Printable Version

Policy Day 2009

Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) kicked off the event with an overview of the challenges facing President Obama and analyzed where Congress would work with the Administration on its ambitious agenda. Representative Davis also discussed the need to bring together the best policy ideas from both sides of the aisle when tackling major issues such as health care, education and entitlement reform.
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Steve Flynn, Council on Foreign Relations, talked about the imperative for the Obama administration to assign greater priority to homeland security but recommended an approach that moves beyond a narrow focus on terrorism and instead emphasizes building societal resilience to better manage the risks and consequences arising from major natural disasters as well as man-made ones. Flynn spoke about the need for four capabilities; 1) robust infrastructure, public health, public safety, and emergency management in the face of foreseeable hazards and threats, 2) readiness to quickly recognize and nimbly respond to disasters, 3) rapid recovery to restore critical systems and services, and 4) thorough review in the aftermath of catastrophic events to identify lessons learned for improving robustness, readiness, and recovery in the face of future disasters.
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Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta spoke about the need to view the issue of climate change as not just one with environmental impacts, but with direct security and economic implications as well. Podesta listed a long line of national security threats related to climate change including crop losses, wildfires, water scarcity, spread of disease and population migrations. Podesta discussed the importance of having a long term sustainability strategy for health care reform, energy and education. Participants asked Podesta questions ranging from the future of nuclear energy in the US to how one might measure the success of President Obama's meeting with the G20 and his trip to Turkey.
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David Smick, author of The World is Curved, provided a comprehensive analysis of the world economic scene, describing the subprime "bubble" as only one of nine bubbles to burst in the global economic system. He noted other bubbles around the world at risk of bursting include the reliance of European banks on emerging markets, commercial real estate, the government bond market and credit card debt. He also discussed country-specific bubbles such as China which he believes is overly dependent on exports, has an aging society with no social security program and the potential for social unrest. Smick stated that current stimulus plans underway in the US and elsewhere are insufficient to have the needed effect. Policy Day participants debated whether Smick was providing too pessimistic a picture, with one participant describing the world's wealth as dynamic, arguing that the global economic machine is not broken and that the real problem is that the world's poorest will feel the most pain as we head toward recovery. Smick's advice for the Obama Administration includes contingency plans in the event that the economy worsens, ensuring that credit flows to those in the venture capital world with viable business growth models for growing the economy and encouraging small business start-ups. He quoted President Obama saying start-ups are the source of 70 percent of new employment.
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Rep. John Larson (D-CT) spoke about his recent trip to Afghanistan and his observations on what needs to be done to enhance America's military effectiveness there.  Larson believes that the conflict cannot be won using the military alone, but must include political, diplomatic and economic elements as well. He noted that Afghanistan and Pakistan's futures are inextricably intertwined and that the US must have support from the whole region in order to be successful. When asked to explain the mission of the U.S. in Afghanistan and whether it is primarily targeted at containing al-Qaeda, Larson noted that there should not be an expectation that a Jeffersonian democracy will be replicated but that more general goals of "stability" and disrupting al-Qaeda should be set.
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Democratic political consultant Bob Shrum and conservative columnist Ross Douthat followed with their assessments of the Democratic and Republican parties based upon the 2008 elections.  Shrum predicted a positive future for the Democratic party, pointing to President Obama's favorable polls and his message that "America needs a government that works" and recent polls showing that Americans feel the country is moving in the right direction. (This number tripled in the past three months.) He also noted the large turnout of 18-35 year old voters for Obama and the likelihood that young voters continue to vote consistent with their early voting patterns. Shrum believes that the Republican party will have to offer voters a better plan than "we are going to cut taxes" and he offered several possibilities for future Republican platforms including immigration and the size of government. Douthat argued that Democrats should be wary of a California-style future – big government benefits with no money to pay for it. He suggested a few names of candidates to lead the Republicans in to the future, including Governor Bobby Jindal. He also posed the question of whether the Republican party should focus on winning back New England or winning the Hispanic vote. A stimulating question and answer period followed.
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Middle East expert Shibley Telhami and Ambassador Wendy Sherman spoke about maximizing America's "tool kit" through the use of smart power. Dr. Telhami noted the importance of winning hearts and minds and he echoed others who have spoken at CNP that the Arab world does not dislike the American public or its values, they dislike American policies and actions abroad. He argued that America is not wrong in promoting democracy but it has to be credible in how it is promoted. Sherman noted that applications of public diplomacy, economic assistance, intelligence, and military power when necessary, cannot be decoupled and the efforts cannot exist in silos but must be applied in a strategic, synergized manner. She said that the global economic crisis is a valuable lesson and metaphor for smart power and our inter-connectivity with the rest of the world. She enumerated several examples of the Obama Administrations'  commitment to smart power - increased resources for foreign assistance, reforming USAID and reorganizing the State Department. Sherman and Telhami discussed the importance of American businesses and NGOs working overseas and noted that they can often have conversations that governments cannot. Ambassador Sherman cited examples of how American businesses investing in other countries have improved rule of law and intellectual property rights.