Paul Wolfowitz

Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American academic and political figure. Wolfowitz is a polarizing and controversial figure both within the United States and abroad. He is often seen as a leading proponent of the 2003 Iraq War and architect of the ambitious foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration known as the Bush Doctrine. His views are often characterized as representing a modern American philosophy of neoconservatism. He is currently President of the World Bank.

U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

In 1972 U.S. President Richard Nixon under pressure from U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson, who was unhappy with the SALT I strategic arms limitations talks and the policy of détente, dismissed the head of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) and replaced him with Fred Ikle. Ikle brought in a completely new team including Wolfowitz, who had been recommended by his old tutor Albert Wohlstetter. Wolfowitz once again set to work writing and distributing research papers and drafting testimony, as he had previously done at the Committee to Maintain A Prudent Defence Policy. He also traveled with Ikle to strategic arms limitations talks in Paris and other European cities. His greatest success was in dissuading South Korea from reprocessing plutonium that could be diverted into a clandestine weapons program, a situation that would re-occur north of the border during the George W. Bush administration.

Related Topics:
U.S. President - Richard Nixon - U.S. Senator - Henry M. Jackson - SALT I - U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency - Fred Ikle - Albert Wohlstetter - Committee to Maintain A Prudent Defence Policy - Paris - European - South Korea - Plutonium - George W. Bush

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Under U.S. President Gerald Ford the American intelligence agencies had come under attack from Professor Wohlstetter amongst others over their annually published National Intelligence Estimate. According to Mann; "The underlying issue was whether the C.I.A. and other agencies were underestimating the threat from the Soviet Union, either by intentionally tailoring intelligence to support Kissenger's policy of détente or by simply failing to give enough weight to darker interpretations of Soviet intentions.? In an attempt counter these claims, the newly appointed Director of Central Intelligence, George H.W. Bush authorized the formation of a committee of anti-communist experts headed by Richard Pipes to reassess the raw data. Wolfowitz, who was still employed by the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, was assigned to this commitee, which came to be known as Team B. According to Mann ?Wolfowitz viewed himself as Kissinger's opposite, his adversary in the realm of ideas.?

Related Topics:
U.S. President - Gerald Ford - National Intelligence Estimate - C.I.A. - Soviet Union - Kissenger - Détente - Director of Central Intelligence - George H.W. Bush - Richard Pipes - Team B

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The team's report delivered in 1976, and quickly leaked to the press, stated that; "All the evidence points to an undeviating Soviet commitment to what is euphemistically called the 'worldwide triumph of socialism,' but in fact connotes global Soviet hegemony," before going on to highlight a number of key areas where they believed the 'professional' analysts had got it wrong. Wolfowitz has since claimed; "The B-Team demonstrated that it was possible to construct a sharply different view of Soviet motivation from the consensus view of the analysts, and one that provided a much closer fit to the Soviet's observed behavior." The conclusions of Team B have since been proven to be for the most part highly inaccurate worst-case scenarios but they did prove to be highly effective in discrediting the policy of détente and the SALT II strategic arms limitations talks and won over U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan giving Wolfowitz two very influential allies. Another invaluable ally was Harvard University graduate student Francis Fukuyama whom Wolfowitz invited to work for him as an intern over that summer.

Related Topics:
U.S. Secretary of Defense - Donald Rumsfeld - U.S. President - Ronald Reagan - Harvard University - Francis Fukuyama

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