Thursday, March 08, 2007

The "Y" Article

ILLUSTRATED: 21st Century foreign policies with 21st Century resources
60 years ago, George F. Kennan published the "X" Article which inspired the Containment Policy for the next 44 years in the Cold War. I figured I'd one-up him with the "Y" Article. This follows up the last blog entry, a blueprint for Democrats to campaign on.

Defense Policy
-Increase the size of the regular Army and Marines by a combined 50,000; enough said
-Double the size of the Special Forces Command; commandos are key to 21st century warfare
-Create a new Civil Affairs Command; these are the experts in nation building
-Reform Professional Military Education; officers need to learn about world cultures and the media strategy that terrorists use
-Limit the Missile Defense shield to a handful of interceptors in Alaska and any European country that wants it

Diplomacy
-A new policy based on realism, mutual understanding, and analysis
-Commit to getting a deal on Palestine
-A new plan on climate change; get off oil

Homeland Security
-Pay for port security
-Pay for public health and transportation infrastructure

Intelligence
-Increase the CIA's covert operations division; spies and commandos are the key to fighting terrorists
-Train local and state police in collection, and set up the procedure for passing information up
-Standardize federal security clearance procedures; include state and local officials

International Law
-An international convention on defining Terrorism; in other words what actions de-legitimize you as a political actor
-Set new standards for human rights and worker rights

Commerce/Finance
-Maintain a strong dollar; it attracts investment, and forces US companies to be efficient
-Commit to fair trade, but above all trade. Not trading with countries is a major foreign policy mistake.