When the United States government decides to send troops abroad, Hans Mark is on the job.
Mark, director of Defense Research and Engineering for the U.S. Department of Defense since July 1998, oversees many programs for the defense research development, test and evaluation program at the department and helps make important decisions for U.S. foreign policy. Yesterday in the Dome Room of the Rotunda, he addressed these decision-making strategies.
Before a crowd of about 25 academics, including both faculty members and students, Mark discussed military involvement in the world and two major trends that dominate the world situation today: globalization and world civilization.
He cautioned "this same phenomenon of globalization can deprive people to some extent of identity" often found in tribes and families. Because of this problem, he said he believes we are starting to see more conflicts like tribal wars. He pointed to the conflicts in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and the Middle East as examples of ethnic battles.
He added that these tribal wars are starting to emerge in many other places, such as other areas of Europe.
"I believe this is a world-wide problem," he said.
He said he thought this "tribal warfare" becomes a U.S. problem when it gets so serious people start killing each other.
With this in mind, he said it is necessary for the United States to come up with principles to guide the choice about whether or not to intervene.
Before getting involved, it is essential to make sure that there was a national interest at stake, or that the conflict will not spread to affect our own national interest, he said. He also said he thought the U.S. should get involved if one or more of the sides engaged in the warfare possessed weapons of mass destruction and the capability to use them.
He also cited a humanitarian argument, but said if the U.S. were to bend to this argument, it would have to intervene in all humanitarian atrocities.
Looking to the future, he said transportation and protecting U.S. territory should be the main aims of the military.
Military intelligence should be a chief military function for countries in the next century, he said. "We have to know what is going on in the world better than we know now," he urged.
In this task, he said he thought the United States had an advantage because people from all different parts of the world could have influence in the U.S intelligence system. He said this had worked to our advantage in the past, adding that the U.S. should use the advantage in "broader perspective" in the future.
Prior to his current occupation, Mark taught aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to UT, he was the deputy administrator of NASA and had previously served as the secretary of the Air Force.
Chemical Engineering Professor John P. O'Connell said he thought very highly of the speech.
He said he most significant thing about Mark's speech was that it showed that people in Washington are thinking hard about the military issues that the country faces.
Second-year graduate Engineering student Jeremy Pelstring was also impressed with the lecture. "It was a good speech. I agree with a lot [of what he said]. It was very enlightening to hear a top Pentagon official on the subject"
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