General (RET) James L. Jones Takes the Stage at Stimson
In
June 16, 2011
General (RET) James L. Jones joined Lincoln Bloomfield,
Jr., Stimson’s chairman of the board, on Tuesday for the eighth installment of his series,
the Chairman’s Forum. Gen. Jones and Ambassador
Bloomfield covered issues that ranged from the nonmilitary aspects of national
security to New START and NATO during a one-hour discussion. (Read the complete transcript).
Gen. Jones offered thoughts on:
Revising the 20th
century national security establishment for the 21st century: “We have a system that
worked well in the 20th century, when we were the unquestioned
global leader in so many areas. We need
to take another look at ourselves in order to be competitive. …Some of our
institutions and elected representatives are living in a different century,
they’re not living in the environment.
It’s time to really take a look at our laws, our regulations, our policies,
and to empower the greatness of America. When we face challenges, we always overcome
them. And we are definitely being
challenged.”
Revolution and the
future in Egypt: “You can be sure that,
just as 30 years ago, when Iran
fell, there was a cry for openness and transparency of government and better
lives for the people, and look what we got.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
You can be sure that underneath the radar, forces that do not want this
democratic movement, or do not want Egypt to emerge with this type of
government and this type of society, are hard at work on us. Egypt is one of the pivotal
countries that we really have to watch.
And it’s an opportunity for us to lead in a different way, to bring
economic incentives. I think that the
administration has already shown a little courage here in terms of an economic
package, but it needs to be bigger than that, and it needs to be international
in scope.”
Partisan Politics and
New START:
“We have to get back to a more civil political dialogue … On issues of national
security, different opinions are fine, but partisanship shouldn’t play a role. I’ll use the example of the START treaty. …At
the end of the day, the United
States was relegated to watching one of the
most important treaties of our time, relegated to a lame-duck session in
Congress that was purely partisan. … It diminished us in the eyes of the
world.”
On NATO moving forward: “One of my favorite
sayings is ‘a vision without resources is a hallucination.’ NATO has wonderful
intentions. … The aspirations of the alliance are very good, but the realism
that backs up those aspirations doesn’t really stand the test.”
The
Chairman’s Forum is a strategic conversation, featuring respected opinion
leaders in the foreign and security policy arena. Bloomfield holds these informal discussions
about eight times a year to address the most relevant global issues we face
today. Recent guests include Alain Le
Roy, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping; Elon Musk, co-founder of
PayPal, and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors; and Senator Lindsey Graham (R – SC).
General (RET) James L. Jones Takes the Stage at Stimson
In
General (RET) James L. Jones joined Lincoln Bloomfield,
Jr., Stimson’s chairman of the board, on Tuesday for the eighth installment of his series,
the Chairman’s Forum. Gen. Jones and Ambassador
Bloomfield covered issues that ranged from the nonmilitary aspects of national
security to New START and NATO during a one-hour discussion. (Read the complete transcript).
Gen. Jones offered thoughts on:
century national security establishment for the 21st century: “We have a system that
worked well in the 20th century, when we were the unquestioned
global leader in so many areas. We need
to take another look at ourselves in order to be competitive. …Some of our
institutions and elected representatives are living in a different century,
they’re not living in the environment.
It’s time to really take a look at our laws, our regulations, our policies,
and to empower the greatness of America. When we face challenges, we always overcome
them. And we are definitely being
challenged.”
future in Egypt: “You can be sure that,
just as 30 years ago, when Iran
fell, there was a cry for openness and transparency of government and better
lives for the people, and look what we got.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
You can be sure that underneath the radar, forces that do not want this
democratic movement, or do not want Egypt to emerge with this type of
government and this type of society, are hard at work on us. Egypt is one of the pivotal
countries that we really have to watch.
And it’s an opportunity for us to lead in a different way, to bring
economic incentives. I think that the
administration has already shown a little courage here in terms of an economic
package, but it needs to be bigger than that, and it needs to be international
in scope.”
New START:
“We have to get back to a more civil political dialogue … On issues of national
security, different opinions are fine, but partisanship shouldn’t play a role. I’ll use the example of the START treaty. …At
the end of the day, the United
States was relegated to watching one of the
most important treaties of our time, relegated to a lame-duck session in
Congress that was purely partisan. … It diminished us in the eyes of the
world.”
sayings is ‘a vision without resources is a hallucination.’ NATO has wonderful
intentions. … The aspirations of the alliance are very good, but the realism
that backs up those aspirations doesn’t really stand the test.”
To view the Chairman’s
Forum with Gen. James L. Jones in its entirety, go to: https://www.stimson.org/video/chairmans-forum-general-james-jones/
About the Chairman’s Forum:
The
Chairman’s Forum is a strategic conversation, featuring respected opinion
leaders in the foreign and security policy arena. Bloomfield holds these informal discussions
about eight times a year to address the most relevant global issues we face
today. Recent guests include Alain Le
Roy, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping; Elon Musk, co-founder of
PayPal, and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors; and Senator Lindsey Graham (R – SC).