David L. Boren

David Boren has been President of the University of Oklahoma and Professor in the Department of Political Science since 1995. A Rhodes Scholar, David Boren is a former governor of Oklahoma and served as U.S. Senator from Oklahoma from 1979 to 1994. He chaired the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1987 to 1993—the committee's longest-serving Chair.

A LETTER TO AMERICA
David Boren
University of Oklahoma Press (2008)

"A Letter to America boldly faces the question of how long the United States, with only six percent of the world's population, can remain a global superpower....David Boren explains with unsparing clarity why the country is at a crossroads and why decisive action is urgently needed. He draws on his experiences as the longest-serving chair of the U.S. Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence and as a state governor and leader of a major public university.

America is in trouble because its people are losing faith in the country’s future. What the country needs, Boren asserts, are major reforms to restore the ability of our political system to act responsibly. We have shared values, and we should use them to replace cynicism with hope and the determination to build a better future. Bipartisan cooperation on behalf of national interests needs to replace destructive partisanship, and we should not rule out electing a president independent of both existing parties. We must fashion a post–Cold War foreign policy that fits twenty-first-century realities—including several contending superpowers. We must adopt campaign finance reform that restores political power to the voters, rather than special interests. Universal health care coverage, budget deficit reduction, affordable higher education, and a more progressive tax structure will strengthen the middle class.

Boren also describes how we can renew our emphasis on quality primary and secondary education, revitalize our spirit of community, and promote volunteerism. He urges the teaching of more American history and government, for without educated citizens our system cannot function and our rights will not be preserved. Unless we understand how we became great, we will not remain great. The plan Boren puts forward is ambitious and hopeful. It challenges Americans to look into the future, decide what we want to be and where we want to go, and then implement the policies and actions we need to take us there...." (from University of Oklahoma Press)

"This is a small book that poses a big question: How long will the United States remain the world’s leading superpower, or at least one of the world’s most influential nations?

According to this thoughtful and thought-provoking volume, the answer is: Not for long — unless we take quick and decisive action to reform our political system, address our most pressing domestic needs and prepare for a world with multiple superpowers.

Former Sen. David Boren (D-Okla.), who has headed the University of Oklahoma since leaving the Senate after three terms in 1994, says the “modest objective” of his “Dear America” letter is to share what he has seen and learned during more than 30 years of public service.

But there is nothing modest about this book. Indeed, it is a bold and ambitious call to action to regain the world’s respect — and its genesis was Boren’s interviews of finalists for the Rhodes Scholarship. Boren, a former Rhodes Scholar himself, was dismayed to learn that the finalists assumed that America would continue to dominate the world stage in the 21st century as it did in the 20th.

“At the end of the day, I found myself haunted by the failure of the very best and brightest among us to focus on the things that would determine our future,” he writes in explaining his motivation for writing his book.

He also makes it clear, as he did when I met with him while teaching at the University of Oklahoma last fall, that the book is timed to coincide with the 2008 presidential election.

“Perhaps it was the irrelevance of most of the public discussion in a crucial presidential election year that finally caused me to put pen to paper,” he writes.

Boren decries the destructive nature of elevating partisan advantage over the national interest, which “is exactly what happened in recent years.” This has fueled a cynicism that “undermines the foundations of our political system by leaving people with a sense that they cannot make a difference by getting involved.”

As a response, his corrective measures echo the promises of the presidential candidates, ranging across the domestic and foreign policy front....

...the proposals and ideas he puts forth in this challenging book...deserve serious consideration by all Americans." Albert Eisele, TheHill.com

“Wise, timely, and constructive views from one of the leading public servants and educators of our time. This book should be read, re-read, and passed along to all who care about our country and its future.” David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of John Adams

“Here now is the letter to us all, the one we have been waiting for—and sorely need. It is a message of alarm but also of hope. Our problems as Americans are huge but most are of our own making and thus capable of our own fixing. I say, Amen, David Boren.” Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

“David Boren’s unique insights present us with a summons to action....Above all, his letter calls us back from the precipice of narrow self-interest to the solid ground of the public good.” Ruth Simmons, President of Brown University

“A powerful, compelling analysis of the major crises facing the United States today. Treating each crisis in a nonpartisan, compassionate way, and believing that ‘we Americans are natural problem solvers,’ Boren suggests excellent solutions for the well-being of our own and future generations of Americans.” Howard R. Lamar, former President of Yale University

“David Boren defines our nation’s challenges with clarity, common sense, and courage. Americans concerned about the country, their children, and grandchildren will find Boren’s diagnosis and prescriptions refreshing, compelling—and inspiring.” Sam Nunn, U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1972–1997

DEMOCRACY, MORALITY, AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE IN AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY
David L. Boren, Edward J. Perkins, editors
University of Oklahoma Press (2002)

University of Oklahoma president David L. Boren and Ambassador Edward J. Perkins explore United States foreign policy with the thoughts of thirteen renowned practitioners and scholars, including Lawrence Eagleburger, Paul Kennedy, Phyllis Oakley, George Mitchell, Lady Margaret Thatcher, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (from University of Oklahoma Press)

“For any reader engrossed in world events and in 21st century world politics, Boren and Perkins’ book is required reading.” Daily Oklahoman

PREPARING AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
David L. Boren, Edward J. Perkins, editors
University of Oklahoma Press (1999)

"In 1997 and 1999 a very select group of analysts, practitioners, and scholars assembled at the University of Oklahoma to lay the groundwork for a new United States foreign policy that will promote our nation's ideals while protecting its vital interests in the post-cold war era. This carefully edited collection includes major policy statements and round-table discussions by the best minds of our time as they devise criteria for the employment of military force, economic and trade priorities, a broad covert intelligence mission, and the protection of our planet's ecology—all in the context of our pluralistic society and instantaneous global communication. Beltway practitioners, serious students of foreign policy, and concerned lay people will find this a must-read book in today's global economy, where mid-level powers possess weapons of mass destruction, and internal wars and terrorism are on the increase. This book about the opportunities and challenges facing the United States will also be widely read in courses on international relations and foreign policy."

"What a wonderful array of experts, whose writing is fresh and whose insights are up to date! The individual contributions are of the quality one would expect during a presidential briefing at the White House." – Lock K. Johnson, author of America as a World Power.

Contributors: David M. Abshire, Mikael S. Adolphson, Jan C. Berris, Max N. Berry, David L. Boren, Alfred S. Bradford, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Luke R. Corbett, Edwin G. Corr, Richard A. Cosier, Robert H. Cox, William J. Crowe, Jr., Lee Cullum, David Dary, Marlan Downey, Archie Dunham, J. Rufus Fears, Robert M. Gates, David R. Gergen, Rajeev Gowda, Richard M. Helms, Jim L. Hoagland, James R. Jones, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Henry A. Kissinger, Li Daoyu, Colleen McCullough, George C. McGhee, Francis J. McNeil, Jack F. Matlock, John Milewski, Walter Mondale, Sam Nunn, Robert Oakley, Michel Oksenberg, Edward J. Perkins, W. DeVier Pierson, Michael F. Price, Peter W. Rodman, Lois Romano, Richard L. Sandor, Robert A. Scalapino, Stephen Sloan, Gaddis Smith, George J. Tenet, Zev M. Trachtenberg, William H. Webster, John S. Wolf, R. James Woolsey, Clayton K. Yeutter, Zhou Dunren. (from University of Oklahoma Press)

"Boren (a former US senator and now president of the Univ. of Oklahoma) and Perkins (a former ambassador and director of the Univ. of Oklahoma's International Programs Center) have put together contributions from some of the heaviest hitters in the field of foreign policy. National security advisors (notably Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinzki), ambassadors, and the like abound. In all, they cover about every aspect of US foreign policy one can think of: relations with particular nations (especially China), military challenges, intelligence gathering, trade policy, environmental policy, the role of the media. While each piece stands alone, collectively the book reveals an overall elite consensus on what the US faces in the world and what it should do in the world. Relief that the Cold War is over is mixed with a muted nostalgia for the certainties of that era, when the US was the leader of the Free World, and that was that. Today, among emerging and competing power centers in a world of increasing complexity, Americas role is less clear. But it must avoid a retreat into isolationism when facing diplomatic, trade, and, somewhat more cautiously, military challenges. National bipartisan consensus should be reached on just what values and goals the US wishes to pursue, and domestic issues must not be allowed to interfere too deeply in the pursuit of this national interest...." (from Kirkus Reviews)

ENERGY POLICY ASSESSMENT
A New War Between the States?
(An AEI Round Table Held on October 2, 1975, at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research)
Melvin R. Laird, David Boren, editors
AEI Press (1976)