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44122. Statement by Col. Joseph Felter (Ret.) before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee
- Author:
- Joseph Felter
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
- Abstract:
- My testimony draws on experience and perspective gained during my career as a US Army Special Forces officer with deployments to Afghanistan most recently in 2010- 2011 as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Counterinsurgency Advisory and Assistance Team (CAAT) deploying experienced counterinsurgency advisors across all five ISAF regional commands and reporting directly to COMISAF. It is also informed by participation in efforts to build host nation security force capabilities in the Philippines and elsewhere as well as by scholarly research on the effective employment of state security forces to combat insurgency.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Terrorism, War, and Law Enforcement
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and United States
44123. A History of KEDO 1994-2006
- Author:
- Joel Wit, Robert Carlin, and Charles Kartman
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
- Abstract:
- When the South Korean fast ferry Hankyoreh sailed out of North Korean waters into the cold wind and waves of the East Sea on the morning of 8 January 2006, it carried a sad and somber group of South Korean workers, ROK officials, and personnel from the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). These were all that remained of a decade long multinational effort transforming what in 1994 had been only a paper notion into a modern construction complex of steel and concrete. KEDO's profile on the North Korean landscape was unmistakable, its impact on Pyongyang profound. Yet, real knowledge and understanding about the organization in public and official circles in South Korea, Japan, and the United States was terribly thin at the beginning, and remains so to this day.
- Topic:
- Development, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, Israel, South Korea, and North Korea
44124. Can North Korea nuclear crisis be resolved?
- Author:
- Siegfried S. Hecker
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
- Abstract:
- I thank Kyungnam University and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for inviting me to present my views on the situation in North Korea. My area of expertise is in the nuclear arena and that is primarily what I will address in my paper. However, it is not possible to solve the nuclear crisis without addressing the underlying fundamental political issues, so I will offer my views, as a non-expert in this area, at the outset.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Israel and North Korea
44125. Contract Spending by the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development
- Author:
- David J. Berteau, Guy Ben-Ari, Gregory Sanders, Priscilla Hermann, and David Morrow
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- This report examines the budgetary trends and trends in contract spending in the Department of State (DoS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The report is divided into six sections, including the introduction and an appendix. Unless Otherwise noted, all dollar figures are in constant 2010 dollars and all years are fiscal years.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- United States
44126. The FY2013 Defense Budget, Sequestration, and the Growing Strategy-Reality Gap
- Author:
- Anthony H. Cordesman
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- The US may not face peer threats in the near to mid term, but it faces a wide variety of lesser threats that make maintaining effective military forces, foreign aid, and other national security programs a vital national security interest. The US does need to reshape its national security planning and strategy to do a far better job of allocating resources to meet these threats. It needs to abandon theoretical and conceptual exercises in strategy that do not focus on detailed force plans, manpower plans, procurement plans, and budgets; and use its resources more wisely. The US still dominates world military spending, but it must recognize that maintaining the US economy is a vital national security interest in a world where the growth and development of other nations and regions means that the relative share the US has in the global economy will decline steadily over time, even under the best circumstances. At the same time, US dependence on the security and stability of the global economy will continue to grow indefinitely in the future. Talk of any form of “independence,” including freedom from energy imports, is a dangerous myth. The US cannot maintain and grow its economy without strong military forces and effective diplomatic and aid efforts. US military and national security spending already places a far lower burden on the US economy than during the peaceful periods of the Cold War, and existing spending plans will lower that burden in the future. National security spending is now averaging between 4% and 5% of the GDP -- in spite of the fact the US has been fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- versus 6 - 7% during the Cold War.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
44127. Religious Movements, Militancy, and Conflict in South Asia: cases from india, pakistan, and afghanistan
- Author:
- Robert D. Lamb, Liora Danan, Joy Aoun, Sadika Hameed, Kathryn Mixon, and Denise St. Peter
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- The top headlines of the past year have made increasingly clear to U.S. government officials the central—but complicated—roles that religion plays in many of the most strategically important engagements of the United States.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Peace Studies, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, South Asia, and India
44128. The Best Scenario: Japan's Political Crisis as a Reform Driver
- Author:
- Kiyoaki Aburaki
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- “Decide when it is time to decide, draw a conclusion, don't postpone; this is the type of politics I want to create.” Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made this declaration in a press conference on June 26 immediately after the passage of the consumption tax-hike bill in the Lower House of the Diet. Noda's conviction to pass a tax increase had a political cost: 57 lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) voted against the bill, while 15 DPJ members abstained. Former DPJ president Ichiro Ozawa, who leads the anti-tax-hike movement, and his followers created a deep rift within the ruling party over the tax legislation and subsequently damaged Noda's political power base by defecting from the party on July 2.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Israel
44129. Balancing Tradition and Modernity: The Future of Retirement in East Asia
- Author:
- Richard Jackson, Neil Howe, and Tobias Peter
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- As the world's societies age, governments and businesses are trying to look ahead and anticipate the needs of tomorrow's growing elderly populations. Nowhere is this more difficult to do than in emerging East Asia.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Economics, and Health
- Political Geography:
- Israel and East Asia
44130. U.S.-India Defense Trade
- Author:
- S. Amer Latif
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- Over the past decade, the United States and India have built the foundations of a partnership that has the potential to be one of the more consequential relationships of the twenty-first century. Since President Bill Clinton's visit to India in 2000, the two countries have forged a relationship that is now defined by five pillars of cooperation that include strategic issues, energy and climate change, education and development, economics and trade, and science and technology. It is a wide-ranging partnership that holds the promise of collaboration on issues that are not only important to these two countries, but to many other countries as well.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, South Asia, and India
44131. Iran and the Gulf Military Balance II: The Missile and Nuclear Dimensions
- Author:
- Anthony H. Cordesman and Alexander Wilner
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- Iran's potential acquisition of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and Iran's future ability to arm its missiles and aircraft with such weapons, pose s critical risk s that shape every aspect of US, Arab, Israeli and other military competition with Iran . In the near term, they could trigger a major confrontation or war in the Gulf. In the mid to long - term, they could trigger a nuclear arms race in the region, coupled to the search for missile defenses and an accelerated arms race to improve conventional, asymmetric, and proxy forces as well.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Iran and Middle East
44132. Gender-Based Violence and HIV
- Author:
- Janet Fleischman
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- The dual global epidemics of HIV/AIDS and gender - based violence (GBV) exert a destructive and disproportionate impact on women and girls, especially in high HIV - prevalence countries in Africa. Yet despite bipartisan political consensus on the intersection between HIV and GBV, efforts to address this area have not attracted the attention or resources necessary to drive the program innovation that could demonstrate progress. However, new momentum is now being brought to this agenda with the U.S. President ' s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ' s (PEPFAR) GBV initiative. Although still early in implementation and facing many challenges, the GBV initiative has the potential to yield important lessons about synergies and cost - effectiveness in reducing GBV and HIV, with clear implications for U.S. global health investments.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Globalization, and Health
- Political Geography:
- United States
44133. The Last Domino to Fall: Australia, Uranium, and the India Deal
- Author:
- Sharon Squassoni and Talitha Dowds
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- In late 2011, Australia decided to allow uranium exports to India, creating an exception from its long-standing policy of exporting uranium only to countries with full-scope safeguards. Australia was one of a handful of countries that had not moved quickly to cash in on Indian nuclear trade. With its huge uranium resources (it is the third-largest producer of uranium ore and holds 40 percent of known uranium reserves), one would expect Australia to be seriously bullish on nuclear energy and active in export promotion. Yet for decades this significant nuclear supplier has struggled to balance domestic and foreign priorities in the nuclear area. This essay explores Australian nuclear trade policy and the decision to supply India.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, International Trade and Finance, Nuclear Weapons, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- India and Australia/Pacific
44134. Iraq After US Withdrawal: US Policy and the Iraqi Search for Security and Stability
- Author:
- Anthony H. Cordesman and Sam Khazai
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- Iraq is in an ongoing struggle to establish a new national identity, and one that can bridge across the deep sectarian divisions between its Shi'ite s and Sunnis and the ethnic division s between its Arabs and its Kurds and other minorities. At the same time, it must build a new structure of governance, economic, and social order after a period of dictatorship, war, sanctions, occupation and civil conflict that began in 1979 and has continued ever since. It must cope with a steadily growing population, and diversify an economy that is so dependent on petroleum exports that they provide some 95% of its government revenues. This struggle can still end in a new round of serious civil conflict and even in the division of the country. At the same time, Iraq does have great potential and its political divisions and ongoing low - level violence do not mean it cannot succeed in establishing stability, security, and a better life for its people.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Peace Studies, War, Counterinsurgency, and Self Determination
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Middle East, and Arabia
44135. Religion and Militancy in Pakistan and Afghanistan
- Author:
- Mariam Mufti
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- The importance of studying the rise of Islamic radicalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot be overemphasized. First, both Afghanistan and Pakistan have experienced serious threats from radical Islamic groups. In Afghanistan, coalition forces led by the United States were successful in overthrowing the Taliban regime after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but since then there has been a resurgence in violence that is being perpetrated by a combination of the Taliban who have regrouped, the Haqqani Network (HQN) and Hizb-e-Islami (HiG). Foreign groups such as al Qaeda are also implicated in the violence. In Pakistan, most of the militant activity has occurred in the frontier region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, known as the FATA. But other parts of Pakistan, especially Punjab, have also been subject to bomb attacks. These attacks have not only targeted Pakistanis but also foreigners, including U.S. government facilities.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Islam, Religion, Armed Struggle, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and Afghanistan
44136. Enhancing U.S. Trade and Cooperation Relations with Middle-Income Countries
- Author:
- Daniel F. Runde and Amasia Zargarian
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- Justifying traditional U.S. assistance to middle-income countries is an increasingly difficult proposition, and refocusing limited U.S. government development resources away from middle-income countries offers an efficient way to identify savings in the foreign assistance budget. This is not the first time that the U.S. government has faced such questions, and it can draw upon past transitions—not all successful—for a variety of valuable lessons for repurposing the United States' relationship with middle-income countries.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- United States
44137. Russia in the new international order: Theories, arguments and debates
- Author:
- Roger E Kanet
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Politics
- Institution:
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Abstract:
- Throughout the Cold War, studies of Soviet foreign policy were generally 'atheoretical'. In so far as they were based on theoretical models from international relations, those models tended to be some version of 'realism' or 'neorealism'. Over the past two decades, since the end of the Cold War, other approaches – especially those based on 'constructivism' – have challenged the domination of the 'realist' framework in studies of Russian foreign policy. The articles in this special issue of International Politics examine the strengths and weaknesses of the various theoretical frameworks employed to explain Russian policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Cold War
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Soviet Union
44138. Conceptualizing sovereignty in Russian foreign policy: Realist and constructivist perspectives
- Author:
- Charles E Ziegler
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Politics
- Institution:
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Abstract:
- Russia's approach to sovereignty reflects a close linkage between the recentralizing project domestically, and reassertion of Russia's position as a great power on the international scene. This article assesses the relative utility of constructivist and realist approaches in Russian readings of sovereignty. A constructivist approach is found to be more useful in treating sovereignty - it directs our attention toward the problem of developing a new post-Soviet identity, the role of culture and historical interpretation in foreign policy, Russian concepts of the hostile Other and domestic ideas linked to Russian concepts of federalism - all critical factors in understanding Russian foreign policy behavior. The major ideological construct of the post-communist period - sovereign democracy - insists that both sovereignty and democracy are socially and culturally determined, and therefore clash with Western interpretations of these concepts. The emergence of a new, post-modern and Western-dominated set of global norms limiting sovereignty is closely linked to continued tensions between Russia and the West.
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Soviet Union
44139. Applying constructivism to understanding EU–Russian relations
- Author:
- Joan DeBardeleben
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Politics
- Institution:
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Abstract:
- The improved relations between Russia and the European Union (EU) in the 1990s were followed by a rise in tension since 1999. This article argues that constructivism can provide important insights into the basis of continuing difficulties. Drawing on the nature of the two actors, the author argues that the foreign policy identities of both actors are in a formative process, and thus the construction of inter-subjective meanings has the potential to be a particularly transformative element in the relationship. Both the Russian Federation and the EU are relatively new as regional and global actors, and both are in the process of forming their foreign policy identities, although in quite different contexts. Neither the EU nor Russia has developed a strategic conception for the relationship, and political discourse often obstructs communication rather than furthering the generation of inter-subjective meanings. The article argues that a constructivist analysis can help to expose the deep interconnections between normative disagreements, conflicting constructions of interests and differing concepts of governance.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Europe
44140. Russia's foreign policy towards Poland: Seeking reconciliation? A social constructivist analysis
- Author:
- Valentina Feklyunina
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Politics
- Institution:
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Abstract:
- Russia's relations with Poland in the post-Soviet period have been greatly affected by their divergent historical narratives that have shaped their dominant identities and have been further promoted by the political elites to maintain these identities. However, Moscow's attempts to project a more positive image in Poland in recent years have involved re-articulating some elements of the official narrative. Drawing on social constructivism, this article presents a theoretical framework that can be applied to an analysis of Russia's foreign policy, and illustrates its benefits by examining Russia's policy towards Poland.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Poland, Soviet Union, and Moscow