Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 4-11, 1999Volume 28, Number 7



James Baker (center) talks with President Richard C. Levin (left) and Gus Ranis, director of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, during his visit to campus.



Ex-Secretary of State describes greatest
foreign policy challenges facing the U.S.

The United States' conduct of foreign policy under President Clinton has been characterized by a "disturbing lack of clarity and consistency," former Secretary of State James A. Baker III said in his George Herbert Walker Lecture at Yale on Sept. 29.

This "ad hoc" approach in international affairs -- on issues ranging from war in the Balkans to free trade and missile defense -- threatens American national security and the global economy, he told the standing-room-only crowd in Luce Hall auditorium.

Baker, who served as secretary of state under President Bush, said the blame for the United States' ill-defined foreign policy rests with both Clinton and the Republican members of Congress, and he urged his audience to demand that foreign policy be a top issue in next year's presidential elections.

In his address, Baker outlined what he believes are the six greatest challenges that the United States must confront at the start of the next century.

These are:

* Maintaining a strong military to protect U.S. interests and deter potential international aggressors, such as Iraq and North Korea. Without a strong American military, "anarchy would reign," Baker said. He also advocated a regional ballistic missile defense system, along the lines of -- but on a smaller scale than -- former President Reagan's "Star Wars" plan.

* America's role in regional conflicts around the globe. The United States, Baker said, should not be a peacekeeper in all global conflicts. While he believes the nation should continue its historic role in the Middle East peace process, Baker contended that other conflicts should be addressed multilaterally, such as through the United Nations, or through regional organizations such as NATO. When the United States acts in the conflicts of other countries, it should do so "with clear achievable objectives, and we ought not to go in unless we have an explicit exit strategy," Baker stressed. This was not the case in Kosovo, he said, describing American involvement in that troubled region as "ill-defined" and too "open-ended."

* The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear, chemical and biological. Baker said these weapons are among the greatest threats facing the United States in the next century, particularly their potential use by terrorist groups. He called for tighter export control regimes among advanced economies and strong international sanctions against "renegade governments" such as Iraq to halt their use.

* The integration of Russia and China in the world economic and political systems. While its ability to shape events in these countries is "limited," Baker said, America should continue to try to influence both by promoting policies "which ground both countries more firmly in the international community." He added that Americans should not forget that Russia, while currently "a power in temporary eclipse," still has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the United States, and said he believes that Russia will re-emerge from its current chaos as a strong nation. "Russia is still a country that we ignore at our peril," Baker stated, while "China, for all its extraordinary advances, is still far from being the global rival, either in military power or militant ideology, which the Soviet Union represented during the Cold War."

* Strengthening relationships with traditional allies. Baker said that the U.S. should not become "complacent" about its relationships with Western Europe and Japan. The stability of Europe and Asia, he noted, "hinges on an American presence in both," and U.S. security is "inextricably bound up with developments" in those countries.

* Promoting more open global trade and investments. The U.S. should "seize every opportunity to bring down barriers to the international flow of goods, services and capital," said Baker, who advocates economic restructuring in developing countries, a global system of transparent financial reporting, a regulated banking system and an "arms-length relationship between business and government." American leadership has been "lacking" in this sphere under Clinton, Baker argued.

All of these issues, Baker said, should be on the campaign agendas of presidential and congressional candidates in the upcoming elections. And American citizens, he added, also have a role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. "[S]peaking as an individual with a long background in American presidential politics, I can assure you of this much: The surest way to ensure that candidates address issues is for the voting public to insist they do."

-- By Susan Gonzalez


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Campus Notes


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