The Washington Times

Steven Hill in the Washington Times | 'Cuts Urged in Political Ambassadorships'

Communications — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:25:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The American Academy of Diplomacy sent letters to the two presumptive presidential candidates last week, proposing several criteria for choosing non-career ambassadors, including foreign affairs experience, communication and persuasion skills, and leadership abilities...

..."It might be perfectly fine in today's climate, where you can raise more money over the Internet than ever before," to make a pledge such as the one the academy has called for, said Steven Hill, director of the Political Reform Program of the New America Foundation.

"With Barack Obama raising so much money over the Internet, it might be easier for him to agree to something like this, because perhaps he's not as dependent on large donors who want that kind of quid pro quo," Mr. Hill said... LINK

New America and Terror Free Tomorrow Study in Washington Times editorial| 'Pakistan's Pendulum Swings'

Communications — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:17:00 -0400

New America in the News:
...Any Pakistani government must reckon with the fact that its countrymen prefer negotiation over military action against al Qaeda, the Taliban and other terrorist militants. In a recent study by Terror Free Tomorrow and the New America Foundation, more than half of Pakistanis said the United States was to blame for violence inside the country today, as compared to only 8 percent blaming al Qaeda. This is a perception gap of enormous proportions, and a similarly epic public-diplomacy failure... LINK

Peter Bergen in Washington Times | 'Suicide recruits dropping in Iraq'

Communications — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:05:00 -0400

New America in the News:
...In the current edition of the New Republic magazine, terrorism experts Paul Cruickshank and Peter Bergen, who has written a biography of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, document what they think is a pronounced shift by Muslims away from al Qaeda.

"Why have clerics and militants once considered allies by Al Qaeda's leaders turned against them?" the two writers ask.

"To a large extent, it is because Al Qaeda and its affiliates have increasingly adopted the doctrine of takfir, by which they claim the right to decide who is a 'true' Muslim," they write.

The authors note that al Qaeda's suicide bombers have killed more than 10,000 Iraqis, most of them targeted simply for being Shi'ite.

"Recently, Al Qaeda in Iraq has turned its fire on Sunnis who oppose its diktats, a fact not lost on the Islamic world's Sunni majority," the authors wrote.

They argue that a significant event in the burgeoning anti-al Qaeda movement was the defection last year of Noman Benotman. A Libyan Muslim extremist, Benotman once worked to overthrow secular Arab governments, but now seeks peace in his home country... LINK

Maya MacGuineas in The Washington Times | Making Tax Day Less Painful

Communications — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:52:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Making Tax Day Less Painful (The Washington Times)

. . . Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that these $800 billion a year in "tax expenditures are really spending programs designed to look like tax cuts." . . . more

CRFB in The Washington Times on AMT and PAYGO

Communications — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:35:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Congress is set to face one of its most important votes this year - whether to offset the costs of continuing to provide relief from the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The implications for the nation's fiscal and economic health are huge.

The cost of extending AMT relief for another year is $51 billion. While hardly small, that's modest compared to the costs of new tax and entitlement proposals that will likely emerge in the coming months and years (such as proposals to expand health care coverage), as well as continuing Medicare's current reimbursement rates for physicians and extending the tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of 2010.

If Congress cannot muster the wherewithal to pay for one year of AMT relief, the chances that it will do so for these larger, far costlier items in the years ahead will diminish greatly.

Does that matter? You bet. If we remain on our current policy course - extending all tax cuts and current Medicare-payment rates without paying for them; making no cuts in projected spending; and enacting no revenue increases - by 2050, deficits will soar to at least 20 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, the national debt will exceed 200 percent of GDP, a level unprecedented in U.S. history.

By contrast, if we rigorously adhere to Pay-As-You-Go ("PAYGO") rules for both taxes and entitlements and Congress fully offsets these costs, then we will cut the cumulative fiscal gap through 2050 by about half.

To be sure, Congress will need to make tough choices throughout the budget. But adhering to PAYGO is the crucial first step.

That's why four leading budget-watchdog organizations -- the Concord Coalition, Committee for Economic Development, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and our Center -- last week issued a joint statement urging "in the strongest possible terms" that lawmakers strictly adhere to PAYGO as they turn to year-end measures, including legislation to extend AMT relief. ...

For the complete article, please follow this link.

Gregory Rodriguez in The Washington Times on Mexican Immigration

Communications — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:56:00 -0500

New America in the News:

The influx of Mexicans into the United States will change how race is perceived in American society, says Gregory Rodriguez, [director of the California Fellows Program at the New America Foundation]. ...

Author of a new book, Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of Race in America, Mr. Rodriguez said at a Washington press conference this week that Mexican-Americans have been "racially categorized" for centuries and that integration is a must for American society.

His book provides an in-depth history of Mexican immigration to the United States. ...

For the complete article, please follow this link. To see video from Rodriguez's recent book event at the New America Foundation, please click here.

Defense Vision MIA?

Articles — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:33:00 -0400

Recent Democratic debates on national security have focused on charges and countercharges over who is better prepared to be commander in chief. Not enough attention has been paid to whether any of the major Democratic candidates offers a vision of U.S. foreign policy substantially different from that set out by the Bush administration.

While Barack Obama has criticized Hillary Clinton for promoting a "Bush lite" foreign policy, his own advocacy of preventive strikes against al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan is uncomfortably close to the Bush doctrine of striking first and asking questions later.

And Mrs. Clinton’s insistence on keeping "all… more

Washington Times Quotes Flynt Leverett on 'Axis of Oil'

Communications — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:31:00 -0500

New America in the News:

The United States must face the fact that most of the world's energy resources are in the hands of powerful states such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela that are increasingly hostile to U.S. interests and consumers, analysts and senators said yesterday.

Partly because of fumbled foreign relations by the United States, an "axis of oil" is developing outside of U.S. influence that encompasses Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, among other giant energy producers and consumers.

To curtail the influence of this group, the United States should establish more constructive and cooperative energy relations with these states, analysts told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

"This axis of oil is emerging as the principal counterweight to American hegemony in global affairs," said Flynt Leverett, director of energy geopolitics at the New America Foundation.

"If present trends continue unchecked, this is going to become an increasingly important source of geopolitical tension around the world and an increasingly important source of challenges for U.S. interests."

Russia and China have succeeded in "locking us out of Central Asia," which has major oil and gas reserves, by establishing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the only large regional security alliance that does not include the United States, he said....

Mr. Leverett contended that continued confrontation with Iran is counterproductive. He said Iran showed a willingness to help the U.S. in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and Washington should take up offers to negotiate a "grand bargain" settling disputes with Tehran to gain more influence over Iran's energy development.

The geopolitical and geoeconomic stakes in Iran go well beyond the nuclear issue, as important as that is," Mr. Leverett said. "There is a broader strategic competition under way."

Because of U.S. sanctions, Iran is looking to China and Russia to help develop its resources, and in exchange has promised to coordinate with Russia in marketing its gas to ensure that it does not loosen Russia's stranglehold over European markets. "This is the strategy that the Iranians think will get them out of the box that they're in now," Mr. Leverett said. " And the United States, and even Europe to a large extent, are basically irrelevant to that strategy," which "has the potential to remake the geopolitics of all Eurasia."

The U.S. stance toward China on energy issues also has been backward, he said. Instead of blocking attempts by China's state oil company to acquire U.S. oil firm Unocal Corp. last year, Congress should have encouraged it, because the takeover bid conformed with American notions of the rule of law and free markets, he said.

By nixing the takeover, the U.S. encouraged the natural tendency of such state oil companies to adhere to their own mercantile and national interests, he said...

For the complete article, please visit The Washington Times website.

Washington Times Profiles New America Event with Ralph Fuecks

Communications — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:36:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Growing instability across the Middle East has prompted foreign policy think tanks to brainstorm ways to stabilize that region. One idea circulating in Washington last week called for admitting Israel into NATO...

Ralf Fuecks is the president of the Berlin-based Heinrich Boll Foundation, an independent organization affiliated with the German Green Party. He suggested at a conference Wednesday that Israel be offered membership in NATO on the condition that it resume negotiations for a two-state solution with the Palestinians and agree to a nuclear-free zone linked to security guarantees for Israel.

Mr. Fuecks said the admission of Israel to NATO also would bolster the U.S.-European security alliance as it confronts the growing nuclear threat from Iran.

"NATO has to extend its outreach into the Middle East," Mr. Fuecks told an audience at the New America Foundation in Washington, arguing that this was especially important now that the United States is looking for ways to reduce its commitment in Iraq.

Daniel Levy, a senior fellow and director of the foundation's Middle East initiative, cautioned that a NATO with Israel as its only member from outside Europe and North America would make Israel look like a "colonial outpost."

"Arms control and regional security should be created within a regional security architecture," Mr. Levy said. "This would more effectively induce better behavior by Iran."

Steven Clemons, director of the American strategy program at the foundation, said after the forum that admitting Israel to NATO would "create massive tension" with its neighbors. He suggested that Israel instead promote ties with modern Sunni regimes in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco...

Other policy specialists at the New America Foundation forum disagreed with the NATO idea. Harvey Feldman, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said Europeans had done little to stop weapons smuggling to Hezbollah and were doing little to help Israel...

For the complete article, please visit The Washington Times website.

Peter Bergen Comments on 'Inside the Jihad' in Washington Times

Communications — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:08:00 -0500

New America in the News:

A Muslim man who was a spy in the mid-1990s for several European intelligence services inside the global jihad network that later became al Qaeda has written a memoir saying the agencies did not understand the nature of the threat the group posed.

"Inside the Jihad," written under the pseudonym Omar Nasiri, is a copiously detailed account of a young man's journey from the fringes of the Islamist movement in Belgium to a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan....

Nasiri doesn't claim to have been in al Qaeda's inner circles, and says he never met bin Laden, which al Qaeda analyst and author Peter Bergen says increases his comfort level about its credibility.

"If you were going to make something up, you'd include a bin Laden meeting, wouldn't you?" he said...

For the complete article, please visit The Washington Times website.