Dr. Constantine C. Menges, R.I.P.

(Washington, D.C.): On Sunday, the Nation lost one of its most creative and forceful exponents of democracy and the Reagan principle of “peace through strength” with the untimely passing of Dr. Constantine C. Menges. The Center for Security Policy, with which Dr. Menges was associated both as a Fellow and as a longtime and valued colleague, mourns his loss at a time when his principled, courageous and deeply knowledgeable intellect is more needed than ever.

Constantine was a world-class mind and prolific author. His wide-ranging interests, formidable intelligence, impressive language skills (giving him a command of French, German, Spanish and Russian) and powerful and persuasive rhetorical abilities made him a true national asset. His written legacy includes innumerable articles and seven important books including: Spain: The Struggle for Democracy (1979), The Future of Germany and the Atlantic Alliance (1991), Transitions from Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe (1994), Partnerships for Peace, Democracy and Prosperity (1997), The Marshall Plan From Those Who Made It Succeed (1999). At the time of his death, he had just completed the manuscript for yet another work entitled, China, the Gathering Threat: The Strategic Challenge of China and Russia.

While Dr. Menges distinguished himself through his association with many of the leading policy research institutions in Washington – including the Hudson Institute where he was a Senior Fellow from 2000 until his death – he was also an accomplished policy practitioner. Particularly noteworthy in light of the present controversy surrounding the quality, reliability and need for reform of U.S. intelligence is the fact that Constantine was one of a relatively few individuals who served with great competence in both senior ranks of the intelligence community and as a top policy-maker. During the Reagan Administration, he was a National Intelligence Officer at the CIA and subsequently a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. About the latter period, he wrote one of his best-known and most influential books, Inside the National Security Council (1988).

Dr. Menges’ service in government during that period included the formulation and adoption of key strategies aimed at countering Soviet political warfare and aggression through proxies, and at encouraging transitions to democracy abroad. These strategies were shaped by his experiences as a young man including, among other, his extensive travel throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe and Latin America in 1961. He took justified pride in the help he gave during these travels to individuals seeking to escape as the Berlin Wall was being built. Subsequently, while in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Dr. Menges again helped the forces of freedom by encouraging non-violent civic resistance to the Soviet-led invasion.

In the years after the Reagan Administration, Dr. Menges tirelessly pursued initiatives aimed at encouraging democratic change around the world, with a special focus on the post-communist states, Iraq and Iran and the Americas. For a brief period, he was based at the Center for Security Policy and then, from 1990 to 2000, he founded and directed the Program on Transitions to Democracy at George Washington University. While associated with the University, he also taught courses in related subjects, helping to cultivate in a new generation the attachment to principles of freedom and human rights that were his personal credo – and lasting legacy.