Helena Cobban
Journalist and Author
Previously Aired On: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - Listen to the Show!
Helena Cobban is a veteran journalist who has written for the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Review, and several other periodicals. She is currently serving as a friend in Washington for the Friends Committee on National Legislation and is author of many books (most recently Amnesty after Atrocity) as well as publisher of justworldnews.org.
About Helena Cobban’s latest book Re-Engage! American and the World after Bush; An Informed Citizen’s Guide…
Since 9/11, the United States has pursued a foreign policy some have called a control paradigm a unilateral domination of world affairs through military means that tries to keep the lid on insecurity without addressing root causes or protecting human rights. The Bush administration’s energetic use of this approach has ripped the fabric of America’s relationship with the rest of the world. In this concise guide, veteran journalist Helena Cobban proposes moving the United States away from the control paradigm to a policy of global inclusion. Global inclusion seeks to repair the U.S. relationship with other countries, recommit the United States to effective participation in the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, and ground U.S. foreign policy firmly in the principle of human equality. It also involves moving away from the language of threats and fear to a language of challenge and possibility. This book outlines how a global inclusion policy would address key challenges faced not only by Americans but by the 95 percent of humanity who are not Americans: Challenges of terrorism and weapons proliferation, Growing global inequality, Rights abuses worldwide, Climate change, and Shifting international power balances. Cobban reminds readers we do not need to do any of these things alone. Since 9/11, she has traveled to 18 foreign countries on four continents. She has heard how deep the desire is among people in China, sub-Saharan Africa, the Muslim world, Europe, and elsewhere for the United States to rejoin the world community on a sound and cooperative basis. In heartfelt, accessible prose with highly readable tables, graphics, websites, and other resources, she shows how we can re-engage as neighbors, as a country, and as a trusted international partner.
