« Previous |
1 - 10 of 16
|
Next »
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. Troubled Neighbor: Mexico's Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States
- Author:
- Ted Galen Carpenter
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- While U.S. leaders have focused on actual or illusory security threats in distant regions, there is a troubling security problem brewing much closer to home. Violence in Mexico, mostly related to the trade in illegal drugs, has risen sharply in recent years and shows signs of becoming even worse. That violence involves turf fights among the various drug-trafficking organizations as they seek to control access to the lucrative U.S. market. To an increasing extent, the violence also entails fighting between drug traffickers and Mexican military and police forces.
- Topic:
- Security and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States and Mexico
3. NATO at 60: A Hollow Alliance
- Author:
- Ted Galen Carpenter
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization celebrates its 60th birthday, there are mounting signs of trouble within the alliance and reasons to doubt the organization's relevance regarding the foreign policy challenges of the 21st century. Several developments contribute to those doubts. Although NATO has added numerous new members during the past decade, most of them possess minuscule military capabilities. Some of them also have murky political systems and contentious relations with neighboring states, including (and most troubling) a nuclear-armed Russia. Thus, NATO's new members are weak, vulnerable, and provocative—an especially dangerous combination for the United States in its role as NATO's leader.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Russia and North Atlantic
4. Pakistan and the Future of U.S. Policy
- Author:
- Malou Innocent
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- A spreading Islamic insurgency engulfs the amorphous and ungoverned border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. After initial victories by the United States and the Northern Alliance in autumn 2001, hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters fled Afghanistan to seek refuge across the border in Pakistan's rugged northwest. Since 2007, the number of ambushes, militant offensives, and targeted assassinations has risen sharply across Afghanistan, while suicide bombers and pro-Taliban insurgents sweep through settled areas of Pakistan at an alarming pace. For better and for worse, Pakistan will remain the fulcrum of U.S. policy in the region—its leaders continue to provide vital counterterrorism cooperation and have received close to $20 billion in assistance from the United States, yet elements associated with its national intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, covertly assist militant proxy groups destabilizing the region
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, Islam, and War
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, South Asia, and Asia
5. Suicide Terrorism and Democracy: What We've Learned Since 9/11
- Author:
- Robert A. Pape
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Over the past two decades, terrorist organizations have increasingly relied on suicide attacks to achieve political objectives. The specific goal sought in almost all suicide terrorist campaigns in modern history is the same: to compel a democratic state to withdraw combat forces from territory prized by the terrorists. This holds true for al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization of greatest concern to most Americans. Al-Qaeda's efforts to mobilize people to kill Americans are driven principally by a simple strategic goal: to drive the United States and its Western allies from the Arabian Peninsula and other Muslim countries.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, Arabia, and Arabian Peninsula
6. Iran's Nuclear Program: America's Policy Options
- Author:
- Ted Galen Carpenter
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Although it is possible that negotiations between the leading powers in the international community and Iran may produce a settlement to the vexing issue of Iran's nuclear program, it is more likely that those negotiations will fail. If that happens, U.S. policymakers face a set of highly imperfect options.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, Iran, and Middle East
7. Reappraising Nuclear Security Strategy
- Author:
- Rensselaer Lee
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The danger posed by Russia's inadequately secured stocks of nuclear weapons and fissile material is a major national security concern for the United States. Various cooperative U.S.-Russian programs aimed at securing nuclear material, weapons, and design intelligence have been mounted since the 1990s, but clever and determined adversaries may be able to circumvent or defeat the defenses that the United States and its partners are attempting to put in place. U.S. programs are by their nature reactive: they have long time horizons; they focus preeminently on the supply side of the problem; and they face serious technological limitations. Russia's imperfect commitment to nonproliferation also undermines the effectiveness of U.S. nonproliferation efforts.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia
8. CATO Institute: KidSave: Real Problem, Wrong Solution
- Author:
- Michael Tanner and Jagadeesh Gokhale
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- There is growing bipartisan recognition that the pathway out of poverty is not through consumption but through saving and accumulation. That idea has led to a number of interesting and innovative experiments by state and local governments and by private charitable organizations and has helped fuel the drive for personal accounts as part of Social Security reform.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, Economics, and Government
9. CATO Institute: The Personal Lockbox: A First Step on the Road to Social Security Reform
- Author:
- Michael Tanner
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- With President Bush's call for comprehensive Social Security reform bogged down in the morass of partisan politics, many reform advocates have suggested starting the process with smaller steps. Recently, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), and others have proposed legislation to rebate Social Security surpluses to workers in the form of contributions to personal accounts.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
10. Bring the Troops Home: Ending the Obsolete Korean Commitment
- Author:
- Doug Bandow
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The U.S. alliance with the Republic of Korea has been America's most consistently dangerous commitment since the end of World War II. Yet South Korea is beginning to look away from the United States for its defense. Newly elected President Roh Moo-hyun campaigned on a plat-form of revisiting the security relationship, and he has attempted to adopt the role of mediator between America and North Korea.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, Israel, East Asia, and Korea