Summer 2006
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Letter from the ED
Dear IRC supporters, Never before have I written a letter like this one to the community of IRC donors, subscribers, and friends. I have written many letters asking for support, thanking you for your support, and letting you know about the latest developments at the IRC. This time I am writing to let you know I am stepping down as executive director. It's been a long time (almost 27 years), filled with many fond memories of staff, board members, colleagues, and all of you. But it's also been nearly three decades of hard work, and I have decided to step aside to, hopefully, work half-time and spend more time with my family. On my office walls and at home, I still have photos and posters from my first trips to Central America in 1979. The IRC has come a long way since those early days as a volunteer organization struggling to find ways to inform the U.S. public and policy community of the tragic U.S. foreign policy in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. I am immensely proud of the IRC's accomplishments and its development into an internationally recognized institute—with three strong programs (Americas, Foreign Policy In Focus, and Right Web). I take special pride in the fact that as we have grown and aged, we have not strayed from the values and hopes that energized us during our early years. I see those embodied in our new Global Good Neighbor initiative. I am also excited to tell you that after an extensive search the IRC Board of Directors has hired a new executive director, Kathleen Laurila, who will begin working at our Silver City office in July. Kathleen comes well-qualified to join the IRC team of wonderful staff and board members. She has a 25-year record of organizational and project management in a variety of sectors in both business and not-for-profit organizations. She was a founder of several of these entities. Her experience in international issues and relations has been primarily in advocacy and citizen diplomacy, with direct interaction (at home and around the world) with people from more than 70 countries. Issues on her agenda have included sustainable development and appropriate energy technology, population and family planning, democratic capacity-building including the role of the media, human rights and security, the impacts of globalization on the marginalized, and conflict prevention and transformation. Kathleen has also participated in both major political party processes; however, her focus was centered on issues rather than on partisan politics. She has led and participated in grass roots campaigns, and provided advocacy and media training. These experiences provide her with a pragmatic perspective of our political process. Reforming U.S. foreign policy is no easy task. The tragedy continues. But so will the commitment and work of the IRC. Each time that I've written an IRC letter, I have found that choosing the right closing has been one of the hardest parts. It's no different this time. So I will simply say thanks, and good-bye. Debra Preusch
Two New Ways to Help the IRC Help You
IRC's "Catalyst for Change" Contest Have you or someone you know used IRC materials as a catalyst for change? Have we provided you with the documentation or inspiration you needed to take action? If so, we want to know about it. IRC is running a contest to find out the ways, big or small, that you have used the IRC (including Americas Program, Foreign Policy In Focus, Global Good Neighbor, and Right Web) to make a difference in your life and your world. Entries are limited to 150 words or less, and will be judged on creativity and community impact. The first place winner will receive a check for $100 plus an IRC T-shirt; second place, a $25 check plus an IRC T-shirt; and third place, an IRC T-shirt. Deadline for entries is August 31, 2006. Email your entry to irc@irc-online.org, or mail to International Relations Center, PO Box 2178, Silver City, NM 88062. Selected entries will be published in the next issue of the IRC Insider, on our websites, and in promotional materials. Contest entry constitutes permission to reprint. Thanks to one and all for your participation!
Working Assets: A Cause within a Cause You can help IRC raise funds by joining Working Assets, a wireless, long distance, and credit card company, created in 1985 to help make the world a better place. According to their website (http://www.workingassets.com/), “Every time customers use our services, a portion of their charges is automatically donated to progressive organizations working for peace, human rights, economic justice, education, and the environment—over $50 million generated so far! We also serve as a strong political force, dedicated to giving our customers the opportunity to speak out on public issues ... Join us today and help make a difference in the world.” In other words, by switching your wireless, long distance, and credit card services to Working Assets, you don't have to change a thing to help change things! Please consider joining Working Assets today, and find out how, as a Working Assets member, you can nominate the IRC to be a Working Assets funding recipient (http://www.workingassets.com/recipients.cfm).
IRC Program News
Global Good Neighbor The IRC is hosting a July 14-16 strategy session on developing a Global Good Neighbor Ethic for International Relations. The premise of the strategy session is that to fundamentally change the course of U.S. foreign policy, we need to do more than seek policy reform. We need a change in the underlying values of our actions as a nation. Global Good Neighbor is not a blueprint for improved international relations but a set of basic principles to guide effective and ethical action in the international arena. Its main purpose is to open up and orient foreign policy debate among the citizenry by viewing foreign policy in accessible terms based on the good neighbor values of mutual respect and the importance of community. The war in Iraq and the growing public sentiment against it provide an opportunity for serious nationwide discussion of changing U.S. foreign policy. With the upcoming midterm and presidential elections, the next three years are critical for reorienting the foreign policy debate.   FPIF FPIF analyst Conn Hallinan's commentary “Dark Armies, Secret Bases, and Rummy, Oh My!” (http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/2939) has been selected as a finalist for Project Censored's “Most Censored” News Stories of 2005-06 Awards and will appear in Censored 2007: Media Democracy in Action appearing in August from Seven Stories Press. John Gershman was the primary author of the material on Homeland Security in the latest edition of the FPIF/Center for Defense Information Unified Security Budget published in May. John appeared on WBAI, Pacifica, and several other radio stations to talk about U.S.-China relations in February and again in April when the Chinese Premier visited. We are sad to report that John Gershman is leaving the IRC to teach full time. But we are happy to announce that in June, John Feffer will be replacing him as the new codirector of FPIF. John is the author of several books, including North Korea, South Korea: U.S. Policy at a Time of Crisis and Shock Waves: Eastern Europe after the Revolutions. For the last 20 years, he has written on a range of topics for the International Herald Tribune, The Progressive, Salon, Newsday, and The American Prospect, among others. He has also edited several books, including the FPIF collection Power Trip and the just-published The Future of U.S.-Korean Relations (Routledge). Before joining IRC, he was a writing fellow at Provisions Library in Washington, DC and a PanTech fellow in Korean Studies at Stanford University. He is a former associate editor of World Policy Journal. He has served as a consultant for Foreign Policy In Focus, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Friends Committee on National Legislation, among other organizations. IRC bids a fond farewell to John Gershman and an enthusiastic welcome to John Feffer. We are confident that he will bring a renewed energy to FPIF, enabling us to continue our important work in changing the face of U.S. foreign policy.   Americas Laura Carlsen, director of IRC's Americas Program was a guest on the “Building Bridges” program on WBAI radio in New York on May 15. She discussed immigration law and the perspective from Mexico. In addition to our in-depth immigration work (much of which can be found at http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2959), the Americas Program has also been focusing on environmental issues (in Spanish at http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2959), the Americas Program has also been focusing on environmental issue href="http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3114"irc-online.org/am/2959), the Americas Program has also been focusing on environmental issues (in Spanish at http://www.ircamericas.org/esp/3254 and coming soon in English), the challenges faced by the indigenous movements in South America (http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3257), the upcoming presidential elections in Mexico (http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3240) and much more. Laura will be participating in the Global Good Neighbor strategy session mentioned earlier in this Insider and has recently released a GGN report with Tom Barry on Latin America, “U.S. Hegemony or Global Good Neighbor Policy?” (online at http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3114).   Right Web What's the next major policy debate? More than a year ago our Right Web program charted the major figures and organizations that have set the new terms of debate—national security andU.S. cultural identity—in immigration policy. Congressman Tom Tancredo, a Christian Right crusader from Colorado, has made immigration restrictionism a major force that is reshaping our country's political landscape. While continuing to monitor the right's role in the immigration debate, Right Web is now busy profiling the institutes and individuals who are hawking a regime change strategy for Iran in which U.S. support for mujahedin “freedom fighters” and Iranian exiles would play a central role. Many of these, like Michael Ledeen and the American Enterprise Institute, are the same neocons that promoted the war in Iraq, and were also key figures in promoting a “freedom fighter” strategy in Central America, Africa, and Afghanistan in the 1980s. And, as Right Web points out, restrictionist Tom Tancredo is also a true believer in the Clash of Civilizations scenario and the leading congressional advocate of the Iran “freedom fighters,” who, like the Nicaraguan contras, are terrorists. Right Web is the only place that makes all the connections. See our new package of profiles on the Iran Policy Radicals, now online at http://rightweb.irc-online.org/. And watch for some redesign and renovation of our Right Web site, coming soon.
IRC VIP
IRC VIP: Arnold "Skip" Oliver Within each issue of the IRC Insider, we shine the spotlight on one of you, our faithful friends and supporters, without whom we would cease to exist. You are all, indeed, IRC VIPs. IRC VIP Arnold “Skip” Oliver has been an IRC supporter since 1993. He is a professor of Political Science at Heidelberg College in Ohio, and discovered IRC's Foreign Policy In Focus as a teaching tool. “I consult it frequently, and I ask students to consult it often. It's really good for students because it's footnoted.” “I used to be a Goldwater conservative. Then I went to Vietnam. I was an engineering student and wanted to figure out how we got in this mess. When I came back I changed my major to political science. My mom came from a union family—her whole side of the family were union activists, so I heard about that while I was growing up.” “All of us have an obligation to make the world a better place. I try to be an activist in my teaching. For 5 years in a row I've gone to the School of the Americas (SOA) protest. I'm impressed with the Ohio presence there. You guys should send some young person with a table of information to the SOA protest and you'd meet a lot of young people. A lot of the torture stuff they're doing in Iraq started in Latin America.” In addition to IRC, Skip supports other worthy causes such as Doctors Without Borders, the Mennonite Relief Fund for Katrina, and Habitats for Humanity. He is a member of Veterans for Peace and Vietnam Veterans against the War. “You can really be against the war, but that doesn't mean you're for the other side,” he points out. He adds, in the same diplomatic and patriotic tone, “This is a really bad government. We really have to focus on getting rid of them. It's almost like the United States is practicing how to be a bad neighbor.” Skip says, “I do crazy stuff,” referring presently to how he helped start the “Outrageous Leftist Award,” a cash award that goes to the most outrageous leftist (student). The prize last year went to a University of Colorado Political Science student. A world traveler, Skip has visited “probably 50 countries.” And his outspoken political opinions travel even further. “I wrote a piece on the overthrow of the Iranian government [for Foreign Policy In Focus].I It was amazing how much coverage it got. It got picked up in Asia Times and a couple of newspapers in Iran. A newspaper in Iran even asked me to write an article for them.” Foreign Policy In Focus has published two of his articles, “Iran and the Forgotten Anniversary” (online at http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/2439) and “Guatemala and the Forgotten Anniversary” (http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/2439) and “Guatemala and the Forgotten Anniversary” (online at http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/1117). A Google search brings up, among others, a particularly entertaining piece, “To the Guy Who Called Me a Traitor,” originally published in the Topeka Capital-Journal and reprinted in this case by SmirkingChimp.com (online at http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=25500). Hats off to our outspoken friend and loyal supporter, Skip Oliver. If only we could all find our voices and make them heard as loudly as he has, change might not be such a long time coming.
Office Contact Information
Albuquerque Box 4506 Albuquerque, NM 87196-4506 Voice: (505) 842-8288 Fax: (505) 842-8288	Silver City Box 2178 Silver City, NM 88062-2178 Voice: (505) 388-0208 Fax: (505) 388-0619 Email: irc@irc-online.org