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The '''Project for the New American Century''' (PNAC) is an [[United States|American]] [[right-wing]] [[think tank]]. |
The '''Project for the New American Century''' (PNAC) is an [[United States|American]] [[right-wing]] [[think tank]]. |
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It was established in the spring of |
It was established in the spring of 1997 as a [[non-profit]], educational organization whose goal is to promote ''American global leadership''. It is based in the same building as the [[American Enterprise Institute]] in [[Washington DC]]. |
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The PNAC is quite controversial, and has raised the concern of many because it can be viewed as proposing military and economic domination of land, space, and [[cyberspace]] by the United States, so as to establish American dominance in world affairs for the indefinite future—hence, "the New American Century". |
The PNAC is quite controversial, and has raised the concern of many because it can be viewed as proposing military and economic domination of land, space, and [[cyberspace]] by the United States, so as to establish American dominance in world affairs for the indefinite future—hence, "the New American Century". |
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==Controversy== |
==Controversy== |
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⚫ | Critics of the PNAC argue that it represents a broad, borderline [[imperial]] agenda of global US military expansionism and dominance that is currently being enacted by the Bush Administration. Supporters of the PNAC argue that the project's advocated policies are not fundamentally different than what have been long been proposed by other conservative [[foreign policy]] analyists, and that the PNAC is the target of unfair [[conspiracy theories]]. |
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The PNAC has been the subject of considerable criticism and controversy. |
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⚫ | Much of the basis for its critics' arguments is derived from the text of ''Rebuilding America's Defenses''. Critics often refer to a number of quotes from this report to support their position. PNAC critics suggest that portions of the document call into question the true motives behind the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003]]. |
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⚫ | |||
Another issue pointed to in support of the critics' position stems back to March of 1992 when an internal Pentagon report entitled ''Defense Policy Guidance'' (DPG) was leaked to ''The New York Times''. This is significant because the authors of that document -- Pentagon national security consultants at the time -- both went on to be members of the PNAC and, as mentioned below, key figures in the present Bush Administration: Paul Wolfowitz and I. Lewis Libby. When the document was leaked, there was a massive outcry, and it was soon denounced by Democratic Senator [[Joseph Biden]] as a blueprint for ";literally a Pax Americana". (see Barton Gellman, [http://www.yale.edu/strattech/92dpg.html “Keeping the U.S. First; Pentagon Would Preclude a Rival Superpower,”] The Washington Post, 11 March 1992, p. 1.) |
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⚫ | Much of the basis for its critics' arguments is derived from the text of ''Rebuilding America's Defenses''. PNAC critics suggest that portions of the document call into question the true motives behind the [[2003 invasion of Iraq |
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==Bush Administration== |
==Bush Administration== |
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==Analysis of PNAC== |
==Analysis of PNAC== |
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*[http://pnac.info PNAC.info]. An anti-PNAC website |
*[http://pnac.info PNAC.info]. An anti-PNAC website that "investigates, analyzes, and exposes" the PNAC. |
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*[http://pnac.tk Project for a Non American Century] - a site satirising the PNAC by taking the opposite position |
*[http://pnac.tk Project for a Non American Century] - a site satirising the PNAC by taking the opposite position |
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*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2801349.stm Paul Reynolds, BBC] |
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2801349.stm Paul Reynolds, BBC] |
Revision as of 00:08, 3 August 2004
The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is an American right-wing think tank. It was established in the spring of 1997 as a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership. It is based in the same building as the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC.
The PNAC is quite controversial, and has raised the concern of many because it can be viewed as proposing military and economic domination of land, space, and cyberspace by the United States, so as to establish American dominance in world affairs for the indefinite future—hence, "the New American Century".
The chairman of PNAC is William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard magazine. Present and former members include Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush, Richard Perle, Richard Armitage, Dick Cheney, Lewis Libby, William J. Bennett, Gary Schmitt, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Ellen Bork, the wife of Judge Robert Bork. A large number of its ideas and its members are associated with the hawkish neoconservative school of political theory, although the majority of its members are not affiliated with any branch of service. PNAC has seven full-time staff members, in addition to its board of directors.
Content
The Project is an initiative of the New Citizenship Project, a non-profit 501c3 organization that is funded by the Bradley Foundation [1]. The PNAC declares itself to be dedicated to the fundamental propositions that
- American leadership is good both for America and for the world;
- Such leadership requires military strength, diplomatic energy, and commitment to moral principle;
- Too few political leaders today are making the case for global leadership;
The group states that when diplomacy has failed, military action is an acceptable and necessary resort. PNAC advocates the installation of permanent military bases around the world for the establishment of a United States Global Constabulary. This global police force would have the power to keep law and order around the world in accordance with rules that the United States would establish as being proper and just. It also advocates the United States government should capitalize on its military and economic superiority to gain unchallengeable superiority through all means necessary, including military force.
The PNAC and its members had long called for the United States to abandon the ABM Treaty. The PNAC also proposes to control the new "international commons" of space and "cyberspace" and pave the way for the creation of a new military service - U.S. Space Forces - with the mission of space control. In 1998, Rumsfeld chaired a bipartisan commission on the US Ballistic Missile Threat towards advancement of these goals.
In September 2000, the PNAC issued a 80-page report entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces, And Resources For A New Century. The report has been the subject of much analysis and criticism.
Controversy
Critics of the PNAC argue that it represents a broad, borderline imperial agenda of global US military expansionism and dominance that is currently being enacted by the Bush Administration. Supporters of the PNAC argue that the project's advocated policies are not fundamentally different than what have been long been proposed by other conservative foreign policy analyists, and that the PNAC is the target of unfair conspiracy theories.
Much of the basis for its critics' arguments is derived from the text of Rebuilding America's Defenses. Critics often refer to a number of quotes from this report to support their position. PNAC critics suggest that portions of the document call into question the true motives behind the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Another issue pointed to in support of the critics' position stems back to March of 1992 when an internal Pentagon report entitled Defense Policy Guidance (DPG) was leaked to The New York Times. This is significant because the authors of that document -- Pentagon national security consultants at the time -- both went on to be members of the PNAC and, as mentioned below, key figures in the present Bush Administration: Paul Wolfowitz and I. Lewis Libby. When the document was leaked, there was a massive outcry, and it was soon denounced by Democratic Senator Joseph Biden as a blueprint for ";literally a Pax Americana". (see Barton Gellman, “Keeping the U.S. First; Pentagon Would Preclude a Rival Superpower,” The Washington Post, 11 March 1992, p. 1.)
Bush Administration
With the election of George W. Bush, many of PNAC's members were appointed to key positions within the new President's administration:
- Elliott Abrams, NSC representative for Middle Eastern Affairs, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center
- Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State
- John Bolton, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs
- Dick Cheney, a PNAC founder, Vice President
- Seth Cropsey, Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau (Voice of America)
- Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs
- Francis Fukuyama, Johns Hopkins University, appointed to the President's Council on Bioethics
- Bruce Jackson, president of U.S. Committee on NATO
- Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan
- Lewis Libby aka Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff for Cheney
- Peter W. Rodman, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security
- Donald Rumsfeld, a PNAC founder, Secretary of Defense
- Randy Scheunemann, Iraq advisor to Rumsfeld
- Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Dov S. Zakheim, Comptroller of the Defense Department
- Robert B. Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative
Other Members
- Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate, president of American Values
- William J. Bennett, former Secretary of Education and Drug Czar, co-founder of Empower America, author of the Book of Virtues
- Ellen Bork, deputy director of PNAC
- Rudy Boschwitz
- Jeb Bush, governor of Florida
- Eliot A. Cohen, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University
- Thomas Donnelly, director of communications, Lockheed Martin
- Steve Forbes, multi-billionare publisher of Forbes Magazine, former presidential candidate
- Aaron Friedberg, director of the Center of International Studies
- Frank Gaffney, columnist, founder of Center for Security Policy
- Reuel Marc Gerecht, director of the Middle East Initiative
- Fred Ikle, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Donald Kagan, Yale University professor, conservative columnist with various State Department ties
- Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. ambassador
- Charles Krauthammer
- William Kristol, a PNAC founder and chairman, editor of the Weekly Standard
- Christopher Maletz
- Daniel McKivergan
- Richard Perle, a PNAC founder, formerly of the Defense Policy Board
- Norman Podhoretz, Hudson Institute
- Dan Quayle, former vice-president
- Stephen Rosen, Beton Michael Kaneb Professor of National Security and Military Affairs, Harvard University
- Henry Rowen, former president of Rand Corporation
- Gary Schmitt
- Vin Weber, former congressman, lobbyist, vice-chairman of Empower America
- George Weigel, political commentator
- R. James Woolsey, vice-president at Booz Allen & Hamilton
See also
External links
- PNAC Website
- Sep 2000 Rebuilding America's Defenses plan (Adobe .pdf file format)
Analysis of PNAC
- PNAC.info. An anti-PNAC website that "investigates, analyzes, and exposes" the PNAC.
- Project for a Non American Century - a site satirising the PNAC by taking the opposite position
- Paul Reynolds, BBC
- PNAC members and their letters
- Terry Jones: ‘Could Tony Blair look at the internet now, please?’ and ‘Why look in the crystal ball?’
- Interpretation of Michael Meacher, former cabinet minister for Tony Blair
- ‘New York, you've been used’ by William Rivers Pitt, attacking the PNAC
- PNAC letter to Bill Clinton