Research Areas
National Security 
The primary purpose of the federal government is to protect and defend the United States and its citizens. The past decade has seen an ominous rise in terrorist threats and attacks against Americans that culminated in the devastating events of September 11, 2001. Now engaged in a war on terrorism on many fronts, including Afghanistan and Iraq, the US must work to defeat Al-Qaeda and other radical extremists whose seek to destroy our way of life, and our interests at home and abroad. The United States also faces other leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, North Korea's Kim John Il, and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose policies regarding trade and nuclear proliferation and anti-American rhetoric threaten both our economic and national security interests.
Given the current war on terrorism and the potential for widespread conflict in many parts of the world, protecting US interests and those of our allies must be the top priority of Members of Congress and the Administration. The United States' national defense and foreign policy must center on two goals: The United States must win the war on terrorism abroad as well as be capable of defending itself against any attack or significant security threat at home; and we must foster respect for American ideals-respect for the rule of law, limited government, democracy, economic liberty, private property, and human rights including women's rights. The United States long-term security depends on the growth of respect for these principles globally to reduce potential conflict.
Invest in Maintaining the Best, Most Professional and Technologically Advanced Military in the World
The United States remains the world's only super power. Therefore, the United States faces many external threats and shoulders the enormous responsibility of protecting itself and its allies. To effectively defend our country and our interests, the United States must continue to have the most professional, technologically advanced, well-equipped military in the history of the world. To accomplish this goal, Congress and the Administration must invest in recruiting and maintaining our professional volunteer armed forces; developing and obtaining the most effective weapons, tools and strategies for all types of warfare; and preparing militarily to engage in and defeat the enemy in unconventional warfare such as counterinsurgencies and peacekeeping.
Invest in Intelligence and Encourage Real Collaboration among the Intelligence Community
Leaders in both the Congress and the Administration must continue to invest in human intelligence and capacity building to help ensure that technology empowers our military deployed abroad and those officials who protect our homeland on US soil. Leaders must not allow technology o serve as a replacement for the human capabilities and first person knowledge of cultures and nations that threaten US interests. Intelligence gathering must also be adapted to address the continuing threat of terrorist attacks that may employ a variety of unconventional strategies.
Those agencies and institutions including the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency who defend our nation against terrorist attacks such as the use of biological weapons, airplane hijackings, and suicide bombers must continue to streamline bureaucratic procedures and work to overcome longstanding turf battles and rivalries that can impede intelligence efforts and threaten the security of both military and civilian targets.
Maintain Our Commitment to Promoting Women's Rights, Civil Society, Respect for the Rule of Law, and Democracy in Countries around the Globe
Advancing women's economic, social, and political rights in developing countries promotes economic growth and political stability, nurtures healthy families, improves children's education, and provides a moderating voice in religion. In short, empowering half the population in countries in the greater Middle East and North Africa region, in Southeast Asia and in the former Soviet Republics can help inoculate the US against terrorist attacks. It is in the United States' interest to have allies throughout the world who share our values of respect for individual rights, the rule of law, economic liberty, and limited government. In addition, the United States should maintain its commitment to helping emerging democratic countries build the long-lasting institutional capacity to sustain the existence of a vibrant civil society that works to not only secure but safeguard women's rights.
The Independent Women's Forum has seen firsthand how committed women can make a difference in society and their country's future. IWF's Women Leaders Program helped identify, train, and support a core group of pro-democracy Iraqi women who were at the forefront of the democratization process in Iraq. By hosting conferences, facilitating information exchange, and providing resources, including extensive reports and guides, IWF trained these women to participate in the rebuilding of their country and fostered a greater understanding of the value of the ideals of limited government and rule of law in Iraq's democratization process.
Promoting and supporting stable democratic nations who are allies of the United States reduces the potential for national and regional conflict and increases opportunities for women and men through economic growth, international investment and free trade.
Promote Religious Freedom
The freedom to worship according to your own conscious is a central human right. Governments that compel citizens to worship as they dictate seldom respect other human rights and often use religion as a justification for the oppression of those who do not share or comply with their religious beliefs. Therefore, in the interest of global stability and national security, the United States should foster respect for religious freedom at home and in countries around the world. And, although religious tolerance is a central tenant of liberal democracy, allowing freedom to worship must not extend to allowing or in any way condoning violence and the subjugation of human rights in the name of religion. The United States must continue to fight the war on terrorism and root out those who would use religion to justify violence through public diplomacy that works to combat the spread of violence and extremism in the name of Islam.
Engage in Diplomacy
The United States needs to actively engage in dialogue with countries that represent a serious threat to our interests and the interests of our allies, including states such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea. This kind of diplomacy doesn't mean capitulation; it is merely an additional tool in our national security arsenal. The United States can stand strong and defend our interests, while encouraging a dialogue with these countries in the hopes of building relations that will lay the groundwork for better relations in the future and provide the information needed to make decisions in a complex global arena.
Fight Human Trafficking
Despite the formal abolition of slavery by every nation in the world, contemporary forms of slavery such as human trafficking, debt bondage and forced labor proliferate throughout the world. The U.S. government estimates that more than 800,000 people are trafficked annually. Out of the 800,000 trafficked victims, 80 percent of them are females and 50 percent are minors.
Often poor women are lured from their homes under false pretenses and promises of employment in other countries only to find themselves held as sex slaves in a brothel or forced into domestic servitude. In addition, the International Labor Convention reports that millions are enslaved in forced labor where people are legally recruited for jobs only to find miserable working conditions and debt bondage. These workers wages are almost nonexistent after deductions are made for the provision of their squalid, employer provided meals and accommodations, and many find themselves unable to earn enough money to pay off their debts and return to their families.
The U.S. Government has already taken the lead in combating human trafficking and forced labor by passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ("TVPA") the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 that provide the legal, diplomatic, and institutional tools to combat trafficking in persons both worldwide and domestically. Accordingly, the United States must continue to support and fund the TVPA, and the government agencies charged with its implementation, to combat trafficking domestically and on a global level by helping all nations take the appropriate measures to: protect people from being trafficked; prosecute and punish those who traffic and/or otherwise enslave humans through debt bondage and forced labor; and, to prevent the occurrence of this crime against humanity altogether.
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