Experts to Debate Strengths, Future of U.S. Military Policy

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– November 10, 1998Posted in: News Releases

CONTACT: Mike Cinelli

PHONE: (713)
831-4794

E-MAIL: mcinelli@rice.edu


EXPERTS TO DEBATE STRENGTH, FUTURE OF U.S. MILITARY POLICY


What steps the United States needs to
take to ensure its military forces are prepared to deal with an ever-widening
array of threats around the world will be debated by a panel of defense policy
experts during an upcoming program at Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for
Public Policy.


The program, “Future Visions for U.S. Defense Policy,” will be
held on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. in Baker Hall on the Rice campus. It is
being cosponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and is open to the
public.


“The concept underlying this defense policy review is that
seven years after the end of the Cold War, and facing a significantly different
international security environment, the United States finds itself in an
unpredictable international arena that seems to present no clear and present
danger to fundamental American interests,” said Edward Djerejian, director of
the Baker Institute. “While the Pentagon has undertaken a series of strategic
reviews, they did little to change the fundamental thinking on defense. The
United States still has not generated a national security strategy that enjoys
general support among government leaders or the public at large.


“The council’s defense policy review at the Baker Institute
will address this challenge.”


Charles G. Boyd, general, USAF (Ret.), executive director of
the National Security Study Group; U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and
Lawrence J. Korb, director of the CFR and former assistant secretary of defense,
will discuss defense policy alternatives outlined in the council’s recent
publication “Future Visions for U.S. Defense Policy.”


Lee Cullum, editorial columnist of the Dallas Morning News, will moderate the panel
discussion.


Policy issues the panelists are expected to address include:





  • Should the United States redesign its defenses before
    it’s too late?;



  • Does the recent increase in the defense budget provide
    sufficient resources for the United States to reorganize its forces?



  • Would it be better for the United States to rely more
    on its allies and international organizations, thus making budget increases
    unnecessary?; or



  • Would we be better served by concentrating on
    technological advances and keeping spending steady?


    “The Baker Institute is pleased to co-sponsor with the Council
    on Foreign Relations this initiative to encourage interested Americans in major
    cities in the United States to debate key international issues,” Djerejian said.


    Rice University is a leading American research
    university–small, private, and highly selective–distinguished by its superior
    teaching, commitment to undergraduate education, outstanding graduate and
    professional programs, residential college system, collaborative and
    interdisciplinary culture, and global perspective.


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