The Cohen Group: News: Op-Eds: Real National Security


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September 9, 2005 Friday

Real National Security
By Marc Grossman

Among the lessons we should take from New Orleans, Biloxi and Gulfport is that it is finally time to abandon our old definitions of national security. The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina highlights that if we are to continue to succeed as a great nation, we need urgently to solve the fundamental challenges facing our country.

Since the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, there have been many signs that we needed to think in new ways about what really makes countries strong.

We have recognized some of the signs of this new world and taken action. Sept. 11, 2001, underscored that terrorism is a strategic issue, not a tactical problem. We support democracy around the world as part of the effort to defeat terror. We must keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists, and we have learned how to lead more effectively the management of disasters abroad.

But we have been at best ambivalent in acting on other important signs. The consensus for free trade, which benefits Americans as workers, producers and consumers (even as we manage individual or industry dislocation), is under attack. We waited too long finally to recognize that fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic around the world is not just a humanitarian question but an American national security interest.

Other warning signs flash that we either cant or wont see. Americas competitiveness, a key to continuing success in the globalized world, is weakened by an education system that does not produce enough scientists and engineers. The Census Bureau says that poverty in America has increased every year for the last four and that blacks are falling farther and faster behind, making this country a very different experience for people of different classes.

Another warning sign: our oil dependence distorts everything we do. It makes the fight against terrorism more difficult, holds back democracy in the Middle East, Russia and Iran, and fosters corruption in Nigeria. Our SUV habit finances Hugo Chavezs policy of undermining democracy in Latin America. As President Bush said in June, "Our dependence on foreign oil is like a foreign tax on the American dream."

Katrina is also flashing signs about our environment. Business Week called its Katrina cover story "Let That Be a Warning," and listed "restore natural buffer zones, limit development in the most vulnerable areas, get serious about climate change, increase energy diversity, and boost energy efficiency" as the lessons we must take from this disaster.

To be successful in the 21st century, we must transform the way we think. The issues highlighted by Hurricane Katrina are all national security issues: Preparedness to meet our responsibilities to our fellow citizens; dealing seriously with poverty and the environment; continuing to invest in our own success through competitiveness; and winning the war on terrorism.

Some will say that we cant deal with all these things simultaneously. But we live in a world that challenges us simultaneously; we cant respond as if we are confronted one-by-one. We need to invest in our active duty and reserve forces as if we were a nation at war; with our military stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, commanders were reportedly initially reluctant to commit some active duty units to Katrina relief, and key Reserve and Guard units needed for disaster relief are in Iraq.

Compared to the human and material costs of Katrina, is it really out of the question to restore Louisianas wetlands? We could end our dependence on oil if we were ready to face up to the true cost of our addiction and then conserve, substitute natural gas for oil and seek new sources of energy. We need to invest in our governments human and material infrastructure, especially when it comes to the response to human or manmade disaster.

President Bush is right to lead the inquiry into the response to Katrina personally. The president should also, without delay, appoint a bipartisan commission with the stature of the 9-11 Commission to focus the national debate on what we have learned between 1989 and Katrina about the need for a new definition of national security.

The president should give the commission this charge: "What will it take, on as broad a basis as possible, to make sure that America continues to be the worlds most successful country?"

Marc Grossman is vice chairman of The Cohen Group (www.cohengroup.net), former undersecretary of state for political affairs and former U.S. ambassador to Turkey. Readers may write to the author in care of The Cohen Group, 1200 19th Street, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036.

This essay is available to Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service subscribers. Knight Ridder/Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of Knight Ridder/Tribune or its editors.

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