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Gelb Explains "Why the U.S. Often Screws Up Its National Security Policy"

Posted Oct 25 2012

“Our greatest strength is our practical, no-nonsense approach to problems. Our forebears didn’t let bullshit get in the way of solving problems.”

This direct, earthy language came from Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and former New York Times reporter, who spoke at SIPA on October 11. Gelb gave the annual George Ball Lecture, on "Why the U.S. Often Screws Up Its National Security Policy.”

View Leslie Gelb's remarks in their entirety on SIPA's YouTube channel.


Leslie Gelb said the United States does best when it takes a "practical, no-nonsense approach" to problem



Forgoing the podium, Gelb stood close to the audience, like an entertainer engaging a crowd. He claimed impartiality, insisting that he viscerally dislikes both the Democratic and Republican Parties. But he also said it’s clear that the right beats up on the left, and that the liberal and left barely exist in U.S. politics.

The only time that we saw a truly left contingent after World War II, Gelb suggested, was during the brief period at the end of the Vietnam War; other than that, he said, the left doesn’t exist as a counterweight, and barely exist as far as foreign policy is concerned.

Gelb also discussed what he called the American preoccupation with Iran. “We’ve been rhetorically boxing ourselves into a war with Iran with the threat of military action — the logic being that they’re nuts.” He noted later in his remarks that “During the cold war we similarly said, ‘The Soviet Union is crazy. They’ll launch a nuclear war.’ Now we have the same mindset with Iran.”

In a similar vein, Gelb said, “We’re getting closer to taking action with Syria. Why? Because they’re dying?” Gelb points out that we didn’t take action with Sudan or Rwanda, and that there’s not a ‘no fly zone’ in Mali. “In Syria, do we even know who we’re giving arms to? The CIA doesn’t know much about the rebels, and they can’t distinguish between the good rebels and the potential extremists. If the rebels gain power, will they stop, or kill more? Will they eliminate the Alawites?”

So what are the real threats to the United States? Gelb cited terrorism, cyberwarfare, and the fact that our economy is “being brought to its knees.” He said our debt to China is currently $1.5-trillion and says this fact advertises the weakness of the American economy to the world. “Security is at least as much about the economy in the 21st century as it is about military. It’s because of this that U.S. power is declining, relative to power we had before…. We have less power today, and other countries have more. We had economic supremacy and now we’re on the decline.”

Because of this, Gelb said, the United States must rethink how it leads. “We can no longer say, ‘follow me,’” he said, “but we can lead from behind by getting others to accept more responsibility and to act in their own interests.”  Asking the neighbors of Afghanistan to help the Afghans for their own regional security is an example of this, he said.

Gelb cited several missteps and miscalculations in the leadup to both the Vietnam and Iraq Wars. He said the American ideology is to make the world better, but that creating democracy by war or fear never works. Obama, Gelb said, understands that we can overestimate American power.

Response to “those who see the U.S. as evil,” Gelb said the United States has certainly made some mistakes. “But compared to any other major power in history, we’re good.”

— Tiffany Esteb, posted October 25

View Leslie Gelb's remarks in their entirety on SIPA's YouTube channel.