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6681. Hitting the Reset Button on U.S.-Russia Cooperation

Author:
Stephan M. Minikes
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
For many years, I have been engaged in debate with other foreign policy practitioners over the question of whether the United States and Russia should work together. An improved U.S.-Russian relationship offers the prospect not only of improved cooperation on areas of mutual bilateral interest, but also enhanced cooperation within multilateral institutions such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) where I was the U.S. Ambassador between 2001 and 2005.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Economics, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Russia and North America

6682. Central Europe and the Geopolitics of Energy

Author:
Franklin D. Kramer, John R. Lyman, and Mihaela Carstei
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Energy security presents quintessential geopolitical challenges. In Central Europe, achieving energy security can be a critical element for a continent seeking to resolve vestigial Cold War complexities with Russia and toward meeting 21st century challenges including balanced economic development, energy diversity and climate change. Central Europe, utilizing both European Union support and Western European national assistance and enhanced by United States technical assistance, can take five key steps that will go far toward resolving energy security challenges and help to reframe the geopolitics of the continent.
Topic:
Security, Economics, Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

6683. Creating the Demand Curve for Cybersecurity

Author:
Melissa Hathaway
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
America's future economic and national security posture, enabled by the digital revolution, is at risk. If the Obama administration is serious about mitigating that risk by increasing the security of the nation's information and communications infrastructure, it should exercise every instrument of power at hand to move the United States toward a better place.
Topic:
Communications
Political Geography:
United States and America

6684. Controlling conflict resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author:
Ruben de Koning
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The political economy of mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is central to sustaining the conflict in the east of the country. Transforming it is a priority in order to alleviate the conflict and suffering that it fuels. In an attempt to ensure that conflict minerals—minerals sourced from militia controlled mines—do not enter the legal supply chain, industrial actors, the Congolese Government and outside donors have established schemes to trace minerals such as cassiterite and coltan back to the mines of origin.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Corruption, Political Economy, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

6685. Human Rights Standards for Targeted Sanctions

Author:
David Cortright and Erika de Wet
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
Support for human rights principles is essential for sustaining political support for the fight against global terrorism. Nothing erodes support for antiterrorism measures more than the perception that such programs are eroding basic individual freedoms. Disregard for the rule of law and an overreliance on repressive measures alienates many of the social groups and political constituencies whose cooperation is needed in the collective struggle against terrorism.
Topic:
Human Rights, Terrorism, Sanctions, and Rule of Law
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6686. Averting Crisis on the Mekong River

Author:
Prashanth Parameswaran
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The Mekong River faces challenges from hydropower, demographic and development pressures to climate change that threaten to alter the river. These trends have the potential to trigger a serious crisis characterized by water shortages, forced migration, food insecurity, and prolonged floods and droughts. Concerted efforts will be necessary to avert serious crisis along the Mekong.
Topic:
Climate Change, Demographics, Development, Energy Policy, Migration, and Food Security
Political Geography:
Cambodia, Laos, and Mekong River

6687. Capacity-Building Through Policymaking: Developing Afghanistan’s National Education Strategic Plan

Author:
Dana Holland
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
This briefing paper examines the capacity-building and policymaking nexus through an examination of the National Education Strategic Plan and its revision. It finds that while clear strides have been made in developing the capacity of the Ministry of Education to plan for itself, building all the necessary capacities across such a large and dispersed organisation is a daunting and complex task.
Topic:
Security, Education, Governance, and Bureaucracy
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6688. Poverty in Afghan Policy: Enhancing Solutions through Better Defining the Problem

Author:
Paula Kantor and Adam Pain
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
Over the past few years, Afghan policymakers have put aside strategies encouraging pro-poor growth in favour of solutions that focus on expanding GDP. In addition, existing solutions to poverty are becoming increasingly technically-oriented and fail to take local social realities and power structures into account. This briefing paper calls for policymakers and programmers to refocus on poverty and its social causes as a way to ensure that efforts to improve the lives of rural Afghans meet with lasting success.
Topic:
Poverty, Inequality, Economic Growth, and Rural
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6689. The Wolesi Jirga in Flux, 2010: Elections and Instability I

Author:
Anna Larson
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
This paper critically analyses the effects of elections in the current context of 2010, with a specific focus on the Wolesi Jirga, its members and new candidates. It is part of a series on elections in 2009-10. It draws on extensive research compiling over 200 interviews conducted with MPs, their constituents and new candidates, both at the centre in Kabul and in two case study provinces of Balkh and Paktia. It also exists as a parallel study to another discussion paper in the series, written on elections and instability with a focus on constituent perspectives at the local level.
Topic:
Elections, Democracy, Local, and Parliamentarism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6690. Afghan Election 2010: Alternative Narratives

Author:
Noah Coburn
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
Released shortly before the 2010 parliamentary election, this brief examined the undiscussed stories surrounding the vote. It argued that while the media focused on fraud and insecurity, there were other significant narratives being missed by the coverage preceding the polls.
Topic:
Corruption, Elections, Democracy, Rigged Elections, and Parliamentarism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6691. The Wolesi Jirga in 2010: Pre-Election Politics and the Appearance of Opposition

Author:
Mohammad Hassan Wafaey and Anna Larson
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
This brief provides some of the initial findings of AREU’s study on parliamentary functions and dynamics. It summarises initial findings based on data collected from semi-structured interviews with a sample of over 50 MPs comprising different backgrounds, provinces, genders, ethnicities, political relationships, and ideologies. In addition, the views of constituents in three provinces, collected for a complementary study, have been drawn upon here to triangulate the information given by MPs.
Topic:
Democracy, Domestic Politics, Community, and Parliamentarism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6692. Where Have all the Flowers Gone? Assessing the Sustainability of Current Reductions in Opium Poppy Cultivation

Author:
David Mansfield
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
Levels of opium poppy cultivation have fallen in Afghanistan for two consecutive years and it now appears that cultivation will be maintained at this relatively low level for another year. This briefing paper examines the reasons behind the reductions and assesses their sustainability, with special emphasis on the key provinces of Nangarhar and Helmand. It identifies instability and drops in livelihood standards caused by coercive reductions in opium poppy cultivation, and finds that increasing levels of wheat production do not reflect a sustainable shift from opium production, but instead are a sign of market failure, growing concerns over food security, and coercion.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Food, Rural, Drugs, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6693. Between Patronage and Rebellion: Student Politics in Afghanistan

Author:
Antonio Giustozzi
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
Student politics in Afghanistan has not been the object of much scholarly attention, but we know that student politics in the 1960-70s had an important influence on the development of political parties, which in turn shaped Afghanistan’s entry into mass politics in the late 1970-80s. The purpose of this study is therefore multiple: to fill a gap in the horizon of knowledge, to investigate the significance of changes in the student politics of today compared to several decades ago, And finally to detect trends that might give us a hint of the Afghan politics of tomorrow. The research is based on approximately 100 interviews with students and political activists in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad, as well as approximately 12 interviews with former student activists of the 1960-70s.
Topic:
Education, Politics, Youth, Political Parties, and Participation
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6694. Building a Viable Microfinance Sector in Afghanistan

Author:
Paula Kantor and Erna Andersen
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
AREU research on the impact of microcredit on informal credit systems and rural livelihoods illustrated the viability challenges microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their clients were facing. This briefing paper examines the changes the microfinance sector is undertaking, such as the introduction of more reliable business plans, creating internal audit units to improve control systems and reduce opportunities for fraud, and institutionalising an MFI report card system, to improve performance.
Topic:
Finance, Business, Microcredit, and Credit
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

6695. Counter-Cyclical Economic Policy

Author:
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
The effects of the recent economic crisis have stretched policy frameworks in many OECD countries close to breaking point. Recent work by the OECD has examined how policies have interacted with the economic cycle over time and during the recent crisis. The main policy lessons are as follows: • Policy-makers should take into account uncertainties about the functioning of the economy, the nature of economic shocks or the effects of policy and take their decisions accordingly. • Policy in various areas will have to build in greater safety margins and to be more prudent during upswings. • Appropriate fiscal rules can help prepare fiscal policy for the next downturn by leading to swifter consolidation during the upturn. • The monetary and financial policy framework needs to achieve a better articulation between economic and financial stability. • Financial policy needs to strengthen micro-prudential regulation, regulatory interventions may need to target emerging credit-driven bubbles and macro-prudential policies should address systemic risks. • There may be a case for monetary policy leaning against the wind, if asset prices are driven by a credit boom and financial regulation is judged to be insufficiently robust. • Changes to structural policy settings can improve the resilience of the economy to shocks and affect the degree of leverage households and firms take on.
Topic:
Economics, Fiscal Policy, Economic Stability, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6696. The Impact of Structural Reforms on Current Account Imbalance

Author:
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Global current account imbalances widened markedly in the years preceding the global economic crisis. Although the crisis brought some reversal to this trend, imbalances remain large in many countries. New empirical analysis by the OECD has examined the potential contribution of structural reforms to reducing current account imbalances. The analysis shows that structural reforms aimed at boosting economic growth can have more or less persistent side effects on current accounts. These arise because structural policies influence saving and investment of households, firms and governments. In turn, the economy-wide gap between saving and investment equals the current account balance. Specifically, the following policy lessons emerge from the analysis:  More developed social welfare systems would reduce the need for precautionary saving among households, which would moderate current account surpluses in external surplus countries.  Pension reforms that increase the retirement age and thus the length of the working life would also reduce household saving and thereby reduce current account surpluses. Pension reforms that lead to cuts in replacement rates would have the opposite effect.  Financial market reforms that raise the sophistication or depth of financial markets may relax borrowing constraints in emerging economies, thus contributing to a fall in the saving rate. The associated weakening of the current account position might be reinforced if the reforms also boost investment.  Reforming competition-unfriendly product market regulation could encourage capital spending and thereby contribute to reduce imbalances in surplus countries.  Some policy settings introduce distortions that encourage consumption, such as tax deductibility of interest payments on mortgages in the absence of taxation of imputed rent. Reform in this area might help increase household saving and thereby improve a country’s current account position. Overall, for the policies investigated, surplus countries appear to have more scope for structural reforms that would both enhance economic growth and reduce external imbalances. A scenario analysis indicates that if Japan, Germany and China were to liberalise their product markets and China also increased public health spending and continued to liberalise its financial markets, global imbalances could decline by around one-fifth relative to a baseline scenario. Moreover, since external deficit countries tend to have larger fiscal consolidation needs than surplus countries, fiscal tightening should also contribute to reduce external imbalances over the coming decade.
Topic:
Markets, Reform, Welfare, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6697. Convergence in European Policy Making: What do Article 15 (FCNM) and the EU Regional Policy Have in Common?

Author:
Tove H. Malloy
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
Minority protection is expanding its focus from protection-only to protectionand-empowerment, or from a politics of identity to a politics of identity related interests. To most, minority protection means the idea that there are compelling reasons why members of ethnic, cultural, national, racial and linguistic minorities require certain special protection rights in order not to suffer assimilation, suppression or persecution. However, in the European context, minority protection has also come to mean a right to attain a decent life. A decent life means a good life. The notion of the good life is of course essentially contested. The problem of protecting the right to a good life is not therefore what is a good life? – but how do minorities achieve and enjoy what they consider a good life?
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Minorities, European Union, Identity, and Protected People
Political Geography:
Europe

6698. National Minorities in the 21st Century Europe: New Discourses, New Narratives?

Author:
Tove H. Malloy
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
For centuries national minorities in Europe have lived in the shadow of the historical events of the 19th and the 20t h centuries. Whether for humanitarian reasons or to protect the identity of national minorities, major European treaties settling inter-state wars have had to address minority issues to secure the peace. For this reason, national minorities have frequently been seen not only as obstacles to nation and state building but also as anomalies in international relations.1 At times labelled as troublemakers and war mongers, national minorities have seldom been afforded ethical standing in the writing of Europe’s history.2 While the settlement after the First World War might be called an ‘honourable’ settlement, the settlement after the Second World War basically erased some national minorities from the European map. The integration discourses of the 21st Century seem to bring changes to this scenario.
Topic:
Nationalism, Minorities, Ethnicity, and Regionalism
Political Geography:
Europe

6699. Parity—Expanding Equitable Insurance Coverage for Addiction and Mental Health Treatment

Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
On January 1, 2010, the Wellstone-Domenici Parity Act went into effect, expanding access to mental health and addiction treatment coverage in many employer-sponsored group health plans. The new federal law applies to group health plans covering 50 or more employees that provide any level of coverage for treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Those plans are now required to cover mental health and substance use disorders benefits at “parity,” or in the same way as they cover other medical and surgical services. Simply put, “parity” is the treatment of addiction and mental illness in insurance benefits in the same way as other medical conditions. When the law is fully implemented, it is estimated that 140 million Americans could have improved access to addiction and mental health treatment services should they need it.
Topic:
Health, Health Care Policy, Mental Health, Drugs, and Equality
Political Geography:
United States

6700. Reaching for Justice: The participation of victims at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia,

Author:
Johanna Herman
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre on Human Rights in Conflict
Abstract:
This policy paper is based on research in Cambodia, assessing the activities and strategies regarding participation of victims before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), funded by the University of East London Promising Researcher grant. It is hoped by the international community and by Cambodian civil society that the participation of victims will play a key part in ensuring that the ECCC has a lasting impact on Cambodia. The ECCC, in common with other hybrid tribunals, is expected to engage the affected society and victims, since it is located within the country rather than based elsewhere as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) are. This policy paper reviews how the victim participation process functioned during the first case and the preparation for the second case at the ECCC, and offers insights to improve practice at the ECCC and other courts that are undertaking other forms of victim participation
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus