Partnership for a Secure America
Encyclopedia
The Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) is a policy center in the United States
. It describes its mission as "recreating the bipartisan
center
in American national security
and foreign policy."
PSA was launched in 2005 by the Co-Chairs of its Advisory Board, former U.S. Senator
Warren Rudman
(Republican
of New Hampshire
) and former U.S. Representative Lee H. Hamilton
, Democratic
of Indiana
). PSA's founding Directors, now Board of Directors Co-Chairs, were former Clinton Administration official Jamie Metzl
and Charles N. Andreae, former Chief of Staff to Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). PSA's Executive Director is Matt Rojansky.
, which outlined a series of principles underlying a bipartisan foreign policy.
In September 2005 PSA co-sponsored a major foreign policy conference in Washington, D.C.
, "Terrorism, Security and America's Purpose: Towards a More Comprehensive Strategy." Over 1,000 people in the foreign policy field attended the conference, which examined centrist approaches to combating terrorism at home and abroad. During the conference, PSA released its second statement, which set forth bipartisan principles to guide the struggle against terrorism.
Since that time, PSA has issued half a dozen additional bipartisan statements on the most pressing issues in national security and foreign policy, including cruel treatment of detainees, weapons of mass destruction
, reform of the United Nations
, the crisis in Darfur
, the US-Russia
relationship, and energy
and climate change
. Each has been accompanied by a publicity
campaign.
In June 2006, PSA launched its blog, Across the Aisle, as a public forum for discussion of foreign policy and national security issues in a bipartisan context. Across the Aisle has succeeded in generating thoughtful, provocative arguments on these important issues, while identifying common ground between Democrats
and Republicans
. Its regular contributors include senior think tank fellows, professors, and former government officials, whose views span the political spectrum.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It describes its mission as "recreating the bipartisan
Bipartisanship
Bipartisanship is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system such as the United States, in which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise. The adjective bipartisan can refer to any bill, act, resolution, or other political act in which both of the...
center
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
in American national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
and foreign policy."
PSA was launched in 2005 by the Co-Chairs of its Advisory Board, former U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Warren Rudman
Warren Rudman
Warren Bruce Rudman is an American attorney and Republican politician who served as United States Senator from New Hampshire between 1980 and 1993...
(Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
) and former U.S. Representative Lee H. Hamilton
Lee H. Hamilton
Lee Herbert Hamilton is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and currently a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the Democratic Party, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999...
, Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
). PSA's founding Directors, now Board of Directors Co-Chairs, were former Clinton Administration official Jamie Metzl
Jamie Metzl
Jamie Frederic Metzl is a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society and was formally the Asia Society’s Executive Vice President. In this capacity, he was responsible for overseeing the institution's strategic directions and overall program activities globally...
and Charles N. Andreae, former Chief of Staff to Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). PSA's Executive Director is Matt Rojansky.
Advisory board
The PSA Advisory Board is chaired by former Rudman and former Hamilton and consists of 24 foreign policy officials from previous presidential administrations:- Howard BakerHoward BakerHoward Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...
, U.S. Senator (R-TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
), 1967–1985 - Nancy Kassebaum BakerNancy Kassebaum BakerNancy Landon Kassebaum Baker represented the State of Kansas in the United States Senate from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of Alf Landon, who was Governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937 and the 1936 Republican nominee for president...
, U.S. Senator (R-KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
), 1978–1997 - Samuel BergerSandy BergerSamuel Richard "Sandy" Berger was United States National Security Advisor, under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. In his position, he helped to formulate the foreign policy of the Clinton Administration...
, National Security AdvisorNational Security Advisor (United States)The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues...
, 1997–2001 - Zbigniew BrzezinskiZbigniew BrzezinskiZbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
, National Security Advisor, 1977–1981 - Warren ChristopherWarren ChristopherWarren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy...
, Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, 1993–97 - Slade GortonSlade GortonThomas Slade Gorton III is an American politician. A Republican, he was a U.S. senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice as an incumbent: in 1986 by Brock Adams, and...
, U.S. Senator (R-Washington), 1981–1987 and 1989–2001 - Lee H. HamiltonLee H. HamiltonLee Herbert Hamilton is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and currently a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the Democratic Party, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999...
, U.S. Representative (D-Indiana), 1965–1999 - Gary HartGary HartGary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
, U.S. Senator (D-ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
), 1975–1987 - Rita HauserRita HauserRita Eleanor Hauser is an international lawyer known for persuading Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization to renounce violence in 1988. She also served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1969 to 1972. George W...
, chair, International Peace InstituteInternational Peace InstituteThe International Peace Institute is an independent non-profit research and policy development institution based in New York. IPI specializes in multilateral approaches to peace and security issues, working closely with the Secretariat and membership of the United Nations...
, 1992–present - Carla Anderson HillsCarla Anderson HillsCarla Anderson Hills is an American lawyer and a public figure. She served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Gerald Ford administration, and as U.S. Trade Representative...
, United States Trade Representative, 1989–1993 - Thomas KeanThomas KeanThomas Howard Kean is an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 48th Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Kean is best known globally, however, for his 2002 appointment as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, widely known as the...
, Governor of New JerseyGovernor of New JerseyThe Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
, 1982–1990 - Anthony LakeAnthony LakeWilliam Anthony Kirsopp Lake, best known as Tony Lake, is the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , author, academic, and former American diplomat, Foreign Service Officer, and political advisor. He has been a foreign policy advisor to many Democratic U.S...
, National Security Advisor, 1993–1997 - John LehmanJohn LehmanJohn F. Lehman, Jr. is an American investment banker and writer who served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration and in 2003–04 was a member of the 9/11 Commission....
, Secretary of the Navy, 1981–1987 - Richard C. Leone, President, Century Foundation, 1989–present
- Robert McFarlaneRobert McFarlaneRobert Carl "Bud" McFarlane was a National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, serving from 1983 through 1985.After a career in the Marines, he became part of the Reagan administration, and was a leading architect of the Strategic Defense Initiative for defending the United States...
, National Security Advisor, 1983–1985 - Donald McHenryDonald McHenryDonald Franchot McHenry is a former American diplomat. He was the United States Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations from September 1979 until January 20, 1981.-Biography:...
, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, 1979–1981 - Sam NunnSam NunnSamuel Augustus Nunn, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician. Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative , a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 24 years as a...
, Senator (D-GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
), 1972–1996 - William PerryWilliam PerryWilliam James Perry is an American businessman and engineer who was the United States Secretary of Defense from February 3, 1994, to January 23, 1997, under President Bill Clinton...
, Secretary of Defense 1994-1997 - Thomas PickeringThomas PickeringThomas Pickering may refer to:*Thomas Pickering , English religious leader*Thomas R. Pickering , American diplomat -- UN AmbassadorSee also*Timothy Pickering , American diplomat -- Secretary of State...
, Undersecretary of State, 1997–2000 - Warren RudmanWarren RudmanWarren Bruce Rudman is an American attorney and Republican politician who served as United States Senator from New Hampshire between 1980 and 1993...
, U.S. Senator (R-New HampshireNew HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
), 1980–1992 - Ted SorensenTed SorensenTheodore Chaikin "Ted" Sorensen was an American presidential advisor, lawyer and writer, best known as President John F. Kennedy’s special counsel, adviser and legendary speechwriter. President Kennedy once called him his “intellectual blood bank.”-Early life:Sorensen was born in Nebraska, the son...
, White House Special Counsel, 1961–1963 - John C. WhiteheadJohn C. WhiteheadJohn Cunningham Whitehead is an American banker and civil servant, currently a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.-Biography:He was born in Evanston, Illinois...
, Deputy Secretary of State, 1985–1988 - Frank G. WisnerFrank G. WisnerFrank George Wisner II is an American businessman and former diplomat. He is the son of Frank Wisner . On 31 January 2011, he was sent to Egypt by President Barack Obama to negotiate a resolution to the popular protests against the regime that have swept the country...
, Undersecretary of State, 1992–1993
History
On August 3, 2005, Rudman and Hamilton launched PSA in an event at the National Press Club. In conjunction with this event PSA issued its first public statement—also printed as a full-page ad in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, which outlined a series of principles underlying a bipartisan foreign policy.
In September 2005 PSA co-sponsored a major foreign policy conference in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, "Terrorism, Security and America's Purpose: Towards a More Comprehensive Strategy." Over 1,000 people in the foreign policy field attended the conference, which examined centrist approaches to combating terrorism at home and abroad. During the conference, PSA released its second statement, which set forth bipartisan principles to guide the struggle against terrorism.
Since that time, PSA has issued half a dozen additional bipartisan statements on the most pressing issues in national security and foreign policy, including cruel treatment of detainees, weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
, reform of the United Nations
Reform of the United Nations
Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations . However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and those who want its role confined to humanitarian work or...
, the crisis in Darfur
War in Darfur
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
, the US-Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
relationship, and energy
Energy policy
Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption...
and climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. Each has been accompanied by a publicity
Publicity
Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
campaign.
In June 2006, PSA launched its blog, Across the Aisle, as a public forum for discussion of foreign policy and national security issues in a bipartisan context. Across the Aisle has succeeded in generating thoughtful, provocative arguments on these important issues, while identifying common ground between Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. Its regular contributors include senior think tank fellows, professors, and former government officials, whose views span the political spectrum.