What:
Town Hall -- U.S. Engagement and Long Term Conflict Resolution: Afghanistan and the Middle East

When:
Monday, April 29, 2002
Event: 7:00 - 8:30 PM

Where:
Dominican University, Angelico Hall, San Rafael, California

Convener:
Representative Lynn Woolsey

Moderator:
Lorelei Kelly, Senior Associate the Henry L. Stimson Center

Presenters:
Tim Byrne, Sr. Lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School and former Peacekeeper
Ted Eliot, former Ambassador to Afghanistan

The terrorist attacks of September 11th have brought U.S. foreign policy and engagement to a new level of importance - especially our policy towards Afghanistan and the Middle East. Our task in the Town Hall is to discuss options, create alternatives and learn lessons from the past that will help us move in the direction of long-term objectives; such as international peace and stability.

Threats to international security have had to be redefined since the end of the Cold War. No longer is the world easily divisible into "friends" and "enemies" and we can no longer use mutual assured destruction as a deterrent to war. U.S. international involvement has become more complex. Many of today's international security threats are caused by problems within nations rather than between nations. Present threats to international security now include instability from fallen national economies, corruption, and civil war resulting in collapsed states. State collapse creates numerous problems, including: refugee crises, cross boundary health threats and destabilized markets - all of which contribute to regional instability.

American policy makers cannot apply old, Cold War-era solutions to these new international security threats. Resolving these conflicts requires a balance of political, social and military instruments, but American foreign policy is unbalanced, with social and political initiatives being a much lower priority than military initiatives. Giving less attention to the State Department and other social and political organizations is a detriment to U.S. security. It does not allow for adequate answers to long-term conflict resolution that require investments in economic prosperity, education, health care, civil institutions and the individual rights of women.

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