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National Security Policy: Challenges for the New Administration
 On October 30, 2008, William Danvers delivered a lecture titled "National Security Policy: Challenges for the New Administration." In his lecture, Mr. Danvers emphasized what the priorities are in the short, medium, and long terms in dealing with the critical issues of economic depression, terrorism, proliferation, global warming, and failed states.
He stated that key priorities for the next administration in the short term will be as follows: to make a sustained effort to restore the US economic infrastructure; Pakistan and Afghanistan will continue to be the central focus in the war on terrorism and the US will need to strike a balance between respecting Pakistan's sovereignty and pursing aerial strikes inside Pakistan territory, without prior approval; on nuclear proliferation, North Korea is no longer a theoretical problem, but a striking reality and the US needs to develop a multilateral framework to pursue Iran not to seek a nuclear weapon. His key priorities in the medium term includes both China's rise and Russia's strategic power in its neighboring regions and that US policy should focus on how it can defend its allies and defuse tensions in a peaceful way that recognizes Russia's geopolitical role in a post-cold war era. Key priorities in the long term include: climate change which is a serious problem and will require sustained attention from the US and other leading nations; the rise of populist leaders in Latin America; the issue of illegal/undocumented immigration; taking prompt humanitarian action in dealing with failed states; and reforming the United Nations, in an effort to promote multilateralism in international affairs. |
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