[KS] G8 Summit

[Interhemispheric Resource Center]

<italic>Okinawa Summit Creates Opportunity for Rethinking U.S. Policies
in Asia

</italic> Three new releases from <bold>Foreign Policy In Focus

</bold>

With the Cold War over and peace negotiations (as well as rumblings of
unification) happening in Korea,  the U.S. should rethink it's policies
in East Asia.  According to two recent Foreign Policy in Focus briefing
papers, scaling down U.S. military presence in Okinawa would be an
excellent place to start. Also, FPIF Codirector, Tom Barry, contributes
original analysis on the G8's future role in global governance.


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Okinawa and the U.S. Military in Northeast Asia

By Tim Shorrock


http://www.foreignpolicyinfocus.org/briefs/vol5/v5n22okinawa.htm


The military logic of keeping tens of thousands of U.S. Marines, Army,
Air Force, and Navy personnel on mainland Japan and South Korea is
quickly disappearing. Even if there were a missile threat in this region,
the Third Marine Division in Okinawa would be helpless to prevent it.  In
addition to the marines' cloudy mission in the region, a string of sexual
violence against civilian women, some as young as 12 years old, has
caused public outrage and will be cause for some of the international
protests being staged during the summit which begins July 21st.


It is clear from recent events in Asia that U.S. military strategy
further destabilizes as it seeks to shape the world in its interests,
suppressing expressions of instability by employing nuclear deterrence,
selective armed intervention, economic sanctions, and diplomatic
pressures. 


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Women and the U.S. Military in East Asia 

By Gwyn Kirk, Rachel Cornwell, Margo Okazawa-Rey


http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol4/v4n09wom.html


Despite reconciliation talks between North and South Korea, the U.S. 
has

declared that it will maintain 100,000 troops in East Asia for the next

20 years even if the Koreas are reunited. Joint Vision 2020, a Pentagon

planning document, concluded that Asia will replace Europe as the key

focus of U.S. military strategy in the early 21st century and pointed 
to

China as a potential adversary. Instead of seeing U.S. troops sent home

and military bases closed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, East

Asians have seen signs that the U.S. military is digging in deeper and

that the cold war in the region continues, despite the lack of credible

threats to the United States.


The popular resentment--and especially the anger of many Asian 
women--at

the U.S. military presence in East Asia was highlighted in a series of

meetings and protests that occurred around the G8 Summit in Okinawa.

Contributing to the focus of the U.S. military's impact on women was

another incident in Okinawa of sexual harassment a couple of weeks

before the July 2000 Summit--this case involving a drunken Marine

accused of molesting a 14-year-old schoolgirl while she slept in her

home.


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G8/G7 and Global Governance 

By Tom Barry


http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol5/v5n23g8g7.html


Due to its booming economy, its lead in information technology, and its
lack of military competitors, the U.S. once again exercises hegemonic
power in the capitalist world--which now encompasses virtually the entire
planet. As such, the U.S. must assume a large part of the blame for the
dismal state of global governance, and a large part of the responsibility
to set international affairs on a more forward-looking path. A new
approach to U.S. participation in the G8/G7 would be a good place to
start.  In its deliberative capacity, the G8/G7 could play a key role in
highlighting the need for substantial reforms in the decisionmaking
institutions of global governance and in forging an international
consensus on the policies needed to address global climate change and
other pressing transnational issues.


For more information on Foreign Policy In Focus visit our website:

http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/



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Foreign Policy Program

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