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America’s Response to Terrorism: Views from the Newsroom

November 19, 2001
Council on Foreign Relations

[Note: A transcript of this meeting is unavailable. The discussion is summarized below.]

November 19, 2001

On Monday November 19, Gideon Rose chaired a General Meeting “Views from the Newsroom,” a panel discussion with Karen J. DeYoung,Washington Post, Carla A. Robbins, Wall Street Journal and David E. Sanger, TheNew York Times.

The following major points were covered:

Afghanistan and the War on Terrorism:

  • A “day of reckoning” is approaching between the United States and Saudi Arabia. George W. Bush has, so far, deliberately avoided a direct confrontation with moderate Arab states. However, to achieve its anti-terrorist aims, the United States will place more difficult demands on these states in the future; the result of such a confrontation remains uncertain.

Long-term implications for American foreign policy:

  • It is not clear whether the Bush Administration has made a long-term strategic shift in its foreign policy objectives or whether the war in Afghanistan represents a localized, tactical maneuver. One indication of whether the changes are strategic or tactical will be how long it takes for other issues, from AIDS to the WTO, to appear again on high-level agendas.

  • The strength of the “new” Russian-American friendship has not yet been tested. It remains to be seen whether President Putin will accept George Bush’s informal approach to arms reductions. Treaties, the only guarantee of political “parity” for a poor country like Russia, may become a sticking point in future negotiations.

  • By allowing American troops to operate in the former Soviet Republics, Russia has strategically chosen the West over Asia as its focus of power and influence, with several probable implications for issues like the ABM Treaty and the IMF. For example, in the long term, membership in the WTO may be far more important to Russia than the ABM Treaty.

  • White House politics have been dramatically changed by the events of September 11, with foreign policy now the most important issue for the current administration. In addition, the presence of conflict or consensus between Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice will play an important role in how the United States addresses impending decisions about policy towards Iraq.

Media and the war

  • The surprising pace of recent Coalition progress in northern Afghanistan has shown how difficult it can be to make predictions about a war. Pundits who, in past weeks, forecast a protracted stalemate may have lost some of their former credibility.

  • The rapid and unpredictable pace of events in Afghanistan suggests that the media can make its most valuable contribution by reporting, rather than forecasting. Because journalists have access to areas of Afghanistan where there are no Coalition forces, the media may have an unprecedented ability to contribute information to (and about) the war effort. When appropriate, this information may have to be passed directly to Coalition intelligence personnel.