Skip to main content
Support
Event

The Hard Work of Democracy

A Director's Forum with Gordon England, Secretary of the U.S. Navy

Date & Time

Wednesday
Jun. 30, 2004
10:00am – 11:00am ET

Overview

In this Director's Forum, Secretary England recounted a broader historical perspective of Iraq, his personal reflections on how the U.S. government can best respond to today's changed security environment, and the specific steps the U.S. Navy is taking to combat terrorism.

Looking back at World War I, after which the Middle East was carved up among the victorious powers, England recalled what he considered one of the great ironies of history: that President Woodrow Wilson ended up taking the country into the great war in Europe, despite the fact that he had won the election as the "peace candidate" who had pledged to the contrary during the 1917 election. "I bring this up," England said, "because in a similar context, when candidate Bush was campaigning, he stressed his belief in reducing our military presence overseas and getting out of the business of nation building. Yet, today, we are at the center of two of the biggest security, stability, and reconstruction efforts in recent history in both Afghanistan and Iraq."

England went on to say that he did not see either of these situations as conflicting or hypocritical. Instead he sees the actions by the two presidents as facing the reality of the geopolitical setting and an indication of "the vision, leadership, and pragmatism to adapt to a changing state of the world."

England then shared his personal thoughts on what the U.S. government needs to do to successfully navigate in the post 9/11 environment. First, England pointed out, "Failure is not an option." According to England the government has to take on some changes at a federal level beyond the Department of Homeland Security. "Specifically, how do we horizontally connect the intelligence organizations to better integrate the data for decision and response?" he asked. "In times of national emergency and when we need to effectively confront a new enemy such as global terrorism, horizontal interconnects are essential." He lamented the fact that the enemy operates within a small infrastructure with diverse horizontal communications, while the U.S. government still tends to operate within vertical organizations. "Perhaps we need a national government Goldwater-Nichols type of effort to better integrate horizontally across the Federal government."

In describing the Navy's role in the war against terrorism, Secretary England mentioned a recent conference in Newport, RI where Chiefs of Naval Operations (CNOs) from 55 nations gathered to collaborate about their strategies for defeating global terrorism. "Personally, I know of no other international body or organization, aside from the United Nations itself that brings together 55 different countries to cooperate on common interests and issues." England emphasized the vulnerability of the largely unregulated and un-policed open seas to organized crime, weapons proliferation, and terrorism by sea. To rise to these challenges, the Navy's strategy is to form international bonds to control the Great Commons – the seas and oceans of the world.

In closing, England said, "Our goal should not be the avoidance of another 9-11, 2001, but rather, a freedom from fear of another 9-11 anywhere in the world. This is now the battle for our generation and the next and together we will prevail."

Tagged

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.