From Soviets to Saddam: Introduction to the Thirtieth Anniversary Symposium
![handle is hein.journals/sjilc30 and id is 187 raw text is: FROM SOVIETS TO SADDAM:
INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY
SYMPOSIUM
By Donna E. Arzt* with Anna G. Kaminska**
I. INTRODUCTION
It could not have been a more different world. Yet has it really
changed all that much? Consider these scenarios:
* In 1972-1973, while the first volume of the Syracuse Journal of
International Law and Commerce was in production, the United States
was attempting to disengage from an unpopular war waged for hearts
and minds in order to hold in abeyance the implacable creep of Com-
munism.' Today in 2003, the U.S. employs a shock and awe cam-
paign to hunt down weapons of mass destruction and proposes regime-
change, ostensibly to break the ties between one state and a transna-
tional movement of violent fundamentalists.2 Resisting what was then
an illusive domino theory in Southeast Asia, the White House now
* Bond, Schoeneck & King Distinguished Professor of Law and Co-Director, Center
for Global Law and Practice (formerly known as the International Legal Studies Program),
Syracuse University College of Law. For the record, Professor Arzt reports that she was
President of her high school's World Affairs Council in 1972, the year of the Journal's
founding.
** Syracuse University College of Law class of 2003 and Graduate Research Assistant
to Professor Arzt. Both authors wish to thank A. Michael Pierson, class of 2003 and also
GRA to Professor Arzt, for his help and humor. Ms. Kaminska and Mr. Pierson are both
Third Year Associate Editors of the present volume of the Journal.
1. The United States strategy [in Southeast Asia] generally proceeded from the prem-
ise that the essence of the problem in Vietnam was military, with efforts to 'win the hearts
and minds' of the South Vietnamese populace taking second place. To frustrate North Viet-
namese and Viet Cong efforts, and in part to 'contain' China, the United States eventually
fielded an army of over 500,000 men and engaged in extensive air and naval warfare against
North Vietnam. Federation of American Scientists, Military Analysis Network, Vietnam
War, at http://fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/vietnam.htm (last visited Apr. 12, 2003). See also
RICHARD A. HUNT, PACIFICATION: THE AMERICAN STRUGGLE FOR VIETNAM'S HEARTS AND
MINDS (1995). The concept of winning hearts and minds has been used in a more contem-
porary military context: The West needs a strategy that targets the hearts and minds of
Muslims worldwide and elevates political considerations over strictly militarily operational
ones. Bombing the rubble in Afghanistan is not a recipe for success. Kumar Ramakrishna,
Stop Bombing, and Start Thinking 'Hearts and Minds,' CHRISTIAN SCI. MONITOR, Nov. 1,
2001, at 11.
2. In a strategy Pentagon officials are calling 'shock and awe,' U.S. forces plan to
drop 10 times the bombs in the opening days of the air campaign in Iraq than they did in the
first [Persian] Gulf war.... a combination aimed at overwhelming President Saddam Hus-
sein's defenses, keeping him from mustering catastrophic retaliation and convincing his
forces they can't win. Opening Days of War in Iraq to See 10 Times the Bombing of First
Gulf War, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Mar. 5, 2003. The strategy has been attributed to former
Navy planner, Harlan Ullman. See Senator John S. McCain, foreword to HARLAN ULLMAN
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: AFGHANISTAN, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BEYOND-DEFUSING THE
DANGERS THAT THREATEN AMERICA'S SECURITY (2002).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sjilc30&div=14&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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From Soviets to Saddam: Introduction to the Thirtieth Anniversary Symposium
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