_{President of CFR since July 2003}

_{Prior to that he was Director of Policy Planning for the Department of State, where he was a principal advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell on a broad range of foreign policy concerns. Haass served as U.S. Coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan and was the lead U.S. Government official in support of the Northern Ireland peace process.}

_{From 1989-1993, he was Special Assistant to President George Bush and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council.}

_{A Rhodes Scholar, Haass holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and both the Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University.}

_{Conflict between the great powers is not the principal dynamic in the world today. The challenges facing us are global and include: terrorism, WMD, viruses, climate change, etc. This represents an opportunity to avoid conflicts between major powers permanently.}

_{Three Things for the US to Avoid:}

_{Unilateral action (most critical issues require collective action and we don’t have the capacity), attempting too much (resources aren’t unlimited; discretionary choices have a tendency to grow; e.g., Iraq) and attempting too little (isolationism not an answer; world too interdependent).}

_{Integrate the world; bring others in to deal with global problems.}

_{Partner with China, India and Russia on the global issues noted above. Make it in their interest to participate.}

_{Develop rules and institutions that foster partnerships}

_{Integrate people that are always left out such as the poor}

_{Integrate the outlaws, viz., North Korea, and Iran as well as potential terrorists through education and policy changes.}

_{Call for multilateralism, not always the UN; include the World Trade Organization, other regional alliances or ad hoc groups}

_{Foreign and Domestic Policy:}

_{US must change its foreign and domestic policies. It must reassure the world as to its purposes. It must also maintain security. Our current economic situation is not sustainable. The federal deficits and foreign trade imbalance can not go on indefinitely. This will be painful.}

_Energy:

_{Need a policy. Imports are growing as consumption of energy grows. We need to develop diversified sources as we continue to be exposed to price shocks. This distorts our foreign policies, affects the economy and empowers the "bad" guys such as Chavez, Putin and countries like Iran and North Korea. We have to discourage energy consumption. It’s important to work with China and India in determining how to do this.}

_Education:

_{China and India are turning out people with the important skills of science and math. It is essential for the US to do the same to compete effectively. There will be a different approach along the lines of ongoing education throughout a person’s life. Safety nets will be critical to cover health care and pensions.}

_{Status of the US Foreign Policies:}

_{Some progress on moving toward multilateralism as Iraq has narrowed our choices. Examples include the six-power talks with North Korea, the Iranian talks, WTO, etc. The world is operating in a more integrated way against terrorism regarding intelligence and law enforcement. We are not making progress on climate change. We need to work more closely with China, eliminate subsidies, manage pandemics, deal with genocide, control access to uranium while maintaining necessary control, etc. The current administration will move in these directions because there are no other choices.}

_{Status of the US Domestic Policies:}

_{There has been no movement here to do what’s needed. There has been too much bipartisanship, i.e., the opposition party has not aggressively challenged the party in power, in areas such as energy, China and spending. Some concern is starting to surface on deficits.}

_{If foreign integration doesn’t happen we are subject to a return of the great power conflicts especially between the US and China. This will be dangerous, expensive and}

_{distracting. If integration doesn’t occur and the domestic problems aren’t addressed we face more terrorism, nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran, increasing genocide, expansion of global warming and an inability of the WTO to address the subsidy issues. This in turn will result in reduced prosperity and security.}

_Q&A

_{Q: What are your views on privatization of foreign policy?}

_{A: While there are some areas that increase efficiency through the use of new technologies, the US has gone too far in Iraq with military matters.}

_{Q: How should genocide be handled?}

_{A: When a government threatens or refuses to protect its people, outside action must be taken. We don’t have such an understanding with China, India or Russia. There are regional organizations in the Americas, but they are not evolved enough to handle failed states. There has been the African Union which can send in military force to intervene in cases in that part of the world.}

_{Q: Please comment on the Oil-for-Food scandal.}

_{A: Eighty five percent of the dollars involved in the scandal were outside the UN program. The US and others knew Saddam was getting dollars through sales of oil across borders, but did not stop it. These countries were unable to develop an integrated approach to stop this activity.}

_{Q: Can the US, Canada and Mexico set up a collective merger like the European Union?}

_{A: They could. Managing the demand for energy is the key challenge.}

_{Q: What’s your opinion on the rejection of China’s bid for a US oil company?}

_{A: There was an overreaction in the US. It involved a small amount of energy and was not a transfer of technology. It shows that we need to establish rules for the purchase of assets by non-Americans.}

World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley, Inc.