Author: Tim J. Clark

Economic: "diminution of U.S. power"

Financial Crisis May Diminish American Sway
(Wall Street Journal)…Jay Solomon and Siobhan Gorman, Oct 17, 2008.

…Many nations, from Japan to Israel to European allies, continue to rely on Washington’s power to guarantee regional stability. Asked Wednesday night if the U.S. was in decline, Defense Secretary Robert Gates responded after a recent tour of allied nations: “No. … Every one of the countries wants to have better relations with the United States. They still see the country as the last, best hope.”

Even before the current crisis, U.S. intelligence agencies had begun projecting a significant diminution of U.S. power over the next 15 years. That is a key assumption in the long-range assessment of global trends — known as the 2025 Project — that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has been preparing for the next administration.

DoD CPI, Smart Power, Playing Together

In a previous posting, Afghanistan: “Test on the grandest scale”  Secretary of Defense Gates reinforced the need for a new approach for leveraging power.  

A Solution:  Reengineering DoD’s strategy on Continuous Process Improvement to support Secretary Gates concept for application of Smart Power through application the Quality Leadership Paradigm and Framework.

First Steps. DoD’s directive on CPI May 15, 2008 expands application to combat and combat support units.  DoD’s initial Guidance on Continuous Process Improvement (CPI), May 2006  needs to be updated to include the expanded description from the American Society for Quality (ASQ) on the variation principle as well as incorporate the Quality Leadership Paradigm and Framework.

W. Edwards Deming’s work with the Japanese in implementing a system of continuous process improvement was identified by the editors of Fortune magazine as one of the “20 best calls in business history.” Deming remarked that if he had to reduce his message to management to just a few words, it all had to do with reducing variation.

Second Step. Apply the technology in support of the War in Afghanistan.

Third Step. Leverage success; continue to expand until the paradigm is accepted as common practice — estimated end date 2036.

Economic: Not Everyone Should Own a Home

POST: It Takes an Outsider Oct 6, 2008. Matt May

I’ve been disappointed in all the op-eds purporting to address the “root cause” of the mortgage mess and the resulting Wall Street collapse. And there have been plenty. But the reason I’ve been disappointed is because none of them get at the root. I know this because I can ask a further “why?” to whatever cause is trounced out: mark-to-market valuations, credit default swap complexity, indecipherable information, you name it.

And then I read an opinion by a columnist for The Australian by the name of Janet Albrechtensen, in today’s Wall Street Journal, entitled “Not Everyone Should Own a Home.” And she nailed it.

Afghanistan: "Test on the grandest scale"

Gates Seeks More Military And Civilian Support In Afghanistan
(New York Times)…Thom Shanker, Oct 15, 2008.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Wednesday that the mission to stabilize Afghanistan had shown significant gaps in the ability of the United States and NATO to integrate their civilian and military efforts, and he warned that it “remains to be seen” whether the allies could better coordinate their work.

The defense secretary’s grim assessment came in an evening address to the United States Institute of Peace in which he described the Afghanistan security and stabilization mission as “the test, on the grandest scale, of what we are trying to achieve when it comes to integrating the military and civilian, the public and private, the national and international.”

Mr. Gates said the challenge of better integrating civilian and military missions was vital for more than just success in Afghanistan. “The security of the American people will depend increasingly on our ability to head off the next insurgency or arrest the collapse of another failing state,” he said. “These are the things that we must be able to do as a nation, as an alliance and as an international coalition.”

“That country has become the laboratory for what I’ve been talking about for the past year — how to apply and fully integrate the full range of instruments of national power and international cooperation to protect our security and our vital interests.”

Speech: Dean Acheson Lecture – U.S. Institute of Peace (Washington D.C.). As Prepared for Delivery by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Washington D.C., Wednesday, October 15, 2008

 

Afghanistan: More Troops vs. Negotiation

The Reality Of War In Afghanistan
(Boston Globe)…Stephen Kinzer, October 15, 2008

Despite their differences over how to pursue the US war in Iraq, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama both want to send more American troops to Afghanistan. Both are wrong. History cries out to them, but they are not listening.

Deploying more US troops in Afghanistan will intensify this highly dangerous conflict, not calm it. Compromise with Al Qaeda would be both unimaginable and morally repugnant, but the Taliban is a different force. Skillful negotiation among clan leaders, based on a genuine willingness to compromise, holds the best hope for Afghanistan. It is an approach based on reality, not emotion.

nKorea: Accommodation is not Progress

Settling With North Korea
(Washington Post)…Editorial, October 15, 2008, Pg. 20

…Under the circumstances, keeping its nuclear complex shut for the next few months may be worth the political bribe delivered by the State Department. But no one — especially not the next U.S. president — should mistake this accommodation for genuine progress toward the goal of disarming what remains a dangerous, and terrorist, state. 

Terrorism: Consensus on Next Steps

New Consensus On Terrorism
(Washington Times)…John McLaughlin, Oct 6, 2008.  One of the major tasks for our next president is repairing the frayed consensus on how to deal with terrorism.

John McLaughlin is a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and served as deputy director and acting director of Central Intelligence from 2000-2004.