Where The Evidence Leads

By shifting American security policy away from maximizing military power for the United States and toward maximizing human security for all, policymakers and citizens can also maximize national security for the United States and sustainable peace for the world. Why do war and political violence persist? Political realists argue that violent conflict and the struggle for power are inherent in the international system, and there is little we can do but manage it. However, as Robert Johansen argues in this path-breaking work, there are other ways forward. In Where the Evidence Leads, Johansen develops an "empirical realist" theory to enable the United Sates to respond more effectively to rising security threats. Together, peace research and security studies show that more security benefits are likely to result from maximizing the "causes" or correlates of peace than from maximizing military power. Ironically, a global grand strategy for human security, with national security folded into it, is likely to produce more security for the United States than a national security strategy. Peace reigns when states implement peace correlates, which range from addressing all nations' security fears to making life more predictable through better global governance. This approach, respectful of forgotten insights from Hans Morgenthau and others, revolutionizes thinking about national security policy by bringing it into a human security framework. The analysis shows that the anarchic, militarized balance-of-power system can be gradually changed with help from enhanced lawmaking, enforcement, and governance capacities. This thought-provoking book builds bridges between past policies-many of which have failed-and more deft ways of handling new realities that focus on building peace. In a world of threats, this book opens doors onto a future of sustainable peace, security, and hope.

Set in any era, Dick Thornburgh’s brilliant career would merit study and retelling. He was the first Republican elected to two successive terms as governor of Pennsylvania. He served in the Department of Justice under five presidents, including three years as attorney general for Presidents Reagan and Bush. As undersecretary- general of the United Nations, he was the highest-ranking American in the organization and a strong voice for reform. Nationally, Thornburgh is best remembered for his three years as attorney general, when he managed some of the most vexing legal matters of the modern age: the Savings and Loan and BCCI scandals; controversy over the “Iraqgate” and INSLAW investigations and the Wichita abortion clinic protests; and prosecutions of Michael Milken, Manuel Noriega, and Marion Barry, as well as those involved in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the Rodney King beating. As governor of Pennsylvania, he faced the nation’s worst nuclear accident, weeks after his inauguration in 1979. Thornburgh's cool-headed response to the Three Mile Island disaster is often studied as a textbook example of emergency management. His historic 1992 battle against Harris Wofford for the late John Heinz III’s Senate seat is one of several political campaigns, vividly recalled, that reveal the inner workings of the commonwealth’s political machinery. Thornburgh reveals painful details of his personal life, including the automobile accident that claimed the life of his first wife and permanently disabled his infant son. He presents a frank analysis of the challenges of raising a family as a public figure, and tells the moving story of his personal and political crusade that culminated in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This revised and updated edition includes a new chapter devoted to the highlights of Thornburgh’s continuing career. He offers fascinating insights into his experiences as Bankruptcy Court Examiner for the WorldCom proceedings, leading the investigation into the CBS News report on President George W. Bush’s military service record, representing Allegheny County coroner Cyril Wecht in a trial over alleged misuse of public office, and as part of the K&L Gates team consulted by Chiquita Brands during a federal investigation over payments made to Colombian guerillas and paramilitaries to protect banana growers.

"This book develops an "empirical realist" theory to enable the United States to respond effectively to rising security threats and to seize new opportunities for global governance more successfully than have past policies. A synthesis of peace research and security studies shows that a global grand strategy for human security, with U.S. national security folded into it, is likely to produce more security for the United States than a grand strategy for national security pursued as an end in itself. More security advantages are likely to result from maximizing the "causes" or correlates of peace than from maximizing U.S. military power. Peace reigns when these correlates are present: all nations' security fears are addressed; people can meet basic needs; nations enjoy reciprocal rights and duties; they are treated equitably; their lives are predictable because the international system is governed by the rule of law; and they participate in the decisions that affect their lives through fair representation in democratic global governing processes. This approach revolutionizes thinking about national security policy by transforming it into human security policy. Evidence suggests that the anarchic, militarized balance-of-power system can be gradually changed with help from enhanced international lawmaking and enforcing capacities. To promote change, concerned policymakers and citizens could withdraw their support from U.S. policies that do not serve the common good and work to implement a global grand strategy for human security that would simultaneously serve U.S. security interests and uphold the value of human dignity for all"--

"This book develops an "empirical realist" theory to enable the United States to respond effectively to rising security threats and to seize new opportunities for global governance more successfully than have past policies. A synthesis of peace research and security studies shows that a global grand strategy for human security, with U.S. national security folded into it, is likely to produce more security for the United States than a grand strategy for national security pursued as an end in itself. More security advantages are likely to result from maximizing the "causes" or correlates of peace than from maximizing U.S. military power. Peace reigns when these correlates are present: all nations' security fears are addressed; people can meet basic needs; nations enjoy reciprocal rights and duties; they are treated equitably; their lives are predictable because the international system is governed by the rule of law; and they participate in the decisions that affect their lives through fair representation in democratic global governing processes. This approach revolutionizes thinking about national security policy by transforming it into human security policy. Evidence suggests that the anarchic, militarized balance-of-power system can be gradually changed with help from enhanced international lawmaking and enforcing capacities. To promote change, concerned policymakers and citizens could withdraw their support from U.S. policies that do not serve the common good and work to implement a global grand strategy for human security that would simultaneously serve U.S. security interests and uphold the value of human dignity for all"--