Letter from the board
January 2007
Dear Friends,
We would like to introduce you to a new organization – Just Foreign Policy – that aims to change the United States and the world by changing U.S. foreign policy. Given the Bush Administration’s stubborn plans for a “surge” or escalation of the Iraq war in the face of unprecedented opposition, it’s not a moment too soon for you to join us.
We have created this membership organization, which thousands of people have joined in the last few months, whose goal is to become a powerful political force that can convince our political leaders to "change course" not just in Iraq but in the rest of the world. And not just the Bush administration but the Congress and all future governments of the United States.
There are already many millions of Americans who fully understand what is wrong with the "empire" approach to foreign policy and would like the United States to be a law-abiding country that seeks international co-operation and peaceful relations among nations. The main problem is that these millions have little voice in decision making or even the political debate that reaches 90 percent of the country through the mass media.
We can see the results of this lack of organized political voice and power every day. The Iraq Study Group, despite its seeming realization that the Iraq war is lost, felt little pressure to propose the obvious solution of getting out. Our government continues to consider the "option" of bombing Iran. It spends hundreds of millions of dollars in Latin America trying to counteract the programs of democratically elected, progressive governments.
Moveon.org showed that it is possible to create a powerful membership organization that can change politics in the United States. And a decade ago, Americans had no voice in the debate over international trade and commercial policy – that has now changed, and as a result even the most powerful corporate and ideological interests in the country can’t necessarily win new so-called "free trade" agreements.
We can also change U.S. foreign policy. Just Foreign Policy works with other, established groups – for example, we are organizing a petition with Peace Action (formerly SANE and The Nuclear Freeze), the country’s largest grassroots peace group, against a possible military attack on Iran. But we believe that there is a need for a new membership organization whose goal is to change the overall purpose and direction of U.S. foreign policy in a number of areas.
And the Iraq war, as well as the Bush presidency, has made people increasingly ready for real change.
So please take the 60 seconds to join us. You can sign our petition against the “surge”. You can also sign up for a daily or weekly summary of the major foreign policy news. Occasionally we may ask you for another 30 seconds to sign a petition, and there will be more on-the-ground activities for those who want to get involved as activists.
But most importantly please tell your friends and interested people. It is the members that make this organization. We are in this for the long haul, and we intend to win.
Sincerely,
The Just Foreign Policy Board of Directors
Tom Andrews, former Member of Congress from Maine and National Director of Win Without War
Sarah Babb, Associate Professor of Sociology at Boston College
Dean Baker, macroeconomist and Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Julian Bond, Board Chairman of the NAACP since 1998 and Professor of History at the University of Virginia
Robert L. Borosage, Co-Director of the Campaign for America's Future
Jeff Faux, Founding President and Distinguished Fellow at the Economic Policy Institute
Tom Hayden, elected to the California Assembly and Senate for eighteen years and is national Co-Director of the No More Sweatshops campaign
Suzanne Helburn, Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Colorado at Denver
Lisa Hoyos, President of the Board of the California Coalition for Fair Trade and Human Rights
Gilbert M. Joseph, Farnam Professor of History and International Studies at Yale University
Dal LaMagna, founder of the Progressive Government Institute and a member of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities
Vicente Navarro, Professor of Public Policy, Sociology, and Policy Studies at Health Policy and Management and International Health at Johns Hopkins University
Mark Weisbrot, President of Just Foreign Policy and Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
