Think Progress

A New Progressive Direction

Editor's Note: This is the first in our three-part series on "Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President." 

The disastrous foreign policies of the Bush years have created an opening for the new administration to show that progressive ideas are better able to secure and protect America in the 21st century. A joint project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund the New Democracy Project released a new book entitled Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President, which contains a series of innovative and necessary proposals to change direction on a range of policy issues confronting the United States. The section dealing with national security suggests ways in which we can better secure our homeland and frustrate the efforts of America's enemies abroad.  It also re-conceptualizes national security to include issues such as global poverty and development, noting that radical ideologies often take root in environments of insecurity and deprivation. Importantly, it recognizes that developing and implementing these new policies will require repairing America's image in the world, reestablishing American leadership seven years after President Bush arrogantly declared "either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists."

CONTAINING THE IRAQ FALLOUT: The invasion of Iraq was an attempt to deal with a 21st century problem -- amorphous networks of transnational terrorists -- using 20th century methods such as "shock and awe." The cost in lives and treasure as well as to America's reputation has been enormous. In one chapter of Change for America entitled Containing The Terrorist Threat, Jessica Stern, a former director at the National Security Council, writes that "the new president will inherit a system still oriented toward meeting threats that emerge from...static national powers, rather than transnational groups." Stern notes that an unfortunate side-effect of the Iraq war is "the excellent training the insurgents have received...against the best equipped military in the world." Stern proposes working with Iraq's neighboring states "to prepare a strategy for dealing with the inevitable 'blowback' from the Iraq war," such as foreign fighters returning to establish networks in their home countries. "Efforts should be put in place now to monitor the movement of insurgents who leave Iraq," Stern writes. "This will require both bilateral and multilateral intelligence efforts, with special emphasis on inevitable efforts by the Islamist extremists to set up virtual training camps on the Internet and seek financing and recruits online."

SUSTAINABLE SECURITY: Confronting future threats before they emerge requires more than the relentless application of military force, it requires addressing the economic and humanitarian issues that create the conditions from which threats arise. In the chapter Reducing Global Poverty Is A Moral And Security Imperative, Gayle Smith, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, notes that "the risk of war increases in direct proportion to the levels of poverty." Smith proposes creating "a new U.S. Global Economic Development Agency -- an independent, cabinet-level agency focused on global poverty alleviation goals...building capable states [and] creating the conditions under which social entrepreneurship and open societies can thrive." Smith also suggests that the president look for ways to coordinate private and public sector activities, to "use U.S. assistance to seed innovation, and to leverage U.S. aid in support of new development models...The new president can use a variety of policy tools and resources to encourage greater innovation and experimentation, as well as foster cross-sector partnerships between social enterprises, corporations, philanthropists, and government."

RE-ESTABLISHING AMERICAN LEADERSHIP: Because the partnership of the international community is essential for global security, the United States must seek to repair its image and restore its leadership role in the world. This means more than simply doing better public relations; it means developing better policies that don't alienate America's friends, or needlessly provoke America's foes. But better public diplomacy is key to bringing about the international cooperation that is required to manage shared global security concerns. In the chapter, Public Diplomacy Can Help Restore Lost U.S. Credibility, Doug Wilson, a former senior adviser at the United States Information Agency, writes that "to be effective, public diplomacy must help U.S. policymakers communicate U.S. values and motives to shape foreign policy understanding and then integrate foreign public opinion into the policymaking process in order to help realize our national security and foreign policy goals." The new administration should "determine how best to build upon historically successful approaches -- such as educational and cultural exchange programs -- with 21st-century strategies and communication tools." 

"The Obama administration will launch a review of the classified files of the approximately 250 detainees at Guantanamo Bay immediately after taking office, as part of an intensive effort to close the U.S. prison in Cuba."

THINK PROGRESS: Right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham rails against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), tells California: ‘Just secede already.'

WONK ROOM: Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL): SCHIP is 'one of the most divisive issues.'

TPM ELECTION CENTRAL: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) lends his name to fear-mongering documentary on American Muslims and terrorism.

CONSCIENCE OF A LIBERAL: If the economic stimulus is too big, "it does much less harm than if it's too small."

CONNECTICUT: Gay couples to start marrying today.

MASSACHUSETTS: Nearly 600 fewer Massachusetts residents have died from heart attacks each year since the 2004 smoking ban.

CALIFORNIA: Twenty percent of Bay Area homeowners are "under water," owing more on their mortgages than their houses are worth.

COURIC: Do you consider yourself a feminist?
PALIN: I do. A feminist who believes in equal rights.
-- Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), 9/30/08

VERSUS

WILLIAMS: Governor, are you a feminist?
PALIN: I'm not going to label myself anything, Brian.
-- Palin, 10/23/08

VERSUS

"You know, I consider myself, too, as a feminist, whatever that means."
-- Palin, 11/11/08

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