ARCHIVE
White House Workshop
George W. Bush Administration - Archive Edition
April 3-5, 2001
The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Defense Agencies Present:
The FY2001 Public Policy Seminar Series
White House Workshop
Held at The Capitol Hill Club.
Overview
The White House Workshop, coming only ten weeks after the inauguration of a new President and the beginnings of a new Administration, is designed to provide an opportunity for senior federal managers and executives to gain knowledge and understanding about current and future presidential policies, programs, and modes of operation. Through a group of 15 diverse and distinguished speakers, participants will be exposed to "off-the-record" commentary and high-level contacts, which will prove very useful to their careers and professional responsibilities. During and following each presentation, participants may raise questions, share concerns, and gain insights into major executive issues and policies facing America today.
Program
Every new President is faced with a variety of challenges from personnel to policy, from press to pressure, from home and abroad. How President George W. Bush deals with these challenges in the early days of his Administration will have a significant impact on his reputation, popularity, and influence, which, in turn, contributes to or detracts from the political capital he will have to work with in the days ahead. This workshop will focus on these challenges and their impact on governing.
The shape and composition of the Bush Administration, with a focus on the Executive Office of the President and his White House staff, will be examined, as will the patterns of advising and decision-making that are beginning to emerge. The workshop will also deal with the Administration's policy agenda; its priorities and potentialities; its coalition-building mechanisms, particularly, how well President Bush is using his "bully pulpit," and most importantly, how the Bush Administration is getting along within the politically contentious world of Washington politics, exacerbated by the contest over the Presidential vote and the closeness of the partisan division in Congress.
The principal domestic and foreign policy issues will also be discussed. Within the domestic sphere, these include health care, Social Security, education, and tax relief. Within the realm of national security, the issues pertain to the policy development in the world's "hot spots" such as the Balkans and the Middle East; the threat posed by renegade nations with rogue leaders, such as Iraq, Lybia, and North Korea; regional balances and alignments in Asia and Europe; and a host of humanitarian needs from food to water to health care in the African and Asian continents, to human rights concerns in China, Indonesia, and other areas of the world; and continuing international economic trade and finance issues.
Another focus of the seminar will be on the policies of the Bush Administration toward the Department of Defense: budget increases, specific weapons programs, the recruitment, retainment, and readiness issues, as well s the decisions regarding a theater anti-missile defense system. With a commitment to increase defense spending, rebuild defense capacity, and regenerate defense morale, the Bush Administration will have its hands full.
How will the Administration use the continuing budget surpluses? How can it rebuild defense, yet continue to streamline and privatize government? And will it respond to the yet unknown domestic, economic, and international challenges it may face and opportunities as they present themselves? The White House Workshop will address these issues and by so doing, provide an understanding of the problems that senior executives may face as they perform their public service and meet their responsibilities at the Department of Defense.
White House Workshop Speakers & Topics
The Current Political Environment and Its Impact on the Presidency: Kenneth Duberstein, Former Chief of Staff under President Reagan; Chairman and CEO, The Duberstein Group
An International View of Current U.S. Politics and Public Policy as Administrations Change: Martin Walker, Journalist and National Commentator, United Press International; Former U.S. Bureau Chief, The Guardian (London); Author of The History of the Cold War and America Reborn
Press Coverage of the 2000 Election and the Transition: Sid Davis, Former Vice-President and Washington Bureau Chief, NBC News; Former Program Director, Voice of America
The Dilemma of Presidential Leadership: Stephen Wayne, Professor of Government, Georgetown University; Author of Presidential Leadership; The Road to the White House 2000; and Is This Any Way to Run A Democratic Election? (2001)
The Structure of the Modern White House Staff: Roger Porter, Director, Center for Business and Government, Harvard University; Former Assistant to President Bush for Economic and Domestic Policy
How the United States Lost the Cold War Without Knowing It: A Soviet Defector's Perspective on U.S. Public Policy: Yuri Maltsev, Soviet Defector and Economic Specialist; Former Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics, Academy of Science of the USSR; Professor, Carthage College
U.S. - China Relations: Friends or Foes?: James Reardon-Anderson, Director, Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China; Research Professor of Chinese Studies, Georgetown University
Presidential Leadership: Contrasts in Style: Edwin Meese, III, Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy, Heritage Foundation; Former U.S. Attorney General and Counselor to President Reagan
President George W. Bush and the Media: Eleanor Clift, Contributing Editor, Newsweek Magazine; Panelist, The McLaughlin Group; Co-author, Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling
Fashioning the New Foreign Policy: The Team, the Goals and the Options: Robert Hunter, Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO under President Clinton; Senior Advisor, RAND; Member, Defense Policy Board under Secretary of Defense William Cohen
Can There Be Lasting Peace in the Middle East? - An American Perspective: Bernard Reich, Professor of Political Science, George Washington University; Board of Governors, Middle East Institute
Reflections on Presidential Leadership: Personal Responsibility and the National Interest: Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate and 2000 Presidential Candidate; Author of Unsafe at Any Speed and Forty Ways to Make Government Purchasing Green
A Russian Challenge for the Bush Administration: Melvin Goodman, Professor of International Studies, National War College; Former Senior Analyst in Soviet Affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department
The Public Mood During and After the 2000 Election: Karlyn Bowman, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Co-editor, The American Enterprise Magazine
How the National Security Council Has Served Different Presidents: Geoffrey Kemp, Director, Regional Security Programs, The Nixon Center; Former Special Assistant to President Reagan for Near East and South Asian Affairs
The Role of OMB - Defense Plans and Defense Response: Who Really Controls the Defense Budget: Gordon Adams, Former Associate Director, National Security and International Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
