News Release
October 2001
(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)- Moravian College president
Dr. Ervin J. Rokke, former president of the National Defense University
and a retired Air Force general officer, has taken to the Internet to
answer questions from the College community regarding the recent terrorist
attacks on the United States. Moravian College students, faculty, and
staff, were invited to pose questions to Rokke over a three-day period
from October 10 to12. Those questions are being answered by Rokke and
posted in a special section on the College website dedicated to the
recent tragic events. The postings can be viewed at: www.moravian.edu/NewsInfo/terror/
Rokke's expertise in national defense, military intelligence,
and national security are the product of a 35-year career in the U.S.
Air Force that was distinguished by diplomatic, academic and operational
leadership positions. He serves currently as a member of the Council
on Foreign Relations.
Rokke has responded to a number of difficult and complex
questions about the attack of September 11 and its aftermath. A sampling
of questions already answered and posted on the Web includes: "What
are realistic objectives in the short term and in the long term for
our efforts against terrorism? Can we really eradicate terrorism? What
do you think are possible actions that would achieve favorable objectives
for the U.S. without creating the perception that we are anti-Arab?
What U.S. actions - military and non-military - would our attackers
deem least favorable to their cause?"
In response to the question "In your opinion, what
are our strengths and weaknesses as we pursue these efforts," Rokke
listed several major strengths of the United States government. He said,
"First and foremost, we are a democratic nation with a strong and
united will to prevail. Our resolve as a nation is bolstered by a highly
experienced and skilled team of foreign and defense policy leaders.
The United States also has a fundamental economy and possesses the finest
and most professional military forces in the world."
When asked, "What are some of the domestic costs
of pursuing these efforts and do you think American citizens are willing
to pay them over one year, five years or 10 years?," Rokke said
the war on terrorism would be expensive. He said, "A prolonged
battle against terrorists will not come cheaply. Sophisticated intelligence
collection systems, for example, are very expensive and sometimes difficult
to justify in a democratic context. The emerging notion of homeland
defense, to which we traditionally have paid little attention, will
require both economic resources and people. Substantial increases in
foreign aid may well be required to neutralize the troubling (and increasing)
gap between the "haves" and "have nots."
The Ideas and Issues Committee of IMPACT, Moravian College's
student activities program board, sponsored the online question and
answer session with president Rokke.
Dr. Ervin J. Rokke began his tenure as president of Moravian
College and Moravian Theological Seminary on August 1, 1997. He is a
Harvard-educated political scientist who held the rank of lieutenant
general in the US Air Force. In his military career, Rokke held leadership
positions as an educator, diplomat, and military intelligence officer
in the United States and abroad, including Germany, the former Soviet
Union, and the United Kingdom. He also served as chair of the political
science department and dean of the faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Prior to his appointment at Moravian, Rokke was president of the National
Defense University, the premier joint military educational institution
of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Moravian College is a private, coeducational, selective
liberal arts college located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tracing its
founding to 1742, it is recognized as America's sixth-oldest college.
