"Belfer Center Quotes of Interest"

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter, pages 12-13

Summer 2008

"The president who takes office in January 2009 should appoint someone who has the president's ear, whose sole responsibility will be to see that everything that must be done to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack is being done, keeping these issues on the front burner at the White House every day."
— Matthew Bunn, "The Risk Of Nuclear Terrorism — And Next Steps To Reduce The Danger," testimony to Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (April 2, 2008)

"Every new president has about a year when they can better achieve goals and changes because of their fresh mandate from the people... [The authors] propose a three-part framework for combating terrorism that involves drying up support for terrorism, improving our intelligence capabilities and rethinking our approach to homeland security."
— Richard Clarke (with Rob Knake), "Counter-Terrorism Issues for the Next President," CTC Sentinel (February 2008)

"For much of the past two decades, Americans have watched in frustration as presidents and members of Congress have repeatedly achieved deadlock rather than consensus on issues that are critical to our nation.... The next president can't do it alone. If we are to break the cycle of partisan gridlock, others who have contributed to the disease must also help with the cure."
— Bob Graham, "How to End the Gridlock,"Washington Post (January 30, 2008)

"If so much as a substantial fraction of the world's scientists and engineersresolved to ["tithe" 10 percent of your professional time and effort to working in these and other ways to increase the benefits of S&T for the human condition and to decrease the liabilities] ... the acceleration of progress toward sustainable well-being for all of Earth's inhabitants would surprise us all."
— John P. Holdren, "Science and Technology for Sustainable Well-Being," Science (January 25, 2008)

"Because low-income householdsdevote greater shares of their income to energy and transportation costs than do higher-income households, virtually any climate policy will place relatively greater burdens on low-income households. But because cap and trade will minimize energy-related and other costs, it holds an important advantage in this regard over conventional regulations."
— Robert Stavins, "State Fight Against Climate Change Benefits Everyone," Sacramento Bee (March 16, 2008)

"[T]he Fed should push for further efforts to raise capital. Consideration should be given to collective actions designed to destigmatise cutting dividends or raising equity. The idea of linking access to Fed credit and measures to attract capital should also be explored. At a time when much is being given to financial institution shareholders and management, action to help the economy and protect the taxpayer should be expected in return."
— Lawrence Summers, "Steps That Can Safeguard America's Economy," Financial Times (March 30, 2008)

"The potential collapse of house prices, accompanied by widespread mortgage defaults, is a major threat to the American economy. ... Although there is no perfect plan, a program of federal mortgage-paydown loans to individuals, secured by future income rather than by a formal mortgage, could reduce the number of mortgages with high LTV ratios and cut future defaults."
— Martin Feldstein, "How to Stop the Mortgage Crisis," Wall Street Journal (March 7, 2008)

"While the candidates keep talking about jobs going overseas, the irony is that over the past year, trade is helping to stave off the recession. Since early 2008, the US trade deficit has actually narrowed by $50bn as exports have increased more rapidly than imports."
— Robert Lawrence, "Much Ado About NAFTA,"Guardian.com (March 6, 2008)

"We are in the midst of a major nuclear renaissance. Countries in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia have all expressed a desire to begin or revive civilian nuclear programs. Bartering nuclear technology for oil is sure to lead to the further spread of nuclear weapons."
— Matthew Fuhrman, "Oil for Nukes — mostly a bad idea," Christian Science Monitor (February 29, 2008)

"Although descriptions of the precepts and beliefs guiding al-Qa'ida and its associates as ideological in nature certainly hit the mark, few serious attempts have been made to justify the use of the term "ideology" in connection with the Salafi-jihad, the guiding doctrine of al-Qa'ida, its affiliates, associates and progeny."
— Assaf Moghadam, "The Salafi-Jihad as a Religious Ideology," CTC Sentinel (February 2008)

"Since the shock of 9/11, the United States has been exporting fear and anger, rather than our more traditional values of hope and optimism. Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo have become more powerful global icons of America than the Statue of Liberty. Terrorism is a real threat and likely to be with us for decades, but over-responding to the provocations of extremists does us more damage than the terrorists ever could."
— Joseph Nye, "Toward a Liberal Realist Foreign Policy: A Memo for the Next President," Harvard Magazine.(March-April 2008)

"This spring the U.S. is temporarily putting 3,200 more Marines into Afghanistan to help fill the gap — the same number of Marines withdrawn from Iraq last September in the initial rollback of the surge. The swap is emblematic of the fact that we have no surplus U.S. troops to send to commanders in Afghanistan. If you want more troops in Afghanistan, you pretty much have to take them out of Iraq."
— Kevin Ryan, "Is It Wise to Pause in Iraq?"Orlando Sentinel (February 25, 2008)

"Fortunately, Pakistan's nuclear weapons are secured by its army, the country's most effective national institution.... In contrast, a government that truly reflects the current views of the Pakistani people is more likely to be an unspoken opponent than an ambiguous ally in the US war against Al Qaeda and other terrorists in the region."
— Graham Allison, "Reading the Tea Leaves in Pakistan," Boston Globe (February 21, 2008)

"The organizational strength, military strategy and leadership quality of the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal territories has qualitatively improved during the last few years... Today, Pakistan's indigenous Taliban are an effective fighting force and are engaging the Pakistani military on one side and NATO forces on the other"
— Hassan Abbas, "A Profile of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan," CTC Sentinel (January 2008)

"The trouble with waves is that sooner or later they break. Every year, the think-tank Freedom House awards scores to the countries of the world according to their degrees of political freedom. According to the latest figures, no fewer than 57 countries have suffered a democratic ebb in the past five years."
— Niall Ferguson, "Slow but Sure," Financial Times (January 26, 2008)

"The long-term truce that Hamas has offered Israel should be seen in a new light, because it offers all sides meaningful gains that can halt the current deterioration, while creating a new foundation for possible political breakthroughs. And both sides should welcome that as fiercely as they now fight militarily."
— Rami G. Khouri, "Fighting for a Cease-Fire,"Agence Global (March 10, 2008)

"The concern now is that Chávez is amplifying an external threat to distract Venezuelans from domestic malaise. His saber-rattling, however, runs the risk of escalation. What started out as a domestic prop could easily lead to outright conflict if one side or the other miscalculates."
— Sarah Kreps, "Chavez Rattles His Saber,"International Herald Tribune (March 6, 2008)

"Although Mugabe promised the African Union that the elections would be fair, it has been clear for months that Mugabe intends to win, by fair means or foul. No independent foreign observers will be allowed to watch the election or the centralized counting at a 'command center' controlled by Mugabe."
— Robert I. Rotberg, "Politics and Power in Zimbabwe," Boston Globe (March 26, 2008)

"Africa's urgent need for agricultural modernization is being rudely ignored. When elite urbanites in rich countries began turning away from science-based farming in the 1980s, external assistance for agriculture in poor countries was cut sharply…In this fashion, and perhaps without realizing it, wealthy countries are imposing the richest of tastes on the poorest of people."
— Robert Paarlberg, "Africa's Organic Farms; Food Fantasies," International Herald Tribune (March 1, 2008)

"Many believe that China should flex its diplomatic muscleby voting for coercive measures, such as sanctions on countries with problems, such as Iran. It remains to be seen whether sanctions are effective in making the world more secure."
— Anne Wu, "Flexing Muscles in the Year of the Rat?" San Francisco Chronicle (February 22, 2008)

"Superdelegates play an important role because it's such a close campaign, but they were created for precisely the situation we may be in: to break a dead tie.... They're not going to turn aside the will of the voters, unless there is some compelling reason to do that."
— Elaine Kamarck, quoted in "If Superdelegates Pick Nominee, Democrats Face Backlash," Christian Science Monitor (February 20, 2008)

For more information about this publication please contact the Belfer Center Communications Office at 617-495-9858.

For Academic Citation:
Communications Office. "Belfer Center Quotes of Interest." Belfer Center Newsletter (Summer 2008): 12-13.