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Begin New Search Political Geography United States Content Type Working Paper Publishing Institution Center for Strategic and International Studies

171. An Arms Control Process for the Middle East

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman and Abdullah Toukan
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Arms transfer to the Middle East are not the sole cause of the regional problems. In fact the acquisition of arms has been the product of the unresolved political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict as well as other conflicts in the region. Over the past five decades there have been a number of arms control proposals and attempts for the Middle east. One main weakness of these proposals was that they were not integrated into a political process. The continued Arab-Israeli conflict made it practically impossible to formulate and implement formal arms control agreements, resulting in a failure from the beginning. Therefore, in any move towards arms control and regional security in the region, the linkage between both conventional and non-conventional weapons and the ongoing peace process must be made. A peaceful solution to the Arab –Israeli conflict should proceed alongside any arms control negotiations, specially in the establishment of a Weapons of Mass destruction Free Zone (WMDFZ) in the region. It is quite evident that peace cannot be achieved while still being threatened by a weapons of mass destruction capability of a neighboring country, nor can a WMDFZ be achieved without the context of a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. This has been recognized by the Obama administration as being a “vital national security interest of the United States”. The position of many countries in the region is that they find it difficult to enter serious arms control negotiations until some form of regional peace is fully established. This stems from their perception that nations in the region still consider military force as the only viable source to achieve their policy objectives. The danger from this underlying reasoning, if perceived as the only alternative to preserving a regional security balance, is that it could give rise to an uncontrollable arms race and to a parallel proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Any massive rearmament will surely create an unrestricted arms race in the Middle East which will automatically be accompanied by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The fear is that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction could give rise to states announcing a so-called “in-kind” deterrence or “the right to retaliate in kind”. Unless controlled this arms race will give rise to another military conflict with catastrophic human and environmental consequences.
Topic:
Security and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, Israel, and Arabia

172. Capacity for Change: Reforming U.S. Assistance Efforts in Poor and Fragile Countries

Author:
Noam Unger, Margaret L. Taylor, and Frederick Barton
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The U.S. government is in the midst of a serious review of how to engage more effectively with developing countries. A significant part of this reflection entails debates about how best to reform foreign aid, and there is a stunningly broad consensus that improvement is needed across the board. New legislation has recently been introduced in the U.S. Congress. The White House, the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other federal agencies are fully involved in this issue through Presidential Study Directive–7 on U.S. global development policy (PSD 7) and the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). The presidential study is poised to look at the full range of U.S. agencies and policy tools that affect development, including trade and international finance along with multilateral and bilateral aid. Meanwhile, the QDDR seeks to assess the capacities and requirements of the Department of State and USAID to confront a new generation of global challenges. Finally, with respect to key questions about foreign assistance and the elevation of development as a strong pillar of U.S. foreign policy, new presidential decisions and policies are expected from the Barack Obama administration in the spring of 2010.
Topic:
Development and Globalization
Political Geography:
United States

173. The Challenge of Chronic Diseases on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Author:
Katherine E. Bliss
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
On March 17, 2010, the CSIS Americas Program, in partnership with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF), and the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, hosted a half-day conference entitled “The Challenge of Chronic Diseases on the U.S.-Mexico Border.”
Topic:
Health
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

174. National Security and the Commercial Space Sector: Initial Analysis and Evaluation of Options for Improving Commercial Access to Space

Author:
Guy Ben-Ari, Brian Green, Joshua Hartman, Gary Powell, and Stephanie Sanok
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Over the past decade, CSIS has consistently reported on concerns about the state of the space industry. During that same period, the United States has experienced an ever-increasing reliance on space in the daily lives of its citizens and, significantly, in national security. This report assesses the interrelationship between the commercial space sector and national security. Understanding the current state of the commercial space sector is integral to identifying and evaluating national security concerns and to developing options for improvement.
Topic:
Security and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

175. From the Ferghana Valley to South Waziristan: The Evolving Threat of Central Asian Jihadists

Author:
Thomas M. Sanderson, Daniel Kimmage, and David A. Gordon
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
When Admiral Dennis Blair, the U.S. director of national intelligence, delivered the intelligence community's annual threat assessment to Congress in February 2009, he painted a bleak picture of post-Soviet Central Asia. Describing Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as a morass of “highly personalized politics, weak institutions, and growing inequalities,” Blair argued that they are “ill-equipped to deal with the challenges posed by Islamic violent extremism, poor economic development, and problems associated with energy, water, and food distribution.”
Topic:
Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Soviet Union

176. Cultivating Global Food Security: A Strategy for U.S. Leadership on Productivity, Agricultural Research, and Trade

Author:
Kristin Wedding
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
In 2008, a complex combination of changes in demographics, food demand, and poor weather led to skyrocketing food prices around the world, prompting riots in dozens of countries, from Bangladesh to Burkina Faso. While prices have stabilized in developed countries, high prices in the rest of the world continue to limit both access to, and availability of, staple food items. The number of people living with chronic hunger has jumped to more than 1 billion people—one sixth of the world's population—and those trends show no signs of reversal: between 2007 and 2008, the number of people suffering from chronic hunger in the developing world increased by 80 million. In 2009, as many as 100 million additional people were pushed into a state of food insecurity. Continued high food prices and a global recession further exacerbate the rising numbers of food insecure people. Hunger has emerged as perhaps the most endangered Millennium Development Goal.
Topic:
Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and United States

177. The Gulf Military Balance in 2010

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman and Aram Nerguizian
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The Gulf military balance is dominated by five major factors: The Southern Gulf states, Iran, Iraq, outside powers like the US, and non-state actors like the various elements of Al Qa'ida, the Mahdi militia, and various tribal forces. At present, the Southern Gulf states have large military resources but limited real-world effectivenerss and have made limited progress towards collective and integrated defense.
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Iran, and Middle East

178. Innovative Financing for Global Health: A Moment for Expanded U.S. Engagement?

Author:
Robert Hecht, Amrita Palriwala, and Aarthi Rao
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Over the past decade, there has been a tremendous upsurge in attention to global health issues, and the world's wealthiest countries have made a correspondingly large increase in international development assistance for health (DAH). DAH has grown from $7.2 billion in 2001 to $22.1 billion in 2007, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all development aid in the latter year.
Topic:
Health
Political Geography:
United States

179. Economic Challenges in Post-Conflict Iraq

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Economics are as important to Iraq's stability and political accommodation as security and governance, and they are equally critical to creating a successful strategic partnership between Iraq and the United States. It is far from easy, however, to analyze many of the key factors and trends involved. Iraqi data are weak and sometimes absent. U.S. and Coalition forces generally failed to look in detail at many of Iraq's most serious economic problems, or they issued heavily politicized reports designed to show that Iraqi “reconstruction” had been far more successful than it really was.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

180. US Withdrawal and Iraqi Security Forces: The Need for Continuing Aid

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman and Adam Mausner
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The security arena will face the most drastic changes in U.S.-Iraqi strategic relations over the next two years. Iraq must assume all responsibility for its internal and external security once the United States withdraws by December 31, 2011, unless it invokes the terms of the Strategic Agreement to seek additional US aid. Iraq must both deal with its own insurgents and with problems in its relations with neighboring countries like Iran, Syria, and the Gulf states. This makes the continued improvement of all elements of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) vital both to Iraq and to the stability of the region, during the period of US withdrawal in 2010-2011 and in the years that follow.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Syria