Blog Postings
Highlight from Day 1 of the AIPAC Policy Conference: Our greatest weakness in exerting influence in the world= our national debt
03.21.10
Today I attended the first day of the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. I attended sessions on the topics of "Elements of Power: The Strategic Geography of the Middle East," "State of the Union: America's Place in the World Today," and "Hearts and Minds: Can the United States Win Support in the Islamic World." While all three sessions were very informative, the one on "The State of the Union" was by far the most interesting and revealing.
The speakers were William Kristol of the Weekly Standard and Daniel Kurtzer, former United States ambassador to Israel. Both speakers looked at four areas which determine how much influence/strength we have to influence events in the world today. Those four and their current evaluation by Kristol and Kurtzer are as follows.
1. Military. Both rated our military as still the best and strongest in the world. While it is our major strength compared to the other three, we need to be pursuing policies to maintain our military strength by investing in additional personnel, updating equipment (e.g., aircraft, naval vessels), and pursuing technological advances.
2. Diplomacy. Both rated as weak. We do not have enough well trained foreign service people who can stand toe to toe with countries that are hostile to us. More needs to be invested in hiring and properly training our diplomats.
3. Intelligence. Also rated as weak, even after the events of the past decade. There needs to be better coordination of intelligence gathering and sharing as the world becomes increasingly more dangerous.
4. Economic. This was rated as the weakest and most serious of our deficiencies. As Kristol stated, "Our national debt threatens not only our economic well being, but also threatens our strength in the world." Ambassador Kurtzer pointed out the problems of the United Stated being a debtor nation, especially a debtor nation to China. Both men emphasized the need to reduce the debt in the next few years before it cripples us internally and externally.
Tomorrow morning will be interesting as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the conference. She faces an audience upset because of harsh words by the Obama administration against Israel over the course of the past week. This action by the Obama administration was the topic of discussion during sessions I was in and also in the hallways between sessions.
The speakers were William Kristol of the Weekly Standard and Daniel Kurtzer, former United States ambassador to Israel. Both speakers looked at four areas which determine how much influence/strength we have to influence events in the world today. Those four and their current evaluation by Kristol and Kurtzer are as follows.
1. Military. Both rated our military as still the best and strongest in the world. While it is our major strength compared to the other three, we need to be pursuing policies to maintain our military strength by investing in additional personnel, updating equipment (e.g., aircraft, naval vessels), and pursuing technological advances.
2. Diplomacy. Both rated as weak. We do not have enough well trained foreign service people who can stand toe to toe with countries that are hostile to us. More needs to be invested in hiring and properly training our diplomats.
3. Intelligence. Also rated as weak, even after the events of the past decade. There needs to be better coordination of intelligence gathering and sharing as the world becomes increasingly more dangerous.
4. Economic. This was rated as the weakest and most serious of our deficiencies. As Kristol stated, "Our national debt threatens not only our economic well being, but also threatens our strength in the world." Ambassador Kurtzer pointed out the problems of the United Stated being a debtor nation, especially a debtor nation to China. Both men emphasized the need to reduce the debt in the next few years before it cripples us internally and externally.
Tomorrow morning will be interesting as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the conference. She faces an audience upset because of harsh words by the Obama administration against Israel over the course of the past week. This action by the Obama administration was the topic of discussion during sessions I was in and also in the hallways between sessions.
