Symposium hosts Senator Feingold

Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) spoke on Monday to open the 2002 Symposium on Foreign Affairs. In his speech entitled "Post Cold War Power Vacuums in Africa: Options for U.S. Policy," Feingold focused his discussion around the U.S. government's policy towards Africa in the light of the growing concern for national security.

As the first speaker in the lecture series, entitled "Paragon vs. Paradox? Capitalism in the Contemporary World," Feingold delivered his lecture only hours after a Senate vote on an election reform bill.

When Feingold was elected to the Senate in 1993, he was told "You'll probably get stuck with the African sub-committee." This statement reflected a tendency within the U.S. government to ignore important issues in Africa over the past few years. Since being elected to the Senate, Feingold has worked with the Senate sub-committee to foster diplomatic awareness about Africa and address the issues that face many underdeveloped African countries.

In his lecture, Feingold stressed the importance of fostering diplomatic ties with African nations.

In his discussion of Africa, Feingold pointed out the U.S. shortsightedness in the case of Afghanistan and Pakistan after the Cold War and stressed the needs of applying these lessons to Africa.

In many cases, Feingold said, the U.S. has backed dictatorships that have destroyed the stability of African regions, leaving "weak and broken states" in the hands of power-hungry warlords.

Feingold pointed out that U.S. indifference in Somalia directly contributed to the country's collapse in the early '90s and has led to the rise of Somalia-based terrorist organizations.

The U.S. currently has little intelligence of Somalia and virtually no coherent knowledge of the region, said Feingold, leaving much of the country at the hands of corrupt leaders and criminal organizations.

Additionally, Feingold said, the U.S. involvement in Liberia led to the rise of a brutal regime of dictatorship under John Doe in the 1980s.

The United States bolstered the brutal Doe regime, feeding money into the corrupt organization. When Doe was overthrown by revolutionary Charles Taylor, the U.S. disengaged and evacuated Americans from Liberia, watching from the sidelines as Taylor's corrupt regime took hold of Liberia, subjecting the population to political repression and brutal peace-keeping methods.

Feingold recounted his visit to Sierra Leone in 2001 when he saw the results of Taylor's brutality firsthand in the refugees, many of whom had suffered cruel amputations, who had fled the Liberian dictatorship.

In light of last September's terrorist attacks, Feingold emphasized the need for the U.S. to focus attention of Africa.

He pointed out the possible connection between Al Qaeda's finances and the diamond mines in Sierra Leone that financed Charles Taylor's regime.

In a visit to Kenya and Tanzania, Feingold visited the memorial site of the former U.S. embassy in Nairobi and recalled the realization that had come too late, that the bombings were an obvious warning of what was to come in the future.

Feingold stressed the importance of regarding Africa as a possible source of terrorist activity, saying that "those who are willing to make terror their life's work are willing to prey on us all."

In order to address the rising problem of terrorism in America, Feingold said, we need a long term commitment to reengagement in Africa; especially, we need to work on building strong relationships in order to gain access to solid information.

Feingold remarked that human rights violations have traditionally come back to haunt us, and that any future U.S. involvement in Africa must not be exclusive to accountability and respect for human rights.

"Building a stable nation for our children means getting the balance between justice and order right," said Feingold.

He also stressed the need for health care and education in underdeveloped African nations and urged more government spending on treatment and prevention of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.

Feingold emphasized that Americans need to work to re-introduce themselves to the rest of the world and reshape the world's opinion about the United States.

"Artists and scholars, business men and women?are all ambassadors when they go abroad," said Feingold. Through personal diplomacy, Feingold maintained that Americans could combat forces of terrorism at their source, in ideas of suspicion, resentment and powerlessness.

"The greatest voice is the voice of the people," said Feingold. "I am calling for the American people to truly support engagement in the rest of the world on a grand scale and at an individual level."

Students voiced questions regarding issues Feingold raised in his lecture. One student asked how the U.S. government could go about aiding countries with no stable infrastructure.

Other questions covered the effectiveness of health care funding and the growing problem of the AIDS pandemic in Africa.

The lecture series will continue on Thursday with a discussion by Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Maleeha Lodhi on U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Next Thursday, Randy Hayes, president and founder of Rainforest Action Network, will speak on restructing the global economy in Shriver Auditorium..

On March 28, Dr. William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA will give a talk entitled ""In Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All." The talk will take place in the Glass Pavilion.

The next event, scheduled for April 4 in Shriver Auditorium, will feature a panel discussion between Scott Ritter, former U.N Chief Weapons Inspector to Iraq, Edward Peck, former Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and Erik Gustafson, director of the Education for the Peace in Iraq Center.

On April 10, in the Glass Pavilion, Dr. Benjamin Barber, political theorist and author of Jihad vs. McWorld will give a talk entitled, "Global Capitalism: Terrorism's Cause? Terrorism's Excuse? Terrorism's Remedy?"

The last event scheduled for the Symposium on Foreign Affairs will take place on April 17 in the Glass Pavilion, when Nicolas deTorrente, executive director of Doctors Without Borders will give a talk entitled, "Access to Essential Medicines: Challenging a Deadly Status Quo.