DT and some other members of the Military.com team had the opportunity this morning to sit down at the White House with Deputy National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough, and pick his brain for about 45 minutes.
While much of the conversation focused on the strategy surrounding the fight against al Qaeda (he’s the guy in the blue shirt sitting next to Hillary Clinton in the famous photo above), he did list out what he sees are the future threats facing the world beyond terrorism.
Topping his list of future threats is the problem of nuclear proliferation followed very closely to the threat of Iran getting its hands on some of that prolifered (is that a word?) nuclear material.
“We’re very focused on a test case on [non] proliferation, namely, Iran,” said McDonough. “The President has always entered this through the door of saying, Iran with nuclear weapon, and even an Iran with an illicit nuclear weapons program, is a threat to a whole host of U.S. national security interests, first among them, the global non-proliferation regime and agreement that’s served the world… we see it obviously as a big and grave threat.”
He added that counterproliferation and preventing Iran from getting nukes are worked on daily in his office.
He’s also concerned with “making sure that we’re watching the near-term developments as it relates to new weapons including cyber.”
“Those would be the three [issues] that we spend a lot of time on, Iran gets a lot of attention generally,” said McDonough. “I think the other two [proliferation and new weapons tech] don’t get an amount of public attention commensurate with the amount of time we spend on it or commensurate with the potential impact on the U.S. national interest.”
(I’ve got to say, maybe the general public doesn’t pay a ton of attention to new weapons tech but DT readers sure do.)
McDonough also mentioned possible conflicts over natural resources, and he’s wasn’t talking oil; he was talking about “coming challenges on natural resources including, for example, water in a lot of places, but that’s more a meta or longer term challenge.”
{ 41 comments… read them below or add one }
Proliferated
I am somewhat comforted by the NSC's focus on fresh water. Water scarcity is arguably the most under-reported story of the last decade.
Quick, privatize. The free market will protect us.
Enron tried it. Not much money in the provision of public services.
Why is water a public service? It's not in the Constitution.
/satire
Actually it's only a public service in large cities.
Live 25 miles west of Boston MA and we all use wells.
I've very happy to have our own well. The folks that get water from public service have their rates raised to add money to the coffers of the large cities. Same is true of sewerage.
Be nice to Canada… we have all of it.
Willing To Trade Ogalla for oil.
Famous Photo ??? Because the White House had to admit it was faked and wasn't actually a live situation like they first claimed.
Are you kidding? Do you think the White House would fake a picture of the President cowering while other people look like they are doing yeoman work? Obama looks like a guy that is going to be carrying the coffee not like a President.
Yeah, I know you mean. That's the first thing I think too when I see a black guy in a room full of white people.
Meant to say I know WHAT you mean.
I hadn't thought about race, I was looking at the posture and the clothing. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Indeed that was a staged photo Op. Moreover, it has been confirmed -by numerous sources- that there was NO LIVE FEED when that photo was taken. Even Hillary's people have had to come out and say that she wasn't reacting to a live feed on the montior (because there wasn't one) but rather, she was stifling a yawn.
This place is a mess !!!!
You mean the White House or DT.org???
Thanks McDontknow.
He should be flipping burgers at the McDonald's.
He'd have to show his birth certificate and probably his college transcripts.
Not likely.
It’s good to know that they’re concerned about the far(not so far) future
but for now it’s Iran that bugs me, although I think after we get rid of Iran we may be a bit uncomfortable about China’s activity
The White House IS one of the biggest threats to America, for Christ's sake!!
You mean for Allah's sake. Bin Laden agrees with you.
…’Denis McDonough’ is a career political hack with a Minnesota history degree — and zero military experience.
His opinions (with or without normal WhiteHouse spin) are totally worthless.
the shadow government doesn't want people with real brains and real experience in the White House – it only wants puppets … people who are easy to control and get rid of.
"Topping his list of future threats is the problem of nuclear proliferation followed very closely to the threat of Iran getting its hands on some of that prolifered (is that a word?) nuclear material."
I think that the greatest threats are climate change and resource competition (aka wars). Not much mention of those.
The US Government is sooner or later or going to reaiise it has too many commitments to actively manage. Ignoring whether the US has an active or passive interest in each, the list is very long. including:
1) The rise of fundemtalism and extremist sects (so we're talking groups like Hamas, Al Qaeda, Taliban and so on
2) The danger of terrorist or terrorist related activity on US interests (whether on it's soil or not)
3) International Piracy (Africe etc)
4) Counter Narcotics/trafficking (South American continent
5) Iran's military build-up
6) Iranian nuclear development
7) Taiwan
8) China
8) All the countries in the far eastern arms race (Pakistan, China, India etc)
9) Spratly Island dispute
10) Russia
11) Afghanistan
12) Cuba
13) Africa
14) Libya
15) Syria
16) Possibility of a blockade in the gulf (oil panics etc)
17) North Korea
18) Ballistic Missile Defence
And that's without weapons, recruitment, procurement, maintainance, through life costs and so on.
Sooner or later it will get to the point of the US thinking it needs to send a ship here, a squadron of jets there, the army somewhere else and some agents in another area. This will get complex, and will eventually become unaffordable.
That said, the reason most of us around the world sleep safely at night is because of the hard work that these guys (and guys from other nations, Britain, France, etc) do. They might be shady, but if they weren't shady they wouldn't get the job done!
Makes you wonder about the wisdom of the neocon chickenhawks doesn't it?
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Part of the problem is America foots the bill for eveything. The ancient roman empire endured for so long because after they kicked a$$ they taxed the defeated to pay for their war machine. The US on the other hand pays to fight wars and then pays to rebuild all the infrastruture they just blew to bits.
The second paragraph seems to infer that al Queda is the "guy in the blue shirt next to Hilary Clinton". Most of us here on this forum know that what you meant to say because we all know that al Queda prefers those brown and corn colored shirts.
DT has become a shell of its former self since military.com took it over. Way too much hyperbole about CNN accessible military big budget moves on existing Tech.
Remember this:
Defense Tech examines the intersection of technology and defense from every angle and provides analysis on what’s ahead.
That statement does not reflect what this site has become!
I agree, and while many posts are an analysis of the technology and future, many are just musings or mutterings of the author
how soon everyone forgets about the southern borders, we have had spies from nations that hate us get caught crossing as mex. illegals adn they said how many did we not catch, they smuggle tons of drugs in one move, so , why not a few nukes as the cartel is paid well be terrorists to move spies and equip across our southern borders, wonder why obama is wanting to leave the border so wide open and unprotected ? ?
Let's not forget Romney has declared Russia is our no 1 threat.
I feel sorry for all the young people ,they have no one to look up too, like we had .I wish that I knew the right answers. The answers are in men and women,have faith people!
HOOT,,
what is that on the paper on top of the laptop?
Hmm. I just think of those unfortunates who live near hydraulic fracturing sites and claim that it contaminates their water. Then again, my water in Minneapolis is probably contaminated by farm runoff upstream, along with that Superfund site along the river…
And sometimes it's just a black guy sitting in a chair.
The WH has admitted that the second woman in the picture – dark hair in the back – was photoshopped in. They did not want the Secretary of State to be the only female in the room.
What? The Secretary of State is Female….. it has a bigger pair than the President.