New Congress"
roundtable.

We have included the first paragraph of each, and a link to read more.

All the best,

Frida

A NATIONAL SECURITY AGENDA FOR THE NEW CONGRESS
William D. Hartung, World Policy Journal, Winter 2006/2007

The Democratic takeover of Congress offers a respite from one-party
rule and a wealth of opportunities to implement needed reforms.
The debate has already been joined over the administration's Iraq
strategy, but it remains to be seen whether Congress will go beyond
symbolic gestures. But, even absent a major legislative action on
Iraq, the new Congress can make a substantial difference on a wide
range of other security issues.

To a significant degree, the midterm elections were a referendum on
Iraq*a majority of Americans now disagree with the administration's
approach. Still missing, however, is anything close to a consensus on
how to get out of Iraq. Opponents of current
policy are split between a "get out now" faction and a roughly equal
group favoring some version of "stabilize, then withdraw."

This divide provides an opening for the Democrats to shape the public
debate toward pulling out of Iraq, but it is an opportunity
that they have so far failed to fully capitalize on. To the extent
that there is a "Democratic plan," it revolves around the "Real
Security"
agenda unveiled in the spring of 2006 with the support of the incoming
leaders of the new Congress, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). More bumper sticker than blueprint, the
five-page document gave rise to what Democratic representative
Rahm Emanuel has described as the "five R's": "regional cooperation,
reconciliation among parties, reconstruction, responsibility
for results, and redeployment."

Conspicuously absent from the list is a timeline for withdrawal or a
pledge to use the "power of the purse" to influence Bush
administration policy. Without these elements, the Democratic approach
is too close to President Bush's to make a difference.

CONTINUE READING AT
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/wopj.2007.23.4.44


OF WEAPONS AND WAR CRIMINALS
Frida Berrigan, World Policy Journal, Winter 2006/2007

Can the Democratic Party use its newfound influence in Congress to
align the United States with the international consensus on everything
from land mines to global warming to nuclear proliferation by
upholding and reinforcing U.S. treaty obligations?

Under the Bush administration, the United States struck out on its
own, ignoring, undermining, and (in some cases) toppling key pieces of
the interlocking foundation of international agreements. Late last
year, an op-ed in the New York Times recounted more than two dozen
treaties that are gathering dust in the Senate's in-box. Some, like
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, have been languishing for decades despite an absence of
opposition. The Senate's inaction on this and similar treaties is an
indication of the deep antipathy towards internationally binding
agreements that permeates Washington. Arizona Republican senator John
Kyl sums up the administration's anti-treaty philosophy as "peace
through strength, not peace through paper."

As the Bush administration enters its seventh year, however, this
antipathy to multi-lateralism not only isolates the United States but
also threatens to initiate a new era of militarized
every-nation-for-itself-ism. Especially in the fields of nuclear
proliferation and international justice, Congress has an opportunity
to reverse a potentially cataclysmic trend and make a significant
contribution by upholding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and
entering into the International Criminal Court.

CONTINUE READING AT
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/wopj.2007.23.4.70



=====================
Frida Berrigan
Senior Research Associate
World Policy Institute
66 Fifth Ave., 9th Floor
New York, NY 10011
ph 212.229.5808 x4254
fax 212.229.5579

The Arms Trade Resource Center was
established in 1993 to engage in public
education and policy advocacy aimed at
promoting restraint in the international
arms trade.

www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms

To sign up for our monthly email Updates, please contact Frida Berrigan.