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BLACK MOUNTAIN GREAT DECISIONS 2007
DISCUSSIONS OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY our two web pages: http://www.fpa.org/info-url_nocat4731/info-url_nocat_show.htm?doc_id=470325 and http://www.patrickkillough.com/international-un/greatdecisions2007.html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ At Highland Farms Retirement Community 200 Tabernacle Road Black Mountain, North Carolina 28711 (for map see http://www.highlandfarms.com) Brookside Building LOWER CORE CONFERENCE ROOM ONE Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. YEAR 2 0 0 7: MARCH 21 TO MAY 09 Group Leader: Mary Klein Killough, Ph.D. Sound systems: T. Patrick Killough, US Senior Foreign Service (retired) INTRODUCTORY
COMMENTS
Highland Farms Retirement
Community (http://www.highlandfarms.com) has
hosted
Great Decisions Foreign
Policy Discussions
(see
http://www.fpa.org/info-url_nocat4705/info-url_nocat.htm)
for nearly twenty years. For the longest time, six meetings per year (not the eight proposed by WFA) were sponsored there by the World Affairs Council at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA). In 2006 and 2007 the sponsors of
the full eight
meeting cycle were drawn from
residents of Highland Farms
(the latter being invited and informed through placements in
the Black Mountain NEWS and other local media). and members of the larger Black Mountain, Swannanoa Valley/East Asheville Community Participation in Highland Farms
Great
Decisions is open to the public at no cost.
T. Patrick Killough
March 20, 2007. Reviewed May 11,
2007
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2 0 0 7 TOPIC ONE: March 21 THE U.S. IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Led by Patrick KILLOUGH. TWENTY PERSONS attended. The GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participants to make up their minds on three issues A. How should the U.S. Deal with the threat posed by Iran? B. Should the U.S. try to promote democracy in the Middle East? C. Should the U.S. ever deal with groups it has classified as terrorists, e.g. Hamas or Hezbollah? ********** COMMENT: Patrick Killough also discussed such overlapping and confusing terminology as Middle East, Near East, the Levant, West Asia and the Fertile Crescent. In the spirit of Sherlock Holmes, he pointed as well to the Study Guide's "dog that did not bark in the night": Israel. In the GREAT DECISIONS texts Israel grumbles and growls, but never barks. Why? There were questions raised about recent Shiah v. Shiah violence in Basra, just as the British forces turned over their main base to Iraqi government authority. 03/22/07 ===-==-=-=-=-=-=-= TOPIC TWO: March 28 CENTRAL ASIA: THREE POWER RESOURCE RIVALRY. Led by Dr Mary K. KILLOUGH. FOURTEEN PERSONS Attended. The GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participants to make up their minds on three issues A. Do you agree with the following statements? 1. The Shanghai Corporation Organization (SCO) will threaten U.S. influence and reform efforts in Central Asia. 2. Washington needs to maintain a presence in Central Asia to balance the influence of China and Russia. 3. As Central Asian countries develop economically, they will become less authoritarian. B. Rank the following U.S. policy goals in Central Asia in order of importance: -----Expansion of freedom and prosperity in Central Asia. -----U.S. access to Central Asian energy supplies. -----Integration of Central Asia into the world community. C. Should the U.S. follow China's lead and invest in the region without expecting countries to implement political reforms? ********** COMMENT: Mary Killough introduced the topic with reflections on the history, languages, culture and religion of the five countries studied: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. She shared photographs and articles from SAUDI-ARAMCO magazine and other source. Mary also showcased the October 17 - 19, 2007 escorted study trip sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia (WACA) to Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara,Khive and Ashkabad. Costing $4,295 (plus airfare) per peson, the trip is officially called UZBEKISTAN & TURKMENISTAN UNVEILED. Participants will hold discussions at the U.S. Embassies. Today's GREAT DECISIONS materials prepares for that study trip. For more information see http://www.wacphila.org/ There was considerable interest shown during discussion as to whether the U.S. had either the need or the capacity to try to compete with the area's huge neighbors, Russia and China, for influence. The group also wants to learn more about the emerging regional alliance "SCO" (The Shanghai Cooperation Organization). For more on SCO see, inter alia, a Congressional hearing at http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa27477.000/hfa27477_0.HTM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TOPIC THREE: April 4 MEXICO: TROUBLED NEIGHBOR. Led by Mr Ben PICKARD. NINETEEN Persons attended. GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participants to make up their minds on two issues A. How important are the following issues facing President Calderon at home? 1. Curbing the excessive greed (and power) of legislators and cutting down on political corruption. 2. Overhauling the tax system to provide the means for a universal educational system and a health care program for all. 3. Rooting out impediments in internal competition and a market economy to help alleviate unemployment. 4. Working out the most effective strategy for handling drug-trafficking cartels and establishing extradition arrangements with the U.S. -=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=- COMMENT: Ben Pickard drew heavily on personal experiences in Mexico. Discussion focused on post-election Mexican politics and fears of gridlock. =-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--==-=-=-=-=-= * TOPIC FOUR: APRIL 11 INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION IN A GLOBALIZING
ECONOMY.
Leader: Mr
Patrick Killough.Twenty people were present. GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participants to make up their minds on three issues A. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? 1. Building a fence on the U.S. Mexican border is an effective way to slow illegal immigration. 2. Illegal immigration to the U.S. hurts the economy. 3. Setting up a guest-worker program is a good response to illegal immigration. 4. Illegal immigrants already in the U.S. should be allowed to stay. B. Do you think it is a contradiction to support the free movement of goods and services that characterize globalization, on the one hand, and to limit the free movement of workers, on the other hand? C. Would you rather have jobs move to other countries, i.e., outsourcing, or allow workers to move to the U.S.? (choose one) ----- Let foreign workers move to the U.S. but only for limited periods of time. ----- Let foreign workers move to the U.S. with the possibility of becoming citizens. ----- Outsource work when feasible rather than allow increased immigration. COMMENT: Discussion focused on what to do about millions of existing illegals in the USA. =-=-==-=-=-=-= * TOPIC FIVE: APRIL 18 SOUTH AFRICA: FACING NEW CHALLENGES Co-Leaders: Tom Rodman and Mary RODMAN. GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participantsto make up their minds on three issues A. South Africa has a serious public health problem, with an estimated 12.5% of the population infested with HIV/AIDS. How important are the following strategies? 1. Making drug treatments available to as many infected people as possible. 2. Educating the public about HIV/AIDS. 3. Having the government issue realistic, clear statements about the disease, its treatment and prevention. 4. Pressing Western governments to remove price obstacles to drug treatment. B. What are the most pressing challenges facing South Africa? -----AIDS -----Crime -----Poverty -----Economy. C. The African National Congress (ANC) surprised the world with its conservative fiscal policy that has resulted in a long period of sustained economic growth for South Africa. Do you think the country can maintain this momentum? COMMENT: Discussion gravitated to the case of Steve Biko. =-=-===-=-=-=-=-=- * TOPIC SIX: April 25 WAR CRIMES Led by Mr Jack Wynn. GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participants to make up their minds on three issues A. Consistent with a rational balancing of American national security and civil liberties interests, captured terror suspects would best be ----- Afforded the same legal rights accorded U.S. citizens: habeas corpus, legal representation, trial by jury, access to evidence, etc. ----- Subjected to more-restrictive proceedings under the U.S. Military Code of Justice, as mandated by the Geneva Conventions. ----- Tried by "military commissions" under the 2006 law that denies habeas corpus and judicial review and allows hearsay evidence. ----- Detained indefinitely in closed extrajudicial facilities such as Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. B. international jihadist terror poses a threat to American national survival that renders obsolete previously accepted understandings of constitutional and international legal obligations: ----- YES ----- NO. C. As a global standard, do you support or oppose the following avenues for judging individuals accused of committing war crimes such as terrorism? 1. Signing on to the International Criminal Court and referring all cases there. 2. Seeking establishment of a special court under UN sponsorship. 3. In international terror cases, sending suspects to their home countries for trial and punishment. 4. In national atrocity cases, forming truth and reconciliation to establish facts and air concerns. 5. forming truth commissions, but with the option of criminality. 6. Creating special tribunals with limited defendant rights to ensure that security trumps the vagaries of law. 7. Allowing governments to secretly arrest and detain foreign nationals suspected of committing war crimes. COMMENT: Discussion addressed all approaches tried to date to war criminals. More needed to be done, but what we now have is better than nothing. It would be nice if a Nelson Mandela type could emerge in today's Iraq. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TOPIC SEVEN: May 2 CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING. Co-Led by Mr Cecil Beumer and Mr Jim Lenhart. TWENTY-FIVE persons attended. GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participants to make up their minds on four issues A. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has proposed a "crash program for alternative energy and conservation to make America energy-independent in 10 years." Do you agree or disagree with this "geo-green" strategy? B. Do you think the following measures will be significantly helpful in cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? 1. Higher emission standards for motor vehicles. 2. Public/federal/local funds to create "green" cities. 3. Large-scale reforestation to create new carbon sinks. 4. Mandatory emissions controls on businesses. 5. Voluntary emissions controls on businesses. 6. Reducing the amount of new GHGs being produced? C. Your concern about the impact of climate change is most closely expressed by which statement? ----- Climate change is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." ----- Climate change is "a planetary emergency." ----- There is not enough information at this time to determine the long-term impact of climate change. D. Please choose one of the following positions in regard to the Kyoto Protocol: ----- The U.S. should ratify the Kyoto Protocol, even if there are no commitments from developing countries to cut emissions. ----- The U.S. should not ratify the Kyoto Protocol until there are commitments from developing countries to cut emissions. ----- The U.S. should not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, period. COMMENT: This was the only GREAT DECISIONS session of 2007 in DEBATE FORMAT. Cecil Beumer made the case against essential linkage between human activities and global warming and Jim Lenhart spoke for the line mainly presented by our STUDY TEXT. Discussion was heated, with authorities cited pro and con linkage between human creation of Carbon Dioxide, other gases and pollution and global warming. Mr Beumer contended that global warming and cooling came and went in centuries long cycles. There was more good to say about carbon dioxide than bad. He also argued while that air pollution was an unhealthy thing and should be ratinally combatted, that did not make it the cause of beyond cyclical global warning. Mr Lenhart was willing to attribute more weight to human activities as a factor in what he conceived to be a trans-cyclical trend toward global warming. No one fell asleep during this session! Group participation was universal. =-=-=-=-=-=- TOPIC EIGHT: MAY 9 HELPING THE WORLD'S ENDANGERED CHILDREN. Led by Mrs Jackie Wintle. SIXTEEN persons attended. THE Eighth and last GREAT DECISIONS discussions at Highland Farms in 2007 of U.S. Foreign Policy. GREAT DECISIONS Study Guide invited participants to make up their minds on two issues A. How would you categorize the following issues affecting the world's children? 1. Forced labor 2. Disease 3. Participation in combat 4. Poverty 5. Lack of Education B. Which of the following do you think is most important in determining whether a country gets U.S. aid? -----Its level of need -----Its commitment to a market economy -----Its democratic institutions -----Its government's transparency -----Its strategic importance -----Its role in the war on terror. COMMENT: Jackie Wintle based her presentation on a handout she had presented in the form of a QUIZ linked to our study book's pages. Discussion focused on the need for good supervision of American aid to third world countries, whether government or private aid. There was special praise, in this connection, with the way service clubs like ZONTA, KIWANIS, ROTARY and LIONS add a supervision dimension by having clubs in giving countries like the USA working hand in hand with sister service clubs in India, Botswana, Bolivia, etc. =-=-=-=--=-=-=- -OOO- TP Killough 5/12/2007 |