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Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson
#28 - JRL 2008-75 - JRL Home
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008
From: Jerry Hough (jhough@duke.edu)
To: David Johnson <davidjohnson@starpower.net>
Subject: Re: 2008-#73/ Ira Straus[, EU, NATO]

I have no problem with Ira Straus' advocacy of the use of EU and NATO to build a community. The crucial issue, however, seems to me to be the missile defense issue and the continuation of the Great Game north of the Himalayas. Clearly missile defense against Iran involves a cooperation with Russia and Europe that serves a number of purposes. Surely there are ways to give half-way membership in NATO to Russia, Ukraine, etc. I remember very well Gates' views on Russia in the late 1980s and his and Cheney's battles with those such as Powell on the issue. It is time to move beyond that, I think, and Obama may have the perspective and ability to pull it off. Surely we need a collective security community that deters Iran, not a war that pushes oil to $200 a barrel, and Russia should be part of that community.