The Big Three:
Our Greatest Security Risks and How to Address Them
Acknowledgments
I began thinking and writing about many of the ideas in this essay while serving as the Under Secretary of the Navy between 1993 and 1997. After resigning from that position I had the benefit of developing my thinking as a Traveling Fellow of the Center for International Political Economy (CIPE) and as an Adjunct Professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. For a year, this gave me a valuable opportunity to compare notes on other topics, as well as those discussed here, with leaders and analysts concerned with national security in other countries. As this essay was completed, I returned to the Department of the Navy as its Secretary in November 1998.
While looking forward to discussing these ideas with my colleagues in the Pentagon and hopefully reducing the risks described in these pages, I should emphasize that the statements made here are personal, not official. They should not be taken as U.S. Government policy.
Because my thinking on these ideas has evolved over a number of years and benefitted from many discussions, it is impossible to identify all those who made contributions. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't note the special contributions of my former assistants, Ms. Pamela Berkowsky, Captain Kevin Cosgriff, USN, Captain Trell Parker, USN, Colonel Bob Lee, and Colonel Jay Paxton. I have for them the greatest gratitude and affection. I would like especially to note my particular indebtedness to a dinner meeting focused on this topic organized by Colonel Russ Appleton, USMC, and to the 1995 Naval War College Current Strategy Forum, which provided me, as its keynote address speaker, the opportunity to address some of these issues. Elsewhere in the Department of Defense, Andy Marshall, Hans Binnendijk, and Naval Reserve Commander Neil Golightly were especially kind and helpful in their contributions to this effort.
I learned a lot from the opportunities that CIPE and the Maxwell School gave me. For that, as well as the chance to bring this project to fruition, I am grateful to these two institutions, and particularly to General Mike Carns, USAF (Ret.), CIPE President, and Sean O'Keefe, Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy and Director of National Security Studies at the Maxwell School.
To Joan Scrivener, my secretary in the Pentagon and privately employed part-time secretary while I was traveling, I offer special thanks for her inexhaustible patience, skill, and care.
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