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242. Can German Locomotive Drive the European Economy?
- Author:
- Jan Neutze and Frances G. Burwell
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- During the second half of 2006 and in early 2007, the German economic engine seemed to gain speed, moving into recovery after several years of stagnation. Whether this recovery is sustainable is still unclear, however. With its reliance on exports, Germany remains vulnerable to any downturn in the global economy. Nor is it yet clear that the recent upswing will result in long term job growth and increased consumer spending. To reinforce this recovery, the chancellor should go beyond an economic policy based on balancing the budget and reducing corporate taxes. She should focus now on creating more flexible conditions of employment, so that more workers can be hired and companies can expand, and should work with German business to develop the successor industries to today's export champions. Her government must also rethink the failed policy of subsidizing the eastern Länder, and take steps to deal with the long term challenges of an aging workforce and an education system that does not produce workers with the right skills. Chancellor Merkel knows that coping with globalization will require a liberalized economy with more freedom and flexibility for its workers and its companies.
- Topic:
- Economics, Political Economy, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Germany
243. What Could Go Wrong?
- Author:
- Harry Harding
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- China has done remarkably well in its development over the last twenty-five years. It has achieved and sustained high rates of economic growth, lifting millions out of poverty. It has achieved a significant place in the international economy. It is widely regarded as a major power, not only in Asia but also increasingly on a global stage. Looking ahead, however, things could go wrong – possibly quite seriously wrong – for China, and if China experiences serious problems, its size and its expanded role in the world mean that there could be serious consequences for the broader international community as well.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
244. China Succeeding Beyond Expectations
- Author:
- Albert Kiedel
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- What are the implications if China sustains nine-percent growth through 2010? This is the basic question posed by conference organizers. The relevant time frame is what matters most. If China merely maintains nine-percent growth until the year 2010, the implications are not great. Too much is left unknown about what comes after 2010. Even with nine-percent growth over the next five years, China in 2010 will still be at a relatively low level of performance, both overall and in per-capita terms. But if sustaining nine-percent growth to 2010 means that China has launched on-going reforms that will continue to engineer institutional changes needed for a market economy's successful commercial and political management, then the resulting successful development trajectory in the rest of the century will generate profound and, from today's perspective, unexpected consequences.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
245. Comments on China as a Regional Player
- Author:
- Edward J. Lincoln
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- China ought to be able to produce a relatively high economic growth rate over at least the next decade. There are a number of problems confronting the economy, but one of the great lessons of the past half-century of world economic growth is how much growth can result even when economies have considerable institutional flaws. Economists usually speak about the need to get the “fundamentals” right to produce economic growth, but we should also keep in mind that nations need not get have a perfect set of institutions and rules to generate growth.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
246. Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic Ambitions: Building an Effective Policy Coordination Process
- Author:
- F. Stephen Larrabee, Jeffrey Simon, Jan Neutze, and Steven Pifer
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Since his inauguration in January 2005, Ukrainian President Viktor Yush-chenko has repeatedly stated that his foremost foreign policy goal is his country's integration into European and Euro-Atlantic institutions. “Joining Europe” today, be it preparing a country for a bid to enter the European Union or NATO, is an extraordinarily complex business. It will require the development of a consensus on a Euro-Atlantic policy course among the country's political leadership. It will also require an effective and coherent policy coordination structure. As the experience of other Eastern European countries has demonstrated, integration into the European Union or NATO is not just the responsibility of the foreign and defense ministries. It also requires coordination with the ministries of economy, justice, agrarian policy, transportation and communications, internal affairs – indeed, virtually every ministry in the Ukrainian Cabinet.
- Topic:
- International Relations and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Asia
247. Taiwan In Search of a Strategic Consensus
- Author:
- Banning Garrett, Franklin Kramer, and Jonathan M. Adams
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- At the beginning of 2006, Taiwan is confronted with difficult choices that it currently seems unprepared to face. Cross-Strait tensions have diminished in the last year and Taiwan's economy has grown at an annualized rate of about 3.6 percent, which is respectable if not robust by East Asian standards. Taiwan, however, also faces an East Asian future which likely includes an increasingly important role for its relations with the Mainland as China becomes an ever more important economic and political factor regionally and globally.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- China, Taiwan, East Asia, and Asia
248. Transatlantic Transformation: Building a NATO-EU Security Architecture
- Author:
- David C. Gompert, Jan M. Lodal, Leslie S. Lebl, Walter B. Slocombe, and Frances G. Burwell
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Since 1989, the security environment facing the United States and its European allies has changed beyond recognition. The Soviet Union has disintegrated, as has the division of Europe between East and West, and new threats have arisen. The disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s demonstrated that instability and war emerging from failing states could affect the peace and security of Europe. After 2001, global terrorism became the priority threat, especially when linked with the prospect of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, and Development
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia
249. Libya and the United States: The Next Steps
- Author:
- Ronald Bruce St. Jon
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- On the evening of December 19, 2003, the Libyan Foreign Ministry issued a statement, the product of nine months of tough negotiations with the United Kingdom and United States, renouncing weapons of mass destruction and related missile delivery systems. The statement said Libya had “decided, with its own free will, to get rid of these substances, equipment and programmes and to be free from all internationally banned weapons.” It added Libya intended to comply with the Missile Technology Control Regime, the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the International Atomic Energy Agency (iaea) Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol, and international biological and chemical weapons agreements and treaties. It pledged to “take these measures in a transparent way that could be proved, including accepting immediate international inspection.” Soon after the issuance of this statement, Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi publicly endorsed the move, terming it a “wise decision and a courageous step.”
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, Libya, and North Africa
250. China and the World Economy Workshop. Conference Summary
- Author:
- Robert Kapp
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Peter Bottelier, the principal presenter of this topic, opened by noting that much discussion now surrounds the evolving “new line” embodied in China's economic plans for the next five years. The three agricultural questions, self-innovation, regional adjustment, opening up of a win-win “harmonious society,” and economizing on energy use: what do these and other much-discussed new terms really mean?
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia