Speaking Event
OSHER AT JHU INTERSESSION 2022
OSHER AT JHU INTERSESSION 2022
International Relations with Mel Goodman Tuesday 1/18 & Thursday 1/20 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. via Zoom
Washington Metro Oasis presents: President Biden and the European Alliance
Washington Metro Oasis presents: President Biden and the European Alliance. Des
The European Alliance has been one of the key elements in U.S. national security policy since World War II. But the Trump administration clearly worsened the transatlantic alliance. This lecture will discuss the importance of the alliance and President Biden’s ability to rebuild it.
Recent News and Latest Book
Trump’s Attacks on Governance
Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr, facing the possibility of less than six months in command, are stepping up their attacks on governance. Five Inspectors General have been removed since April; the Post Office has been placed in the hands of a political ideologue; and sensitive data related to the coronavirus is being taken away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last month, two new positions were created at the Census Bureau to allow ideologues to monitor the completion of the decennial census, which has been compromised by the pandemic.
Robert Gates’ “Exercise In Power”: A Disingenuous Exercise in Public Relations
Gates’ “Exercise in Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World” requires a two-part review.
This second part discusses the inadequacies of the book and provide a strong case for demilitarization—with recommendations about what needs to be done.
Gates carries too much Cold War baggage to deal with the solutions to militarization. He fails to understand the current problems with Russia because he distorts the 1990 understanding between Secretary of State James Baker and his Soviet counterpart. Gates’ discussion of the Middle East, particularly the Iraq War, is fundamentally flawed. He points to the non-military instruments of power as being “unequal to the circumstances,” but it was the use of military force that created the regional instability that dominates the Middle East. Gates still believes in the exceptionalism of America, which puts all of us at risk.
