Defense Committee Research Articles

NATO's Southern Allies: Internal and External Challenges, by John Chipman

Introduction John Chipman 1. NATO and Security Problems of the Southern Region John Chipman 2. Allies in the Mediterranean: Legacy of Fragmentation John Chipman 3. Portuguese Defence Policy: Internal Politics and Defence Commitments Alvaro Vasconcelos, Director of Institute for Strategic and International Studies, Lisbon 4. Spain and NATO: Internal Debate and External Challenges Angel Vinas, Executive Advisor to the Spanish Foreign Minister 5. Italy: A New Role in the Mediterranean? Maurizio Cremasco, Instituto di Affari Internazionali 6. Greece and NATO: Continuity and Change Thanos Veremis, University of Athens 7. Turkey and the Southern Flank: The Domestic and External Contexts Ali Karaosmanoglu, Director of Strategic Studies, Foreign Policy Institute, Ankara 8. NATO's Southern Region: National Versus Alliance Priorities John Chipman

Congressional Oversight of the Department of Defense: Reconsidering the Conventional Wisdom

Observers often complain that Congress slights defense oversight. Their conclusions, however, are typically based on the assumption that the House and Senate will act like bureaucracies capable of comprehensive, systematic, and dispassionate oversight. Yet Congress is a political institution, and its ability to oversee defense issues is limited by its institutional makeup and by the nature of defense policy. As a result, the tendency to treat Congress as if it were a bureaucracy produces inflated expectations about congressional oversight. It also obscures the incentives that encourage legislators to conduct oversight-namely, parochialism, ambition, and duty. Although Congress does more oversight than critics acknowledge, congressional oversight is not flawless. Most reform proposals focus on structural changes at the Pentagon or on Capitol Hill. The key to improving congressional oversight, however, lies in reducing the ideological bias of the defense committees.

The role of the house of commons Defence committee: Relationships and prospects

The role of the house of commons Defence committee: Relationships and prospects

Creation of the Nuclear-Free New Zealand Myth: Brinkmanship without a Brink

The New Zealand Labour Party was elected to office in 1984 with the promise of keeping nuclear ships out but preserving the ANZUS alliance. When the USS Buchanan was refused permission to call at a New Zealand port in 1985, the Americans initiated a series of retaliatory measures culminating in the formal withdrawal of the U.S. security guarantee to New Zealand in August 1986. This forced the government's hand in regard to reviewing defense options. The review was conducted in three stages: a discussion booklet released in December 1985, a public inquiry by a four-member Defence Committee which published its report in August 1986, and a formal White Paper on Defence published in 1987.1 The thinness and insubstantiality of the official White Paper was an embarrassment even to supporters of the government's policy. Nevertheless, the perception of a firmly antinuclear, Labour-led New Zealand colliding with a bullying United States has become part of conventional wisdom. The government of David Lange (July 1984 to August 1989) is commonly perceived to have acted with courage in opposing the wishes of a superpower; the United States is perceived as having acted against the democratic preferences of a small ally that was adopting a moral and independent international posture, and further is accused of refusing to accept a policy that it had previously found tolerable during the third Labour government of New Zealand (1972-75) and presently finds tolerable in Denmark, a NATO ally.

The Changing New Zealand Defense Posture

Research Article| April 01 1989 The Changing New Zealand Defense Posture Dora Alves Dora Alves Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Far Eastern Survey (1960) 29 (4): 363–381. https://doi.org/10.2307/2644882 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Dora Alves; The Changing New Zealand Defense Posture. Far Eastern Survey 1 April 1960; 29 (4): 363–381. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2644882 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAsian Survey Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1989 The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Ghana: the IMF's African success story?

When Flight Lieutenant J.J. Rawlings and a group of junior officers seized power in December 1981 from the corrupt Peoples National Par ty, their action was widely celebrated throughout Ghana. Their policies for progressive reforms and programme for the revolutionary transfor mation of Ghanaian society marked a high point in the politics of the country, comparable only perhaps with the heyday of Kwame Nkrumah and the Independence Movement.* But now, six years on, many of those involved in the 'December In tervention' have been forced into exile and others have been imprison ed, while national debate and criticism of the Provisional National Defence Council's (PNDC) government (a feature of the early regimen) is being stifled, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is gaining influence over economic policy. The most significant gesture of the PNDC's early commitment to working people was the proclamation of People's and Workers' Defence Committees in the cities and countryside. And it is their radicalising impact that has been slowly eroded since 1983. Initially, these committees, similar to the dynamising groups in Mozambique and Cuba functioned as social and economic units, setting in motion waves of radical popular action aimed at improving living conditions and confronting exploitative foreign companies and local bureaucracies. The consolidation of the popular committees was hindered by the ac tivities of right-wing infiltrators and by ultra-leftist initiatives — pro blems further compounded by numerous attempts, in 1983, to over throw the government. (The committees posed a serious threat to the neo-colonial order and the interests of foreign companies. The US, in particular, made a number of efforts to destabilise the PNDC and the revolutionary process.) Attempts to overthrow the PNDC were followed by government purges and the flight into exile of leading cadres of the Intervention. The popular committees were then restructured and deradicalised, with the emphasis being placed on economic productivi ty and 'national reconciliation'. The national secretariat of the popular committees was also dissolved. All this meant that the organisational base of the progressive movement in the government had been weaken ed. And the corporate power of the army, which Rawlings, particularly, had been so keen to transform into a popular political force, was re- affirmed. Within the PNDC and the Left serious disagreements emerged over a broad range of issues — the nature and pace of social and political change, the role of the army and its corporate power. But the most vex ed question was how to save an economy on the verge of collapse. After the failure to raise capital from non-western sources, appealing to the IMF appeared to most members of the reconstituted PNDC to be the most pragmatic option. Yao Graham, one of the leading figures of the 'December Interven tion', and author of the following article on Ghana's relationship with the IMF, in which he raises central issues about radical transformation in the Third World, is in jail. He has been detained without trial or even official acknowledgement since July 1987. Detained with him are pro minent journalist and broadcaster Kwame Karikari, trade union leader Adu Amankwa, former Secretary for Agriculture Ndebugre, Akoto Ampaw and Kwesi Pratt.

Points of Departure: The Security Equation in Canadian-Commonwealth Caribbean Relations

Geographic proximity, relative wealth and resources, and an enduring political connection provide the basis for a potentially dynamic Canadian relationship with the Commonwealth Caribbean. Canadian officials never tire of underlining that such a 'special relationship' already exists, that the Commonwealth Caribbean has priority status in Canada's foreign policy, that it represents a unique linkage among Third World regions, that there is a unique Canadian presence in the region, and so forth.1 Caribbean observers of Canadian foreign policy, however, might find these assertions somewhat confusing. Although 'security' officially provides the central rationale of Canada's Caribbean policy, the 1987 defence white paper, Challenge and Commitment, fails even to mention the Caribbean. Or to take another example: in 1985 the green paper issued by the Department of External Affairs had posed the provocative ques-

Congress and Defense Policy: 1961 to 1986

Congressional decision making on defense policy has evolved through three distinctive styles since 1961 because of changes in the opportunities, incentives, and freedom for lawmakers to address defense issues. In the 1960s, decision making in Congress was an "inside game": the most senior members of the defense committees-the two Armed Services committees and the two Appropriations Defense subcommittees-dominated the debate. In the 1970s, the congressional reform movement dispersed power in Congress and ushered in a decentralized variant of the inside game. Finally, in the 1980s an "outside game" emerged as congressional activity increasingly has bypassed the traditional channels of power within the defense committees. This new decision-making style has made the defense debate on Capitol Hill more representative of the views of its members and encouraged debate on a broader range of defense issues. Notwithstanding, the outside game also has produced delays in the budgetary process, an erosion of the committee system, and increased micromanagement of the defense budget. Congress is not likely to adopt reforms that will remedy these problems.

Book Review: Christopher Coker, A Nation in Retreat? Britain's Defence Commitment (London: Brassey's, 1986, 164pp., £14.95)

Book Review: Christopher Coker, A Nation in Retreat? Britain's Defence Commitment (London: Brassey's, 1986, 164pp., £14.95)

The Defence Committee on Westland

The Defence Committee on Westland

The New Select Committees: A Study of the 1979 Reforms. Edited by Gavin Drewry. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985. Pp. xiv + 410. $29.95.)

Part 1 Committees and reform: history and rationale of the 1979 reforms, Priscilla Baines select committees in the House of Lords, St John N.Bates. Part 2 The new select committees: the Agriculture Committee, Philip Giddings the Defence Committee R.L.Borthwick the Education, Science and Arts Committee, Michael Rush the Employment Committee, Nevil Johnson the Energy Committee, Martin Burch the Environment Committee, William Reiners the Foreign Affairs Committee, C.Y.Carstairs the Home Affairs Committee, Gavin Drewry the Industry and Trade Committee, J.M.Lee and Donald Shell the Scottish Affairs Committee, H.M.Drucker and J.G.Kellas the Social Services Committee, Michael Rush the Transport Committee, Gabriele Ganz the Treasury and Civil Service Committee, Ann Robinson the Welsh Affairs Committee, J.Barry Jones. Part 3 Assessment of the 1979 reforms: the financial work of the new select committees, Ann Robinson resources and operations of select committees - a survey of the statistics, Geoffrey Lock scenes from committee life - the new committees in action, Gavin Drewry what has been achieved?, Philip Giddings the 1979 reforms - new labels on old bottles?, Gavin Drewry the committees since 1983, Gavin Drewry. Appendix: standing orders of the House of Commons.

KOR and the transformation of polish politics in the 1970s

KOR: An ABSTRACT It has been widely observed that the pattern of dissenting and oppositional activity in Poland had changed considerably by the early 1980s. While in the 1950s and 1960s it was characterised by spontaneity, lack of programme and strategy, the opposite holds true in the 1980s. Till the second half of the 1970s dissent in Poland was spasmodic and short‐lived, intertwined with relatively long periods of social calm and inactivity. In the mid‐1980s the Poles have become highly politicised people, the previously common political apathy, to a great extent, has disappeared. Clandestine political organisations, inimical towards the communist state, abound. The number of free, uncensored publications can be counted in hundreds if not thousands. In the early 1980s there existed officially in Poland a free trade union which in fact performed some political activity as well. For this and other reasons it was suppressed, however the struggle to restore its official activity continues. Nothing of that nature has happened in any other communist state. Poland seems to be the odd man out in the communist world. Political crises occur there more often than anywhere else in Eastern Europe. The period of official activity of the trade union Solidarity has usually been called the ‘Polish Revolution’ due to the seriousness of the crisis in that country. The aim of the paper is to trace the changing pattern of dissent and opposition among the Polish intellectuals exemplified by the activity of the Workers’ Defence Committee KOR. It argues that the Polish intellectuals gathered in KOR influenced in a significant way the Polish crisis of the 1980s. The KOR group considerably contributed to the emergence of Solidarity, it also helped to shape its activity and articulate its demands.

KOR: a history of the Workers' Defense Committee in Poland, 1976–1981

Journal Article KOR: a history of the Workers' Defense Committee in Poland, 1976–1981 Get access KOR: a history of the Workers' Defense Committee in Poland, 1976–1981. By Jan Józef Lipski. Trans. by Olga Amsterdamska and Gene M. Moore. Berkeley, Calif., London: University of California Press. 1985. 561pp. Index. £33.95. ISBN 0 520 05243 9. Norman Reddaway Norman Reddaway Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 62, Issue 3, summer 1986, Pages 546–547, https://doi.org/10.2307/2617948 Published: 01 July 1986

KOR: A History of the Workers' Defense Committee in Poland, 1976-1981

KOR: A History of the Workers' Defense Committee in Poland, 1976-1981

A nation in retreat? Britain's defence commitment

A nation in retreat? Britain's defence commitment Get access A nation in retreat? Britain's defence commitment. By Christopher Coker. London: Brassey's. 1986. 154pp. Index. £12⋅95; ISBN 0 08 031213 6. Pb.: ISBN 0 08 031214 4. Trevor Taylor Trevor Taylor 1North Staffordshire Polytechnic Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 63, Issue 1, January 1986, Pages 108–109, https://doi.org/10.2307/2620250 Published: 01 January 1986

Fear and Loathing on Capitol Hill: The 99th Congress and Economic Policy

The first session of the 99th Congress was a year of wrenching institutional and political realignment. Facing monstrous structural budget deficits in excess of $200 billion a year. Congress struggled to adjust its distributive urges to the unpleasant realities of a redistributive era. Unlike previous budget crises that were caused by economic events beyond Congress's control, the current problem was created by an unwillingness to raise sufficient revenues to pay for the nation's defense and social program commitments. Frustration, gridlock, and partisan warfare eventually ended in surrender to the Executive Branch: a balanced-budget act was adopted that could radically alter Congress's power of the purse.During the 99th Congress, many Democratic members also continued to realign their policy positions in accordance with contemporary economic and political forces. Democrats in Congress searched for an appealing formula that would ensure political survival and continued control of the House. But the strain of reconciling their traditional public philosophy with conservative trends left Democrats demoralized and in disarray.

The Middle East and Sweden's Security (Excerpts)

A regular feature of the reports issued in recent years by various Swedish Defense Committees has been the assertion that war in Europe can either break out as a result of clashes of interest in our part of the world or can spread here from other quarters. The common assessment has held the latter alternative to be the most likely, for one thing in consequence of the many wars in progress outside Europe. Moreover, the high level of armament in Central Europe, particularly the concentration of nuclear weapons, is supposed to have a deterrent effect. The troubled Middle East has usually been indicated as a probable source of war, the consequences of which could also affect us . . .. The following chapter considers the matter of how developments in the Middle East could affect the situation in our part of the world. Even if Sweden is a small country, we may be capable of doing a number of things to counteract the effects of various types of disruption emanating from the Middle East, as well as, hopefully, influence developments in a positive direction.

Slugs as Generalist Herbivores: Tests of Three Hypotheses on Plant Choices

Three hypotheses explaining plant choices by generalist herbivores were tested by measuring leaf acceptabilities to three slug species, each of which lives in a different successional stage of vegetation. The acceptabilities of 61 plant species were determined in laboratory feeding trials by offering individual slugs leaf discs of a test and a control plant (lettuce) and recording consumption. The plant—defense hypothesis, that plants predictable to herbivores should have greater defense commitments and be less acceptable than unpredictable plants, was contradicted when predictability was judged by successional status. The acceptabilities of climax forest plants and early—successional plants were not significantly different for any of the three slug species. This was also true within woody species and within herbs. However, the plant—defense hypothesis was supported when predictability was measured as seasonal leaf persistence. As seasonal leaf persistence of forest herbs increased, acceptability declined. As alternative explanation based on growth rate is discussed. Alternatively, feeding choices were hypothesized to be determined by adaptations of these generalist herbivores to plants available in their local habitats (the herbivore—adaptation hypothesis). Because slugs are generally restricted to feeding on herbs, woody species were predicted to be less acceptable than herbs and this was strongly supported. Tree leaves were seldom eaten by any of the three slug species. In addition, each slug preferred a few herbaceous species unique to its specific habitat, suggesting local adaptation, but the actual mechanism remains to be determined. If both plants and slugs are coevolving, plant choices would depend upon where we examine the coevolutionary spiral, but they should be unique for each slug species as it coevolves with local plants (the coevolution hypothesis). In these tests, feeding responses of the three slug species were significantly positively correlated and unique responses were not evident. These hypotheses depend upon the probabilities of plant—herbivore encounters, which can be difficult to determine. For these slug species stem heights of only 10 cm acted as effective feeding barriers. Plants were vulnerable during emergence, but they can escape slugs if they emerge early in the spring. Because such subtle factors may determine encounter rates, predictions of feeding choices and plant defenses may be difficult to make. Specific adaptations may not be evident from these tests of general patterns. Field observations suggest that these introduced slug species are exerting significant selective pressure on the morphologies, phenologies, and defenses of native plants.

Ghana: Defence committees and the class struggle

(1985). Ghana: Defence committees and the class struggle. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 12, No. 32, pp. 64-72.

New lineup on defense committees

New lineup on defense committees