Number of results to display per page
Search Results
452. Five Alternatives that Make More Sense than Offshore Oil
- Author:
- Whitney Leonard
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Foreign oil currently fuels 55 percent of all transportation in the United States. As it struggles to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, the United States will have to completely rethink its energy policies. Instead of replacing imported oil with domestic oil, extracted at high environmental costs from new rigs offshore and across the western states, the country could opt for cleaner alternatives like higher fuel economy standards, hybrid-electric vehicles, plugin hybrids, cellulosic ethanol, and new commuting patterns. By decreasing demand rather than increasing supply, energy alternatives could reduce or eliminate the need to expand offshore oil production. This paper explores the economic and environmental costs of offshore oil and investigates a range of cleaner energy options.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- United States
453. Focus and Exit: An Alternative Strategy for the Afghan War
- Author:
- Gilles Dorronsoro
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- After seven years of war, the international community has failed to create the conditions for a sustainable Afghan state. The reality is that the international coalition now has limited resources and a narrow political time frame to create lasting Afghan institutions. Yet building such institutions is our only realistic exit strategy. The debate in Washington and European capitals has recently centered on how many more troops will be sent to Afghanistan in 2009 as part of a military surge. Such a tactical adjustment is unlikely to make much of a difference in a country where the basic population-to-troops ratio is estimated at approximately 430 people per foreign soldier.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Central Asia
454. Avoiding Mutual Misunderstanding: Sino-U.S. Relations and the New Administration
- Author:
- Tianjian Shi and Meredith Wen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- After the election of Barack Obama as president, Carnegie's Beijing Office assembled a group of leading scholars of international relations to discuss their expectations of the new administration. This policy brief conveys their opinions on various aspects of Sino-American relations and on America foreign policy in general.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Beijing
455. President Obama and Middle East Expectations
- Author:
- Marina Ottaway and Amr Hamzawy
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The Carnegie Endowment has monitored closely the Arab media's coverage of the long U.S. election campaign and the reactions to Barack Obama's victory. Recently, the Carnegie Middle East Center commissioned a series of commentaries from Arab writers and analysts.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, and Arab Countries
456. Preventing Conflict Over Kurdistan
- Author:
- Henri J. Barkey
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The consequences of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq will doubtless be debated for years to come. One result, however, is already clear: the long suppressed nationalist aspirations of the Kurdish people now dispersed across four states—Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria—have been aroused, perhaps irrevocably, by the war. Already in Iraq, Kurdish regions, which have benefited from Saddam Hussein's overthrow, have consolidated themselves into a federal region. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is a reality and a force for further Kurdish empowerment as it seeks to incorporate other Kurdish-majority areas and the oil-rich Kirkuk province in particular into its domain. The KRG's existence and demands have already alarmed all of Iraq's neighbors and the Baghdad government. The issues are far from being settled. If ignored or badly handled, Kurdish aspirations have the potential to cause considerable instability and violence in Iraq and beyond at a particularly delicate time.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Nationalism, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, and Kurdistan
457. Nuclear Energy: Rebirth or Resuscitation?
- Author:
- Sharon Squassoni
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- After several decades of disappointing growth, nuclear energy seems poised for a comeback. Talk of a "nuclear renaissance" includes perhaps a doubling or tripling of nuclear capacity by 2050, spreading nuclear power to new markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and developing new kinds of reactors and fuel-reprocessing techniques. But the reality of nuclear energy's future is more complicated. Without major changes in government policies and aggressive financial support, nuclear power is actually likely to account for a declining percentage of global electricity generation.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Nuclear Weapons, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Southeast Asia
458. Reforming the Intelligence Agencies in Pakistan's Transitional Democracy
- Author:
- Frédéric Grare
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The purpose of the present report is to analyze the intelligence agencies' role in Pakistan's political life through a better understanding of the agencies' objectives and mechanisms. Because Pakistan's civilian governments have been victims of the agencies' manipulation in the past, the new and very fragile government cannot ignore the decisive role of the intelligence agencies in Pakistani politics if it wants to counter the direct and more subtle manifestations of military control. The domestic political role of intelligence agencies is always a combination of three elements: militarization, comprehensive political surveillance, and state terror. The intensity and relative importance of each component varies over time and according to the specific situations in each country, but all three are always present. Terror as it applies to individuals or groups can be carried out by proxies and is intermittent, but it remains an essential element of the system. An intelligence agency's reputation for ruthlessness is often as important as its actual efficiency.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Terrorism, and Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and South Asia
459. Russia and the Global Meltdown: Domestic and Foreign Policy Responses to the International Financial Crisis
- Author:
- Robert Jellinek
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- This paper has its origins in the observation that government responses to the global financial crisis are as much political phenomena as they are economic. The current global financial crisis, among its many consequences, has on a very high level shaken up the world political order. And while the crisis is international in origin—its roots lie in the breadth and the degree of the dispersal of risk associated with mortgagebacked securities, as well as the growing imbalance in international capital flows—its resolution is necessarily being carried out first and foremost on a domestic level. This is not least of all because, in the decade since the Asian financial crises, states have begun to play a dramatically increased role in international finance in relation to both multilateral financial institutions such as the IMF and traditional private actors. In an age where global economic ties are integral to domestic economies and where states themselves are becoming some of the biggest players in international capital markets, a state's global financial standing will more than ever determine its political clout on the world stage. With states acting as market makers, lenders of last resort, and regulators of last resort, the key to understanding the future of individual states in the global economic order can be found only by analyzing states' domestic and foreign policy decisions within the context of the specific constraints facing those states at home and abroad.
- Topic:
- Economics, Emerging Markets, Human Rights, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Asia
460. Brazil in the Global Economy: Measuring the Gains From Trade
- Author:
- Sandra Polaski, Dirk Willenbockel, Eduardo Zepeda, Scott McDonald, Joaquim Bento de Souza Ferreir, Janine Berg, and Karen Thierfelder
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Brazil's economic growth rate has been positive for the past eight years, after two decades of setbacks and extreme volatility. The country has once again been growing—for a sustained period—at rates that exceed its population growth, with average gross domestic product (GDP) growth per capita averaging 1.63 percent from 2000 to 2007. This exceeds average per capita GDP growth of 0.83 percent from 1980 to 1989 and 0.28 percent from 1990 to 1999, although it still falls well short of the 5.92 percent per capita growth rate from 1970 to 1979.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Labor Issues, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and South America