Gary Hart is the Wirth Chair professor at the University of Colorado, and chairs both the Council for a Livable World and the American Security Project. He is the author of the forthcoming book: Under the Eagle’s Wing: a national security strategy for the United States: 2009.

Blog Entries by Gary Hart

Resume the Mission

Posted November 19, 2009 | 09:24 AM (EST)


Afghan CompassIn his speech to Congress on September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush made a series of demands on the Taliban government in Kabul, Afghanistan.  He insisted that: al Qaeda leaders be turned over to the U.S.; all imprisoned foreign...

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Alternative 25 Year National Strategies

Posted November 16, 2009 | 12:25 PM (EST)


A large number of options are now available to the United States in developing a 21st century security strategy.  No single strategy will suffice so long as global conditions continue to evolve rapidly and conditions are subject to virtual overnight change. ...

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A National Security Act for the 21st Century

Posted November 12, 2009 | 10:44 AM (EST)


The United States needs a new statutory basis for its national security strategy in this new century.  The Cold War national security state was established by the National Security Act of 1947.  It unified the Army and Navy, and the Marine...

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Politicians, Public Servants, and Statesmen

Posted November 9, 2009 | 11:27 AM (EST)


CommonwealthPolitical journalists, especially, tend to describe all elected officials as “politicians.”  That is not necessarily incorrect.  They operate in the political sphere, engage in political discourse, and attempt to achieve, or block, certain political objectives.  But the word also is...

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The Commonwealth and the Commons

Posted November 5, 2009 | 11:30 AM (EST)


CommonwealthAn earlier comment questioned my use of the word commonwealth as describing all those things Americans hold together—our public lands and resources, our defenses, our air and water, our government, and the list is long.  A commonwealth is described as...

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Why Doesn't Colorado Become The University Of The World?

4 Comments | Posted November 2, 2009 | 01:02 PM (EST)


Why doesn't Colorado become the university of the world?

It is now possible, or so I am told, for university classes to be conducted in one city and made interactive in one or...
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Does Afghanistan Offer Lessons?

Posted November 2, 2009 | 11:32 AM (EST)


KnowledgeWe do not have to wait for the final resolution of the American military presence in Afghanistan to begin to see what, if anything, we have learned from our checkered experience there.

Very soon President Obama will announce a new...

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Zone of International Interest

Posted October 26, 2009 | 11:21 AM (EST)


Helicopeters hovering over navy shipFor many years the United States has been the de facto guarantor of world oil supplies.  We maintain one and more recently two aircraft carrier task groups in the Indian Ocean and...

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Politicians and a Dark Horse

24 Comments | Posted October 25, 2009 | 04:08 PM (EST)


Politicians almost always dwell near the bottom of polls reflecting public respect. Yet, almost always, Americans who vote do so for one politician or another. That's because they are almost never given a choice.

Let's agree that a politician is an elected official who wants to make...

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Networking Governments

Posted October 22, 2009 | 09:41 AM (EST)


National FlagsA good deal of attention is being given recently to the notion of creating networks among sovereign governments.  This basically involves linking government functions of a number of governments to make the performance of each of them more...

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The Eagle and the Bear

Posted October 19, 2009 | 11:17 AM (EST)


Two PowersA post-Cold War mystery prevails.  Why, almost twenty years after the end of the Cold War, are there still so many members of the U.S. foreign policy community (often called foreign policy elites) who seem instinctively to dislike...

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Does the United States Require a Strategy?

Posted October 15, 2009 | 11:13 AM (EST)


StrategyAs a nation that has largely valued laissez faire in its markets and independence for individual citizens, the United States has generally resisted strategic approaches to domestic matters or grand strategies for its role in the world.  Strategy suggests planning,...

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"...And Our Posterity"

Posted October 12, 2009 | 10:58 AM (EST)


Posted from Senator Hart's new blog at Matters of Principle.

We the PeopleThis little-noticed phrase in the Preamble to our Constitution has profound significance for laws and governing.  If...

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"...And to the Republic for Which it Stands..."

Posted October 8, 2009 | 09:52 AM (EST)


Posted from Senator Hart's new blog at Matters of Principle.

Pledge AllegianceThus, our salute to the flag of the United States identifies us as a republic. Not enough Americans, including...

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Energy, Climate, and Security

Posted October 5, 2009 | 11:29 AM (EST)


Posted from Senator Hart's new blog at Matters of Principle.

Oil RigNot too long ago, issues came in boxes.  There was a health box, an education box, an economy box,...

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Conflict in the 21st Century

7 Comments | Posted October 1, 2009 | 12:07 PM (EST)


Posted from Senator Hart's new blog at Matters of Principle.

White House GateFor about 300 or 350 years most conflicts in the world, or at least the major ones,...

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What Is Security?

Posted September 28, 2009 | 11:43 AM (EST)


Posted from Senator Hart's new blog at Matters of Principle.

White House GateIf there has been a dominant phrase in the political vocabulary of my generation it has...

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The President in Chains

Posted September 24, 2009 | 12:49 PM (EST)


Posted from Senator Hart's new blog at Matters of Principle.

White House GateIt has been powerfully argued that the national security state, inaugurated in 1947 and greatly expanded...

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Why the West Must Be Won

28 Comments | Posted September 15, 2009 | 07:00 AM (EST)


Starting about 35 years ago, I've argued the political importance of the Western United States, especially in my own Democratic party. After the South shifted from Democratic to Republican in the Nixon years following Democratic leadership on civil rights, East Coast punditry continued to ask how the Democrats could regain...

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Is the Age of Terror Over?

259 Comments | Posted September 10, 2009 | 11:00 PM (EST)


The short answer to this question is yes and no. Yes, in the sense that terrorism was never a global phenomenon that could be defeated by a "war" as proposed by George W. Bush. No, in the sense that the United States will be attacked again someplace, sometime.

For those...

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