Project for the New American Century

Established in the spring of 1997, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), based in Washington DC, USA in the same building as the American Enterprise Institute, states that it is a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership. It has been labelled as a right-wing think tank by both its supporters and critics.

The PNAC has raised the concern of many, because it proposes military and economic domination of the Earth, of cyberspace, and of near-Earth space by the USA, so as to establish American dominance in world affairs for the indefinite future—hence, "the New American Century".

The chairman of PNAC is William Kristol. Present and former members include Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Richard Armitage, Dick Cheney, Lewis Libby, William J. Bennett, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Ellen Bork, the wife of Judge Robert Bork. A large number of the members are associated with the hawkish neoconservative school of political theory.

The Project is an initiative of the New Citizenship Project, a non-profit 501c3 organization that is funded by the Bradley Foundation [1]. PNAC declares itself to be dedicated to the fundamental propositions that:

• American leadership is good both for America and for the world;
• that such leadership requires military strength, diplomatic energy and commitment to moral principle;
• that too few political leaders today are making the case for global leadership; [and]
• that the United States Government should capitalise on its military and economic superiority to gain unchallengeable superiority through all means necessary, including military.

Proposals by the PNAC and its predecessors and members have called for the United States to abandon the ABM Treaty. The group states that when America alone decides that diplomacy has failed, military action is the best course of action against any country that stands in the way of America's goals. PNAC also advocates the installation of permanent military bases around the world for the establishment of a United States Global Constabulary. This global police force would have the power to keep law and order around the world in accordance with rules that the United States would establish as being proper and just.

Project for a New American Century on Iraq: in September 2000, in the Rebuilding America's Defenses report [2], the PNAC planned an attack on Iraq, independently of whether Saddam Hussein remained in power or not. The report however claimed that a "new Pearl Harbor" would be required in order to justify the Iraq attack plans and US global domination to the public. The September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks provided this opportunity[3].

PNAC's critics have labeled Rebuilding America's Defenses as the Mein Kampf of the 21st century.[4]

The PNAC proposes to control the new "international commons" of space and "cyberspace" and pave the way for the creation of a new military service - U.S. Space Forces - with the mission of space control.

With the election of George W. Bush, many of PNAC's members, e.g.Richard Perle, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and Lewis Libby, were appointed to key positions within the new President's administration. Zalmay Khalilzad became USA ambassador to Afghanistan.

See also: Committee for the Liberation of Iraq

External links

Analysis of PNAC

• General analysis of PNAC
• Plan to attack Iraq
• Sep 11, 2001 attacks as an opportunity
• Paul Reynolds, BBC
• PNAC members and their letters
• Terry Jones: ‘Could Tony Blair look at the internet now, please?’ and ‘Why look in the crystal ball?’
• Interpretation of Michael Meacher, fmr cabinet minister for Tony Blair
• ‘New York, you've been used’ by William Rivers Pitt

PNAC itself

• PNAC Website
• Sep 2000 Rebuilding America's Defenses plan