The Fletcher School

On Wednesday September 15, the program in Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization sponsored a luncheon lecture for students and faculty by Dr. Stephen Flynn, currently the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. Flynn was introduced by one of his former Fletcher School professors, Dr. Andrew Hess.

In his remarks, Flynn, a retired United States Coast Guard Commander, unequivocally challenged the administration’s current approach to both homeland security and the war on terror. Outlining a number of the basic premises from his recently published book, America the Vulnerable, Flynn argued that the Bush team’s pursuit of a purely offensive strategy has undermined the nation’s ability to prevent – and effectively respond to—attacks at home.

Focusing primarily on container shipping, Flynn explained that despite the fact that some 90 percent of global trade by volume is moved on the ocean, the Bush administration has done little to secure ports or shipping networks in the three years since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“Countries still don’t watch what leaves their borders [in container ships], and we [the US] only check what enters our ports some of the time,” Flynn said. So despite the fact that a large container would be the perfect “poor man’s missile,” the administration’s woefully insufficient funding has left private industry, states and local authorities to cope with an ominous threat.

Flynn said that he also hopes to see a shift in national attitudes.

“Although a terrorist attack can cause significant damage,” he said, “there is almost unlimited damage we can cause ourselves in the wake of an attack if we freak out because we are unprepared.”

He then outlined what he believes is a more pragmatic approach to security:

“The first step is to be honest with the American people…to admit that our infrastructure is a ‘soft’ target. If we accept that there will be attempts to attack our critical infrastructure and global networks [of trade and information]…we can be more effective in keeping things up and running in the aftermath.”

Choosing to take an attitude and policy of collective national preparedness and resiliency, Flynn argued, would “reduce the bang terrorists get for their buck.” Such a strategy could yield the additional benefit of deterring further attacks.

“There is strength in being able to take a punch as well as throw one,” he said significantly. “With truly effective responses, we can transform these attacks into local acts of vandalism and murder, limiting their cascading impact on things like our GDP.”

In his closing remarks, Flynn recalled the sacrifices of civilian members of the “Greatest Generation” who remained at home during World War II. The current leadership in Washington, he explained, has not done enough to unify or mobilize the American domestic population to help defend the homeland.

“The true strength of America,” Flynn said, “lies not in military power, but in its civil society and its ability to reach out to make the world a better place…so far, the current administration has simply asked that you keep shopping and keep traveling.”