Appearances
Two-day Intersession Course on International Relations
The two-day intersession on international relations will be used to assess President Joe Biden’s first year in office as well as to cover those issues that are often pushed off the front pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times, such as the tension brewing in the Balkans, the immigration battle between the European Union and Belarus, and Sino-American competition in Africa. We will also try to get up-to-date on the Sino-Russian-U.S. triangle, the importance of arms control and disarmament, and the efforts of the Intelligence Community to recover from four years of the Trump administration.
You are invited to a Zoom Book Party
We are inviting you to join us for an exciting and interesting evening zoom party with Mel to discuss his book and answer any questions you may have. As many of you know, Mel Goodman has a new, recently published book out entitled Containing the National Security State. Find out all the details …
Interview on The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen show Jan. 14
Hear my call in the 2nd part of the podcast.
Arnie discusses foreign policy and national security under Trump.
Free Screening of Official Secrets
Please join the Center for International Policy at Landmark’s E Street Cinema for a FREE screening of the based-on-a-true-story film Official Secrets which features CIP Senior Fellow Melvin Goodman. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion on the importance of whistleblowing today with Melvin Goodman and Kathleen McClellan. You can watch the trailer here.
Recent News and Latest Book
The CIA will give your book a pass so long as it praises the agency
The Feb. 1 news article “Bolton faces potential legal battles in standoff with White House over book” provided much-needed discussion of the arbitrary and capricious nature of the government’s pre-publication review process. Having submitted many book-length manuscripts to the Central Intelligence Agency, I have learned that books from senior officials that praise the CIA get very quick review and approval. Former CIA directors such as Robert Gates and Leon Panetta are never challenged. If you are an agency critic, however, you can wait as long as one year to get approval. Government censors rarely provide an explanation for their redactions, and authors have no system for challenging these decisions. Moreover, the censors are far more concerned with information they find embarrassing to a particular agency rather than concerning themselves with genuine national security secrets. As a result, the public is deprived of relevant information on many national security issues that require discussion and debate. Congressional committees and media outlets are similarly deprived.
Bolton’s Battle With Government Censorship
Former national security adviser John Bolton is about to learn that the government’s pre-publication review process is little more than a violation of the First Amendment’s free speech rights. Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened,” which exposes the perfidy of the Trump administration’s orchestrated extortion of the Ukrainian government, is scheduled for release in March 2020. The book is already proving more damaging to Donald Trump than the 448-page Mueller report, and rivals the attention given to the CIA whistleblower’s account of Trump’s efforts to bribe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But there are indications that the government will demand the deletion of significant portions of the manuscript, and will do its best to delay publication as long as possible.
