[asiacouncil] East-West Center funding eliminated (forwarded by Eric Spears)

[David L Starling]

________________________________
From: eric spears <eric.spears at gcsu.edu>
Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2017 3:38 PM
Subject: Fwd: East-West Center funding eliminated



Begin forwarded message:

From: "Brown, George" <george.brown at sru.edu<mailto:george.brown at sru.edu>>
Date: March 18, 2017 at 1:02:25 PM GMT-3
To: "Brown, George" <george.brown at sru.edu<mailto:george.brown at sru.edu>>
Cc: Peter Hershock <hershocp at eastwestcenter.org<mailto:hershocp at eastwestcenter.org>>, Kathleen Doss <kathleen.doss at pcc.edu<mailto:kathleen.doss at pcc.edu>>, roger ames <rtames at hawaii.edu<mailto:rtames at hawaii.edu>>, "Manoabuck at me.com<mailto:Manoabuck at me.com>" <Manoabuck at me.com<mailto:Manoabuck at me.com>>
Subject: East-West Center funding eliminated

Dear Colleagues:

I am writing to you because all of you participated in the Asian Studies Development Program held in Portland from March 2-5.  Thank you all again for your contributions to what was a very successful and enjoyable conference! I apologize for writing to you in a mass email, but I wanted to reach out to you concerning the very real possibility that the East-West Center (and thus the ASDP) will be soon be un-funded and thus unable to continue functioning.

The budget plan released by the Trump administration Thursday, March 17th, proposes severe reductions in many social, scientific and educational programs, and completely eliminates funding for the NEH, the NEA and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting among others.  The State Department’s budget would be cut by something like 29% under this budget proposal and the Environmental Protection Agency budget would be cut by 31%.  Funding for foreign aid, which amounts to less than 1% of the federal budget, is also slashed.  Please see https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/15/us/politics/trump-budget-proposal.html

It is also very distressing to learn that under this budget proposal, funding for the East-West Center would be eliminated. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-trump-budget/    No EWC means no ASDP, no ARCAS, and the end of a community of scholarship, learning and teaching about Asia that we have all worked to support, that we have all benefited from in our professional lives, and that has benefited our institutions and our students and our communities.

This budget proposal is not a final budget of course: congress will craft the final budget.  This means that it is vital that we all speak out clearly and forcefully to support programs like the East-West Center and the Asian Studies Development Program that we all value so highly.  Please ask all of the people in your institutions that have participated in ASDP programs to write in support of continued funding for the EWC and ASDP as well.  We must make our voices heard on this and other issues.

At the same time that massive budget cuts are being proposed for many domestic and international programs, the Trump administration is asking for a $52.3 billion increase in defense spending.  In fact, most of the cuts proposed above and more broadly from domestic programs, seem to be meant to offset this increase in defense spending.  Having a robust national defense is not controversial.  But we should ask ourselves: what national security threats do we face?  Most analysts point to terrorism, threats from rogue states (like N. Korea) and disintegrating states.  The global military architecture that we built for the Cold War and that we have continued to sustain since then does not address these threats effectively and efficiently, and there is no reason to think that adding $53 billion to the defense budget will do so either. With the end of the Cold War, we have no superpower rivals that might engage us in a massive conventional war, and given the well known consequences of nuclear war between the great powers, this kind of large scale warfare is extremely unlikely.  What kind of military forces do we need that will appropriately address the security threats that we face?  I believe that we can maintain a convincing conventional defense and a robust nuclear deterrent with far less defense spending.

Let me offer you a bit of perspective on this issue in the form of two graphs below which are based on current spending.  You may also want to look at the trend of US Defense spending in the post WWII period to get a broader perspective on this issue.  Please note that these address defense spending under the Obama administration.

[cid:image001.png at 01D29FDF.80717BD0]
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/analysis/2015/presidents-2016-budget-in-pictures/presidents-proposed-discretionary-spending-fy2016/

[cid:image002.png at 01D29FDF.80717BD0]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/09/this-remarkable-chart-shows-how-u-s-defense-spending-dwarfs-the-rest-of-the-world/?utm_term=.7fcf8f601ef8


Please take some time today to write a thoughtful letter to your congressperson and your senators to explain why funding for the EWC should not be eliminated.  Use personal examples of how this institution (through ASDP) has contributed to your development as scholars and teachers and how it has impacted your professional lives.  By all means write to support other agencies and programs as well, but it is better to write separate letters on these issues than to combine all of your concerns into one message.  As citizens in a democracy, we have the right (and obligation) to speak out in support of government programs that we believe make our country and our world better places.  Please use your voice to express your concerns to your elected representatives.

Sincerely and with best regards,

George
________________________________
George P. Brown

Director, SRU Honors Program
Professor, Department of Political Science
335 Patterson Hall
Slippery Rock University
Slippery Rock, PA 16057
724 738-2435


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