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By J. Sharon Yee Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The Council of American Ambassadors, an association of more than 200 active and retired U.S. ambassadors, convened at the Freud Playhouse on Tuesday for its spring 2000 conference.

Richard Rosecrance, political science professor and director of the Center for International Relations at UCLA, opened the meeting - which was also attended by students - with a discussion of U.S. foreign policy after the Cold War.

"In order to develop rational defense planning when a conflict is over, we often feel the need to determine who the new enemy is," he said. "But it's easy to decide too early who that enemy's going to be."

Rosecrance cited an example of the British assuming the United States to be their new enemy following the end of World War I, before realizing the potential for the two to be allies.

Another significant aspect of post-Cold War policy is relations with Asian nations. In light of growing tension between China and Taiwan, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Stanley Roth addressed Asia's economic and political development since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

"This is a period of tremendous growth and dynamism within Asia," Roth said, noting recent significant growth in the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia.

"The resurgence of economic institutions within Asia is a major step towards Asian resurgence," he said.

Roth also promoted the potential of China's admittance to the World Trade Organization to "transform China's economy and also improve U.S. trade."

"It would be a win-win situation for both countries because it would help increase the chance of both nations reaching significant agreement in a difficult year," he said.

William Perry, former secretary of defense from 1994-97, discussed 10 things he never imaged a secretary of defense could do.

On the top of his list was witnessing Americans and Russians agreeing to put a brigade under an American general to help stop the war in Bosnia in December 1995.

"The 1990s were pivotal years in making the transition from the Cold War to the post-Cold War era," Perry said, also highlighting the time he watched Americans, Ukranians and Russians work together to destroy Russian missile silos.

Lewis Kaden, chairman of the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel, a group of 25 foreign affairs experts that evaluate the entire overseas presence of the U.S. government, spoke about the panel's widening agenda.

"No longer is it about simply intellectually analyzing political events of the Cold War and of post-Cold War times, but there are more challenges and changes because of the spread of democratic open markets."

Kaden also noted changes that need to be made within embassies and consulates to help them become more effective, such as securing the infrastructure of physical buildings, addressing technological inadequacies, and providing adequate housing for diplomats and their families.

Kaden said embassies in Beijing and Kiev are prime examples of buildings that are in dire need of secure facilities .

"It's a disgrace that one of the strongest countries in the world does not have the capacity for its diplomats to communicate with each other across the hall or with people in Washington," he said.

Peter Tarnoff, former undersecretary of state for political affairs, concluded the meeting by addressing the presumption that the United States is the world's only superpower.

"The U.S. is by far the most dominant nation in looking at the standard criteria of power, but when you're sitting in Washington, it's not that simple," he said. "The application of this power is not that easy or self-evident, and always subject to doubt."

Tarnoff cited humanitarian intervention in countries where the United States does not have any strategic or economic interest as an example of a dilemma that complicates the power the United States has.

In his concluding remarks, Perry encouraged students in the audience to seriously consider a career in public service.

"It's not a way of getting rich, but there is nothing that can make you feel better about what you're doing for your country," he said.

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