CSIS-Schieffer School Dialogues

Last month, Rick Barton participated in the inaugural event of the CSIS-Schieffer School Dialogues focusing on U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. Video and a transcript are available. Moderated by Bob Schieffer, Barton's fellow panelists were R. Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs; Colonel David W. Lamm, former Chief of Staff of the Combined Forces in Afghanistan; and Steve Coll, President of the New America Foundation and New Yorker staff writer. At one point in the discussion, Barton explained the additional regional complexity of the situation in Afghanistan compared to Iraq and the limitations of U.S. and international capabilities in dealing with fragile states in crisis:

I happen to think when you combine Afghanistan with Pakistan and India and really that neighborhood that this gets to be a much, much, much more complex case than Iraq, which is plenty complex...And really more dangerous. It has many more elements. And if we make the wrong step in the northwest corner of Pakistan, Karachi is on fire. And Karachi on fire doesn’t fit in anybody’s plans of any kind. Nobody has any capability. We are a global community that can possibly deal with East Timor on a good day. And thinking about something that’s a 160 times bigger is really absurd. So I would be...quite a bit less ambitious and more modest and more humble about what the United States can achieve. Yes, we have an absolutely critical role. But to be everywhere and thinking about this in terms of victory is really way beyond our national commitment and our likely ability.

The second event in the series was held last night, this time a good conversation on the complex challenges facing the United States in Iraq.