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302. The Pentagon's Wasting Assets
- Author:
- Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr.
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Summary -- The military foundations of U.S. dominance are eroding. In response, Washington should pursue new sources of military advantage and a more modest grand strategy.
- Topic:
- Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Washington
303. Flipping the Taliban
- Author:
- Fotini Christia and Michael Semple
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Summary -- The deployment of more U.S. troops to Afghanistan is necessary to tip the balance of power against the Taliban. But this military "surge" must be accompanied with a political one designed to persuade insurgents to give up their fight.
- Topic:
- Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- United States
304. Tehran's Take
- Author:
- Mohsen M. Milani
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Summary -- Iran's foreign policy is often portrayed in sensationalistic terms, but in reality it is a rational strategy meant to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic against what Tehran thinks is an existential threat posed by the United States.
- Topic:
- Security
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iran, and Tehran
305. The Real War in Mexico
- Author:
- Shannon O'Neil
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Summary -- Hysteria over bloodshed in Mexico clouds the real challenge: the rising violence is a product of democratization -- and the only real solution is to continue strengthening Mexican democracy.
- Topic:
- Security and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, and Mexico
306. The Russia File
- Author:
- Robert Legvold
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Reversing the collapse of U.S.-Russian relations is one of the great tests facing the Obama administration. Among the major powers, Russia is the hard case. And the stakes involved in getting U.S.-Russian relations right are high -- much higher than the leadership of either country has acknowledged or perhaps even realized so far. If the Obama administration can guide the relationship onto a more productive path, as it is trying to do, it will not only open the way for progress on the day's critical issues -- from nuclear security and energy security to climate change and peaceful change in the post-Soviet area -- but also be taking on a truly historic task. One of the blessings of the post-Cold War era has been the absence of strategic rivalry among great powers, a core dynamic of the previous 300 years in the history of international relations. Should it return, some combination of tensions between the United States, Russia, and China would likely be at its core. Ensuring that this does not happen constitutes the less noticed but more fateful foreign policy challenge facing this U.S. president and the next.
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, China, and Soviet Union
307. Pirates, Then and Now
- Author:
- Max Boot
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Summary -- To defeat piracy in centuries past, governments pursued a more active defense at sea and a political solution on land. The current piracy epidemic off the coast of East Africa requires many of the same tactics.
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- United States, Ukraine, and East Africa
308. The Battle for Thailand
- Author:
- Bertil Lintner
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Over the past three years, Thailand has lived through a military coup, six prime ministers, and widespread civil unrest. The ongoing crisis grabbed headlines last year when protesters occupied two international airports, and it culminated this April in violent clashes in Bangkok. Observers have wondered how what was once such a promising democracy could devolve so quickly.
- Political Geography:
- Thailand
309. Africa's Capitalist Revolution
- Author:
- Ethan B. Kapstein
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- In one of the great ironies of history, Africa may well emerge from the current global recession as the only region in the world that remains committed to global capitalism. While the tired industrialized nations of the West are nationalizing their banks and engaging in various forms of protectionism, Africa remains open for business -- promoting trade, foreign direct investment, and domestic entrepreneurship. Analysts in the industrialized countries are concerned that foreign aid flows to Africa might drop because of the recession, but Africans themselves are much more worried about rising barriers to their exports and diminishing private investment from abroad, which could impede the continuation of the impressive economic progress the continent has made over the past decade. It is still a well-kept secret that the African continent has been in the midst of a profound economic transformation. Since 2004, economic growth has boomed at an average level of six percent annually, on par with Latin America. This rate will undoubtedly decline as a result of the global financial crisis, but the International Monetary Fund still projects growth of around 1.5 percent for this year and four percent for 2010 throughout Africa -- a relatively healthy figure by today's depressing standards. International trade now accounts for nearly 60 percent of Africa's GDP (far above the level for Latin America), and foreign direct investment in Africa has more than doubled since 1998, to over $15 billion per year. Overall, private-sector investment constitutes more than 20 percent of GDP. Furthermore, since 1990, the number of countries with stock markets in sub-Saharan Africa has tripled and the capitalization of those exchanges has risen from virtually nothing to $245 billion (that is, outside of South Africa, which has long had an active stock exchange). These "frontier" markets have, until recently, given investors huge returns compared to those found in other emerging economies.
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Latin America
310. Can the Right War Be Won?
- Author:
- Steven Simon
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Two new books offer insightful analyses of how to succeed in Afghanistan. But the sheer difficulty of the task points to the need for an alternative strategy -- one that defends U.S. interests without trying to rebuild a shattered country.
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and United States
311. A Hegemon's Coming of Age
- Author:
- Walter Russell Mead
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- George Herring's well-written and lively book may turn out to be one of the last attempts by a leading scholar to compress a comprehensive and comprehensible account of the United States' foreign relations into a single volume.
- Topic:
- Economics
- Political Geography:
- United States
312. India's Fortune
- Author:
- Edward Luce
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Nandan Nilekani has produced one of the best and most thought-provoking books on India in years.
- Topic:
- Economics and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States and India
313. Which Way Is History Marching?
- Author:
- G. John Ikenberry, Daniel Deudney, Ronald Inglehart, zar Gat, and Christian Welzel
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Two recent articles in these pages -- "The Myth of the Autocratic Revival [1]" (January/February 2009) and "How Development Leads to Democracy [2]" (March/April 2009) -- have taken issue with my July/August 2007 essay, "The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers [3]." In the first, Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry dispute my argument that the authoritarian capitalist great powers Germany and Japan were defeated in both world wars largely because of contingent factors rather than structural inefficiencies. As I have argued, these countries were too small in comparison to the United States. With respect to the challenge posed by China and Russia, Deudney and Ikenberry insist that developed nondemocratic capitalist societies will not be viable in the long run.
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, and Germany
314. Get Smart
- Author:
- Joseph S. Nye Jr.
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Summary -- Leslie Gelb's skepticism of "smart power" is misguided; it is only by combining the strategies of both hard and soft power that the United States can achieve its ends.
- Political Geography:
- United States
315. Arms and Influence at Sea
- Author:
- Thomas Culora and Andrew Erickson
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Robert Kaplan ("Center Stage for the Twenty-first Century," March/April 2009) correctly underscores the Indian Ocean's strategic importance. But in envisioning "dynamic great-power rivalry" between Beijing and New Delhi there, he is too pessimistic about the United States' ability to maintain influence, too optimistic about China's ability to exert influence rapidly, and too dismissive of India's inherent regional advantages.
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Beijing, and New Delhi
316. Reforming State
- Author:
- Robert B. Oakley and Edward Marks
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- J. Anthony Holmes ("Where Are the Civilians?" January/February 2009) makes a number of persuasive points concerning the military's domination of U.S. foreign policy. Indeed, fixing U.S. foreign policy requires a comprehensive, long-term approach. An excellent beginning would be to implement fully the proposals contained in a recent joint report by the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Henry L. Stimson Center. They are ambitious enough to make rapid implementation hard work, but they are probably only the minimum necessary to meet today's requirements.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
317. Logic, Not Lobbies
- Author:
- Ronald D. Asmus and Jeremy D. Rosner
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- We are troubled by the assertions made by John Newhouse ("Diplomacy, Inc.," May/June 2009) about NATO enlargement -- an initiative in which we both played direct roles -- as well as by his broader thesis about the role of ethnic population groups in shaping U.S. foreign policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and NATO
- Political Geography:
- United States
318. The Necessary and the Chosen
- Author:
- Richard N. Haass
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- I want to express my appreciation to Zbigniew Brzezinski for his generous review of my book War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars ("A Tale of Two Wars," May/June 2009). Praise from someone of Brzezinski's stature is praise indeed.
- Topic:
- War
- Political Geography:
- Iraq
319. The Next Top Model?
- Author:
- Russell Seitz
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- David Victor, M. Granger Morgan, Jay Apt, John Steinbruner, and Katharine Ricke ("The Geoengineering Option," March/April 2009) date geoengineering to the twentieth century, but it has been an integral part of the landscape of history. Although Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1751, "We are, as I may call it, scouring our planet, by clearing America of woods, and so making this side of our globe reflect a brighter light," little credit is due to young George Washington's hatchet work. Fire in the hands of Neolithic man had already transformed the ecology -- and the albedo -- of Australia and the Americas eons before.
- Political Geography:
- America and Australia
320. Minor League, Major Problems
- Author:
- Charles A. Kupchan
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- A league of democracies would not secure cooperation among democracies and would expose the limits of the West's power and legitimacy. The next president should not embrace this misguided idea.
321. Brazil's Big Moment
- Author:
- Juan de Onis
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Brazil is on the cusp of fulfilling its potential as a global player. The next U.S. president should rethink relations with this important country.
- Political Geography:
- United States and Brazil
322. Arrested Development
- Author:
- J. Brian Atwood, M. Peter McPherson, and Andrew Natsios
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- USAID has become ineffective because it is underfunded, understaffed, and losing influence. The next president should revive it by either making it autonomous or elevating it to a cabinet-level department.
323. Freight Pain
- Author:
- Marc Levinson
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The golden age of globalization is over due to slower, costlier, and less certain transportation. In retrospect, Americans may lament too little globalization, not too much.
- Topic:
- Globalization
- Political Geography:
- America
324. After the Crash
- Author:
- James Grant
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The next president must bring back a sound dollar, rein in Wall Street, and resist the urge to manipulate prices.
325. Rice's Record
- Author:
- Steven L. Hull
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- No abstract is available.
- Political Geography:
- United States
326. Blood Barrels
- Author:
- Michael L. Ross
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The world has grown much more peaceful over the past 15 years -- except for oil-rich countries. Oil wealth often wreaks havoc on a country's economy and politics, helps fund insurgents, and aggravates ethnic grievances. And with oil ever more in demand, the problems it spawns are likely to spread further.
- Topic:
- Economics
327. After Guantánamo
- Author:
- Kenneth Roth
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay has become a stain on the United States' reputation. Shutting it down will cause new problems. Rather than hold terrorism suspects in preventive detention, the United States should turn them over to its criminal justice system.
- Political Geography:
- United States
328. The Future of American Power
- Author:
- Fareed Zakaria
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Despite some eerie parallels between the position of the United States today and that of the British Empire a century ago, there are key differences. Britain's decline was driven by bad economics. The United States, in contrast, has the strength and dynamism to continue shaping the world -- but only if it can overcome its political dysfunction and reorient U.S. policy for a world defined by the rise of other powers.
- Political Geography:
- Britain, United States, and America
329. The Age of Nonpolarity
- Author:
- Richard N. Haass
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The United States' unipolar moment is over. International relations in the twenty-first century will be defined by nonpolarity. Power will be diffuse rather than concentrated, and the influence of nation-states will decline as that of nonstate actors increases. But this is not all bad news for the United States; Washington can still manage the transition and make the world a safer place.
- Political Geography:
- United States and Washington
330. The Price of the Surge
- Author:
- Steven Simon
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The Bush administration's new strategy in Iraq has helped reduce violence. But the surge is not linked to any sustainable plan for building a viable Iraqi state and may even have made such an outcome less likely -- by stoking the revanchist fantasies of Sunni tribes and pitting them against the central government. The recent short-term gains have thus come at the expense of the long-term goal of a stable, unitary Iraq.
- Political Geography:
- Iraq
331. Beyond Darfur
- Author:
- Andrew S. Natsios
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- While the crisis in Darfur simmers, the larger problem of Sudan's survival as a state is becoming increasingly urgent. Old tensions between the Arabs of the Nile River valley, who have held power for a century, and marginalized groups on the country's periphery are turning into a national crisis. Engagement with Khartoum may be the only way to avert another civil war in Sudan, and even that may not be enough.
- Political Geography:
- Sudan and Arabia
332. The Trouble With Congo
- Author:
- Séverine Autesserre
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Although the war in Congo officially ended in 2003, two million people have died since. One of the reasons is that the international community's peacekeeping efforts there have not focused on the local grievances in eastern Congo, especially those over land, that are fueling much of the broader tensions. Until they do, the nation's security and that of the wider Great Lakes region will remain uncertain.
- Topic:
- War
- Political Geography:
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
333. The Case Against the West
- Author:
- Kishore Mahbubani
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The West is not welcoming Asia's progress, and its short-term interests in preserving its privileged position in various global institutions are trumping its long-term interests in creating a more just and stable world order. The West has gone from being the world's problem solver to being its single biggest liability.
- Political Geography:
- Asia
334. The Distant Horizon
- Author:
- Paul Kennedy
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- William Bernstein's A Splendid Exchange, Strobe Talbott's The Great Experiment, and Amy Chua's Day of Empire take up the challenge of 'Big History' -- and in the process shed light on the real choices policymakers face.
335. The Myth of Grass-Roots Terrorism
- Author:
- Bruce Hoffman
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Marc Sageman claims that al Qaeda's leadership is finished and today's terrorist threat comes primarily from below. But the terrorist elites are alive and well, and ignoring the threat they pose will have disastrous consequences.
336. Putin's Russia
- Author:
- Padma Desai
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- To the Editor: Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss ("The Myth of the Authoritarian Model," January/February 2008) make several erroneous judgments regarding the current Russian scene. The Russian economy has grown in the last seven years at an annual rate of 6.5 percent. The ongoing debate among economists and other informed observers of Russia is over whether this is a result of exceptionally high (and rising) oil prices, and hence a reversible phenomenon if the price of oil collapses, or the result of substantive changes in the last decade that made high growth rates sustainable. At a major World Leaders Forum and a scientific conference attended by distinguished Russia scholars at Columbia University last April, participants shared the view that Russia's economic performance was not a flash in the pan caused by oil; rather, the consensus was that important policy changes had taken place. Still, no responsible Western scholar of Russia (nor even a supporter of former Russian President Vladimir Putin) has suggested that the high growth rates in Russia are a product of Putin's authoritarian ways. The claim by McFaul and Stoner-Weiss that this argument is made is simply creating a straw man.
- Political Geography:
- Russia
337. CIA Chronicles
- Author:
- Amy Zegart
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- To the Editor: Paul Pillar ("Intelligent Design?" March/April 2008) spent most of the 1990s doing counterterrorism analysis at the CIA and rose to be the deputy director of its Counterterrorism Center. My book Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI, and the Origins of 9/11 is highly critical of that center and finds that its weaknesses contributed to 11 operational failures prior to 9/11. How can an individual who served at the heart of the organization being criticized render an unbiased view of that organization's performance?
338. Chinese Ways
- Author:
- Naazneen Barma, Ely Ratner, and Steven Weber
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- To the Editor: In "The Rise of China and the Future of the West" (January/February 2008), G. John Ikenberry offers a compelling series of arguments for why China will not attempt to overturn the liberal order. But he is wrong to assume that the absence of confrontation implies gradual integration. It does not. China is pursuing a different strategy: forging a route around the West by constructing an alternative international system in the developing world. The norms of China's parallel political order are alien to those Ikenberry wishes to see preserved.
- Political Geography:
- China
339. Market Blues
- Author:
- Terrence Keeley
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- To the Editor: Robert Kimmitt ("Public Footprints in Private Markets," January/February 2008) provides an overview of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the global economy that is helpful but incomplete. His proposed principles for a policy response are well intended but neither workable nor adequate. Kimmitt delineates four kinds of sovereign investment. In fact, there are six. His category of SWFs should be divided into three parts, stabilization funds, state-holding corporations, and future generation, or future welfare, funds. Each of these has different investment horizons, different investment benchmarks, different risk-management frameworks, and different oversight requirements.
340. Congress at War
- Author:
- Louis Fisher, Ryan Hendrickson, and Stephen R. Weissman
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- To the Editor: William Howell and Jon Pevehouse ("When Congress Stops Wars," September/October 2007) suggest that Congress has been far more influential in shaping U.S. military action abroad than previously thought. We disagree. Such a view does not reflect the overwhelming historical evidence since World War II. Moreover, their argument undervalues Congress' constitutional responsibility to independently check the president prior to war. In most cases, Congress has chosen the politically expedient route of deferring to the president. The principal reason for this support has been not partisan calculations, as Howell and Pevehouse argue, but rather lawmakers' unwillingness to exercise their constitutional powers and understand the need for legislative checks.
- Political Geography:
- United States
341. The Road to the Arctic
- Author:
- Coalter G. Lathrop and Scott Borgerson
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- To the Editor: Scott Borgerson's article "Arctic Meltdown" (March/April 2008) is an addition to the recent wave of Arctic journalism rife with Wild West imagery of chaos and lawlessness -- a reporting trend spurred by Russia's August 2007 flag-planting stunt on the North Pole. Arctic frontier jargon that included "land grab" and "ungainly scramble" is now augmented by Borgerson's "gold rush" and "legal no man's land." While Borgerson correctly identifies the many sources of tension in the region, he is wrong when he writes that "the Arctic region is not currently governed by any comprehensive multilateral norms." The Arctic is not the "legal vacuum" invoked in his piece; it is a region governed by international law and, for the maritime issues that are the main subject of the article, specifically by the international law of the sea. With one exception ("growing talk of Greenland petitioning Denmark for political independence"), all of the Arctic problems that Borgerson raises -- offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, overlapping maritime claims, wide-margin continental shelves, the dumping of nuclear reactors, indigenous whaling, and a variety of shipping issues, including contested shipping routes, the use of flags of convenience, vessel-source pollution, and ship-based tourism -- are quintessential law-of-the-sea problems, around which a robust and widely adopted body of international law has grown.
- Political Geography:
- Russia
342. Rethinking the National Interest
- Author:
- Condoleezza Rice
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The Secretary of State reflects on the lessons of the past eight years.
343. The New Israel and the Old
- Author:
- Walter Russell Mead
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The real key to Washington's pro-Israel policy is long-lasting and broad-based support for the Jewish state among the American public at large.
- Political Geography:
- America, Washington, and Israel
344. China's Olympic Nightmare
- Author:
- Elizabeth C. Economy and Adam Segal
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Failure to plan for predictable problems has turned China's coming-out party into an embarrassment.
- Political Geography:
- China
345. A Partnership of Equals
- Author:
- C. Fred Bergsten
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Beijing is shirking its responsibilities to the global economy. To encourage better behavior, Washington should offer to share global economic leadership.
- Political Geography:
- Washington and Beijing
346. In the Tank
- Author:
- David G. Victor and Sarah Eskreis-Winkler
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Oil stocks can help buffer economic shocks, but only if Washington radically reforms its handling of them.
- Political Geography:
- Washington
347. The Future of North America
- Author:
- Robert A. Pastor
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- It's time to integrate further with Canada and Mexico, not separate from them.
- Political Geography:
- America
348. Building a New Atlantic Alliance
- Author:
- James P. Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- How the United States can restore its relationship with Europe.
- Political Geography:
- United States
349. Democratization and Its Discontents
- Author:
- Eva Bellin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Washington can promote political reform best by backing off.
- Political Geography:
- Washington
350. Shortsighted Statecraft
- Author:
- Daniel C. Kurtzer
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Stopping three decades of unnecessary bungling.There is a feature of my seminars on U.S. Middle East policy at Princeton that I call "déjà vu all over again" -- with apologies to Yogi Berra. I ask students to assess the bungled efforts and missed opportunities of generations of U.S. diplomats and seek in them lessons for the future. They examine the hubris that drove the U.S. government to engineer the 1953 overthrow of Mohammad Mosaddeq's democratically elected government in Iran. This traumatic episode was conveniently forgotten by 1979, when National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski encouraged Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to use force against the opposition, ignoring the warnings of U.S. diplomats on the ground in Iran that the shah's reign was doomed. Similarly, the United States forgot the lesson of the limited and United Nations-approved 1991 war in response to Iraq's aggression in Kuwait when it launched an ideologically inspired invasion of Iraq in 2003. Likewise, in 2006, Washington seemed to have forgotten the fiasco that followed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Rather than learn from the past, Washington backed Israel's ill-advised attempt to deliver a knockout blow against another Lebanese foe, this time Hezbollah. My students and I conclude -- only half-jokingly -- that U.S. policymakers ought to take the class before taking office.
- Political Geography:
- United States, Washington, Middle East, and Kuwait
351. Present at the Re-Creation
- Author:
- Andrew J. Bacevich
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Robert Kagan's Return of History ignores the Iraqi elephant in the room.
352. Terror and the Law
- Author:
- Curtis A. Bradley
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Benjamin Wittes' Law and the Long War is required reading for anyone interested in the legal challenges posed by the war on terror.
353. Is Ethnic Conflict Inevitable?
- Author:
- Jerry Z. Muller, James Habyarimana, Macartan Humphreys, Daniel Posner, Jeremy Weinstein, Richard Rosecrance, and Arthur Stein
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Critics refute Muller's assumptions about ethnic conflict; Muller responds.
354. When to Leave Iraq
- Author:
- Colin H. Kahl and William E. Odom
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Today, tomorrow, or yesterday?
- Political Geography:
- Iraq
355. Revolutionary Road?
- Author:
- Francisco Rodríguez and Bernardo Alvarez Herrera
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- When President Hugo Chávez was first elected, in 1998, his critics, many of whom have published in these pages, argued that he would slowly move Venezuela away from democracy. After 12 elections, including the December 2007 referendum, which he narrowly lost, that claim has finally crumbled under the evidence. Now the argument against Venezuela has shifted, and instead of being called undemocratic, Chávez's social programs are labeled as inefficient and his economic management categorized as catastrophic. Much like the first accusations against Chávez, the new criticisms, put forth by Francisco Rodríguez in "An Empty Revolution" (March/April 2008), simply do not stand up to the facts.
- Political Geography:
- Venezuela
356. Does Osama Still Call the Shots?
- Author:
- Bruce Hoffman and Marc Sageman
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Debating whether the real terrorist threat is top-down or bottom-up.
357. The Next President
- Author:
- Richard Holbrooke
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The next U.S. president will inherit a more difficult set of international challenges than any predecessor since World War II.
- Political Geography:
- United States
358. The September 12 Paradigm
- Author:
- Robert Kagan
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The next administration must learn from Bush's mistakes, but should not shy away from using U.S. power to promote American values.
- Political Geography:
- United States
359. How to Leave a Stable Iraq
- Author:
- Michael E. O'Hanlon, Kenneth M. Pollack, and Stephen Biddle
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The situation in Iraq is improving. With the right strategy, the United States will eventually be able to draw down troops without sacrificing stability.
- Political Geography:
- United States and Iraq
360. A Strategic Economic Engagement
- Author:
- Henry M. Paulson Jr.
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The prosperity of the United States and China depends on helping China further integrate into the global economic system.
- Political Geography:
- United States and China
361. Containing Climate Change
- Author:
- Carter F. Bales and Richard D. Duke
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The United States can curb its own emissions and encourage energy efficiency and the development of clean-energy technology worldwide by rethinking carbon regimes.
- Topic:
- Climate Change
- Political Geography:
- United States
362. Millions Uprooted
- Author:
- António Guterres
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The international community must ensure that people seeking saftey are protected; soverignty is not a shield behind which authoritarian governments may terrorize their own people.
- Topic:
- Development
- Political Geography:
- United States
363. Making Intervention Work
- Author:
- Thomas Pickering
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The UN must streamline its decision making process so it can start backing up its lofty words with action.
- Topic:
- United Nations
364. Keeping Up With Asia
- Author:
- Yoichi Funabashi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The Bush legacy in Asia is positive and the next admistration can continue this trend by continuing multilateral engagement with Japan and China.
- Political Geography:
- Japan, China, and Asia
365. Morning in Latin America
- Author:
- Jorge G. Castañeda
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The key to a successful foreign policy in Latin America will be focusing on four critical issues -- Cuba, immigration, trade, and the 'two lefts'.
- Political Geography:
- Cuba and Latin America
366. The Land of Hope Again?
- Author:
- Dominique Moïsi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- A culture of fear has supplanted the traditional U.S. culture of hope. By returning to hope, the United States can regain the standing it has lost.
- Political Geography:
- United States
367. A War to Start All Wars
- Author:
- Shlomo Ben-Ami
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Israel should pull back settlements and give up its '67 gains in order to secure its '48 victory.
- Political Geography:
- Israel
368. Just Causes
- Author:
- Christopher Hitchens
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Because borders are becoming ever more porous and contingent, everyone has an interest in humanitarian intervention.
369. There Will Be Blood
- Author:
- Nicholas Shaxson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Michael Ross ("Blood Barrels," May/June 2008) argues that oil triggers conflict in three main ways: fluctuating oil prices lead to economic instability, which is followed by political instability; oil wealth supports insurgencies; and oil wealth encourages separatism. These factors are important, but Ross is too selective. Embedding them in a broader framework would be more illuminating and would better inform policy.
370. Mirrors And Smoke
- Author:
- Stephen R. Graubard
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Condoleezza Rice ("The New American Realism," July/August 2008) evokes a certain sympathy but also substantial disappointment with her account of the accomplishments of the Bush administration over the last eight years. Her argument is undeniably poignant, especially for its hyperbole and obfuscation. It is embarrassing that she should offer so self-serving an account of the pretended achievements of the Bush administration, given that its foreign policy disasters are well known.
- Political Geography:
- America
371. American Oligarchs
- Author:
- Katrina vanden Heuvel
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Replying to Padma Desai's letter ("Putin's Russia," May/June 2008), Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss assert that, like the Yeltsin-era media bosses, the United States' "oligarchs . . . own" many media outlets, including The Nation. In reality, The Nation -- the United States' oldest continuously published weekly -- has operated at a loss during all but a few of its 143 years and has been kept alive by its subscribers, advertisers, and many loyal supporters. Moreover, The Nation's equally long-standing antioligarchic positions are known to virtually everyone familiar with the American press.
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, and America
372. Long Time Coming: The Prospects for Democracy in China
- Author:
- John L. Thornton
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Is China democratizing? The country's leaders do not think of democracy as people in the West generally do, but they are increasingly backing local elections, judicial independence, and oversight of Chinese Communist Party officials. How far China's liberalization will ultimately go and what Chinese politics will look like when it stops are open questions.
- Political Geography:
- China
373. The Rise of China and the Future of the West: Can the Liberal System Survive?
- Author:
- G. John Ikenberry
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- China's rise will inevitably bring the United States' unipolar moment to an end. But that does not necessarily mean a violent power struggle or the overthrow of the Western system. The U.S.-led international order can remain dominant even while integrating a more powerful China -- but only if Washington sets about strengthening that liberal order now.
- Political Geography:
- United States and China
374. China's New Dictatorship Diplomacy: Is Beijing Parting With Pariahs?
- Author:
- Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt and Andrew Small
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Beijing has recently stepped back from its unconditional support for pariah states, such as Burma, North Korea, and Sudan. This means China may now be more likely to help the West manage the problems such states pose -- but only up to a point, because at heart China still favors nonintervention as a general policy.
- Political Geography:
- China, Sudan, Beijing, North Korea, and Burma
375. Reconsidering Revaluation: The Wrong Approach to the U.S.-Chinese Trade Imbalance
- Author:
- David D. Hale and Lyric Hughes Hale
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Politicians in Washington are clamoring for currency revaluation in China to reverse China's trade surplus with the United States. But the trade imbalance is not the threat they make it out to be, and a stronger yuan is not the solution. Everybody should focus instead on properly integrating China into the global economy.
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Washington
376. The Myth of the Authoritarian Model: How Putin's Crackdown Holds Russia Back
- Author:
- Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- A growing conventional wisdom holds that Vladimir Putin's attack on democracy has brought Russia stability and prosperity -- providing a new model of successful market authoritarianism. But the correlation between autocracy and economic growth is spurious. Autocracy's effects in Russia have in fact been negative. Whatever the gains under Putin, they would have been greater under a democratic regime.
- Political Geography:
- Russia
377. The Costs of Containing Iran: Washington's Misguided New Middle East Policy
- Author:
- Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The Bush administration wants to contain Iran by rallying the support of Sunni Arab states and now sees Iran's containment as the heart of its Middle East policy: a way to stabilize Iraq, declaw Hezbollah, and restart the Arab-Israeli peace process. But the strategy is unsound and impractical, and it will probably further destabilize an already volatile region.
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Iran, Washington, Middle East, and Arab Countries
378. Europe's Eastern Promise: Rethinking NATO and EU Enlargement
- Author:
- Ronald D. Asmus
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- After the Cold War, NATO and the EU opened their doors to central and Eastern Europe, making the continent safer and freer than ever before. Today, NATO and the EU must articulate a new rationale for enlarging still further, once again extending democracy and prosperity to the East, this time in the face of a more powerful and defiant Russia.
- Topic:
- NATO
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Eastern Europe
379. Global Corporate Citizenship: Working With Governments and Civil Society
- Author:
- Klaus Schwab
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Global corporate citizenship means that companies must not only be engaged with stakeholders but be stakeholders themselves alongside governments and civil society. Since companies depend on global development, which in turn relies on stability and increased prosperity, it is in their direct interest to help improve the state of the world.
380. Public Footprints in Private Markets: Sovereign Wealth Funds and the World Economy
- Author:
- Robert M. Kimmitt
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The massive growth of sovereign wealth funds -- pools of capital controlled by governments and invested in private markets abroad -- should not cause alarm. But it does raise legitimate questions for the United States, pointing to the need for new policy principles for both the funds and the countries in which they invest.
- Political Geography:
- United States
381. Stopping Nuclear Terrorism: The Dangerous Allure of a Perfect Defense
- Author:
- Michael Levi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Nuclear terrorism poses a grave threat to global security, but seeking silver bullets to counter it does not make sense. Instead of pursuing a perfect defense, U.S. policymakers should create an integrated defensive system that takes advantage of the terrorists' weaknesses and disrupts their plots at every stage, thereby chipping away at their overall chances of success.
- Political Geography:
- United States
382. A New Realism: A Realistic and Principled Foreign Policy
- Author:
- Bill Richardson
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The United States needs a foreign policy that is based on reality and is loyal to American values. The next U.S. president needs to send a clear signal to the world that America has turned the corner and will once again be a leader rather than a unilateralist loner. Getting out of Iraq and restoring our reputation are necessary first steps toward a new strategy of U.S. global engagement and leadership.
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, and America
383. America's Priorities in the War on Terror: Islamists, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan
- Author:
- Michael D. Huckabee
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out. In particular, it should focus on eliminating Islamist terrorists, stabilizing Iraq, containing Iran, and toughening its stance with Pakistan.
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Iraq, America, and Iran
384. Review: Anglo-Saxon Attitudes: The Making of the Modern World
- Author:
- Owen Harries
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Walter Russell Mead rightly argues that the United Kingdom and the United States made the modern world. But his call for Washington to pursue both a maritime grand strategy and Niebuhrian realism will not fly.
- Political Geography:
- United States and United Kingdom
385. To the Editor: Securing Iraq
- Author:
- Bing West
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- In "COIN of the Realm" (November/December 2007), Colin Kahl divided counterinsurgency (COIN) theory into two opposing schools of thought: "hearts and minds" and "coercion." Kahl cited me as an advocate of "coercion," quoting my observation about "a radical religion whose adherents are not susceptible to having their hearts and minds won over."
- Political Geography:
- Iraq
386. To the Editor: Defense Dollars
- Author:
- Miriam Pemberton
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Richard Betts ("A Disciplined Defense," November/December 2007) laments that most "organizations associated with mainstream policy thinking," instead of arguing for military budget rationality, have been cowed into silence. He refers to recent proposals by my own organization -- the Institute for Policy Studies, which has been known over the years for its far-reaching proposals to scale back the military budget -- that focus on a set of cuts amounting to only about $56 billion, or 11 percent of the total. Betts is right that this $56 billion is only the low-hanging fruit.
387. To the Editor: Israel Lobby and its Discontents
- Author:
- R. T. Curran
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- In "Jerusalem Syndrome" (November/December 2007), Walter Russell Mead is disappointed in John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. I am disappointed in Walter Russell Mead. The U.S. relationship with Israel is difficult and complex. I was directly involved in Middle East matters at the State Department and the White House in the 1970s and early 1980s and have worked in key Middle Eastern capitals, including Amman, Cairo, and Jerusalem. Several presidents, secretaries of state, and national security advisers have wrestled unsuccessfully to find ways and means to develop a creative and objective-driven dialogue in the Near Eastern neighborhood.
- Political Geography:
- United States, Israel, and Jerusalem
388. To the Editor: Armenia, Armenia
- Author:
- Ara Chutjian
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- In "The Old Turks' Revolt" (November/December 2007), Ömer Taspinar states, "Unlike the Ottoman elites, the Kemalists rejected multiethnic and multinational cosmopolitanism and banned Armenians, Greeks, and Jews from holding government jobs." On the night of April 24, 1915, the Ottoman police rounded up over 200 Armenian intellectuals, poets, politicians, writers, journalists, and translators from their homes in Istanbul; sent them to remote holding places; and murdered them. This began the systematic genocide of approximately 1.5 million Armenians, with another 2-2.5 million uprooted from their millennia-old homeland in central and eastern Turkey. o say that the Kemalists later banned the Armenians from government jobs is somewhat of a moot point. Qualified applicants had been assassinated earlier.
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Greece, and Armenia
389. To the Editor:Asian Blunders
- Author:
- Leon V. Sigal
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Defending the indefensible is an occupational hazard for even thoughtful former officials in Washington these days, but Victor Cha's "Winning Asia" (November/December 2007) goes too far. Instead of lauding President George W. Bush's admirable turnaround on North Korea last summer, he would have readers believe that the administration's North Korea policy was right all along.
- Political Geography:
- Washington, Asia, and North Korea
390. Kenya's Great Rift
- Author:
- Joel D. Barkan
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The violence that has engulfed Kenya since the disputed December 27 election has deep historical roots and it will take more than a recount or the formation of a national unity government to resolve the crisis. Although December 27 was billed as the crowning event of the country's two-decade struggle for democratic rule, all of the ingredients for violence were present prior to the election. Public opinion polls indicated that the race between incumbent president Mwai Kibaki and his principal challenger, Raila Odinga, was too close to call; outbreaks of violence had occurred in the run-up to previous elections in 1992 and 1997; and many Kenyans, especially civil society leaders, worried that unless the Election Commission of Kenya (ECK) conducted the December elections in a manner that was free, fair, and universally regarded as legitimate, the losers would not accept the verdict. Sadly, their fears were correct. Between 500 and 1,000 people have died in post-election violence while an estimated 250,000 Kenyans, mainly Kikuyu settlers in the western Rift Valley, have been displaced from their homes.
- Political Geography:
- Kenya
391. America the Resilient: Defying Terrorism and Mitigating Natural Disasters
- Author:
- Stephen E. Flynn
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- A climate of fear and a sense of powerlessness caused by the threats of terrorism and natural disasters are undermining American ideals and fueling political demagoguery. Rebuilding the resilience of American society is the way to reverse this and respond to today's challenges.
- Political Geography:
- America
392. Staying Alive: Why North Korea Will Not Change
- Author:
- Andrei Lankov
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Despite international calls for reform, the North Korean government is doing its best to maintain the domestic status quo -- and with good reason, at least from its perspective. Still, change is coming in very slow motion thanks to international aid and illegal exchanges with the outside world, which are eroding Pyongyang's legitimacy.
- Political Geography:
- North Korea
393. Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism
- Author:
- Jerry Z. Muller
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Americans generally belittle the role of ethnic nationalism in politics. But in fact, it corresponds to some enduring propensities of the human spirit, it is galvanized by modernization, and in one form or another, it will drive global politics for generations to come. Once ethnic nationalism has captured the imagination of groups in a multiethnic society, ethnic disaggregation or partition is often the least bad answer.
- Political Geography:
- America
394. The Democratic Rollback: The Resurgence of the Predatory State
- Author:
- Larry Diamond
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- After decades of historic gains, the world has slipped into a democratic recession. Predatory states are on the rise, threatening both nascent and established democracies throughout the world. But this trend can be reversed with the development of good governance and strict accountability and the help of conditional aid from the West.
395. An Empty Revolution: The Unfulfilled Promises of Hugo Chávez
- Author:
- Francisco Rodríguez
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Even critics of Hugo Chávez tend to concede that he has made helping the poor his top priority. But in fact, Chávez's government has not done any more to fight poverty than past Venezuelan governments, and his much-heralded social programs have had little effect. A close look at the evidence reveals just how much Chávez's "revolution" has hurt Venezuela's economy -- and that the poor are hurting most of all.
396. Arctic Meltdown: The Economic and Security Implications of Global Warming
- Author:
- Scott G. Borgerson
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Thanks to global warming, the Arctic icecap is rapidly melting, opening up access to massive natural resources and creating shipping shortcuts that could save billions of dollars a year. But there are currently no clear rules governing this economically and strategically vital region. Unless Washington leads the way toward a multilateral diplomatic solution, the Arctic could descend into armed conflict.
- Political Geography:
- Washington
397. The Copenhagen Consensus: Reading Adam Smith in Denmark
- Author:
- Robert Kuttner
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Denmark has forged a social and economic model that couples the best of the free market with the best of the welfare state, transcending tradeoffs between dynamism and security, efficiency and equality. Other countries may not be able to simply copy the Danish model of social democracy, but it nonetheless offers important lessons for governments confronting the dilemmas of globalization.
- Political Geography:
- Denmark
398. China and India Go to Africa: New Deals in the Developing World
- Author:
- Harry G. Broadman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Economic activity between Africa and Asia, especially China and India, is booming like never before. If the problems and imbalances this sometimes creates are managed well, this expanding engagement could be an unprecedented opportunity for Africa's growth and for its integration into the global economy.
- Political Geography:
- Africa, China, India, and Asia
399. Diplomacy in an Age of Faith: Religious Freedom and National Security
- Author:
- Thomas F. Farr
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The United States has failed to understand the global resurgence of religiosity. Washington should put the promotion of religious freedom at the center of U.S. foreign policy -- recognizing that it is vital not only to liberty and stability abroad but also to U.S. national security.
- Political Geography:
- United States and Washington
400. Transforming Nations: How the WTO Boosts Economies and Opens Societies
- Author:
- Peter D. Sutherland
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The World Trade Organization has changed the world in the past decade by welcoming China and transforming national fortunes in Cambodia and Saudi Arabia. It provides the catalyst that political leaders need to reform.
- Political Geography:
- China, Cambodia, and Saudi Arabia