Amitai Etzioni Notes

Small Lies, Big Lies, and Economists

The timing could not be more inappropriate. The United States is finally moving to join all the civilized nations of the world by ceasing to execute people. It still has quite a way to go. So far, most states that still impose the death penalty have recently suspended executions until the Supreme Court rules on whether the ways people are currently 'put down' constitutes a cruel and unusual punishment; that is, whether lethal injection violates the constitution.

The Israel lobby: Underestimated

A recent book has been criticized for vastly exaggerating the influence of the Israel lobby in Washington. As a former senior advisor to the White House, and a longtime active resident of Washington, let me tell you that the opposite is the truth. As all the other lobbies are shutting down, as one office after another on the notorious K Street is emptied out, these vacant spaces are all picked up by the Israelis. In effect, Hebrew is now the language most often heard in the fancy, expense account restaurants of Washington.

Small Lies, Big Lies, and the Israel Lobby (Part II)

This is a response to the large number of comments elicited by my posting of Small Lies, Big Lies, and the Israeli Lobby.

Small lies, big lies, and the Israel lobby

To those of us for whom the claim that the Israel lobby is all-powerful is neither a well established truism nor an ugly piece of anti-Semitism, the evidence presented in support of this claim matters a great deal. Surely Washington has more lobbies than a derelict dog has fleas. And, lobbying is a constitutionally protected activity, like the right to free speech and the right to vote. Hence, the pivotal question is whether the Israel lobby is significantly more powerful than others, and whether it is able to check-mate the usually pro-Arab oil companies, the arms manufacturers, and the other relevant lobbies that affect our foreign policy.

Two cheers for Gordon

I have no particular reason to rise to the defence of Gordon Brown. When Tony Blair briefly took me under his wing, Brown stopped by a seminar I was giving at Demos and soon apologised for himself and left. However, the recent attacks levelled against him by one of my distinguished colleagues are way off the mark. Brown's idea of thoroughly dialoguing British constitutional reforms before they are enacted is a communitarian idea at its best.

Only connect

There must be a crafty sociological demon who promotes the EU's ceaseless efforts to increase the already profound disconnect between its citizens and its institutions. His hard work is about the only way one can explain why most of the national governments that are drafting a new treaty (to replace the moribund EU constitution) are planning to have it ratified by their parliaments rather than by the people.

On Self Promotion

I have been subject to some criticism about ‘shamelessly’ promoting my book Security First – For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy so as to exalt myself rather than to propagate the new approach to foreign policy that it laid out. I think the best way to express my view on this “self” promotion is to draw attention to the struggle of one of my colleagues.

The Nigeria Lesson

Sometimes a small incident can teach volumes. Nigeria, a failing state with a rising number of Muslim extremists, recently completed the construction of a nuclear plant fueled by weapons-grade uranium (WGU). It has been able to do so without violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). And it is hardly alone.

Basic Security Comes First

Robert Kagan’s argument that “Free Elections come First” (Washington Post, Oct 28) is based on an elementary logical fallacy: that two negatives make one positive. Kagan shows that sheer economic development does not pave the way to democratization (see China). Furthermore, he demonstrates that the rule of law—by which he means a fair, even handed law, not the one that protects people from violence, terror, and anarchy (see China)—cannot be established in non-democratic nations. However, it does not follow, as he suggests, that free elections per se can produce a liberal democracy.

North Korea: Libya, not Iran

The all-important negotiations with North Korea are about to resume. They are very much in line with the suggestions of the critics of the Bush Administration: the negotiations are multilateral; they focus on diplomacy and economic incentives rather than on military threats and confrontations; they are even compliant with UN resolutions and international law. So far, so good.

The all-important negotiations with North Korea are about to resume. They are very much in line with the suggestions of the critics of the Bush Administration: the negotiations are multilateral; they focus on diplomacy and economic incentives rather than on military threats and confrontations; they are even compliant with UN resolutions and international law. So far, so good.