Winter 2004-05
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IRC Retrospective
An IRC by Any Other Name… For all of you who have known and supported us over these many years, your hopes are answered. We are no longer the Interhemispheric Resource Center and your tongue-twisting days are over! But the true cause for celebration is not the end of contorted tongues but our 25th Anniversary. Yes, time flies when you’re working to make the U.S. a more responsible member of the global community by promoting progressive strategic dialogues that lead to new citizen-based agendas. Though we have changed our name, our mission remains the same.   International Relations Center For those who may be unfamiliar with us, International Relations Center is a policy studies institute, or think tank, if you will. We study world events with particular attention to America’s role and how our policies affect other countries and cultures. Adhering to a high level of academic discipline, we research, analyze, and offer prescriptive alternatives to current and projected policies. Our distinguished program staff augments their extensive experience with contributions from hundreds of experts on regions and issues—academics, activists, journalists, NGOs, policymakers, and policy professionals from around the world. Our products are informed analysis, sage commentary, policy briefs, and a broad range of publications. We encourage an environment where strategic dialogue among experts leads to innovative policy alternatives. And we make this collective expertise available to one and all at no charge via our websites, which can be accessed at www.irc-online.org. We believe that when American policies acknowledge and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people, regions, countries, and cultures, America’s own interests, and the world’s are best served. Our primary location is Silver City, NM, but we originated in Albuquerque, where we still maintain an office and support staff. True to our roots, our Albuquerque facility is also home to, and a resource for, local progressive organizations, and a hub of activism.   IRC Global Affairs Program IRC has three primary programs at this time. Global Affairs conducts the highly successful and widely respected Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) project founded by Tom Barry in 1996 while IRC was still based in Albuquerque, NM. Shortly thereafter, a partnership was formed with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC that continues today. IRC Global Affairs director, John Gershman, is codirector of FPIF. He resides in Princeton, NJ and commutes by cyberspace. FPIF addresses a full range of international issues and its contributors span the globe. It is committed to advancing “a citizen-based foreign policy agenda—one that is fundamentally rooted in citizen initiatives and movements.” FPIF fosters broad public dialogue on U.S. foreign policy and the role of the United States in the world. It promotes broad progressive principles of respect for human rights, environmental protection, broadly shared economic development, a preference for multilateral solutions, and demilitarization.   IRC Americas Program IRC Americas Program director, Laura Carlsen, is also a cyber commuter and resides in Mexico City. The IRC Americas Program is the current incarnation and expansion of our original work addressing immigration, labor, and other cross-border issues. From this, IRC immersed itself in the issues arising from the Contra Wars in Central America. The publication of its first book, Dollars and Dictators, garnered IRC recognition for expertise in this field. Early IRC work also included exposing the hazards of uranium mining in the Navajo Nation; we continue in this vein with current work such as Environmental Right-To-Know legislation and regulation in Mexico, primarily via IRC Americas Program Associate, Talli Nauman. Today, IRC Americas addresses the full range of issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, between countries, in regions, and with particular interest in the effects of U.S. policy throughout the Western Hemisphere.   Right Web You need a scorecard to keep track of the incestuous and often secret relationships of the far right. Right Web, our third principal program, profiles the people, organizations, corporations, and government officials that comprise the neoconservative movement, militarists, and traditional right wing. IRC’s roots run deep and the format and structure of Right Web has striking similarities to one of the IRC’s earliest projects: Who Runs New Mexico. Who Runs New Mexico identified the corporate entities and interests that exerted influence on legislation and policy making in New Mexico in the 1970s and articulated and publicized their objectives and methods. Tom Barry originated Who Runs New Mexico as an outgrowth of his earlier work as an investigative journalist before IRC came into being. Tom is our overall policy director as well as program director for Right Web.   A Thumbnail Sketch of IRC’s History Tom Barry, along with IRC Executive Director Deb Preusch, and Beth Wood, now with the San Diego Union-Tribune, are the founders of IRC. Their collaboration began in the late 70s when their paths intersected in Arizona while working on issues of undocumented workers. In the fertile soil of increasing activism they continued to work together and the seeds of IRC sprouted. At this same time, as their cross-border efforts continued, they noted the huge shift in demographics from Mexican migrants to Central American refugees: Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and others seeking asylum were suddenly as numerous as the Mexican immigrants seeking work. The dirty wars and death squads—later to become better known as part of the fabric of the Iran/Contra disgrace—had begun, as well as the exodus. Tom and Deb began to visit Central America and see the “situation on the ground.” The course of IRC changed and with the 1981 publication of one of IRC’s first major works, Dollars and Dictators, they achieved recognition and “expert” status, seemingly overnight—though a long, long night. The next several years produced literally volumes on Central America and an enhanced international stature. As the Central American wars subsided, IRC turned its attention to Mexico as the dynamics of U.S. relations shifted, NAFTA loomed, and the Zapatistas emerged. IRC undertook new projects organizing in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and this work was the forerunner of the IRC Americas Program. The juggernaut of globalization during the 1990s brought another expansion of IRC’s horizons and the IRC Global Affairs Program followed. Its flagship project was, and is, Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF). Its mission is similar to the IRC’s—making the U.S. a more responsible member of the global community. Right Web was launched in December of 2003 and brings full circle some of IRC’s original work and methods. Who Runs New Mexico contained profiles identifying and exposing the corporations that influenced or controlled New Mexico’s economy and, too often, its politics. Some years later, this approach was further developed for Group Watch, which identified the many emerging right-wing NGOs and think tanks taking up the U.S. government’s cause in Central America. Today, Right Web details the spectrum of corporations, organizations, individuals, and government officials supporting the right wing.   See You in Santa Fe We’re delighted to begin our 25th anniversary festivities in Santa Fe, NM. We hope that we will see you on January 25 & 26, 2005 for three very special events with IRC board member, and distinguished author and social critic, Noam Chomsky. Our next celebrations will be held in New York City on April 19th, and in Washington, DC on April 20th. For additional information visit our website at www.irc-online.org.
IRC Remeniscences
IRC Retrospective – Chuck Hosking What keeps someone working at the same job for a couple of decades? Inertia? No Way! No one I’ve known at the IRC has fit that description. Loyalty? Sure, but to what? Ideals are inspiring, but bonds generally form between people. For me it’s been the dynamite personalities the IRC has attracted over the years and the myriad ways each one exhibits a commitment to our common vision of a world restructured from the bottom up that help bond me to the ideals in our mission statement. When Mary Ann and I first interacted with Tom, Deb, and Beth during a national organizing campaign that Mary Ann was coordinating in 1981-82, the three IRC cofounders were juggling leadership roles in four Central America solidarity groups with birthing the IRC out of precursor entities. When Mary Ann and I moved to Albuquerque and I began volunteering at the IRC in 1983, I remember marveling at the versatility and boundless creativity of the IRC’s dynamic trio. Each day was a surprise. Being a “plodder” type myself, there were times when I’d stroll from room to room in the house that served as both living and working quarters for this fascinating threesome and take in the intensity and vitality of the creative juices flowing out of each work space. Activities were spinning in so many directions at once that in one dizzying moment I remember writing on the chalkboard in the living room: “This place is the Height of Hecticity!” Beth saw it first and chuckled. Just a normal workday from her perspective. Life at IRC has never been dull, from my perspective. There have been times when the roller coaster ride has kept me awake at night and tense times when the future looked short. But I’ve never worked anywhere as stimulating, challenging, and dynamic as the IRC, and therein lies its enduring allure for me.   IRC Retrospective – Talli Nauman I first came in contact with IRC when I worked as a reporter and editor at the Albuquerque Journal from 1981-1986. I gravitated to the programs and information it provided from its headquarters, then in Albuquerque. Later, after my graduate degree in International Journalism took me away to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, I came to rely on IRC publications to help bridge many of the gaps in understanding cross-border issues that I was dealing with in my work. After several years of employment in Mexican and international media, based in Mexico City, during which time I also wrote for IRC publications, IRC founder Tom Barry made a recommendation to the MacArthur Foundation that I receive a fellowship. Lo and behold, I received it. After using it to breathe life into my 10-year-old independent media project, Journalism to Raise Environmental Awareness, I collaborated chronically with IRC and eventually joined the staff of IRC in 2003. Shortly afterward, Laura Carlsen, who had collaborated sporadically with IRC, joined the staff, just as I had, adding curiosity to the coincidence that she had been the first person I met to work with on a journalistic project when I arrived in Mexico in 1987. During this entire 14-year period, I remember co-founders Tom Barry and Deb Preusch making the courageous decision to adopt children and move IRC to the rural southwest in order to raise them in an environmentally healthy environment that included their own construction of a model straw-bale and adobe home. Tom and Deb set an example of practicing in their own lives what they preach in their work, inspiring others like myself. That no doubt accounts at least partly for the collaborative climate both within the organization and with its partners.   IRC Retrospective – Beth Wood In 1979, Deb, Tom, and I were researching, writing, and self-publishing informational and provocative pamphlets about the inner workings of New Mexico’s government and business. We also freelanced for regional newspapers to help make ends meet. We were used to working on a shoestring, but felt we couldn’t move to the next level—producing slide shows and books—unless we had more financial help. We embarked on the grant-seeking journey that for the IRC continues today. Deb had found a terrific rental bargain on a house in Albuquerque—from which we worked and lived. She put her coordination skills to good use as we inundated left and liberal foundations with grant proposals. Not having heard much more than luke-warm responses, we were sitting in the work/living room discussing possible scenarios for the future. Could one or two of us get jobs, while the other(s) tried to create the hard-hitting exposes that we hoped would contribute to fundamental change? Should we all get part-time jobs? Should we abandon the idea of a leftist research/publication non-profit completely? The phone rang at that point and Tom picked it up. He said, “Hi, Kit.” Deb and I held our breath. Kit Tremaine was one of the few individuals we had asked for financial help. A woman in her late 60s, she lived in Santa Barbara but held a strong affinity for New Mexico’s cultural mix, spirituality, and promise for change. On a chalkboard above the phone, Tom wrote a dollar sign. We waited anxiously as he wrote 10,000. As soon as he got off the phone, we hooted and hollered. Our work could continue. We brought out three beers and, before going back to work, started making concrete plans for our future projects.   IRC Retrospective – Erik Leaver In the summer of 1992 I found myself traveling halfway across the country to intern with the IRC. Familiar with the IRC through their books and reports on Central America, I was bursting with excitement at the opportunity to work along side the staff. Within a few short weeks of being at the IRC I found myself totally immersed in research for a book on the border environment. Working alongside Tom Barry, we were soon traveling along the border, talking to local community leaders, spending days interviewing border officials, and inspecting border crossings—doing the types of research that no one else was doing in the United States. I was amazed that supporters of the IRC opened their houses for us to stay in during this trip, a testament to the real type of community that the IRC has built over the past 25 years. I was lucky to become a full-time employee at the IRC, where I enjoyed the tight-knit camaraderie of the office staff. As hard as we worked together, we played together—sharing meals together, going camping, bicycling, or heading to the movies. It is a great testament to the staff that the card they signed for me on the day I left the IRC still resides on my desk. Both these deep friendships and the path-breaking work that we all did together make me proud of the fact that I can say I worked at the IRC.
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