Comprehend the basic concepts underlying the national security environment and the potential challenges.
Desired Learning Outcomes (DLOs):
1. Identify challenges to US security.
2. Understand globalization as policy and process.
3. Describes America s power and position within a globalizing world.
Questions for Study and Discussion:
For DLO 1:
1. What are the internal and external factors of the national security environment that influence US national security policy?
Internal: - since end of Cold War, seeing a shift of power away from a dominant policy-making constellation (the White House); began after the Vietnam War; factors include managing the complicated economic relationships with the developing world, where liberalization presents opportunities for exports and trades, but whose cheap labor sources threaten US jobs; other factors include the ambiguity in the threat-interest-cost equation intensifying the American public s tendency toward ambivalence (or reluctance) concerning international involvement, the raising of stakes for domestic interests, making foreign policy making more like domestic foreign-making policy, agenda change (from traditional security to economic and others), leading to more involvement by the Congress and non-governmental actors and away from the White House, and the lack of consensus making policy leadership by any element of the US government more difficult, and leads to elements of many parts of the government to press for their policy preference; Thus, while the post cold war presents a more benign face (in the sense of reduced strategic threat), it also introduces more threat ambiguity. This has had a particular impact on the willingness (reduced) of the American public to undertake (and pay for) leadership commitments in the world, given long-standing ambivalence toward international involvement unless vital interests are at stake. (pp 5-8, Scott and Crothers)
External: - 2 features stand out: changes in the distribution and composition of power in the international arena and changes in the type of relationships nations have with each other in the international system; factors include dealing with the developing world, whose need and demand for aid raises a host of difficulties; other factors include ecological and environmental concerns, population, and human rights issues; the re-awakening of regional and intra-national conflicts in many parts of the developing world and the former Soviet bloc, conflicts that were restricted by the dynamics of the cold war, leading to a potential clash of civilizations between other cultures and the West due to the resurgence of hyper-nationalism and ethno-nationalism.
The long-term trends toward interdependence and globalization have gradually eroded much of the distinction between domestic and international issues, especially as they involve economic, environmental, and humanitarian issues. It is, therefore, less possible to make either domestic or foreign affairs stop at the water s edge, and the United States and other countries have experienced the consequences of this, chiefly in the form of domestic political pressures in the arenas of foreign policy. (pp 5-8, Scott and Crothers)
2. What is the US trying to accomplish overseas and how might certain countries challenge those objectives?
Sustaining globalization is our overarching national interest&Because we are the biggest beneficiaries and drivers of globalization, we are unwittingly putting enormous pressure on the rest of the world&We Americans are the apostles of the Fast World, the prophets of the free market and the high priests of high tech. We want enlargement of both our values and our Pizza Huts. We want the world to follow our lead and become democratic and capitalistic&No wonder, therefore, that resentment of America is on the rise globally. (pp 12, Friedman)
3. How will emerging powers/coalitions impact US national security?
Globalization and economic integration will act, to some degree, as a restraint on those states that are plugged into the system and dependent upon the electronic herd&But globalization does not end geopolitics - the enduring quest for power, the fear of neighbors, the tug of history. That is why sustainable globalization still requires a stable, geopolitical power structure, which simply cannot be maintained without the active involvement of the US (pp 18).
4. Why might other countries view the US as the capital of global arrogance ?
Global arrogance is when your culture and economic clout are so powerful and widely diffused that you don t need to occupy other people to influence their lives. The trick for America is to lead without being too overbearing, to be generous without overextending ourselves and to be tough without engendering too much resentment. (pp 13, Friedman)
For DLO 2:
5. What is globalization? Does it represent a fundamental change in world affairs?
Globalization involves the integration of free markets, nation-states, and information technology to a degree never before witnessed, in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and countries to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever. It is also producing a powerful backlash from those brutalized or left behind; the symbol of globalization is the World Wide Web; the driving idea behind globalization is free-market capitalism (pp11, Friedman).
Built around 3 balances that overlap and affect one another. One is the traditional balance between states and states. The next is the balance between states and supermarkets -the huge global stock and bonds markets. The last is the balance between states and super-empowered individuals &it gives more power to individuals than ever before to directly influence markets and nation-states (e.g.-Bin Laden). (pp 12, Friedman)
Globalization refers to the shrinkage of distance on a large scale...Indeed, globalization is accompanied by increasing gaps, in many respects, between the rich and the poor. It implies neither homogenization nor equity. (pp 22, Keohane and Nye)
Globalization is a process shaped by markets, not by governments. (pp 31, Waltz)
6. How does globalization enhance US power and security? How might it diminish US power and security?
Positive: Globalization is the fad of the 1990 s, and globalization is made in America (pp 30, Waltz). Reduced costs of communications have increased the number of participating actors and increased the relevance of complex interdependence.
Negative: Since 1989, the decline of military globalism and the extension of social and economic globalism to the former Soviet empire have implied the expansion of areas of complex interdependence, at least to the new and aspiring members of NATO in Eastern Europe. (pp. 27, Keohane and Nye)
A key to understanding US national security policy is America s long-term economic decline relative to an ascending China, Japan and Germany and an integrating European Union pursuing a common security policy& Simply put, the US must confront the reality that it faces stiff trade competition, and its rivals economies are growing at a pace that is threatening to cut into the US share of the global financial pie. In the long run, these trends could reduce US influence and its ability to lead in world affairs, forcing the country to redefine its national security policy by making economic renewal at home a priority (pp39, Kegley and Wittkopf)
7. How are both the forces shaping globalization and the globalization process likely to evolve in the future?
Based on the strongest powers recent actions and statements, they appear to agree on certain fundamental priorities in the emerging 21st century:
· Forestalling a new major war is critical, because all other national interests, such as prosperity, will be jeopardized if peace does not endure.
· Economic development will be of vital and growing importance to military security and to the positions of each of the economic and military giants in the globe s future hierarchy of power.
· The world pyramid of power is moving toward a multipolar distribution, in which no hegemon will be dominant and three, four or more great powers will share approximately equal military power (pp. 39, Kegley and Wittcopf)
8. What constraints and opportunities do globalization and the globalization process likely to evolve in the future?
America truly is the ultimate benign superpower and reluctant enforcer. But history teaches us that if you take this reluctance too far, you can undermine the whole system&per Schroeder, if you look at history, the periods of relative peace are those in which there is a durable, stable and tolerable hegemon, who does the adjusting and preserves the minimal necessary norms and rule of the game. And that hegemon always pays a disproportionate share of the collective costs, even forgoes opportunities for conquest or restrains itself in other ways, so as not to build up resentments and to make sure the system stays tolerable for others. The difficulty comes when the benign hegemon power, which is responsible for keeping the system stable, is unable or unwilling to pay the disproportionate costs to do so, or its hegemony becomes intolerable and predatory rather than benign, or when enough actors rebel against its rules and insist
upon a different kind of system that may not benefit that hegemon. The global system cannot hold together without an activist and generous American foreign and defense policy (pp 20, Friedman).
For DLO 3:
9. Who are the primary competitors to US power?
China the rise of China, if it continues, may be the most important trend for the world for the next century
· Preserving domestic tranquility and growth is a priority
· Lobbying to see that traditional international legal rule prohibiting external interference in sovereign states domestic affairs is respected, to prevent punishment for human rights violations
· Expanding its sphere of influence in the Pacific Rim to gain respect of its Asian neighbors
· Pursuing being allowed to join the other big powers table on reasonable terms and with respect by seeking membership on the WTO and other multilateral global institutions
· Wants to establish normalized cooperative diplomatic relations with the US and deter that superpower from treating ascendant China as an enemy to be contained in a new Cold War (pp 43-44, Kegley and Wittkopf)
Russia main problem for US is its normalization of diplomatic relations with China
· The most fundamental military reforms in the country s modern history will be undertaken, both lowering its military spending and the size of its armed forces
· Smaller, more mobile and technologically adept fighting forces will be created to manage civil rebellions within Russia as well as along its borders
· Russia will continue to dismantle its nuclear arsenal
· Russia will seek to cement its relationships with its European neighbors by creating institutions for democracy and a free market economy (40-42, Kegley and Wittkopf)
Japan now an economic superpower, the second richest country on earth, just behind the US
· Growing Japanese international activism
· Seeking to discard its isolation and become an involved player in world affairs
· Faces a wide range of security concerns, which would intensify if the US reduces its presence in Asia, or if the troubled situations in northeast Asia (especially North Korea) worsens (pp 44-45, Kegley and Wittkopf)
Germany now united, is likely to show signs of a new assertiveness once the immense costs of reunification and rebuilding are fully digested
· If Germany s economic strength and diplomatic independence continue to grow, one consequence will be a greater competition with the US and other trade rivals
· Most European states economies are heavily linked to Germany s economy and trade, thereby giving Germany enormous leverage over the continent s economic growth
· Germany is the leading proponent of the European Union s quest to forge a common security policy (pp 46-47, Kegley and Wittkopf).
What goals do other nations have that may conflict with US interests?
China is the fastest growing economy in the world, with what may be the fastest growing military budget; bent on modernizing its maritime and air capabilities; possesses nuclear weapons; the direction of China s policies seem geared to ensuring its rise to prominence in the Pacific Rim (pp 48-49, Berry)
Japan - Rethinking its position on nuclear nonproliferation (pp 45, Kegley and Wittkopf)
India in 1968, India reaffirmed its commitments to disarmament, but refused to sign the NPT; in 1974, it conducted its first nuclear test; in 1998, it conducted two more nuclear tests (pp 58-60, Singh)
France strongly opposed the US policy of confronting rogue states with economic sanctions and military force, preferring instead to use dialogue and trade; continues to push for a European defense structure that could act independently of NATO; resentful of American power; not helped by globalization (pp 52-54, Gordon)
10. How does globalization relate to military force?
· Per Eagleburger, We are returning to the raucous multipolarity more reminiscent of the 19th century than of the past 50 years of the Cold War. Given this threat, military security will probably command as important a place in a new US strategy as will trade, prosperity, and the promotion of free markets throughout the world (pp 40, Kegley and Wittkopf)
Bottom Up Review (BUR) 1993 - Clinton Administration s strategy against unknown threats:
· Deter the use of NBC weapons against the US, its forces and its allies
· Halt or at least slow the proliferation of such weapons
· Deter and if necessary, defeat major aggression in regions important to the US
· Be capable of fighting and winning 2 major regional conflicts nearly simultaneously while minimizing US casualties
· Prepare US forces to participate effectively in multinational peace enforcement and unilateral intervention operations that could include peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, counter-drug, and counter-terrorism activities
· Foster democratic values in other countries
· Maintain technological superiority (pp 40, Kegley and Wittkopf)
11. In what ways is US power superior to the rest of the world? In what ways is US power insufficient?
US power is superior to the rest of the world in that market capitalism and flexibility are the watchwords for globalization&As Friedman puts it, it s a post-industrial world, and America today is good at everything that is post-industrial. But states with large GNPs do not&Precisely because the US depends relatively little on others, it has a wide range of policy choices and the ability to both bring pressure on others and to assist them. The herd with its capital may flee from countries when it collectively decides that they are politically and economically unworthy, but some countries abroad, like some firms at home, are so important that they cannot be allowed to fail. National governments and international agencies then come to the rescue. The US is the country that most often has the ability and the will to step in& The US is also the only country that can organize and lead a military coalition, as it did in Iraq and the Balkans. (pp 30-36, Waltz)
US power may be insufficient in that its physical capabilities and political will cannot sustain present international burdens indefinitely. Second, other countries may not enjoy being placed at the back of the train (pp 37, Waltz). Realists who focus on the balance of power believe that a state s military capabilities define its ideology&Power is developed to achieve ends&The Chinese-Russian coalition has so far remained more a warning to Washington than a formal alliance (pp 48-49, Berry).
