The U.S. should reject the geopolitical security thinking of the cold war in favor of a post-cold war policy that understands today' s world of economic interdependence and linkages transcending both the rigid boundaries of states and the imaginary ones of civilizations. This requires U.S. policymakers to pay more attention to the root causes of intrastate and interstate tensions in the Gulf regions, some of which could become disruptive to oil production and the international oil markets. Military production and weapons sales provided a major source of economic strength to the U.S. during the cold war. This should shift to other sectors of the domestic economy to allow greater U.S. competitiveness in world markets, including oil markets, and reduce the dangerous arms races in the Middle East and elsewhere. The third shift in policy orientation should be in energy conservation and the search for alternative and affordable energy sources.
Alternative energy is vital for an atmosphere free of pollution and an environmentally safer world.
The U.S. should move toward generous funding of research for alternative sources of energy that are renewable and nonpolluting, such as solar, wind, and hydropower. Diversion of even a small portion of current U.S. military spending in the Gulf could provide all the research funds needed. Kate Gillespie and Clement M. Henry, eds. All rights reserved.