American leadership is crucial to meet international challenges, Baker says

American leadership is crucial to meet international challenges, Baker says

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

A “hasty departure” from Iraq by the United States would “diminish our credibility around the world and embolden terrorists everywhere,” former Secretary of State James A. Baker III told guests at the School of Social Sciences’ 25th-anniversary program Jan. 11.

James A. Baker III

“To cut and run is simply not an option,” Baker said, noting the dangerous security situation in Iraq, as evidenced by recent attacks on American soldiers.

Speaking to about 250 Rice faculty, students, staff and other guests at the invitation-only celebration in Alice Pratt Brown Hall, Baker shared his thoughts on the foreign-policy issues that are most likely to demand President George W. Bush’s urgent attention during his second term.

Despite the mounting casualties of war, Baker said “guarded optimism” about Iraq is warranted, citing such factors as reconstruction efforts going forward, Iraqi security forces being trained and political parties organizing. “Progress may be slower than many had hoped, but it is occurring.”

If the Iraqi elections later this month produce a representative assembly acceptable to most Iraqis, the elections should undercut popular support for insurgents and increase the possibility of additional peacekeeping and other international support. But Baker acknowledged that the new Iraqi government will remain “extremely vulnerable to internal divisions and external meddling” and that a protracted U.S. military presence seems unavoidable. As Iraqi forces assume more of the burden and the security situation improves, the United States should be prepared to think about a phased withdrawal.

“We cannot expect a flowering of Jeffersonian democracy along the Euphrates or a Swiss-like bastion of tranquility. But we can and should work for a consensually representative Iraqi state that treats its citizens decently and poses no threat to the region,” said Baker, who served as secretary of state from 1989 to 1992.

Baker said it is imperative for the U.S. administration to actively promote peace between Israelis and Arabs, and he pointed out that stability in Iraq and peace between Palestinians and Israelis are not mutually exclusive. “The road to peace doesn’t run just through Jerusalem or just through Baghdad,” he said. “Today, it arguably runs through both.”

High voter turnout for the recent Palestinian presidential elections and their outcome made it clear that most Palestinians prefer a negotiated two-state solution to the ongoing violence. Baker stressed that the new Palestinian government should renounce terror as a means of achieving political goals and that Israel should be prepared to resume substantive negotiations for peace without requiring that all terrorist activities cease in advance, which just empowers terrorists to prevent the resumption of peace negotiations.

“Washington should prevail upon Israel to cease settlement activity in the occupied territories during peace negotiations,” Baker said, adding that the United States should serve, when necessary, as a direct participant in the talks, offering suggestions, brokering compromises and extending assurances. The administration should make it “unambiguously clear” to Israel that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s planned withdrawal from Gaza cannot be just the first step in a unilateral process leading to the creation of Palestinian “Bantustans” in the West Bank, Baker said.

Cautioning that the difficulties that lie ahead not be underestimated, Baker noted that the history of the Middle East is “littered with false hopes and broken promises.” But he believes that “substantial progress toward a just and lasting peace” can now be achieved as the United States works with Arabs, Israelis and other interested parties.

One other foreign policy issue that Baker addressed was the threat of nuclear proliferation posed by Iran and North Korea, along with the possibility that the leaders of both countries will use these weapons to blackmail neighboring nations. “It is hard to overestimate the importance of addressing this challenge,” Baker said, warning that terrorists might gain access to deadly technology in Iran or North Korea and use it against the United States.

While economic and other incentives are being used in negotiations to stop the development of nuclear weapons, any agreements must include provisions for international inspections anytime anywhere, and the threat of United Nations sanctions must “remain on the table,” Baker said. “Good faith negotiations are one thing; craven appeasement is quite another. We simply cannot be dragged into endless talk while Iran and North Korea covertly continue their nuclear programs.”

Baker said American leadership will be crucial to meeting all of these challenges. “We must painstakingly marshal all the assets at our disposal – diplomatic influence, moral suasion, economic incentives and, if need be, the threat of force – in pursuing our foreign policy objectives. While we can and must act alone if necessary when our vital national interests are at stake, we should, where possible, seek allies to share the human and financial burden and bolster international legitimacy.”

In addition to being a former secretary of state, Baker is a former secretary of the treasury. He also served as White House chief of staff to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Baker is honorary chairman of Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Prior to Baker’s speech, Robert Stein, dean of the School of Social Sciences and the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science, paid tribute to the departments of anthropology, economics, political science, psychology and sociology and their achievements over the past 25 years. He noted that that School of Social Sciences represents just 13 percent of Rice’s faculty but twice that amount (27 percent) in undergraduate degrees awarded annually. The school’s excellence in teaching and research is evident not just by the many awards received by faculty and students, but also by the important contributions to the community resulting from their scholarly endeavors.

Rice President David Leebron also acknowledged the significance of the School of Social Sciences: “The kinds of advances in science and technology that we are known for at Rice will be of little use unless we understand how our society will react to such advances,” he said. Leebron noted that understanding the social behavior and social institutions of human beings and advancing the knowledge of human cognition and perception are critical to making the world a better place.