Story Archives of 'Foreign Policy'

Dr. Douglas Johnston has a broad range of executive experience in government, academia, the military, and the private sector, starting with ten years in the submarine service where, at the age of 27, he was the youngest officer in the US Navy to qualify for command of a nuclear submarine. Among his assignments in government, Dr. Johnston was a planning officer in the President’s Office of Emergency Preparedness, Director of Policy Planning and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In academia, he taught international affairs and security at Harvard University and was the founder and first director of the Kennedy School’s Executive Program in National and International Security. Most recently, Dr. Johnston served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Among his other duties, he chaired the CSIS programs on maritime studies and on preventive diplomacy. Dr. Johnston has edited and authored several books, including Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft (Oxford University Press, 1994); Foreign Policy into the 21st Century: The U.S. Leadership Challenge (CSIS, 1996); and Faith-based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik (Oxford University Press, 2003). Dr. Johnston’s hands-on experience in the political/military arena coupled with his work in preventive diplomacy, has guided the work of ICRD since its inception. His deep interest in religion and conflict resolution stems from his extensive involvement with the National Prayer Breakfast fellowship.

In the course of this primary, some candidates passing through Exeter have offered to sit down with New Hampshire Public Radio's Jon Greenberg for a brief interview. Exeter is the focus of our Primary Place series and is also the epicenter of our citizen media web site, Primary Place Online.

Just before Christmas, Jon asked the members of Primary Place Online to submit their questions for Democrat Barack Obama. People of all political stripes responded. The first question Jon put to to the candidate came from a Republican who asked -- how could Obama provide for the security of the US and prevent another international catastrophy when he has no foreign relations experience. Obama challlenged the premise behind the question.

Delaware U.S. Senator Joe Biden spoke at a forum at St. Anselm College. He outlined his policy toward Pakistan and took several questions from the moderators.

The war in Iraq has taken center stage on foreign policy talk by the candidates. But Turkey, China, North Korea, Afghanistan and especially Iran are foreign policy hotspots that could also gain prominence as the campaign progresses. In the first of a two-part series, we’ll find out what the Republican candidates are saying and how they're trying to differentiate themselves from not only the Democrats, but from their fellow Republican challengers.

Guests

• Wayne Lesperance, Associate Professor of Political Science at New England College
• Jen Donahue, Senior Advisor for Political Affairs at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

Religion as a tool of international diplomacy! Our guest, scholar Douglas Johnston, says with religion a root cause of so many modern wars, it must also be a part of the solution. And yet, he says, our Western, secular approach toward diplomacy leads us to ignore the positive role faith can play in conflict resolution. He calls it “the missing dimension” of our foreign policy.

Guest

• Douglas Johnston: president and founder of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy. He led the seven year study that produced the book Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft and was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.