Plus de limites...

Lorsque les entreprises de défense américaines se mettent à financer l'éducation ....aux Émirats

The announced donation of approximately Dh11 million by Lockheed Martin, the US defence contractor, to the American Community School of Abu Dhabi is welcome news for the many expatriate parents that struggle to find quality schooling for their children.

Many reasons for companies to contribute (The National, 2009/06/02)

No doubt, the American Community School, one of the most oversubscribed in the nation, will welcome the injection of funds that will help to finance an expansion that will double the school’s capacity. However, the generosity of Lockheed must serve as an example to the many multinational and local businesses that enjoy the tax free and business-friendly environment of this country.

On the web-site of the Emirates Foundation, an organisation devoted to fostering public-private partnerships in community development, 38 companies are listed as donors. Even if this list of donors is not exhaustive, it would seem that the fraction of companies who perform such activity is small. The foundation has commissioned a study to find ways to encourage a greater community role for companies, and the results are due in a few months. In the meantime, those companies that enjoy the fruits of operating in the Emirates but have yet to open their coffers for the good of the nation at least have a few role models to follow.

In the past year, Lockheed signed contracts with the UAE worth over Dh12 billion. The company’s contribution to the American Community School may seem minuscule when compared to the benefit it has derived from working with this country, but it is not necessarily the amount that is significant, it is the act itself. Companies are not being asked to contribute to the community in lieu of paying taxes. They are being asked to help make the UAE a better place to live, work and raise families. Lockheed’s choice to help one of the established and quality educational institutions in the UAE is one others would do well to follow if even for their own benefit.

Certainly, foreign companies should feel obliged to give back to the community both out of a sense of gratitude and to improve the quality of life in the country, which in turns fosters a better working environment. Local companies too must step up, and while many do, there are many more that do not. There are, of course, shining examples of so-called corporate social responsibility among domestic operators.

When Aldar began establishing its Aldar Academies, it was as much motivated by a sense of responsibility to the community and their employees as it was by necessity. A dearth of school spaces in Abu Dhabi meant that the company had to ensure that the expatriates they recruited to work for them could properly educate their children. Aldar’s decision is a prime example of how investment in the community can be mutually beneficial to both the company and the nation.

Too few companies appear to have realised their own self-interest in reinvesting in community development. Hopefully, the generous actions of Aldar and Lockheed Martin can inspire others. American Community School undoubtedly will require more than Dh11 million to build a new school and many other institutions may have far greater needs

Retour à la réalité...

First economic espionage trial begins in US

By Gillian Flaccus

The Associated Press

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

A Chinese-born engineer stole secret information critical to the nation's space program and shared it with China, prosecutors said Tuesday during opening arguments in the first economic espionage case to reach trial in the United States.

Prosecutors laid out their case against Dongfan "Greg" Chung, 73, in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

Chung, a Chinese-born engineer, is accused of working as a spy for China for more than 30 years while employed at Rockwell International and then Boeing Co.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, economic espionage, lying to federal agents, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent.

The government says he stole secrets on the U.S. space shuttle and the Delta IV rocket. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney dismissed charges last week relating to the C-17 military transport at the government's request.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples told Carney in his opening statement that the lifeblood of Rockwell International and Boeing Co. was the secret information they developed to build the space shuttle and keep ahead of international competition. The information Chung stole took millions of dollars to develop, he said.

"Information, security and betrayal: These are the three pillars of the government's case," he said. "Boeing builds things, but the crucial point in this case is, nothing gets built without information, the kind of information we're talking about."

Defense attorney Tom Bienert countered that the government would not be able to prove his client had done anything wrong, particularly after 2003, which is when the defense believes the statute of limitations expired.

"There simply will be no evidence that my client transferred any information to the People's Republic of China, there will be no evidence that he transferred anything, much less anything that would be a trade secret," Bienert said.

Bienert also showed the judge pictures of his client's house with papers and books on every available surface, stacked on the floor and overflowing the bathtub. He said that explained why FBI agents found a quarter-million pages of Boeing documents there.

"What you're going to find is that my client is a pack rat, a man who never found something he didn't hold on to. With all respect to my client, his house gives new meaning to clutter," he said. "His house was filled with more books, documents, stuff than just about anyone would ever see."

Six similar cases have settled before trial since the Economic Espionage Act passed in 1996.

Chung worked for Rockwell International until it was bought by Boeing in 1996 and remained with the aerospace giant until he was laid off in 2002. He was brought back as a consultant on stress analysis after the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003 and was fired when the FBI began its probe in 2006.

The government believes Chung began spying for the Chinese in the late 1970s, just a few years after he became a U.S. citizen and was hired by Rockwell.

In a letter cited in court documents, Chung allegedly explains to a Chinese contact that he sent three sets of volumes dealing with flight stress analysis to China via sea freight and discusses what prosecutors say is his motive.

"Having been a Chinese compatriot for over thirty years and being proud of the achievements by the people's efforts for the motherland, I am regretful for not contributing anything," according to the letter to the contact at the Harbin Institute of Technology in northern China. "I would like to make an effort to contribute to the Four Modernizations of China."

Prosecutors say they discovered Chung's activities while investigating the case of another suspected Chinese spy, Chi Mak. Searches of Mak's house turned up an address book and a letter containing Chung's name.

Mak was convicted in 2007 of conspiracy to export U.S. defense technology to China and sentenced to more than 24 years in prison. Mak, however, was not charged under the Economic Espionage Act.

Soft power à la sauce chinoise

"Je pense que les Etats-Unis peuvent apprendre de la Chine. Une économie performante, une culture attractive aux yeux des autres, ce sont des choses que la Chine concrétise parfaitement. La croissance de la puissance douce de la Chine est une bonne chose, non une mauvaise. Certains s'inquiètent d'éventuels dégâts causés aux Etats-Unis par la puissance douce de la Chine. Je crois que cela à moins de chance de se produire que l'émergence d'une Chine par la puissance douce qui rend le pays plus attractif, notamment aux yeux des Etats-Unis, et réduit l'hostilité qu'on pourrait lui attribuer."

Propos tenus par Joseph Nye, en mars 2009 au Centre d'Etudes Stratégiques et Internationales (CSIS) lors de la remise du rapport : Chinese Soft Power and Its Implications for the United States

Contexte:

U.S.-China Smart Power Commission Report Rollout

In the summer of 2008, CSIS president and CEO John J. Hamre asked William Cohen and Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, to chair the U.S.-China Smart Power Commission, designed to apply the successful framework developed by the CSIS Commission on Smart Power to the U.S.-China relationship. The bi-partisan Commission includes national leaders from the government, private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and academia.

The Commission released a concrete set of policy recommendations for both the Obama administration and the 111th Congress on how the United States can work with China to bring to bear their respective soft power to promote the global public good, while simultaneously ensuring the protection of U.S. interests. The Commission has been directed by Carola McGiffert, a Senior Fellow at CSIS.

Voir la conférence: CSIS TV
Autres rapports :Smart Power in U.S.-China Relations

Ps: Contrairement aux hypothèses annoncées, Joseph Nye n'a pas été nommé ambassadeur au Japon. Le remplaçant à ce poste se nomme John Roos
Obama names lawyer to Tokyo embassy

President To Name Czar To Lead U.S. Cybersecurity

By GREGG CARLSTROM

U.S. President Barack Obama an­nounced May 29 that he will create a “cybersecurity czar” in the White House, and work with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to set new performance metrics for cybersecurity at federal agencies. (Associated press)

The czar will be part of a new White House office that develops cybersecurity policy and coordi­nates that policy across agencies. The office will also take the lead role in responding to cyber­attacks.

That was one of the major rec­ommendations to come out of the administration’s cybersecurity re­view, led by Melissa Hathaway, an adviser to the director of national intelligence.

“No single official [currently] oversees cybersecurity policy across the federal government,” Obama said while releasing the long-anticipated review. “Federal agencies have overlapping missions and do not coordinate or commu­nicate as well as they should.” The first job for the new office, Obama said, will be developing an updated cybersecurity strategy for the federal government.

Obama did not name the cyber­security czar. A number of ex­perts, from inside and outside the government, are rumored to be in the running for the job. The office will also include a high-level pri­vacy official.

Obama declared cybersecurity one of his major management pri­orities, and said he will work with OMB to develop new performance metrics for agencies.

The White House also plans to work with Congress to update the 2002 Federal Information Security Management Act, the nation’s main cybersecurity law.

The cybersecurity review also calls for closer collaboration with the private sector, which owns most of the nation’s elec­tronic infrastructure.

“My administration will not dic­tate security standards for private companies,” Obama said.

Members of Congress have been skeptical of the new White House position, since it would not be sub­ject to Senate confirmation.

Several cybersecurity hearings are expected soon.

Defense news

See also

Report: Cyberspace policy review

Articles WSJ :
Obama Moves to Curb Data-System Attacks
Obama Says Hackers Got Into Campaign Computer Systems
Obama Releases Cybersecurity Report: ‘Much Work to Be Done’

La nouvelle stratégie afghane : après le M16, les fourches texanes..

Plans include adding 4.000 military Trainers, billions in Assistance to pakistan

By yochi J.Dreazn (Wall Street journal) 27/03/09

The Obama administration will unveil a new Afghanistan strategy Friday that calls for devoting significant new resources to counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan and economic development in Pakistan, according to senior U.S. officials. The administration now plans to send about 4,000 military trainers to Afghanistan -- in addition to the recently announced 17,000 additional troops -- and hundreds of diplomats and other civilian officials. The U.S. financial commitment to Afghanistan and Pakistan will grow by billions of dollars per year under the plan.

Aid will be tied for the first time to performance benchmarks, though administration officials declined to specify what they were or how they'd be measured.

The Pentagon also is considering a new U.S. military command in southern Afghanistan that would assume responsibility for the American troops deploying there. The area is currently commanded by European NATO generals, and a new U.S. command would signal increasing American control over the war effort.

The moves are part of a broad push to prevent the stalemated Afghan war from destabilizing both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since taking office in January, President Barack Obama has announced plans to wind down military operations in Iraq next year and shift more military resources to Afghanistan. The president was to outline his approach in a White House address Friday morning.

Senior U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned about Afghanistan and Pakistan. The resurgent Taliban exert day-to-day control over many rural parts of Afghanistan and have pushed U.S. and Afghan military casualties to record highs. Militants in Pakistan have battled the Pakistani army to a draw in several regions of the country and carry out regular suicide bombings.

"There's a clear understanding that the status quo is not remotely sustainable in either country," said a U.S. official involved in the new approach.

The strategy will effectively focus U.S. efforts in Afghanistan on the narrow goal of defeating al Qaeda and its Taliban allies, a shift away from the Bush administration's broader nation-building efforts there.

Officials said the 4,000 American trainers, along with the additional diplomats and civilian officials, will be on the ground in Afghanistan by the fall.

The plan calls for expanded American diplomatic outreach inside and outside Afghanistan. U.S. officials will try to persuade moderate Taliban elements in Afghanistan to abandon violence and join the country's political process. American diplomats will also reach out to Tehran in the hope of winning Iranian assistance in stabilizing the country.

The new strategy is notable for the emphasis it places on Pakistan, which senior officials now see as critical to determining whether Afghanistan stabilizes or continues its downward spiral. The U.S. has given Pakistan more than $10 billion since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S., mostly in military assistance. As part of its new strategy, the Obama administration plans to instead give Pakistan at least $1.5 billion in economic development aid in each of the next five years.

The economic aid will be accompanied by additional American strikes on militant targets inside Pakistan. U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials are drawing up a fresh list of terrorist targets for Predator drone strikes.

The policy changes come less than a week before Mr. Obama travels to France for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit devoted heavily to Afghanistan. Administration officials say Mr. Obama has come to accept that NATO nations are unlikely to contribute more combat troops to Afghanistan because of domestic political opposition.

Instead, White House officials say Mr. Obama will ask European nations to provide more military and police trainers to Afghanistan, as well as additional economic assistance to Pakistan.

The U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan has been a source of increasing friction within the military alliance. In response, Pentagon officials are firming up plans to redraw the balance of power between the U.S. and NATO in Afghanistan, according to three military officers familiar with the deliberations.

The idea getting the most support calls for a U.S. military command in southern Afghanistan, the officers said. It would be led by a two-star American general.

Most of the American reinforcements are being deployed to the south of the country, a Taliban stronghold that is one of the largest opium-producing regions in the world. U.S. and NATO officials believe that the drug trade provides the Taliban with billions of dollars each year.

The Obama administration hopes to undercut the Taliban by launching a new counter-narcotics offensive in the Helmand River Valley and other parts of southern Afghanistan. The mission will be the primary focus of the U.S. reinforcements.

Under one facet of the plan, U.S. or Afghan troops will first offer Afghan farmers free wheat seed to replace their crops that produce opium. If the farmers refuse, U.S. or Afghan personnel will burn their fields, and then again offer them free replacement seeds. A senior U.S. military official described the approach as a "carrot, stick, carrot" effort.

—Jonathan Weisman contributed to this article.

Vidéo

Youtube, nouveau fer de lance de la diplomatie US

WASHINGTON (AFP) — La diplomatie du ping-pong avait aidé à dégeler les relations américano-chinoises. La diplomatie YouTube pourrait faire de même dans les rapports des Etats-Unis avec l'Iran.

Le président américain Barack Obama, qui a beaucoup utilisé internet pendant la course à la Maison Blanche, s'est à nouveau tourné vers la toile pour lancer sa première grande initiative diplomatique.

En enregistrant un message vidéo destiné au peuple d'Iran, et à ses dirigeants, à l'occasion du Nouvel an iranien et en le diffusant en ligne, M. Obama a eu recours à l'un de ses outils favoris de campagne.

Le candidat Obama comptait sur ses partisans pour faire suivre ses courriers et ses vidéos électroniques. Le président espère que les Iraniens en feront autant avec son message diffusé sur le site de partage de vidéos, YouTube.

Trita Parsi, président du National Iranian American Council, pense que c'est une réussite. Le message "se propage sur internet comme un feu de forêt", a-t-il dit à l'AFP.

"C'est extraordinaire le nombre de courriels que j'ai reçus à la fois des Etats-Unis et d'Iran se souhaitant mutuellement une bonne année et ajoutant en lien le message du président".

La vidéo de 3 minutes et 35 secondes intitulée "Une nouvelle année, un nouveau commencement", sous-titrée en farsi, a été postée sur le site internet de la Maison Blanche et sur YouTube.

18 heures après sa diffusion, elle avait été vue près de 150.000 fois, générant plus de 1.300 commentaires pour la plupart favorables.

Andrew Rasiej, cofondateur du blog TechPresident.com, qui examine la vie politique et les technologies, souligne qu'internet permet à Obama de s'adresser directement et sans filtre au peuple iranien.

"Il utilise la plateforme ouverte d'internet pour s'assurer que son message est entendu en totalité et n'est pas raccourci, sorti de son contexte ou manipulé d'une manière qui le détournerait de son objectif", dit-il à l'AFP.

"Parce qu'internet offre au président un lien direct avec les citoyens d'un pays, non seulement il leur parle directement mais il sait aussi qu'ils diffuseront son message pour lui, c'est ce qui rend (internet) si puissant".

Pour Suzanne Maloney, une spécialiste de l'Iran à la Brookings Institution, la vidéo d'Obama est "davantage personnalisée qu'un simple communiqué imprimé ou que quelque chose lu sur un podium".

Mais cette vidéo n'est pas seulement destinée au peuple iranien. "La plus importante partie du message, c'est que le président Obama s'écarte de manière explicite de la tradition de l'administration Bush, qui tentait délibérément de dissocier dirigeants et peuple iraniens", explique-t-elle.

"Là, on voit le président Obama parlant directement aux dirigeants et évoquer +la république islamique d'Iran+, ce qui est, sinon sans précédent, tout à fait inhabituel pour un président américain".

"Internet n'est pas seulement une occasion de refaçonner la politique aux Etats-Unis", renchérit M. Rasiej. "Il permet de réinventer la diplomatie, en incitant les citoyens à se parler, et non plus seulement les diplomates, et à débattre des questions et des objectifs communs."

Cette vidéo est la "première mesure de la diplomatie de +citoyen à citoyen+ du XXIe siècle", juge-t-il.

Obama candidat avait promis d'engager le dialogue avec les régimes adversaires des Etats-Unis. Téhéran et Washington n'ont pas de relations diplomatiques depuis la crise des otages en 1979.

Dans les années 70, la visite d'une équipe américaine de ping-pong en Chine avait amorcé le dégel des relations entre Washington et Pékin

Charles Freeman retire sa candidature au poste de président du Conseil national du renseignement" (CNR)

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Charles Freeman, un diplomate américain chevronné qui était sur la sellette au Congrès, a retiré sa candidature à un poste élevé au sein du renseignement, dernier en date d'une série de désistements laissant vacants des postes de l'administration Obama.

M. Freeman "a demandé à ne pas être nommé au poste de président du Conseil national du renseignement" (CNR), indique mardi le bureau du directeur du renseignement Dennis Blair dans un communiqué, ajoutant que ce dernier "a accepté la décision de l'ambassadeur Freeman à regret".

Deux candidates pressenties pour occuper des postes importants au sein du Trésor s'étaient retirées la semaine dernière. Annette Nazareth, pressentie pour être le bras droit du secrétaire au Trésor Timothy Geithner, a renoncé à ce poste. Le site internet du Wall Street Journal rapportait jeudi qu'elle avait renoncé "en grande partie" à cause de la longueur du processus d'accréditation imposé par le président Barack Obama aux membres de son gouvernement.

Caroline Atkinson, choisie par M. Geithner pour occuper le poste de sous-secrétaire aux Affaires internationales, s'est également retirée.

En février, Tom Daschle, en proie à des ennuis avec le fisc, avait demandé à M. Obama de renoncer à faire de lui son secrétaire à la Santé. Nancy Killefer, pressentie pour un poste élevé où elle aurait taillé dans les dépenses fédérales superflues, a renoncé pour les mêmes raisons.

Deux secrétaires au Commerce pressentis ont aussi jeté l'éponge, le démocrate d'origine hispanique Bill Richardson en raison d'une enquête visant une société en affaires avec l'Etat du Nouveau-Mexique (sud-ouest) dont il est le gouverneur, puis le sénateur républicain Judd Gregg, qui a invoqué des divergences avec Barack Obama.

De son côté, M. Freeman, volontiers critique envers Israël, faisait l'objet d'un processus d'accréditation houleux au Congrès. L'annonce de sa nomination par M. Blair à un poste où il aurait dû coordonner les vues des 16 agences de renseignement américain sur des sujets ultrasensibles a en effet soulevé l'inquiétude d'un groupe de parlementaires aussi bien démocrates que républicains soutenant fermement Israël.

Ces derniers avaient demandé une enquête sur "tout conflit d'intérêt potentiel" résultant de la nomination de M. Freeman, en raison de ses liens avec l'Arabie Saoudite et la Chine, où il a été ambassadeur.

M. Freeman a pris "une sage décision", a commenté mardi le représentant républicain Mark Kirk, l'un des plus critiques envers sa nomination, estimant que cette controverse mettait en lumière la nécessité de mieux passer en revue les états de service des responsables pressentis pour occuper des postes sensibles.

Quelques heures auparavant, Dennis Blair avait pourtant fermement pris la défense de M. Freeman devant la commission des services armés du Sénat, le qualifiant de "personne ayant des opinions tranchées, un esprit inventif et un point de vue analytique".

Il a estimé que les critiques avaient sorti certains commentaires de M. Freeman de leur contexte et que ses positions politiques n'étaient pas un sujet pertinent. "Ni moi ni quiconque travaillant pour moi ne fait de politique. Notre métier est d'apporter des informations", a-t-il dit.

Le bureau de M. Blair n'a pas donné d'explication sur ce qui a précipité le retrait de M. Freeman, ni sur la date où serait annoncé le choix de la personne amenée à le remplacer.

Traduction du soft power US dans le milieu de la défense

Un article intéressant, extrait du Wall Street journal sur la stratégie des entreprises de défense américaines pour rentrer sur les marchés étrangers.

Northrop Grumman

En Afghanistan, Bae systems apporte des anthropologistes pour accompagner les GI 's dans les villages.
Lockheed Martin et Northrop grumman , pour leurs parts, partent au Sénégal former du personnel pour assurer la sécurité des populations.

"Helping the U.S. deploy "soft power," long the purview of smaller firms, is evolving into one of the most promising lines of new business for big Pentagon contractors"

Jeudi dernier, l'administration Obama s'est engagée à doubler l'aide étrangère des États-Unis à 50 milliards de dollars.....et nous ? Defense firms look to fill Gaps as U.S Policy Shifts