Charles G. Cogan
Associate, International Security Program
Contact:
Telephone: 617-864-3959
Email: chuck_cogan@harvard.edu
Website: http://www.drcharlesgcogan.net
AP Photo
June 28, 2011
"Comfort for Gaddafi, Pain for Obama: Is This the Formula We Want?"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"On June 24, the House of Representatives rejected a bill to authorize U.S. military operations in Libya, thus registering its displeasure with President Obama for not having consulted it before launching hostilities there. Somewhat contradictorily, the House then voted down a second resolution that would have cut off funds for certain types of operations against the Libyan regime. This was the mixed message about American will that has been sent to Libya's grotesque leader."
AP Photo
May 24, 2011
"The Arab Spring in the Southern Mediterranean"
Op-Ed
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
The violence committed by the security forces—particularly in Egypt by the Mabaheth Amn el Dawlah, the State Security Investigation Service—had a profound effect on the population. The most notorious example was that of the young Khaled Said, who was hauled from an internet cafe and beaten to death. The photograph of his mangled face was put on the web by a Google employee in Cairo, Wael Ghonim, who was in turn arrested and imprisoned for some ten days. On his release, he was to emerge as one of the heroes of the Egyptian revolution.
AP Photo
March 24, 2011
"Exponentially Yours: How Facebook Has Destabilized Arab Potentates"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Even Morocco, protected to a degree by the aura of a monarchy that claims descent from the Prophet, has not been spared. There is, in fact, an incipient protest movement that has arisen, stimulated in reaction to the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. The movement, called the 'Movement of 20 February for democracy and liberty now,' has not come out for the removal of the King but rather that the King give up some of his powers and become more of a constitutional monarch...."
AP Photo
March 15, 2011
"Toujours de l'Audace!"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...M. Sarkozy came up with a proposal to create a no-fly zone over Libya but also to engage in surgical strikes. This he did, with the French penchant for secrecy and for creating a surprise effect, without consulting his European allies (except, perhaps, David Cameron), and even, it seems, his new foreign minister, Alain Juppé. M. Sarkozy may not be on the wrong side of history, but he seems to be on the wrong side of the tactical situation. Muammar Gadhafi, with his superiority in equipment and in trained forces, seems to be wrapping up the opposition to his regime."
AP Photo
March 7, 2011
"Curb Your Messianism"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
In a more pragmatic vein, there is the view of Robert Gates, who seems to have acquired a touch of iconoclasm as he nears the end of a highly-regarded term as Secretary of Defense. He had this to say about the no-fly zone last week: "Let's just call a spade a spade. A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses. That's the way you do a no-fly zone. And then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that's the way it starts."
AP Photo
February 10, 2011
"In the Name of God, Go!"
Op-Ed
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
Hosni Mubarak has become a liability for stability. Extreme wealth in the midst of extreme poverty is a shame. Now, every day that goes on, the revelations of the Mubarak family's extreme wealth in the Guardian and other media are a constant repudiation of democratic ideals in a country of (mostly poor) 80 million Egyptians. How can Egyptians achieve democracy with this living counter-example sitting before them?
AP Photo
January 18, 2010
"Facts and Perceptions in Tunisia: Offering Legitimate Technical Assistance (But Not to Put Down a Revolution!)"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
There was also a factual basis for what the French Minister said, in particular the phrase, "to act in order that the right to demonstrate can take place at the same time that security is assured." In the matter of protecting the lives of its own citizens, France, a country that tolerates demonstrations as part of its revolutionary ethos, seems to have found the way to manage these two opposites. In the great demonstrations of May 1968, followed by those of 1986, 1995, and 2010, one astonishing fact emerges: hardly anyone was killed.
September 6, 2006
"From the Fall of France to the Force de Frappe: the Remaking of French Military Power, 1940-62"
Book Chapter
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...de Gaulle had a longer-term view of France's potential foes than most military officers, which allowed him to see beyond the immediate needs of colonial wars."
January 15, 2013
"The Once and Present Ally: France"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"When the new, and pro-American, French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, returned France to the NATO integrated command in the spring of 2009, a number of prominent French figures stated their reservations, the most articulate of whom was the former French foreign minister under François Mitterrand, Hubert Védrine. Much later, and more recently, in a report submitted to President François Hollande on Nov. 12, 2012, Védrine stated that although de Gaulle had been right in 1966, the world had changed since. And the United States, especially with the reelection of Barack Obama, had changed. The Americans now want an increased military role for the Europeans."
AP Photo
September 8, 2011
"The Algerian Connection"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Algeria and the Gaddafi regime have had a common enemy: al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), made up largely of former members of the Algerian terrorist movement, the Islamic Armed Group (GIA). The Algerian Government suppressed this group, which rose up following the Government's cancellation in 1992 of an election that would have led to the victory of the Islamist political party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). The 10-year war that followed ended in a defeat of the GIA and at an appalling cost of lives on both sides. The GIA then became the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat and later officially joined al Qaeda. AQIM has retreated to the Sahel area south of the Saharan desert...."
