and you impose real sanctions if they fail to do so. That’s what finances the insurgency in Colombia, which is what keeps us in there in the first place. We’ve lost sight of that. We’re fighting the snake’s tail. We’re not doing anything about its head.”
Benton was silent for a moment. Then he got up and poured more scotch into his glass. He sat down and took a sip.
Olsen leaned forward in his chair.
“Senator, you want my strategic priorities? One, we need to accept the reality of the Shia alliance and work with its moderate leaders instead of pretending its threat can be dealt with by the relevant states. Two, we need to get Syria and Iraq talking seriously to end their dispute over the Euphrates, and we need to lead a broader water conference in the Middle East. We need to find a way of dealing more effectively with the insurgency in Pakistan and of transitioning from the Badur regime back to a democratic form of government. We also need to give counterinsurgency aid to Indonesia if we want to prevent it becoming the next Pakistan. We need to get the Indians talking with the Bangladeshis, and I believe in the end we will need to provide significant aid for the resettlement of the Bay of Bengal water refugees. Officially, more than eleven million are already in India, and in reality it’s probably more than double that. So if we’re going to have to help, let’s start doing it and not wait for a regional war to break out before we act. We need urgently to strengthen the global quarantine framework. We need to start offering asylum to Russian opposition leaders as a first step to achieving the restoration of meaningful democracy there. And we need to put troops in the Congo and develop a multistate solution to the political breakdown of Central Africa.”
“Why the Congo?”
“The civil war in the Congo has gone on for sixty years. Eighteen million people have died.”
“Granted. On a humanitarian level, I agree. Where’s the U.S. interest?” “The Congo conflict destabilizes the entire central African region. This sends refugees to North Africa, which destabilizes those countries and adds to environmental migration from them toward Europe. This means more refugees crossing the Mediterranean toward Spain, Italy, and Greece, who try to keep them out. This means these southern European countries are effectively fighting a low intensity naval war against civilian populations. Given the populations we’re talking about, this is also a racial war, and the countries prosecuting it are becoming increasingly xenophobic. These countries are our allies. Xenophobic countries do not make good allies for the United States, sir.”
Benton was impressed. He didn’t want to show it. “That’s a wish list,” he said.
“It is for you. For me, it’s a to-do list.”
“Nothing’s a to-do list from Yale, Dr. Olsen,” said Benton pointedly.
Olsen stared at him for a moment, then silently shook his head.
“Tell me about emissions,” said Benton. “You haven’t mentioned that.”
“Your position’s well known on that issue, Senator.”
“You said you were going to tell me your strategic priorities. Isn’t emissions among them?”
“We need to develop a standing mechanism involving ourselves, the EuroCore, Brazil, Russia, India, Japan, and China to controllably reduce them.” Olsen’s tone was mechanical, as if he was saying it for form’s sake, not expecting the senator to agree with any of it. “That puts ninety percent of the world’s emissions on the table.”
“You wouldn’t use Kyoto?”
“I would pull out of Kyoto. I opposed Kyoto 3. It’s no secret. They gave you a briefing about me, didn’t they?”
“You said it was too weak. Maybe we can make Kyoto 4 stronger.”
Olsen shook his head. “Kyoto’s all process. Right now, the illusion that we can solve things through Kyoto is the most dangerous piece
Benton was silent for a moment. Then he got up and poured more scotch into his glass. He sat down and took a sip.
Olsen leaned forward in his chair.
“Senator, you want my strategic priorities? One, we need to accept the reality of the Shia alliance and work with its moderate leaders instead of pretending its threat can be dealt with by the relevant states. Two, we need to get Syria and Iraq talking seriously to end their dispute over the Euphrates, and we need to lead a broader water conference in the Middle East. We need to find a way of dealing more effectively with the insurgency in Pakistan and of transitioning from the Badur regime back to a democratic form of government. We also need to give counterinsurgency aid to Indonesia if we want to prevent it becoming the next Pakistan. We need to get the Indians talking with the Bangladeshis, and I believe in the end we will need to provide significant aid for the resettlement of the Bay of Bengal water refugees. Officially, more than eleven million are already in India, and in reality it’s probably more than double that. So if we’re going to have to help, let’s start doing it and not wait for a regional war to break out before we act. We need urgently to strengthen the global quarantine framework. We need to start offering asylum to Russian opposition leaders as a first step to achieving the restoration of meaningful democracy there. And we need to put troops in the Congo and develop a multistate solution to the political breakdown of Central Africa.”
“Why the Congo?”
“The civil war in the Congo has gone on for sixty years. Eighteen million people have died.”
“Granted. On a humanitarian level, I agree. Where’s the U.S. interest?” “The Congo conflict destabilizes the entire central African region. This sends refugees to North Africa, which destabilizes those countries and adds to environmental migration from them toward Europe. This means more refugees crossing the Mediterranean toward Spain, Italy, and Greece, who try to keep them out. This means these southern European countries are effectively fighting a low intensity naval war against civilian populations. Given the populations we’re talking about, this is also a racial war, and the countries prosecuting it are becoming increasingly xenophobic. These countries are our allies. Xenophobic countries do not make good allies for the United States, sir.”
Benton was impressed. He didn’t want to show it. “That’s a wish list,” he said.
“It is for you. For me, it’s a to-do list.”
“Nothing’s a to-do list from Yale, Dr. Olsen,” said Benton pointedly.
Olsen stared at him for a moment, then silently shook his head.
“Tell me about emissions,” said Benton. “You haven’t mentioned that.”
“Your position’s well known on that issue, Senator.”
“You said you were going to tell me your strategic priorities. Isn’t emissions among them?”
“We need to develop a standing mechanism involving ourselves, the EuroCore, Brazil, Russia, India, Japan, and China to controllably reduce them.” Olsen’s tone was mechanical, as if he was saying it for form’s sake, not expecting the senator to agree with any of it. “That puts ninety percent of the world’s emissions on the table.”
“You wouldn’t use Kyoto?”
“I would pull out of Kyoto. I opposed Kyoto 3. It’s no secret. They gave you a briefing about me, didn’t they?”
“You said it was too weak. Maybe we can make Kyoto 4 stronger.”
Olsen shook his head. “Kyoto’s all process. Right now, the illusion that we can solve things through Kyoto is the most dangerous piece
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