Baker Program to Address Future of U.S. Defense Policy

Baker Program to Address Future of U.S. Defense Policy

BY MICHAEL CINELLI
Rice News Staff
Nov. 12, 1998

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 co-sponsored 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 present defense policy alternatives, which address issues discussed 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.