Eliot A. Cohen
Encyclopedia
Eliot A. Cohen is the Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
(SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University
. Cohen is the Director of the Strategic Studies Program at SAIS and has specialized in the Middle East
, Persian Gulf
, Iraq
, arms control
, and NATO. He is a member of the Project for the New American Century
and "is one of the few teachers in the American academy to treat military history as a serious field" according to International Law scholar Ruth Wedgwood
. He served as Counselor to the United States Department of State
under Secretary Condoleezza Rice
from 2007 to 2009.
in 1977. He went on to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1982 in political science, and during his PhD training went through the Army ROTC program
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He was an assistant professor of government and assistant dean at Harvard University from 1982 to 1985. Following this, he taught for four years at the Naval War College
in the Department of Strategy, before a brief period in 1990 serving on the policy planning staff in the Office of the Secretary of Defense
. In 1990, Cohen began his position at SAIS. Following the 1991 Persian Gulf War
, he directed the U.S. Air Force's
official four-volume survey, the Gulf War Air Power Survey
, until 1993, for which he received the Air Force’s Exemplary Civilian Service Award. This analysis of the effect of U.S. air power was widely referenced in regards to the Revolution in Military Affairs
concept.
In 1993, Paul Wolfowitz
, who would later become prominent as the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the run-up to the Iraq war, became Dean of SAIS. During his brief stint at the defense policy planning staff, Cohen had worked under Wolfowitz but this was the first time they were in extended contact. In 1997, Cohen became a founding member of the Project for the New American Century
, which became known as a center for prominent neoconservatives. He has been a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
, a committee of civilians and retired military officers that the U.S. Secretary of Defense may call upon for advice, since the beginning of the administration of President George W. Bush
. He was put on the board after acquaintance Richard Perle
put forward his name. Cohen has referred to the War on Terrorism
as “World War IV”.
In the run-up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
, he was a member of Committee for the Liberation of Iraq
, a group of prominent persons who pressed for an invasion.
On March 2, 2007, Cohen was appointed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
to serve as Counselor of the State Department, replacing Philip D. Zelikow
.
's capture: "The overthrow of the first theocratic revolutionary Muslim state and its replacement by a moderate or secular government, however, would be no less important a victory in this war than the annihilation of bin Laden."
Later in 2001, Cohen, in what was becoming a dominant theme of his writing, advocated war against Iraq once again and proceeded to outline how effortless such a military campaign would be:
As a result of his public statements on why a war against Iraq was necessary, Cohen was invited to appear on CNN Wolf Blitzer
Reports and amongst other statements given in response to questioning from Blitzer offered the judgement:
In testifying to a Congressional House committee later in 2002 Cohen was quoted as saying:
In a piece for the Wall Street Journal, 6 February 2003 Cohen fervently praised the presentation given by then Secretary of State Colin Powell
in which he outlined the case for military action against Iraq to the United Nations. He went on to indicate that it was time for those who doubted that the case had been proven to support the Bush administration in their efforts.
An article written for the Washington Post on 10 July 2005, raised the attention of commentators in the media and "blogosphere
". The piece, an attempt to articulate Cohen's self identified roles as academic, pundit, and father, was written as his son prepared to deploy to Iraq
to fight a war the elder Cohen had been calling for since early 2001. The piece ends:
This piece was extensively discussed in the blogosphere
at the time, with some progressive blog
s decrying that Cohen continued to maintain that the invasion was justified. Other commentators expressed surprise that a figure with such access and impeccable neoconservative credentials could appear to criticise the Bush Administration in such a way. Cohen later stated that he had received overwhelmingly positive responses from senior military officials in a resulting interview on C-SPAN
. Cohen also continued his criticism of the conduct of the war stating that, "Those three guys [ Tommy Franks
, George Tenet
, and L. Paul Bremer
] got the Presidential Medal of Freedom
. That's just wrong."
As a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
Cohen had also been engaged in meetings involving US President George Bush
. During these meetings Cohen provided advice on strategy in the Iraq conflict.
's "counselor" at the United States Department of State
. Cohen replaced Philip D. Zelikow
and said he would fill time before appointment in April 2007 by acting as a consultant for Rice.
The tone of the Washington Post article, Cohen is described as a "critic" of the Iraq war, was soon criticised. An article by Ximena Ortiz in the National Interest Online called Cohen's ability to do the job into question and attempted to juxtapose his previous statements on the Bush administration foreign policy with the resulting war in Iraq. Adding to the criticism was Glenn Greenwald
of Salon.com
who, describing Cohen as "extremist a neoconservative and warmonger as it gets", suggested an internal significance of the appointment for the Bush administration:
As the controversy was played out in the media a rebuttal of sorts from Ruth Wedgwood
, international law scholar at Johns Hopkins University, sought to defend Cohen from criticism. Ortiz was subsequently supported in her criticism by fellow commentator at National Interest Online, Anatol Lieven
, who raised the levels of criticism to include Cohens efforts as a historian and analyst as well as tackling other pronouncements on US foreign policy in the middle east made by Cohen.
, both political scientists, published an academic paper titled The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
. The paper criticizes the Israel lobby for influencing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East away from U.S. interests and towards Israel's interests. Eliot Cohen wrote in a prominent op-ed
piece in The Washington Post
that the academic working paper bears all the traditional hallmarks of anti-Semitism
: "obsessive and irrationally hostile beliefs about Jews", accusations toward Jews of "disloyalty, subversion or treachery, of having occult powers and of participating in secret combinations that manipulate institutions and governments", as well as selection of "everything unfair, ugly or wrong about Jews as individuals or a group" and equally systematical suppression of "any exculpatory information". Mearsheimer and Walt have denied Cohen's assertions as false, dishonest and ridiculous, noting that criticism of Israeli state policy and influential American advocates of that policy, such as Cohen, is not the same thing as demonization of Jewish people. Los Angeles city councilman Jack Weiss
, a former student of Stephen Walt, endorsed Cohen’s conclusions, however, pointing out that Walt and his collaborator “so clearly neglected the lessons you taught me about academic rigor.”
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
(SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. Cohen is the Director of the Strategic Studies Program at SAIS and has specialized in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, arms control
Arms control
Arms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction...
, and NATO. He is a member of the Project for the New American Century
Project for the New American Century
The Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...
and "is one of the few teachers in the American academy to treat military history as a serious field" according to International Law scholar Ruth Wedgwood
Ruth Wedgwood
Ruth N. Wedgwood is an American law professor who holds the Edward B. Burling Chair in International Law and Diplomacy at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, D.C.- Family origins :...
. He served as Counselor to the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
under Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
from 2007 to 2009.
Biography
Cohen received his B.A. in government at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1977. He went on to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1982 in political science, and during his PhD training went through the Army ROTC program
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He was an assistant professor of government and assistant dean at Harvard University from 1982 to 1985. Following this, he taught for four years at the Naval War College
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
in the Department of Strategy, before a brief period in 1990 serving on the policy planning staff in the Office of the Secretary of Defense
Office of the Secretary of Defense
The Office of the Secretary of Defense is a headquarters-level staff of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It is the principal civilian staff element of the Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out authority, direction and control of the Department...
. In 1990, Cohen began his position at SAIS. Following the 1991 Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, he directed the U.S. Air Force's
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
official four-volume survey, the Gulf War Air Power Survey
Gulf War Air Power Survey
The Gulf War Air Power Survey is a report commissioned by the United States Air Force in 1993 to document and analyze its performance during the 1991 Gulf War. It consists of five sections each averaging over 700 pages, and a 276 summary report. It was one of the most popular reports issued by...
, until 1993, for which he received the Air Force’s Exemplary Civilian Service Award. This analysis of the effect of U.S. air power was widely referenced in regards to the Revolution in Military Affairs
Revolution in Military Affairs
The military concept of Revolution in Military Affairs is a theory about the future of warfare, often connected to technological and organizational recommendations for change in the United States military and others....
concept.
In 1993, Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
, who would later become prominent as the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the run-up to the Iraq war, became Dean of SAIS. During his brief stint at the defense policy planning staff, Cohen had worked under Wolfowitz but this was the first time they were in extended contact. In 1997, Cohen became a founding member of the Project for the New American Century
Project for the New American Century
The Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...
, which became known as a center for prominent neoconservatives. He has been a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
The Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, also referred to as the Defense Policy Board is a federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. Their charter is available online through the office of the Director of Administration and Management of the Department of Defense...
, a committee of civilians and retired military officers that the U.S. Secretary of Defense may call upon for advice, since the beginning of the administration of President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. He was put on the board after acquaintance Richard Perle
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
put forward his name. Cohen has referred to the War on Terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
as “World War IV”.
In the run-up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, he was a member of Committee for the Liberation of Iraq
Committee for the Liberation of Iraq
The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq was described as a "non-governmental organization" which described itself as a "distinguished group of Americans" who wanted to "free Iraq from Saddam Hussein"...
, a group of prominent persons who pressed for an invasion.
On March 2, 2007, Cohen was appointed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
to serve as Counselor of the State Department, replacing Philip D. Zelikow
Philip D. Zelikow
Philip D. Zelikow is an American diplomat, academic and author. He has worked as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and Counselor of the United States Department of State...
.
Statements on US foreign policy
Cohen was one of the first neoconservatives to publicly advocate war against Iran and Iraq. In a November 2001 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Cohen identified what he called World War IV and advocated the overthrow of Iran's government as a possible next step for the Bush Administration. Cohen claimed "regime change" in Iran could be accomplished with a focus on "pro-Western and anticlerical forces" in the Middle East and suggested that such an action would be "wise, moral and unpopular (among some of our allies)". He went on to argue that such a policy was as important as the then identified goal of Osama Bin LadenOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's capture: "The overthrow of the first theocratic revolutionary Muslim state and its replacement by a moderate or secular government, however, would be no less important a victory in this war than the annihilation of bin Laden."
Later in 2001, Cohen, in what was becoming a dominant theme of his writing, advocated war against Iraq once again and proceeded to outline how effortless such a military campaign would be:
After Afghanistan, what? Iraq is the big prize... One important element will be the use of the Iraqi National CongressIraqi National CongressThe Iraqi National Congress is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. It was formed with the aid and direction of the United States government following the Gulf War, for the purpose of fomenting the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.-History:INC was set up following the...
to help foster the collapse of the regime, and to provide a replacement for it. The INC, which has received bad, and in some cases malicious treatment, from the State Department and intelligence community over the years, may not be able to do the job with U.S. air support alone.
As a result of his public statements on why a war against Iraq was necessary, Cohen was invited to appear on CNN Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Isaac Blitzer is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009...
Reports and amongst other statements given in response to questioning from Blitzer offered the judgement:
We know that he [Saddam Hussein] supports terror. There's very solid evidence that the Iraqis were behind an attempt to assassinate President Bush's father. And we -- by the way, we do know that there is a connection with the 9/11 terrorists. We do know that Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the 9/11 terrorists, met with Iraqi intelligence in Prague. So...
In testifying to a Congressional House committee later in 2002 Cohen was quoted as saying:
..the choice before the United States is a stark one, either to acquiesce in a situation which permits the regime of Saddam Hussein to restore his economy, acquire weapons of mass destruction and pose a lethal threat to his neighbors and to us, or to take action to overthrow him. In my view, the latter course, with all of its risks, is the correct one. Indeed, the dangers of failing to act in the near future are unacceptable.
In a piece for the Wall Street Journal, 6 February 2003 Cohen fervently praised the presentation given by then Secretary of State Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
in which he outlined the case for military action against Iraq to the United Nations. He went on to indicate that it was time for those who doubted that the case had been proven to support the Bush administration in their efforts.
An article written for the Washington Post on 10 July 2005, raised the attention of commentators in the media and "blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
". The piece, an attempt to articulate Cohen's self identified roles as academic, pundit, and father, was written as his son prepared to deploy to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
to fight a war the elder Cohen had been calling for since early 2001. The piece ends:
There is a lot of talk these days about shaky public support for the war. That is not really the issue. Nor should cheerleading, as opposed to truth-telling, be our leaders' chief concern. If we fail in Iraq -- and I don't think we will -- it won't be because the American people lack heart, but because leaders and institutions have failed. Rather than fretting about support at home, let them show themselves dedicated to waging and winning a strange kind of war and describing it as it is, candidly and in detail. Then the American people will give them all the support they need. The scholar in me is not surprised when our leaders blunder, although the pundit in me is dismayed when they do. What the father in me expects from our leaders is, simply, the truth -- an end to happy talk and denials of error, and a seriousness equal to that of the men and women our country sends into the fight.
This piece was extensively discussed in the blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
at the time, with some progressive blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s decrying that Cohen continued to maintain that the invasion was justified. Other commentators expressed surprise that a figure with such access and impeccable neoconservative credentials could appear to criticise the Bush Administration in such a way. Cohen later stated that he had received overwhelmingly positive responses from senior military officials in a resulting interview on C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
. Cohen also continued his criticism of the conduct of the war stating that, "Those three guys [ Tommy Franks
Tommy Franks
Tommy Ray Franks is a retired general in the United States Army. His last Army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States Armed Forces operations in a 25-country region, including the Middle East...
, George Tenet
George Tenet
George John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University....
, and L. Paul Bremer
L. Paul Bremer
Lewis Paul "Jerry" Bremer III is an American diplomat. He is most notable for being the U.S. Administrator to Iraq charged with overseeing the country's occupation after the 2003 invasion. In his role as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, he reported primarily to the U.S. Secretary of...
] got the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
. That's just wrong."
As a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
The Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, also referred to as the Defense Policy Board is a federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. Their charter is available online through the office of the Director of Administration and Management of the Department of Defense...
Cohen had also been engaged in meetings involving US President George Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. During these meetings Cohen provided advice on strategy in the Iraq conflict.
Appointment to Department of State
On 2 March 2007, it was reported by the Washington Post that Cohen was to be appointed as Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
's "counselor" at the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. Cohen replaced Philip D. Zelikow
Philip D. Zelikow
Philip D. Zelikow is an American diplomat, academic and author. He has worked as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and Counselor of the United States Department of State...
and said he would fill time before appointment in April 2007 by acting as a consultant for Rice.
The tone of the Washington Post article, Cohen is described as a "critic" of the Iraq war, was soon criticised. An article by Ximena Ortiz in the National Interest Online called Cohen's ability to do the job into question and attempted to juxtapose his previous statements on the Bush administration foreign policy with the resulting war in Iraq. Adding to the criticism was Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
who, describing Cohen as "extremist a neoconservative and warmonger as it gets", suggested an internal significance of the appointment for the Bush administration:
The Cohen appointment, is clearly another instance where neoconservatives place a watchdog in potential trouble spots in the government to ensure that diplomats do not stray by trying to facilitate rapproachments between the U.S. and the countries on the neoconservative War hit list.
As the controversy was played out in the media a rebuttal of sorts from Ruth Wedgwood
Ruth Wedgwood
Ruth N. Wedgwood is an American law professor who holds the Edward B. Burling Chair in International Law and Diplomacy at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, D.C.- Family origins :...
, international law scholar at Johns Hopkins University, sought to defend Cohen from criticism. Ortiz was subsequently supported in her criticism by fellow commentator at National Interest Online, Anatol Lieven
Anatol Lieven
Peter Paul Anatol Lieven is a British author, journalist, and policy analyst. He is presently a Senior Researcher at the New America Foundation, where he focuses on US global strategy and the War on Terrorism, Associated Scholar of the Transnational Crisis Project, Chair of International...
, who raised the levels of criticism to include Cohens efforts as a historian and analyst as well as tackling other pronouncements on US foreign policy in the middle east made by Cohen.
Mearsheimer and Walt Paper
In March 2006, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Academic Dean Stephen M. Walt along with Professor John J. Mearsheimer of the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, both political scientists, published an academic paper titled The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is the title of a book by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, published in late August 2007...
. The paper criticizes the Israel lobby for influencing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East away from U.S. interests and towards Israel's interests. Eliot Cohen wrote in a prominent op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
piece in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
that the academic working paper bears all the traditional hallmarks of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
: "obsessive and irrationally hostile beliefs about Jews", accusations toward Jews of "disloyalty, subversion or treachery, of having occult powers and of participating in secret combinations that manipulate institutions and governments", as well as selection of "everything unfair, ugly or wrong about Jews as individuals or a group" and equally systematical suppression of "any exculpatory information". Mearsheimer and Walt have denied Cohen's assertions as false, dishonest and ridiculous, noting that criticism of Israeli state policy and influential American advocates of that policy, such as Cohen, is not the same thing as demonization of Jewish people. Los Angeles city councilman Jack Weiss
Jack Weiss
Jack Stephen Weiss is an American politician. He is a former member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 5th district from 2001 to 2009. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California from 1994 to 2000...
, a former student of Stephen Walt, endorsed Cohen’s conclusions, however, pointing out that Walt and his collaborator “so clearly neglected the lessons you taught me about academic rigor.”
Published works
- Citizens and Soldiers: The Dilemmas of Military Service (1985)
- Military Misfortunes : The Anatomy of Failure in War, Free Press, 1990, ISBN 0-02-906060-5.
- With Thomas A. Keaney, Gulf War Air Power Survey Summary Report, United States Government Printing OfficeUnited States Government Printing OfficeThe United States Government Printing Office is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States federal government. The office prints documents produced by and for the federal government, including the Supreme Court, the Congress, the Executive Office of the President, executive...
, 1993, ISBN 0-16-041950-6. (Note that the full report has four parts.) - With Keaney, Revolution in Warfare?: Air Power in the Persian Gulf, Naval Institute Press, 1995, ISBN 1-55750-131-9
- Knives, Tanks, and Missiles: Israel's Security Revolution, Washington Institute for Near East PolicyWashington Institute for Near East PolicyThe Washington Institute for Near East Policy is a think tank based in Washington, D.C. focused on United States foreign policy in the Middle East. It was established by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 1985...
, 1998, ISBN 0-944029-72-8. - Editor with John Bayliss, et al. Strategy in the Contemporary World: Introduction to Strategic Studies, Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2002, ISBN 0-19-878273-X. - With Andrew BacevichAndrew BacevichAndrew J. Bacevich, Sr. is a professor of international relations at Boston University and a retired career officer in the United States Army...
, War Over Kosovo, Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
, 2002, ISBN 0-231-12482-1. - Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime, Free PressFree Press (publisher)Free Press is a book publishing imprint of Simon and Schuster. It was founded by Jeremiah Kaplan and Charles Liebman in 1947 and was devoted to sociology and religion titles. It was headquartered in Glencoe, Illinois, where it was known as The Free Press of Glencoe...
, 2002, ISBN 0-7432-3049-3.
External links
- Rebuilding America's Defenses, controversial PNAC manifesto to which Cohen is a signatory
- World War IV, Wall Street Journal featured editorial by Cohen, 20 November 2001
- A Hawk Questions Himself as His Son Goes to War, op-ed by Cohen in the Washington Post, 10 July 2005
- Transcript of interview with Cohen, C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
Q&A program, 31 July 2005 - Neither Fools Nor Cowards: Barriers between military service and higher education do a disservice to both, op-ed by Cohen in the Wall Street Journal, 13 May 2005