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Communitarian Letter #17
In This Issue:
- Question about rights
- Where is the Voice? First Shoot the Debt Collectors
- Dealing with Russia; The Wrong Priorities
- Don’t Brown the Hispanics
- Community based Security
- New Books Announcements
- Communitarian Discussion Section
- Communitarian Essays in German and Dutch
- Meeting Announcements
Question
Should all human rights be treated as equal or are some more “sacred” (or absolute) than others? Does the right to live (enumerated in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights) out rank all others, on the ground that all other rights presume that the right to live has been observed?(For our views, see Security First, just published by Yale University Press. For more about the book see Send your responses to . We shall post your responses.
Where is the Voice? First Shoot the Debt Collectors
The Wall Street Journal, not one of those liberal magazines that are trying to imitate flashy magazines with multiple colors and cartoons, reports: Federal law says creditors can't garnish Social Security and Veteran's benefits to pay debts, yet the practice is widespread. Worse: There are no procedures in place for enforcing the federal prohibition.
To continue reading go to
Dealing with Russia: The Wrong Priorities
With tensions bubbling over at the G-8 between the United States and Russia, we have to wonder if Washington has any leverage left over Moscow on crucial security issues. When I expressed outrage that the Nunn-Lugar progress budget remains at about the same size it was before 9/11, one of its strongest supporters in the Senate explained to me that Russia has shown little interest in more money since the price of oil has increased. Few question the importance of blending down the material from which terrorists could make nuclear bombs, most of which is found in Russia (and the United States). The same holds true for better securing the 10,000, give or take a few, tactical nuclear arms that are floating around Russia’s insecure borders. If dollars could not motivate Russia, what could?
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Don’t Brown the Hispanics
We wrote to the New York Times on May 21, 2007:
“New Demographic Racial Gap Emerges” (news article, May 17) and its chart, “America’s Changing Ethnic Profile,” highlight a major sociological issue that affects our view of ourselves as a nation: in public parlance, and in social science terms, there is a world of difference between race and ethnicity.
Racial divisions are considered biological, although they are in effect, largely socially constructed. Ethnic divisions have no such connotations in contemporary American society.
By listing Hispanic next to white and black, the chart highlights the issue of how Hispanics are to be defined. About half of the Hispanics consider themselves white. These days we generally take the position that it is up to the person to decide what his social category is. For the community to come and say, in effect, “You say you are white, but we say you do not qualify” is not in line with our enlightened policy. The chart saw more divisions where fewer are called for.
Setting a good precedent, the New York Timesin a later article, In Queens, Class Teaches Chinese and Adoption published Monday, May 28, 2007 changed it’s classification for Hispanics addingfor Hispanics "may be of any race."
Community Based Security
We suggested a “Plan Z” for Iraqwhere the country would be partitioned into separate cantons for the different communities such as those of Kurds, Sunni, and Shia. These different communities would be in charge of their own security. This plan draws on previous work by Senator Joe Biden, Leslie Gelb, and others.
To give voice to the plan we organized adiscussion on the Hill on June 18, 2007.The discussion openers included a representative of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee;Marina Ottaway from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;Carlos Pascual from Brookings;Alexander Downs from the Department of Political Science at Duke University, Christopher Preble from the Cato Institute, and Stephen Schwartz from the Center for Islamic Pluralism.
To read Plan Z: Community Based Security in Iraq goes to:
New Book Announcement
The Ashdown Diaries; 1988-1997
For a case study in nation building, by a main builder, go to Paddy
Ashdown’s new bookThe Ashdown Diaries; 1988-1997. Lord Ashdown was in charge of rebuilding Bosnia. He was granted practically unlimited powers. He used those to try toi turn Bosnia, which includes major Serb and Muslims communities at each throats, into a one national community and moreover, into one largely free of corruption and nepotism. He reports a considerable measure of success. Others may wonder if the main ethnic-religious communities are truly on their way to becoming one.
The Beginner’s Guide to NationBuilding
This new book produced by the RAND Corporation is a remarkable success. You have to read The Beginner’s Guide to Nation Building, by James Dobbins et al , carefully although the text is clearly written and far from excessively technical. The reason is that many nation building missions we deem damn near impossible, in most countries, [see Part II ofSecurity First], RAND considers possible. But Dobbins points out such nation building exercises are difficult to achieve,can be achieved only after hostilities have ceased, are much more costlythan you would expect, and take much longer than expected as well.
The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family
Martha Raddatz’s,The Long Road Home, is a must read. On first read it is
merely a very informative and moving account of a few days of one US army
unit, in one part of Baghdad. (It is deeply evocative because we get to
know not merely the individual soldiers but also their families. It is
made to be made into a traditional war movie). However, a on second reading
you find that the book provides an object lesson of how not to muck up strong communities that provide their own security (in this case Sadar City), especially when your forces are stretched thin and are poorly equipped. The book in effect is a powerful case study in support of our Plan Z.
Ethical Realism: A Vision for America’s Role in the World.
“What has failed in Iraq has not been just the strategy of the administration of George W. Bush, but a whole way of looking at the world,” so begins Ethical Realism by Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman. In Ethical Realism, Lieven and Hulsman go beyond faith based assertions of American supremacy and the miraculous effects of democracy for a foreign policy that takes a clear eyed view of both America’s real strengths and weaknesses to combine genuine morality with practicality and common sense in U.S foreign policy. Drawing on the tradition of ethical realism set out by George Kennan, Hans Morenthau, and Reinhold Neibhur, Lieven and Hulsman provide a set of concrete proposals for the issues we face today from terrorism, to the emerging global power of China, to the state of Iran based upon principles of prudence, patriotism, responsibility, humility, and a deep understanding of the world beyond American borders.
Communitarian Discussion Section
Vincent and Ceja Jeffries of American Sociological Association are forming a new section “Altruism and Social Solidarity,” and are looking for new members to join before ASA meetings in August.
More info at and
Communitarian Essays in German & Dutch
“Sicherheit zuerst.”Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (May 31, 2007) p. 8.
Stel je prioriteiten goed.”NRC Handelsblad (June 17, 2007) p. 17.
Meeting Announcements
1. Washington D.C Security First at Politics and Prose Bookstore and Coffee-shop.
5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W Washington D.C 2008 1pm All Are Welcome to Attend.
2. American Political Science Association Annual Meeting August 30-September 2 ChicagoIL(Panel 1Roundtable: Author Meets Critics: Amitai Etzioni on Security First)
JeanBethkeElshtainUniversity of Chicago
Karen J. Alter Northwestern University
VincentMahlerLoyalaUniversity
PeterSanchezLoyalaUniversity
The Communitarian Network
2130 H Street Suite 703 N.W
Washington D.C 20052
202-994-6118