Reframing the Debate on Security

• Addressing threats to national security is perhaps the biggest challenge facing United States at this moment in history. It was out of this concern that the 9/11 Commission Report recommended that “[the U.S. government] should offer an example of moral leadership in the world, committed to treat people humanely, abide by the rule of law, and be generous and caring to our neighbors.” In complete disregard of this recommendation, the invasion and occupation of Iraq was declared essential for “security” by the Bush administration.

  At the Oakland Institute, we believe that there is an urgent need to redefine security in terms of environmental, economic, and social security and that foreign aid is one of the key instruments through which the U.S. can make a crucial contribution to global security. However, the U.S. aid budget often works to merely capture new markets or to reward political and military partners than to advance social or humanitarian causes. To counter this trend, the Oakland Institute is unraveling and understanding the operations of the U.S. aid to help mobilize for action.

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