Special to the Town Crier
In a global world, security issues are "inextricably linked" to economic issues, former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry told a full-house audience April 19 at Avenidas (formerly the Palo Alto Senior Center).
Perry, a Los Altos resident, spoke as part of the G. Derwood Baker Distinguished Lecture Series. He outlined facts and theory from his recently-published book, "Preventive Defense - A New Strategy for America."
Perry emphasized the need for a preventive defense strategy in Asia, where no treaty organization similar to NATO exists as a regional security institution.
Strong bilateral alliances between the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia have contributed to success in the region, Perry said. "The strong, forward deployment of American military forces has been a stabilizing influence, a sign we will defend our allies," he said. Perry also credited a U.S. policy of engagement with China for creating stability in Asia.
"U.S. security forces have contributed to the economic growth of the region," and that economic growth has benefited both the American economy and American security. "In Asia the past is not the prologue," Perry said, emphasizing that both regional security and economic factors are intertwined and in flux.
He stressed the need for the United States to sustain its engagement with China.
Debate on that engagement "is highlighted by a mix of economic and security issues," he said. "We look on China as a major trading partner, especially in high technology. But we fear the sale of our technology can be used against us." Ironically, Perry said, while groups in the United States fear our engagement with China makes China stronger, there are groups in China that fear it will make China weaker.
The emergence of India and Pakistan as nuclear nations also changes the region's dynamic, he said.
More dangerous, however, is North Korea's experimentation with nuclear weapons, combined with its unstable economic condition and severe famine. North Korea's "willingness to accept inspection (of nuclear sites) is positive," said Perry, who was asked by President Clinton to lead policy formulation on North Korea. He will present his policy recommendations this spring.
Perry used Russia as another example of the intertwining of economic and security issues. He compared current conditions in Russia to those in the German Weimar Republic between World Wars I and II. "The Russians are humiliated by the perception that they've lost the Cold War," he said. "There is rampant inflation. They've lost their anchor."
And unlike Weimar Germany, Russia has nuclear weapons.
Russians have a sense of "impotence and frustration" over their inability to play a role in Kosovo," he said. "The danger is not to let this undermine U.S.-Russian relations. As in Bosnia, it is important to find a role the Russians can play."
Perry, who served under President Clinton from 1994-97, is currently the Michael and Barbara Berberian professor in Stanford University's School of Engineering. He continues to be active in defense and foreign policy consulting.
"Preventive Defense - A New Strategy for America," is available at local bookstores, including Heintzelman's Bookstore, in Los Altos.