September - October 2001
Where Does America Go From Here?
As U.S. Forces Begin Air Attacks on Afghanistan, Americans Continue to Search for New Understandings of Our Country and Its Role in the World
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Americans continue to struggle with grief and anger. At the same time, we are faced with vital questions about who we are and what we must do to be secure in a dangerous world:
- Everyone agrees that we must stop this kind of terrorism. But as the weeks pass, our instinctive impulse to strike back is tempered by an increasing awareness of the dangers of indiscriminate retaliation. How will we apprehend and prosecute those responsible for these crimes while preventing the killing of innocents that could trigger an endless cycle of revenge?
- With our economy faltering and surpluses shrinking, where will the money come from to pay for a massive, long-term war against terrorism? What will be shortchanged in the process?
- In the wake of these events, many people are asking whether chemical, biological and nuclear terrorism also threaten our security. How serious are these threats and how can they best be addressed?
- What are the sources of the anger that fueled these attacks? Why is America the object of both envy and resentment in many parts of the world today? What, if anything, can we do as a nation to address the grievances that trigger this anger?
- What, if any, restrictions on our civil liberties are worth accepting in order to pursue alleged terrorists? Does national security require the curtailment of our freedom of speech and action? How much freedom and privacy are we willing to relinquish?
- How well is the media covering the story? Are we getting an accurate picture of the underlying causes and the full range of possible responses to the events of September 11?
Between September and October of 2001, The Mainstream Media Project offered the opportunity to speak with leading thinkers to provide a broader context for the tragic events of September 11. In all, we scheduled an unprecedented 756 radio and print interviews. Of these, 94 were regionally, nationally or globally syndicated. Some 66 authorities were interviewed on such topics as America and the World: New Relationships for a New Era, Countering Terrorism: How Do We Fight an Elusive Enemy?, and Civil Liberties: Will New Security Measures Erode Our Basic Rights?
Guest Speakers by Topic
America and the World: New Relationships for a New Era
William Ury, Director, Project on Preventing War, Harvard University; Co-Author, Getting to Yes; Author, The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop
Lawrence Korb, Vice President and Director of Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan
Admiral Eugene Carroll (ret.), Vice President Emeritus, Center for Defense Information
Michael Nacht, Dean and Professor of Public Policy, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Former Assistant Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Natalie Goldring, Executive Director, Program on General Disarmament, University of Maryland
Countering Terrorism: How Do We Fight an Elusive Enemy?
David Little, Professor of the Practice in Religion, Ethnicity, and International Conflict, Harvard Divinity School; Former Senior Scholar in religion, ethics, and human rights, United States Institute of Peace
Chalmers Johnson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of California at Berkeley; Author, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire
Stephen Zunes, Associate Professor, Department of Politics, University of San Francisco; Middle East Editor, Foreign Policy in Focus
Kimberly McCloud, Research Associate, Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program, Monterey Institute for International Studies
David Isenberg, Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute; Associate Fellow, Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Civil Liberties: Will New Security Measures Erode Our Basic Rights?
Morton Halperin, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Director, Policy Planning Staff, U.S. State Department; Author, Self Determination in the New World Order (1992)
Ronnie Dugger, Founder and First Co-Chair, Alliance for Democracy; Founder and Former Editor, The Texas Observer
Stephanie Foster, Director of Public Policy, People for the American Way; Former General Counsel, U.S. General Services Administration
Florence Kimball, Legislative Education Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation
Cooperative Security: Can We Be Safe If Others Arent?
Joe Volk, Executive Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation; Affiliate, Churches for Middle East Peace
Michael Renner, Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute; Author, Fighting for Survival: Environmental Decline, Social Conflict, and the New Age of Insecurity
John Tirman, Director, Global Security and Cooperation Program, Social Science Research Council; Author, Making the Money Sing: Private Wealth and Public Power in the Search for Peace (2000)
Jerry W. Sanders, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of California at Berkeley; Author, Peddlers Of Crisis: The Committee on the Present Danger and the Politics of Containment
Michael Klare, Professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Hampshire College; Author, Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict (2001)
David McReynolds, Longtime Lead Organizer, War Resisters League
U.S. Intelligence: What Went Wrong? Can We Stop Attacks Without Abridging Rights?
Melvin A. Goodman, Professor of International Security at the National War College; Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy; Senior Soviet Analyst at the CIA from 1966-1986; Contributing Author, National Insecurity: U.S. Intelligence After the Cold War (2000)
Craig Eisendrath, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy; Editor, National Insecurity: U.S. Intelligence After the Cold War (2000)
Chris Hoofnagle, Legislative Counsel, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC); Webmaster of privacy.org
Kit Gage, National Coordinator, National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom/National Coalition Against Repressive Legislation
American Civil Liberties Union, Experts available on secrecy and transparency in intelligence gathering and maintaining civil liberties in times of crisis
World Law: What Roles for the UN and International Criminal Court?
Merav Datan, Director, UN Office, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; Co-Author, Security and Survival: The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (1999)
Michael Ratner, Vice President and Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
Richard Falk, Noted International Lawyer; Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University; Author, Revolutionaries and Functionaries: Understanding International Terrorism
William Pace, Executive Director, World Federalists Association and Co-Founder, Coalition for an International Criminal Court; served as Secretary-General, Hague Appeal for Peace civil society conference
John Burroughs, Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy
Trading Securities: What Price Will We Pay for Renewed Prosperity?
James Kenneth Galbraith, Professor of Public Affairs and Government, University of Texas at Austin; Director, University of Texas Inequality Project; Chair, Economists for Arms Reduction
Joel Friedman, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Former Director of Budget Analysis, House Budget Committee; Former Financial Economist, Budget Review Division of OMB
Peter Orszag, Senior Fellow in Economic Studies, Brookings Institution; Former Special Assistant to President Clinton for Economic Policy; Senior Adviser, President's Council of Economic Advisers
John Cavanagh, Director, Institute for Policy Studies; Former International Economist, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Ground Zero: Understanding Cultures of Afghanistan and Pakistan
Zia Mian, Physicist, Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University; nuclear weapons in Pakistan and the region
Rami Khouri, Neiman Fellow, Harvard University; U.S.-born resident of Jordan and Palestine
Chemical, Biological, Nuclear Weapons: How Serious Is the Threat?
Elisa Harris, Research Fellow, Center for International and Security Studies, University of Maryland; Former Staff Member, National Security Council
David Albright, Physicist and President, Institute for Science and International Security
Paul Leventhal, President and Founder, Nuclear Control Institute
Arjun Makhajani, President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
Race and Rage: How to Avoid Blaming Groups for Individual Crimes
Sam Keen, Author, Faces of the Enemy (the book) and a PBS documentary by the same name
Ibrahim Ramey, Director, Peace and Disarmament Program, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Hala Maksoud, Past President, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Afzal Rashid, Board Member, Afghan Development Association
Media: Are We Getting the Whole Picture?
Tara D. Sonenshine, Consultant, Internews; former Contributing Editor, Newsweek, ABC news
Robert Jensen, Associate Professor of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media Ecology and Director, Project on Media Ownership, New York University
Danny Schecter, Executive Producer, Globalvision; Executive Editor, MediaChannel; Author, News Dissector: Passions, Pieces, Polemics (2001), and The More You Watch, The Less You Know
After the Tragedy: Trauma and Transformation
Fran Korten, Executive Director, Positive Futures Network; Publisher, Yes! Magazine
Larry Dieringer, Executive Director, Educators for Social Responsibility
Robert Fuller, Former President, Oberlin College; Author, Breaking Ranks, With All Due Respect
Sharif Abdullah, Director, Commonway Institute; Author, Creating a World That Works for All (1999)
Jack Saul, Director, International Trauma Studies Program, New York University
Margaret Wheatley, President, The Berkana Institute; Author, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future
Religious Response: Interfaith Perspectives
Dave Robinson, National Coordinator, Pax Christi USA
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Beyt Tikkun Synagogue, San Francisco; Editor, Tikkun magazine; Author, Spirit Matters (2000)
Rev. John Wimberly, Pastor, Western Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C
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