Eliot A. Cohen is the Robert E. Osgood professor in American Foreign Policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. Cohen is the Director of the Strategic Studies department at SAIS and has specialized in strategic studies, the Middle East, Persian Gulf, Iraq, arms control, and NATO. He is a member of the Project for the New American Century and was called "the most influential neoconservative in academe" by energy economist Ahmad Faruqui.^[1] He is currently serving as Counselor to the U.S. State Department. The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), based in Washington, D.C., is a graduate school devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and education. ... The Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, is a private institution of higher learning located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Map of the Persian Gulf. ... Arms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction. ... This article is about the military alliance. ... Project for the New American Centurys Logo The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is an American neoconservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by William Kristol and Robert Kagan in early 1997. ... This article is about neoconservatism in the United States, for neoconservatism in other regions, see Neoconservatism (disambiguation). ... Ahmad Faruqui is a defense analyst and energy economist based in the San Francisco Bay Area who serves as director of research at the American Institute of International Studies. ... Department of State redirects here. ...

Biography

Cohen is a graduate of the Maimonides School. He received his B.A. in government at Harvard University in 1977. He went on to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1982 in political science,^[2] and during his PhD training went through the Army ROTC program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[3] Maimonides School (Hebrew: ישיבת רמבם) is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox, Jewish day school located in Brookline, Massachusetts. ... Harvard redirects here. ...

He was an assistant professor of government and assistant dean at Harvard University from 1982 to 1985. Following this, he taught for four years at the Naval War College in the Department of Strategy, before a brief period in 1990 serving on the policy planning staff of the Office of the United States Secretary of Defense. In 1990, Cohen began his position at SAIS. Following the 1991 Gulf War, he directed the U.S. Air Force's official four-volume survey, the Gulf War Air Power Survey, until 1993, for which he received the Air Force's Exemplary Civilian Service Award. This analysis of the effect of U.S. air power was widely referenced in regards to the Revolution in Military Affairs concept. The Naval War College. ... The United States Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and military matters. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... USAF redirects here. ... The Gulf War Air Power Survey is a report commissioned by the United States Air Force in 1993 to document and analyze its performance during the 1991 Gulf War. ... The military concept of Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is a theory about the future of warfare, often connected to technological and organizational recommendations for change in the United States military and others. ...

In 1993, Paul Wolfowitz, who would later become prominent as the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the run-up to the Iraq war, became Dean of SAIS. During his brief stint at the defense policy planning staff, Cohen had worked under Wolfowitz but this was the first time they were in extended contact. In 1997, Cohen became a founding member of the Project for the New American Century, which became known as a center for prominent neoconservatives. He has been a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, a committee of civilians and retired military officers that the U.S. Secretary of Defense may call upon for advice, since the beginning of the administration of President George W. Bush. He was put on the board after acquaintance Richard Perle put forward his name.^[4] Cohen has referred to the War on Terrorism as "World War IV".^[5] In the run-up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, he was a member of Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a group of prominent persons who pressed for an invasion. Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, working on issues of international economic development, Africa and public-private partnerships. ... The United States Deputy Secretary of Defense is the second-highest ranking official in the United States Department of Defense. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... Project for the New American Centurys Logo The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is an American neoconservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by William Kristol and Robert Kagan in early 1997. ... The Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee (DPBAC or DPB) is a federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, originally inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... Richard N. Perle (born 16 September 1941 in New York City) is an American political advisor and lobbyist who worked for the Reagan administration as an assistant Secretary of Defense and worked on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004. ... This article is about the U.S.-led campaign against the spread of terrorism. ... This article is about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) was a non-governmental organization which described itself as a distinguished group of Americans who wanted to free Iraq from Saddam Hussein. ...

On March 2, 2007, Cohen was appointed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to serve as Counselor of the State Department, replacing Philip D. Zelikow.^[6] Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W. Bush to hold the office. ... Philip D. Zelikow is best known as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission. ...

Political Views

Statements on US foreign policy

Cohen was one of the first neoconservatives to publicly advocate war against Iran and Iraq. In a November 2001 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Cohen identified what he called World War IV and advocated the overthrow of Iran's government as a possible next step for the Bush Administration. Cohen claimed "regime change" in Iran could be accomplished with a focus on "pro-Western and anticlerical forces" in the Middle East and suggested that such an action would be "wise, moral and unpopular (among some of our allies)". He went on to argue that such a policy was as important as the then identified goal of Osama Bin Laden's capture: "The overthrow of the first theocratic revolutionary Muslim state and its replacement by a moderate or secular government, however, would be no less important a victory in this war than the annihilation of bin Laden."^[7] Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: ‎; born March 10, 1957[1]), most often mentioned as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden, is a Saudi Arabian militant Islamist and is widely believed to be one of the founders of the organization called al-Qaeda. ...

Later in 2001, Cohen, in what was becoming a dominant theme of his writing, advocated war against Iraq once again and proceeded to outline how effortless such a military campaign would be:

After Afghanistan, what? Iraq is the big prize... One important element will be the use of the Iraqi National Congress to help foster the collapse of the regime, and to provide a replacement for it. The INC, which has received bad, and in some cases malicious treatment, from the State Department and intelligence community over the years, may not be able to do the job with U.S. air support alone.^[8] The Iraqi National Congress (INC) is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. ...

As a result of his public statements on why a war against Iraq was necessary, Cohen was invited to appear on CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports and amongst other statements given in response to questioning from Blitzer offered the judgement: Wolf Blitzer (born March 22, 1948 in Buffalo, New York) is an American journalist and author. ...

We know that he [Saddam Hussain] supports terror. There's very solid evidence that the Iraqis were behind an attempt to assassinate President Bush's father. And we -- by the way, we do know that there is a connection with the 9/11 terrorists. We do know that Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the 9/11 terrorists, met with Iraqi intelligence in Prague. So...^[9]

In testifying to a Congressional House committee later in 2002 Cohen was quoted as saying:

..the choice before the United States is a stark one, either to acquiesce in a situation which permits the regime of Saddam Hussein to restore his economy, acquire weapons of mass destruction and pose a lethal threat to his neighbors and to us, or to take action to overthrow him. In my view, the latter course, with all of its risks, is the correct one. Indeed, the dangers of failing to act in the near future are unacceptable.^[10]

In a piece for the Wall Street Journal, 6 February 2003 Cohen fervently praised the presentation given by then Secretary of State Colin Powell in which he outlined the case for military action against Iraq to the United Nations. He went on to indicate that it was time for those who doubted that the case had been proven to support the Bush administration in their efforts.^[11] is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret. ...

An article written for the Washington Post on 10 July 2005, raised the attention of commentators in the media and "blogosphere". The piece, an attempt to articulate Cohen's self identified roles as academic, pundit, and father, was written as his son prepared to deploy to Iraq to fight a war the elder Cohen had been calling for since early 2001. The piece ends: ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Blogosphere is a collective term encompassing all blogs and their interconnections. ...

There is a lot of talk these days about shaky public support for the war. That is not really the issue. Nor should cheerleading, as opposed to truth-telling, be our leaders' chief concern. If we fail in Iraq -- and I don't think we will -- it won't be because the American people lack heart, but because leaders and institutions have failed. Rather than fretting about support at home, let them show themselves dedicated to waging and winning a strange kind of war and describing it as it is, candidly and in detail. Then the American people will give them all the support they need. The scholar in me is not surprised when our leaders blunder, although the pundit in me is dismayed when they do. What the father in me expects from our leaders is, simply, the truth -- an end to happy talk and denials of error, and a seriousness equal to that of the men and women our country sends into the fight.^[12]

This piece was extensively discussed in the blogosphere at the time, with some progressive blogs decrying that Cohen continued to maintain that the invasion was justified.^{[citation needed]} Other commentators expressed surprise that a figure with such access and impeccable neoconservative credentials could appear to criticise the Bush Administration in such a way. Cohen later stated that he had received overwhelmingly positive responses from senior military officials in a resulting interview on C-SPAN.^{[citation needed]} Cohen also continued his criticism of the conduct of the war stating that, "Those three guys [ Tommy Franks, George Tenet, and L. Paul Bremer] got the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That's just wrong." Blogosphere is a collective term encompassing all blogs and their interconnections. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Tommy Ray Franks (born June 17, 1945 in Wynnewood, Oklahoma) is a retired General in the United States Army, previously serving as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States Armed Forces operations in a 25-country region, including the Middle East. ... George John Tenet (born January 5, 1953) was previously the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. ... Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941), known as Paul Bremer and also nicknamed Jerry Bremer, was named Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for post-war Iraq following the Iraq War of 2003, replacing Jay Garner on May 6, 2003. ... The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States and is bestowed by the President of the United States (the other award which is considered its equivalent is the Congressional Gold Medal, which is bestowed by an...

As a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee Cohen had also been engaged in meetings involving US President George Bush. During these meetings Cohen provided advice on strategy in the Iraq conflict.^[13] The Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee (DPBAC or DPB) is a federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, originally inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...

Appointment controversy

On 2 March 2007, it was reported by the Washington Post that Cohen was to be appointed as Condoleezza Rice's "counselor" at the United States Department of State. Cohen replaced Philip D. Zelikow and said he would fill time before appointment in April 2007 by acting as a consultant for Rice.-1... Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W. Bush to hold the office. ... Department of State redirects here. ... Philip D. Zelikow is best known as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission. ...

The tone of the Washington Post article, Cohen is described as a "critic" of the Iraq war, was soon criticised. An article by Ximena Ortiz in the National Interest Online called Cohen's ability to do the job into question and attempted to juxtapose his previous statements on the Bush administration foreign policy with the resulting war in Iraq.^[14] Adding to the criticism was Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com who, describing Cohen as "extremist a neoconservative and warmonger as it gets", suggested an internal significance of the appointment for the Bush administration: Glenn Greenwald (born 1967 in New York City) is an American attorney, best-selling author of How Would a Patriot Act?, political and legal blogger, and columnist at Salon Magazine. ... Salon. ...

The Cohen appointment, is clearly another instance where neoconservatives place a watchdog in potential trouble spots in the government to ensure that diplomats do not stray by trying to facilitate rapproachments between the U.S. and the countries on the neoconservative War hit list.^[15]

As the controversy was played out in the media a rebuttal of sorts from Ruth Wedgwood, international law scholar at Johns Hopkins University, sought to defend Cohen from criticism.^[16] Ortiz was subsequently supported in her criticism by fellow commentator at National Interest Online, Anatol Lieven, who raised the levels of criticism to include Cohens efforts as a historian and analyst as well as tackling other pronouncements on US foreign policy in the middle east made by Cohen.^[17] Ruth Wedgwood (née Glushien) is an American international law professor at Johns Hopkins University. ... Anatol Lieven is a British author, journalist, and policy analyst. ...

Mearsheimer and Walt Paper

Main article: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

In March 2006, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Academic Dean Stephen M. Walt along with Professor John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, both political scientists, published an academic paper titled The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. The paper criticizes the Israel lobby for influencing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East away from U.S. interests and towards Israel's interests. Eliot Cohen, who is Jewish, wrote in a prominent op-ed piece in The Washington Post that the academic working paper bears all the traditional hallmarks of anti-Semitism: "obsessive and irrationally hostile beliefs about Jews", accusations toward Jews of "disloyalty, subversion or treachery, of having occult powers and of participating in secret combinations that manipulate institutions and governments", as well as selection of "everything unfair, ugly or wrong about Jews as individuals or a group" and equally systematical suppression of "any exculpatory information".^[18] Mearsheimer and Walt repeatedly denied the assertion that their paper was Anti-Semitic noting that criticism of Israeli state policy and influential American advocates of that policy, such as Cohen, is not the same thing as demonization of Jewish people.^[19] For other uses of the term Israel lobby, see Israel lobby (disambiguation). ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government is a public policy school and one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. ... Stephen Martin Walt (born July 2, 1955) is a professor of international affairs at Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government. ... John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. ... For other uses, see University of Chicago (disambiguation). ... For other uses of the term Israel lobby, see Israel lobby (disambiguation). ... The terms or phrase Israel lobby, Israeli lobby, Pro-Israel lobby, and Pro-Israeli lobby may refer to: Any group that lobbies in support of Israel. ... Eliot A. Cohen is considered to be a neo-conservative. ... An Op-Ed is a piece of writing expressing an opinion. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

Footnotes

Ahmad Faruqui is a defense analyst and energy economist based in the San Francisco Bay Area who serves as director of research at the American Institute of International Studies. ... Asia Times Online is an Internet-only publication that reports and examines geopolitical, political, economic and business issues, looking at these from an Asian perspective. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 357th day of the year (358th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... -1... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... -1... -1... This article is about the day. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Published works

• Citizens and Soldiers: The Dilemmas of Military Service (1985)

• Military Misfortunes : The Anatomy of Failure in War, Free Press, 1990, ISBN 0-02-906060-5.

• With Thomas A. Keaney, Gulf War Air Power Survey Summary Report, United States Government Printing, 1993, ISBN 0-16-041950-6. (Note that the full report has four parts.)

• With Keaney, Revolution in Warfare?: Air Power in the Persian Gulf, Naval Institute Press, 1995, ISBN 1-55750-131-9

• Knives, Tanks, and Missiles: Israel's Security Revolution, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1998, ISBN 0-944029-72-8.

• Editor with John Bayliss, et al. Strategy in the Contemporary World: Introduction to Strategic Studies, Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-19-878273-X.

• With Andrew Bacevich, War Over Kosovo, Columbia University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-231-12482-1.

• Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime, Free Press, 2002, ISBN 0-7432-3049-3.

The United States Naval Institute is a non-profit, professional organization in the United States related to the Navy. ... Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) is a Jewish organization founded in 1985 by Martin Indyk, previously research director of the leading pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac). ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... Andrew J. Bacevich is the author of The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War(2005)and American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of US Diplomacy(2002). ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: If you disagree with its speedy deletion, please explain why on its talk page or at Wikipedia:Speedy deletions. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Eliot A. Cohen

• Rebuilding America's Defenses, controversial PNAC manifesto to which Cohen is a signatory
• World War IV, Wall Street Journal featured editorial by Cohen, 20 November 2001
• A Hawk Questions Himself as His Son Goes to War, op-ed by Cohen in the Washington Post, 10 July 2005
• Transcript of interview with Cohen, C-SPAN Q&A program, 31 July 2005
• Neither Fools Nor Cowards: Barriers between military service and higher education do a disservice to both, op-ed by Cohen in the Wall Street Journal, 13 May 2005