Amitai Etzioni Notes

In China's Shoes

President Obama recently announced the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq and plans to pull them out of Afghanistan. But the administration is sending Marines to a new U.S. military base—in Australia. Although the number of the Marines is small, perhaps a symbolic move, many interpret it as part of an American “pivot” from the Middle East to the Far East. And the Far East is a code word for China, increasingly viewed as a major threat to American interests.

All but the most hawkish hawks agree that the Chinese military will not pose a threat to the United States for decades. Still, some argue that Washington must scale up its military for that future—particularly increasing capabilities of the navy and air force—because such preparations take decades.

Read the rest at The National Interest.

"The Construction of Europe." Amitai Etzioni's interview with The European.

The European: Community identity is often based on a shared history, shared customs, shared symbols. Is there a comparable narrative in Europe?
Etzioni: I agree that a joint narrative is important. But right now, there is too much time pressure. When I talk about a referendum, I don’t see it primarily as a voting mechanism. I see it as a mechanism to force us into discussion and bring about shared values. Don’t relegate important decisions to experts and politicians in Brussels. Let us all take part. The more we are forced to become political decision-makers, the more we have to raise our own awareness of European issues. On that basis, shared new values will arrive. They can build on two European narratives, both of which have lost their power: One is the narrative of the first community of nations. After centuries of war, European nations made lasting, unprecedented peace. What a remarkable narrative! And two, Europe has struck a good balance between capitalism and the social good. The idea of the social market is the second European narrative.

Read the entire interview at The European Magazine.

Unintended Consequences: War Crimes in Libya.

However good the reasons for our intervention in Libya, we and our allies failed to stop some terrible deeds committed by the rebels we supported. U.S. officials have talked a lot about making sure the rebels commit themselves to a democratic regime and do not impose sharia law. But for the most part officials were mum when the rebels—under the cover of our military support—committed one atrocity after another. If we ever ally ourselves with another armed rebellion, say in Syria, we should make it clear that our support will be granted only as long as rebels refrain from committing the kinds of crimes against humanity we are trying to protect them from.

Read the rest at Commonweal.

Is China America's new enemy?

President Barack Obama unveiled Thursday a new military strategy. It calls for "pivoting" from the Middle East to the Far East, focusing partly on the military buildup of China.

Without a major public debate of the kind we have about raising taxes, or a congressional vote, the U.S. government is moving slowly but surely toward characterizing China as an aggressive superpower and is preparing for war, should it become necessary.

James Clapper, retired lieutenant general and current director of national intelligence, characterized China, "growing in its military capabilities," as a "mortal threat" to the United States. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, "The Chinese military openly regards the United States as an enemy. We should not undermine our own security by thinking we can make friends with self-proclaimed adversaries with hospitality and open arms."

Read the rest at CNN.com.

Stop Enabling Pedophilia

While leaders of the West repeatedly declare that they are out to make Afghanistan into a society free of corruption, with a stable democratic government and one that respects human rights, they turn a blind eye to such moral basics as protecting children from systemic sexual abuse.

At the time the West helped liberate Afghanistan in 2001, pedophilia had been largely curbed by the Taliban. However, since then, numerous Pashtuns have abused the new freedoms to revert to a long tradition of molesting young boys.

This vile practice was documented in 2010 by an Afghan journalist who returned to his native country for public television's Frontline. The program starts with a flat statement: "In an Afghanistan ravaged by war and poverty, an ancient tradition has been secretly revived: young boys sold by their families to wealthy merchants and warlords, taught to dance and entertain, and used for sex." A UN representative correctly refers to this outrageous conduct, a practice known as bacha bazi, as "a form of slavery [...] sexual slavery." The documentary shows that some of the boys are as young as 11, and when they do not perform, or are caught in a rivalry among jealous "owners," they are beaten--and in some cases, murdered.

A State Department report on human rights abuses in Afghanistan puts it starkly: "Child abuse was endemic throughout the country, based on cultural beliefs about child-rearing, and included general neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, abandonment, and confined forced labor to pay off family debts." It notes that "sexual abuse of children remained pervasive" and "most child sexual abusers were not arrested."

A U.S. Defense Department report entitled "Pashtun Sexuality" quotes a favorite Afghan saying: "Women are for children, boys are for pleasure." It notes that Pashtun culture fetishizes young men and that "'beautiful' beardless boys are coveted, almost as possessions, by men of status and position for sexual relationships." The report reveals that boys are forcibly removed from their homes, to travel with and be used by Afghan security guards. The Frontline investigation found that Afghan police officers attended parties with the so-called "dancing boys." President Karzai signed a UN agreement banning bacha bazi in early 2011. However, a July 2011 report by Musa Khan Jalalzai, the Executive Editor of the newspaper Daily Outlook Afghanistan, notes that the "Interior Ministry has failed to arrest powerful rapist warlords in Northern Afghanistan [emphasis added]." As a sociologist, I fully realize that we cannot march into other countries--countries which have different cultures and traditions--and expect them to follow our values. I know that we must compromise. I regret to say that there may be little we can do to curb opium production in Afghanistan--the country that now supplies 90% of the world's opium. I understand that if we tried to eradicate the poppies, we would deprive many Afghan farmers of a major source of income and drive them into the arms of the Taliban. I am distressed to realize that we must put up with a head of state who presides over a corrupt regime and holds onto power because he benefited from fraudulent elections. However, I understand that we seem unable to find a better partner.

However, every decent human being--and nation--must observe a red line, one that separates the world of accommodations and compromise from non-negotiable core values to which one adheres, whatever the costs and consequences. If selling children to the rich and powerful for sexual slavery does not cross that line, what does?

The President should inform our representatives in Afghanistan that, although we shall continue to put up with much that we disapprove of--as we continue to hope that the Afghans will mend their ways--there are limits to our accommodations. We shall neither finance nor protect a regime that refuses to act to curb large-scale sexual abuse of children.

Originally published on the Huffington Post, January 4, 2012.

Why health care competition won't work

A proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Ron Wyden to allow those who retire in the future to chose between Medicare and private health care insurance for seniors is the latest addition to the drive to increase competition in health care.

Mitt Romney recently released a health care proposal that would introduce vouchers, which would allow consumers to choose where to take their business, although he did not include Medicare as an option. Newt Gingrich's plan suggests a variety of ways to increase "price competition in the industry."

And President Obama's health care overhaul also includes competition, to take place in new statewide exchanges, in which individuals and businesses will be able to find and compare insurance plans in a centralized marketplace.

Read the rest at CNN.com.

Fostering Political Change in Egypt

Here we go again. A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate threatens to withhold $1.3 billion in aid until the secretary of state certifies that Egypt “has held democratic elections and is protecting freedoms of the press, expression, and association.” (I am only surprised that the list of rights is so short. What about women’s rights? Religious freedoms? No taking? No unreasonable search and seizure?) The Washington Post believes that if we and other “rich countries” gave Egypt some “quick cash” and “money for long-term investment,” Egypt would be on its way to becoming a liberal democracy and gain a modern economy on the side.

Read the rest at The National Interest.

Curing What Ails Europe

The strongest medicine European leaders have come up with to cure what ails the euro zone is going to make the patient much worse off, if not kill him outright. European leaders are calling for adding a fiscal union to the monetary one. Germany’s foreign minister Guido Westerwelle called for “automatic sanctions when (budget) stability rules are broken.” France and Germany are backing measures that would send violators of European Central Bank policies to the European Court of Justice. And Germany is promoting a policy that would give the European Commission the power to veto budgets of member states.

Read the rest at The National Interest.

What happens when Wall Street breaks the law? Not much

A few days before he graduated, one of my students asked me how does one keep up with public affairs (as I was advocating) when you have a demanding full-time job, a cute but fussy baby, an elderly parent who needs attending and something of a social life? I suggested that he listen to NPR, watch CNN -- and once in a while choose a particular story to follow. For example, the report of what happens when major American corporations break the law.

Read the rest at CNN.com.

Private Sector Neglects Cyber Security

One major reason the United States is subject to damaging cyber raids is that significant segments of the business community refuse to erect much-needed cyber defenses. Such defenses cannot be limited to the public sector because much of our security draws on work carried out in the private sector. Yet business representatives argue that they should not have to absorb the costs and object in principle to the government imposing yet another regulation, this one on how to protect their plants, computers and communication systems from Chinese and Russian cyber marauders.

Read the rest at The National Interest.