From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Project for the New American Century, or PNAC, is a Washington, DC based think tank. The group was established in spring 1997 as a non-profit organization with the goal of promoting “American global leadership”. The chairman is William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and FOX News regular. The group is an initiative of the New Citizenship Project, a non-profit 501c3 organization that is funded by the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation and the Bradley Foundation.
Present and former members include several prominent members of the Republican Party and Bush Administration, including Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush, Richard Perle, Richard Armitage, Dick Cheney, Lewis Libby, William J. Bennett, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Ellen Bork, the wife of Robert Bork. A large number of its ideas and its members are associated with the neoconservative movement. PNAC has seven full-time staff members, in addition to its board of directors.
The PNAC is quite controversial. Some have raised concerns that the project has been proposing military and economic domination of land, space, and cyberspace by the United States, so as to establish American dominance in world affairs (Pax Americana) for the future – hence the term “the New American Century”, based on the idea that the 20th century was the American Century. Some analysts argue that the U.S. war against Iraq, commenced in March of 2003 under the code name Operation Iraqi Freedom, is the first major step toward implementing these objectives.
Core views and beliefs
The PNAC website states the group’s “fundamental propositions”, which are
* “American leadership is good both for America and for the world”
* “such leadership requires military strength, diplomatic energy and commitment to moral principle”
* “too few political leaders today are making the case for global leadership.”
The PNAC also made a statement of principles at their 1997 inception.
As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world’s preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?
The PNAC advocates “a policy of military strength and moral clarity” which includes:
* A significant increase of U.S. defense spending.
* Strengthening ties with the U.S.’s allies and to challenge regimes hostile to U.S. interests and values.
* Promoting the cause of political and economic freedom outside the U.S.
* Preserving and extending an international order friendly to U.S. security, prosperity, and principles.
The PNAC and its members had long called for the United States to abandon the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the US and the Soviet Union, from which the US withdrew in 2002. The PNAC also proposes to control the new “international commons” of space and “cyberspace” and pave the way for the creation of a new military service “U.S. Space Forces” with the mission of space control. In 1998, Donald Rumsfeld chaired a bipartisan commission on the US Ballistic Missile Threat towards advancement of these goals.
Rebuilding America’s Defenses
In September 2000, the PNAC issued a 90-page report entitled Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategies, Forces, And Resources For A New Century, and proceeding “from the belief that America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces.” The report has been the subject of much analysis and criticism.
The group states that when diplomacy or sanctions fail, the United States must be prepared to take military action. PNAC argues that the current Cold War deployment of forces is obsolete and that force deployment must reflect the post-Cold War duties that the US forces have been called upon to perform. Constabulary duties such as peace keeping in the Balkans and the enforcement of the No Fly Zones in Iraq have put a strain upon and reduced the readiness of US forces. The PNAC recommends the forward redeployment of US forces at new strategically placed permanent military bases. Permanent bases ease the strain on US forces, allowing readiness to be maintained and the carrier fleet to be reduced. Furthermore the military should be enlarged, equipped and trained for the peacekeeping role it is increasingly called upon to fulfill. This global police force would have the power to keep law and order around the world in accordance with United States interests. The PNAC also advocates that the United States government should capitalize on its military and economic superiority to gain unchallengeable superiority through all means necessary, including military force.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century
