Political Geography: United States / Topic: International Affairs

1. A Roundtable on Lauren Turek, To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Relations

Author:: Andrew Preston, Darren Dochuk, Christopher Cannon Jones, Kelly J. Shannon, Vanessa Walker, and Lauren F. Turek
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR)
Abstract:: Historians of the United States and the world are getting religion, and our understanding of American foreign relations is becoming more rounded and more comprehensive as a result. Religion provides much of the ideological fuel that drives America forward in the world, which is the usual approach historians have taken in examining the religious influence on diplomacy; it has also sometimes provided the actual nuts-and-bolts of diplomacy, intelligence, and military strategy.1 But historians have not always been able to blend these two approaches. Lauren Turek’s To Bring the Good News to All Nations is thus a landmark because it is both a study of cultural ideology and foreign policy. In tying the two together in clear and compelling ways, based on extensive digging in various archives, Turek sheds a huge amount of new light on America’s mission in the last two decades of the Cold War and beyond. Turek uses the concept of “evangelical internationalism” to explore the worldview of American Protestants who were both theologically and politically conservative, and how they came to wield enough power that they were able to help shape U.S. foreign policy from the 1970s into the twenty-first century. As the formerly dominant liberal Protestants faded in numbers and authority, and as the nation was gripped by the cultural revolutions of the 1960s, evangelicals became the vanguard of a new era in American Christianity. Evangelicals replaced liberal Protestants abroad, too, as the mainline churches mostly abandoned the mission field. The effects on U.S. foreign relations were lasting and profound.
Topic:: International Relations, Religion, International Affairs, History, Culture, Book Review, Christianity, and Diplomatic History
Political Geography:: United States and Global Focus

2. Ministers For Foreign Affairs 1960-1972

Author:: Melissa Conley Tyler, John Robbins, and Adrian March
Publication Date:: 07-2017
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Australian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: he Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) is pleased to present the second book in the Australian Ministers for Foreign Affairs series. In February 2013 the AIIA held a one-day forum to examine the achievements of Australia’s foreign ministers between 1960 and 1972. This forum and publication followed on from R.G Casey: Minister for External Affairs 1951-1960, and examined the next decade in Australian foreign policy. This newest volume brings together Australia’s most eminent academics and experts in international relations, former senior diplomats and government officials to explore the major issues that confronted the seven foreign ministers during the period of 1960-1972. The book has been edited by Melissa Conley Tyler, John Robbins and Adrian March.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Cold War, Regional Cooperation, United Nations, International Affairs, and Vietnam
Political Geography:: United States, China, Indonesia, Asia, and Australia

3. One Hundred Years’ War for the Right to Remain Russia

Author:: A. Ageev
Publication Date:: 03-2015
Content Type:: Working Paper
Abstract:: In the last quarter of a century, it has become clear that neither great powers nor small and average states nor even the United States are happy with international chaos. No wonder, there is a (still latent) desire to move to a new international horizon of confidence and predictable behavior of all subjects of international relations. This is hardly surprising since in the last few years the world has been facing the unpredictable United States, the mightiest of international subjects, which has imposed on mankind a choice between a new world order and a worldwide military catastrophe. Is there a force strong enough to offer an alternative to the slipping into an abyss of hopelessness and initiate adequate measures? Which country except Putin’s Russia can shoulder the burden? Has the world found itself at the threshold of another Cold War which offers no choice but a third world war?
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Cold War, International Security, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Russia and United States

4. The Showdown That Wasn't: U.S.-Israeli Relations and American Domestic Politics, 1973–75

Author:: Galen Jackson
Publication Date:: 03-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Security
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: How influential are domestic politics on U.S. foreign affairs? With regard to Middle East policy, how important a role do ethnic lobbies, Congress, and public opinion play in influencing U.S. strategy? Answering these questions requires the use of archival records and other primary documents, which provide an undistorted view of U.S. policymakers' motivations. The Ford administration's 1975 reassessment of its approach to Arab-Israeli statecraft offers an excellent case for the examination of these issues in light of this type of historical evidence. President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger decided, in large part because of the looming 1976 presidential election, to avoid a confrontation with Israel in the spring and summer of 1975 by choosing to negotiate a second disengagement agreement between Egypt and Israel rather than a comprehensive settlement. Nevertheless, domestic constraints on the White House's freedom of action were not insurmountable and, had they had no other option, Ford and Kissinger would have been willing to engage in a showdown with Israel over the Middle East conflict's most fundamental aspects. The administration's concern that a major clash with Israel might stoke an outbreak of anti-Semitism in the United States likely contributed to its decision to back down.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, International Affairs, and Domestic Politics
Political Geography:: United States, Israel, and Palestine

5. Faces of Power: Constancy and Change in United States Foreign Policy from Truman to Obama

Author:: Seyom Brown
Publication Date:: 02-2015
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Columbia University Press
Abstract:: Seyom Brown's authoritative account of U.S. foreign policy from the end of the Second World War to the present challenges common assumptions about American presidents and their struggle with power and purpose. Brown shows Truman to be more anguished than he publicly revealed about the use of the atomic bomb; Eisenhower and George W. Bush to be more immersed in the details of policy formulation and implementation than generally believed; Reagan to be more invested in changing his worldview while in office than any previous president; and Obama to have modeled his military exit from Iraq and Afghanistan more closely to Nixon and Kissinger's exit strategy from Vietnam than he would like to admit. Brown's analyses of Obama's policies for countering terrorist threats at home and abroad, dealing with unprecedented upheavals in the Middle East, preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and containing new territorial expansion by China and Russia reinforce the book's "constancy and change" theme, which shows that serving the interests of the most powerful country in the world transforms the Oval Office's occupant more than its occupant can transform the world.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, Terrorism, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States
Publication Identifier:: 9780231133296
Publication Identifier Type:: ISBN

6. A History of the U.S. Army Officer Corps, 1900-1990

Author:: Arthur T. Coumbe
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: With the assistance of the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, the Army's Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis published a series of monographs that were intended to provide a theoretical and conceptual framework for the development of an Army Officer Corps Strategy. These monographs consider the creation and maintenance of a highly skilled Officer Corps in the context of the nation's continuing commitment to an all-volunteer military, its far flung international interests, and ongoing changes in its domestic labor market. The authors of the various monographs believe that the confluence of these factors demands a comprehensive Officer Corps strategy that recognizes the interdependency of accessing, developing, retaining, and employing talent. In their view, building a talent-focused strategy around this four-activity human capital model would best enable the Army to match individual officer competencies to specific competency requirements.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, War, International Affairs, and History
Political Geography:: United States

7. Political and Socio-Economic Change: Revolutions and Their Implications for the U.S. Military

Author:: John R. Deni
Publication Date:: 09-2014
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: The revolutions of the Arab Spring have had profound implications for global security generally and for U.S. security specifically. In most cases, these implications are only beginning to reveal themselves in the various countries affected across the region. Most obviously, the future of Syria—indeed, whether it remains a unified political entity—remains an open question. Whether and how the Syrian civil war is resolved is bound to impact significantly U.S. efforts to help Israel maintain its security. Meanwhile, in Libya, weak governmental institutions and rival power centers have made it difficult for the authorities in Tripoli to gain full control over the entire country. Particularly along Libya's borders, this has magnified the risk of transnational terrorists and traffickers exploiting the poorly governed spaces of the Pan Sahel. Elsewhere, the unfinished revolution in Egypt holds implications for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, for the balance of regional power vis-à-vis Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, and for the global trade—especially energy resources—that passes through the Suez Canal every day.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, Iran, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt

8. Strategic Retrenchment and Renewal in the American Experience

Author:: Peter Feaver (ed)
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: American strategic debates are rarely new. They generally replay inherited conflicts of vision and interpretation in new settings. The consistent, almost obsessive, focus on “enduring dilemmas” has led historians like Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., to emphasize the “cycles of American history,” especially as they relate to politics and defense policy.
Topic:: Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Affairs, and Governance
Political Geography:: United States and America

9. South Korea and China: A Strategic Partnership in the Making

Author:: Mr Alain Guidetti
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:: President Xi Jinping's July 2014 visit to Seoul indicates that the strategic partnership between China and the Republic of Korea is moving forward against a backdrop of growing power competition and instability in the region. Both Seoul and Beijing have strong interest in close cooperation: Beijing wants to prevent a full-fledged trilateral alliance between the US, Japan and South Korea aimed at containing China's rising power Seoul needs Chinese support in its efforts to reach out to Pyongyang and work towards future reunification.
Topic:: Security, International Cooperation, International Affairs, Bilateral Relations, and Governance
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, China, Beijing, Asia, and South Korea

10. What Future for Human Rights?

Author:: James W. Nickel
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: Like people born shortly after World War II, the international human rights movement recently had its sixty-fifth birthday. This could mean that retirement is at hand and that death will come in a few decades. After all, the formulations of human rights that activists, lawyers, and politicians use today mostly derive from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the world in 1948 was very different from our world today: the cold war was about to break out, communism was a strong and optimistic political force in an expansionist phase, and Western Europe was still recovering from the war. The struggle against entrenched racism and sexism had only just begun, decolonization was in its early stages, and Asia was still poor (Japan was under military reconstruction, and Mao's heavy-handed revolution in China was still in the future). Labor unions were strong in the industrialized world, and the movement of women into work outside the home and farm was in its early stages. Farming was less technological and usually on a smaller scale, the environmental movement had not yet flowered, and human-caused climate change was present but unrecognized. Personal computers and social networking were decades away, and Earth's human population was well under three billion.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, China, Europe, Asia, and United Nations

11. New Frontiers: U.S. Students Pursuing Degrees Abroad

Author:: Rajika Bhandari, Raisa Belyavina, and Jing Li
Publication Date:: 05-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:: In an increasingly globalized world, investing in international education is a growing priority for individuals and countries alike. Students seek out experiences that will shape their careers while nations vie for the world's most talented minds to contribute to research, innovation and economic growth. International education and intercultural competencies are increasingly more valued by employers ranging from multinational corporations to the public sector. Recognizing the need for connecting with global peers, students around the world are more mobile today than ever before. They also have opportunities to participate in a wide array of educational activities abroad, ranging from brief educational study tours to obtaining full degrees overseas that can span a student's entire higher education career.
Topic:: Education, Foreign Exchange, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

12. U.S. Students in China: Meeting the Goals of the 100,000 Strong Initiative

Author:: Raisa Belyavina
Publication Date:: 01-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:: The 100,000 Strong Initiative, announced in November 2009 by President Obama, aims to increase to 100,000 the cumulative number of Americans studying in China over a four - year period. While the number of American students studying abroad for credit in Chin a has increased nearly fivefold in the last decade, the types of educational experiences undertaken by American students going abroad have changed as well. More than ever before, American students are going abroad on shorter, not - for - credit programs such a s study tours, internships, and volunteering abroad. The 100,000 Strong Initiative encourages all types of educational experiences for students in U.S. high schools, colleges, and universities.
Topic:: Education, Foreign Exchange, International Cooperation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, China, America, and Israel

13. Before the Cut: The Global Politics of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

Author:: Srdjan Vucetic
Publication Date:: 06-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Peace and Security Studies
Abstract:: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a high-calibre international collaboration project that figures in many debates on the emerging structure of international politics. How and why did the U.S. government and the U.S. defence industry enter into a set of international partnerships to develop this weapon system? Conversely, how and why did the partner nations become partners, and what influence, if any, have they had on the program so far? And how have participating governments dealt with the mounting controversies surrounding the new fighter jet? In principle, collaboration projects not only cement alliance ties, but also help offset development costs and increase exports, thus lowering unit costs overall. In reality, the F-35 has so far been a boondoggle. Highly asymmetric by design, the JSF project has proven particularly challenging to partners, especially now that the program's cost overruns, delays, and performance shortfalls have become a regular news item in the mainstream media. A review of ongoing F-35 debates across partner countries suggest that evaluations based on “high politics” considerations implicating the costs and benefits of the U.S. alliance trail well behind those concerning technical issues such as cost overruns, work shares, and transfers of technology. The F-35 is a political hot potato for all participating governments, but in the absence of a fatal cut to the program made in Washington D.C., outright defections are unlikely at this stage.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and Washington

14. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and Its Relevance for the Global Security

Author:: Daša Adašková and Tomáš Ludík
Publication Date:: 06-2013
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is one of important international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament measures. One of its pillars is the verification mechanism that has been built as an international system of nuclear testing detection to enable the control of observance of the obligations anchored in the CTBT. Despite the great relevance to the global non-proliferation and disarmament efforts, the CTBT is still not in force. The main aim of the article is to summarize the importance of the CTBT and its entry into force not only from the international relations perspective but also from the perspective of the technical implementation of the monitoring system.
Topic:: Security, NATO, International Law, United Nations, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, China, Iran, Middle East, India, Asia, France, and Arabia

15. Beyond Borders

Author:: David A. Andelman
Publication Date:: 03-2013
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: World Policy Journal
Institution:: World Policy Institute
Abstract:: Civilization marks its beginnings to the moment, more than 14,000 years ago, humans first gathered into settlements, leaving behind their days as nomadic hunters and gatherers. Known as sedentarization, this phenomenon likely debuted in the Fertile Crescent of the Levant, followed by the Yangtze and Yellow River basins two millennia later, and eventually in Mexico, South America, and finally the eastern shores of the United States. At each point sprang up villages, cities, and eventually, nations. Over thousands of years, fixed boundaries were codified and defended, often at great cost. Many borders have been drawn wisely, following natural formations like barriers of mountains or rivers. Many follow linguistic, ethnic, religious, or tribal boundaries. But others have been haphazardly imposed by outsiders with the stroke of a pen on some distant map. As empires fell and the speed of global trade and migration increased, boundaries became complex barriers to the free movement of people and ideas. Today, some provoke violent wars and revolutions, while others can be breached by brave individuals and new technologies—issues that World Policy Journal explores in our spring cover theme.
Topic:: Demographics, Development, Nationalism, International Affairs, Border Control, and Urbanization
Political Geography:: United States, South America, and Mexico

16. How to Protect and Expand Internet Freedom

Publication Date:: 12-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Human Rights First
Abstract:: The rapid development of the Internet presents profound opportunities and challenges for U.S. interests around the world, particularly around the promotion and protection of human rights. The Internet is the steward of our economic, social, and political activity, but clearly the Internet itself is not the advocate for its possibilities: governments are. How the U.S. government organizes itself and collaborates with the businesses in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector to create policies and priorities for the Internet will set the foundation of whether the Information Age will be a success story for human rights.
Topic:: Economics, Human Rights, Science and Technology, International Affairs, and Communications
Political Geography:: United States

17. How to Protect LGBTI Persons around the World from Violence

Publication Date:: 12-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Human Rights First
Abstract:: The United States has unique experience fighting violent hate crime and discrimination, and the protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people has become a signature human rights initiative of the Obama Administration. In 2009, Congress passed the Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, with bipartisan support and the endorsement of a wide range of constituencies with differing views on LGBTI equality. The law--and the coalition that supported it--is a model of how to marshal the range of U.S. resources to improve responses to all hate crime, including acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity bias.
Topic:: Crime, Human Rights, International Affairs, Governance, and Law
Political Geography:: United States

18. Bahrain and the global balance of power after the Arab Spring

Author:: Lars Erslev Andersen
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The global balance of power is changing, and the role of the US as the only superpower is being challenged by emerging new powers and a still more powerful China. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Persian Gulf. This Working Paper by DIIS researcher Lars Erslev Andersen argues that if we are fully to understand the developments in the Persian Gulf we need to analyze the Persian Gulf as a regional security complex in its own right. The argument is developed empirically with reference to the case of Bahrain.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, and Power Politics
Political Geography:: United States, China, Middle East, Arabia, and Bahrain

19. Saving Mothers, Giving Life: Attainable or Aspirational?

Author:: Janet Fleischman
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Each day, nearly 800 women die around the world from complications in pregnancy or childbirth. That's one woman losing her life, every 100 seconds, every day. And while, from 1990 to 2010, global maternal mortality rates declined by roughly 47%, from about 546,000 to 287,000, the regional disparities are enormous: 85% of all maternal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia—and more than half of these occur in sub-Saharan Africa. These deaths are largely preventable with interventions and training to address complications such as hemorrhage, infection, and obstructed labor, and more broadly with increased access to reproductive health services.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Health, International Affairs, Foreign Aid, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, and South Asia

20. The Video Revolution

Author:: Jane Sasseen
Publication Date:: 08-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:: The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), at the National Endowment for Democracy, works to strengthen the support, raise the visibility, and improve the effectiveness of independent media development throughout the world. The Center provides information, builds networks, conducts research, and highlights the indispensable role independent media play in the creation and development of sustainable democracies. An important aspect of CIMA's work is to research ways to attract additional U.S. private sector interest in and support for international media development. The Center was one of the of the main nongovernmental organizers of World Press Freedom Day 2011 in Washington, DC.
Topic:: Development, Science and Technology, International Affairs, Communications, and Mass Media
Political Geography:: United States and Washington

21. Force in Our Times

Author:: Robert Jervis
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
Abstract:: Recent world politics displays two seemingly contradictory trends: on one hand, the incidence of international and even civil war shows a very great decline, but on the other hand the US, and to a lesser extent Britain and France, have been involved in many military adventures since the end of the Cold War. The causes are numerous, but among them are the unipolar structure of world politics, which presents the US with different kinds of threats and new opportunities. Central also is the existence of a Security Community among the leading states. A number of forces and events could undermine it, but they seem unlikely to occur. Even in this better world, however, recessed violence will still play a significant role, and force, like other forms of power, is most potent and useful when it remains far in the background.
Topic:: Civil War, Cold War, War, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and France

22. The Paradox of Proximity: India's approach to fragility in the neighbourhood

Author:: Nitin Pai
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: The risks posed by fragile states have moved to the centre-stage of Western security consciousness only in recent years, fundamentally as the result of globalisation and precipitously due to the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The threats posed by fragile states to the Western countries are palpable and proximate-for instance, in the form of terrorist plots, influx of refugees and organised crime-but the origins of the threats are relatively remote. Western policymakers and publics, therefore, enjoy a certain geographical and temporal insulation, not only allowing for detached analysis but also allowing a broader range of policy options.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Political Violence, Development, International Affairs, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: United States, South Asia, and India

23. A Memo to Ban Ki-moon

Author:: Richard Gowan and Bruce D. Jones
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: Congratulations. You have not only won a second five---year term at the United Nations, but you also won with a minimum of fuss. In a month in which the Security Council has been rocked by disputes over Syria, all fifteen members backed you. Last week, the General Assembly gave you unanimous support.
Topic:: International Organization, United Nations, International Affairs, and Governance
Political Geography:: United States and Syria

24. U.S. Special Envoys: A Flexible Tool

Author:: John K. Naland
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: While the U.S. government has long employed special envoys for occasional diplomatic missions, the Obama administration's 24 special envoys represent an unprecedented expansion of this mechanism after the Bush administration, which generally did not use them.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

25. Multilateralism in Trade at Risk: Should and Can we Rescue the Doha Round?

Author:: Jagdish Bhagwati, Pascal Lamy, Michael Moore, and Leif Pagrotsky
Publication Date:: 12-2011
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:: This World Leaders Forum program will feature an introduction by: - Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization Followed by a panel discussion with: - Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor of Economics Law, Columbia University; Economic Policy Adviser to Director General of GATT (1991-1993) - Michael Moore, Former Director General of World Trade Organization and Prime Minister of New Zealand; Ambassador of New Zealand to the United States - Leif Pagrotsky, Swedish Minister for Trade(1997-2004); currently member of the Swedish Parliament and of the Executive Board of the Social Democratic Party.
Topic:: Economics, Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: United States and New Zealand

26. International Journal of Korean Studies

Author:: Hugo Wheegook Kim
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:: International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:: There is a vast literature that examines the American containment approach to communism throughout the Cold War era. However, few authors focus on the flip side of U.S. Cold War policy: constraint. In addition to their distaste for communism, Americans also feared "rogue" anti-communist allies dragging the U.S. into a larger-scale war with their common communist enemies. This fear especially applied to the South Korean authoritarian state under Syngman Rhee, who harnessed rabid anti-communism both to legitimize his rule and to try to embroil the U.S. in further conflict on the Korean peninsula. In order to exercise greater influence over such "rogue allies" as Syngman Rhee's South Korea, the U.S. opted to pursue strong bilateral alliances in East Asia, where they feared entrapment the most. As a result, solid relationships like the U.S.-ROK alliance came to dominate the East Asian security architecture, leaving little space for East Asian multilateralism to take root.
Topic:: International Relations, Cold War, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, East Asia, South Korea, North Korea, and Korean Peninsula

27. Russia's Revival: Ambitions, Limitations, and Opportunities for the United States

Author:: John W. Parker
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Abstract:: Independent Russia is approaching the start of its third decade of post-Soviet existence. After the economic chaos of the Boris Yeltsin decade and the recovery and stabilization of the Vladimir Putin decade, Russia's leaders have high ambitions for a return to great power status in the years ahead. Their aspirations are tempered, however, by the realities of Russia's social, economic, and military shortcomings and vulnerabilities, laid painfully bare by the stress test of the recent global financial crisis. Looking ahead, some also calculate that Russia will be increasingly challenged in the Far East by a rising China and in the Middle East by an Iran that aspires to regional hegemony.
Topic:: Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, International Affairs, and Power Politics
Political Geography:: Russia and United States

28. The Global Puzzle: Order in an Age of Primacy, Power-Shifts and Interdependence

Author:: Graeme P. Herd
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:: How can the US maintain its relative primacy in an age of power-shifts and interdependence? Power-shifts generate multiple peer competitors, who first establish their predominance within their geopolitical neighbourhoods, and then selectively challenge the US for leadership of global strategic agendas. The net strategic effect is the incremental erosion of US relative primacy. By contrast, growing interdependence generates a shared realization that all states are weakened by structural and systemic threats which no one state – even the US – can manage alone. Paradoxically, with regards to US relative primacy, the net strategic effect is the same: to maintain its relative primacy, the US must take the lead in managing structural and systemic strategic challenges interdependence generates; if this management is to be effective, efficient and legitimate then power needs to be shared, “prime player” status is eroded, primacy is lost by design.
Topic:: International Affairs, Political Theory, and Power Politics
Political Geography:: United States

29. Criminal Insurgency in the Americas and Beyond

Author:: Robert Killebrew
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: PRISM
Institution:: Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:: Even before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the global context for American security policy was changing. While the traditional state-based international system continued to function and the United States reacted to challenges by states in conventional ways (for example, by invading Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11), a cascade of enormous technological and social change was revolutionizing international affairs. As early as the 1990s, theorists were writing that with modern transnational communications, international organizations and corporate conglomerates would increasingly act independently of national borders and international regulation. What was not generally foreseen until about the time of 9/11, though, was the darker side: that the same technology could empower corrupt transnational organizations to threaten the international order itself. In fact, the globalization of crime, from piracy's financial backers in London and Nairobi to the Taliban and Hizballah's representatives in West Africa, may well be the most important emerging fact of today's global security environment.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, and Iraq

30. Wars of the Future

Author:: Armen Oganesyan
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:: East View Information Services
Abstract:: Unfortunately, the new millennium has not brought peace to mankind. The global agenda still includes the security problem, the resolution of armed conflicts and the prevention of new wars. Realizing the importance of the subject, the International Affairs' editorial board and the institute of international studies at the Moscow State Institute (University) of international Relations invited experts and analysts to discuss the military concepts that are being developed in the world today and the weapons that could be used in future armed conflicts.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, and Moscow

31. US-Korea Relations: Death of Kim Jong Il

Author:: Ellen Kim and Victor D. Cha
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's state visit to the US was a big event that attested to the strength of the two countries' relationship and the personal ties between Presidents Obama and Lee. The timely passage of the KORUS FTA in the US was the big deliverable for the summit. Final ratification of the FTA in both countries clears one longstanding issue and lays the foundation for greater economic integration and a stronger alliance. Meanwhile, the most shocking news for the final third of the year was the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in late December. His death disrupted US-DPRK bilateral talks as North Korea observed a mourning period for its late leader. The US and South Korea spent the last two weeks of December quietly watching developments in North Korea as the reclusive country accelerated its succession process to swiftly transfer power to the anointed successor, Kim Jong Un.
Topic:: International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, South Korea, North Korea, and Korea

32. Conflict Prevention in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific

Author:: Elsina Wainwright
Publication Date:: 04-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: The Asia Pacific has experienced thirty years without interstate conflict, but a number of long-running, low-level internal conflicts continue in Southeast Asia, and several South Pacific states have recent experience of instability. Tensions also remain at the inter-state level, and shifting power dynamics between the US, China, and other Asian states have the potential to foster regional instability. In addition, a raft of transnational threats, such as resource scarcity and climate change, are creating new uncertainty.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, International Cooperation, Regional Cooperation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, China, Australia/Pacific, and Southeast Asia

33. Raising the Stakes: The Need for a More Ambitious American Policy Towards Iran

Author:: Barbara Zanchetta
Publication Date:: 04-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The election of Barack Obama unleashed unprecedented hopes around the world for a renewed leadership of the United States. Due to the controversial foreign policy record of the previous presidency and because of Obama's widespread appeal, deriving from both his personal life story and from his exceptional oratory skills, the inauguration of the first African-American president seemed, indeed, to represent a new beginning. The President himself, after campaigning on a platform of change ("yes we can"), repeatedly underscored the notion of a renewed America in his Inaugural Address. Referring not only to the repercussions of the economic crisis but also to the US global role, Obama called for a "new era of responsibility." The United States, stated the President, "are ready to lead once again," but in a rapidly evolving world order in which responsibilities have to, necessarily, be shared.
Topic:: Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, International Affairs, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: United States, America, and Iran

34. Disrupting Iran's Illicit Activities

Author:: Steven Pelak
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: In recent weeks, calls for additional sanctions against Iran and increased prosecutions of violators have highlighted the need for effective enforcement mechanisms. Although enhanced sanctions may be valuable, they will have little effect if there is no penalty for violations. As part of its effort to reinforce sanctions regulations and ensure that U.S. national security interests are preserved, the Justice Department has sought to disable Iranian procurement networks that may involve U.S. companies, citizens, or goods.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, International Security, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, Iran, and Washington

35. Israel and Palestine: Two States for Two Peoples: If Not Now, When?

Author:: Lenore G. Martin, Stephen M. Walt, Alan Berger, Harvey Cox, Herbert C. Kelman, Everett Mendelsohn, Augustus Richard Norton, and Henry Steiner
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is of compelling interest to the United States. It offers the only realistic prospect for lasting peace and attainable justice for Israelis and Palestinians. It offers clear and substantial benefits to Americans, Palestinians and Israelis, as well as to most of the other states in the region.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, America, Israel, and Palestine

36. The Breakup

Author:: John Feffer
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:: "I need a little space." When lovers utter these words, it's usually a bad sign for the relationship. They feel suffocated. They're reexamining their commitment. They're checking out other options. But they don't have the courage to make a clean break.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Affairs, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: United States, China, and North Korea

37. Strategic Competition With Iran: The Military Dimension

Author:: Anthony H. Cordesman, Vivek Kocharlakota, and Adam Seitz
Publication Date:: 08-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: US competition with Iran has become the equivalent of a game of three-dimensional chess, in which other states are outside players that can constantly intervene, and one where each side can modify at least some of the rules with each move. It is a game that has been going on for some three decades. It is clearly unlikely to be ended by better dialog and mutual understanding, and that Iran's version of “democracy” is unlikely to change the way it is played in the foreseeable future. This does not make dialogue and negotiation pointless. Dialogue and negotiation do reduce the risk of escalation and misunderstanding. They offer a peaceful means of placing limits on Iran's behavior, of helping to convince Iran's regime that such limits are really in its interest, and establishing “rules of the game” which limit the risks involved to both sides.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Nuclear Weapons, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and Iran

38. Three Critical Weeks in the Middle East: Insights into U.S. Policy

Author:: Robert Satloff
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: It is important to recall that the Gaza incident had the unintended consequence of wiping from the headlines much discussion about the U.S. decision to accede to the final resolution of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference. Indeed, if Gaza had not occurred, there would be much more intense focus on how the decision to acquiesce in a deeply flawed NPT document gave clarity to the administration's priorities.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, Middle East, and Israel

39. UN Security Council Enlargement and U.S. Interests

Author:: Kara C. McDonald and Stewart M. Patrick
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: Advancing U.S. national interests in an era of global threats depends on effective multilateral action. Global institutions inherited from the past are struggling to adapt to the rise of new challenges and powers. “The international architecture of the 20th century is buckling,” declares the new U.S. National Security Strategy. President Barack Obama has committed his administration to renovating outdated institutions and integrating emerging powers as pillars of a rule-based international order. Renovation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and its membership must be a core component of this agenda. President Obama's announcement in November 2010 of U.S. support for a permanent UNSC seat for India is a critical first step in this direction.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, International Organization, United Nations, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

40. How Central is Central Asia? Part 3/3

Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: The Third Annual Russia/Eurasia Forum: How Central is Central Asia? Sponsored by the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, and the Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University.
Topic:: Foreign Policy and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Central Asia, and Eurasia

41. Beyond the 'New Horizon': Proceedings from the UN Peacekeeping Future Challenges Seminar, Geneva, 23–24 June 2010

Author:: Cedric H. de Coning, Thierry Tardy, and Andreas Øien Stensland
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:: The past decade has seen a nine-fold increase in UN peacekeeping operations. With over 123,000 deployed personnel across 16 missions, and at a cost of approximately USD 8 billion per year, the scale of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping today is unprecedented. While prior reforms have enabled growth and helped to define the core strengths of operations, UN peacekeeping now finds itself, once again, at a crossroads: 'The scale and complexity of peacekeeping today are straining its personnel, administrative and support machinery.' The peacekeeping partnership is under stress – among contributors, the Security Council, and the UN Secretariat. Several current peacekeeping missions are deployed beyond their doctrinal and capacity comfort zones.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Peace Studies, Regional Cooperation, United Nations, International Affairs, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: United States

42. A Bright Future for International Law?

Author:: Steven Haines
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:: During the period of the Bush presidency, from 2001-2009, there was much concern expressed, both domestically within the United States and internationally, about Washington's apparently cavalier attitude towards international law. 1 Much of this – though by no means all – was prompted by the US reaction to the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington (the so-called 'global war on terrorism'), and the decision in 2002/3 to opt for regime change in Iraq. For many commentators it seemed as though US policy in that period provided solid evidence that law within the international system was of little influence in the face of determined power. This perception reflects realist assumptions about the pre-eminence of national interest and power as determinants of policy. Of particular moment is the power of those states that fall within the category of 'great power' – and 'superpower' has a special quality all its own.
Topic:: Economics, International Law, International Affairs, and Power Politics
Political Geography:: United States

43. Buy American: Bad for Jobs, Worse for Reputation

Author:: Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jeffrey J. Schott
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:: On January 28, 2009, the US House of Representatives passed its economic stimulus plan, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Out of the bill's 700 text pages, a small half-page section attracted enormous media attention: the section requiring that all public projects funded by the stimulus plan must use only iron and steel produced in the United States (box 1). Another provision, which drew less attention, extends the so-called Berry Amendment (an old Buy American provision) to uniforms purchased by the Department of Homeland Security.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, Government, Industrial Policy, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

44. American Decision Making and the 1967 Arab-Israeli Conflict

Author:: Matthew J. Sheiffer
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:: It is become common to argue that a special relationship exists between the United States and Israel and that this relationship explains unconditional American support for Israeli policies. These arguments generally focus on the period after the 1967 war. This makes examination of the period immediately before this time especially useful for understanding the nature of American relations with Israel. If this period marks the beginning of a special relationship, then there should be initial indicators of that relationship and its impact on the policy making process. In 1967, American policy was initially designed to accomplish the relatively modest goal of preventing an Israeli preemptive attack while building support for a multilateral plan to reopen the Gulf of Aqaba. Yet, the United States ultimately failed to achieve either objective. Given the potential danger of war to American interests, a strategic analysis of this case might predict active and vigorous efforts, using all aspects of American power, to prevent conflict. The puzzle is why this did not occur. By examining a purely systemic explanation for American actions in 1967, this paper will explore the complexities and tensions in the United States-Israel relationship in 1967 and investigate the nature through which domestic politics and decision making factors influence American foreign policy.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, America, Middle East, and Arabia

45. Obama, Hillary Clinton, and China: Be Strategic, Be Green

Author:: Liu Xuecheng and Robert Oxnam
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: Young and charismatic Barack Obama won a historic victory in the U.S. presidential election. This victory has sparked an international frenzy filled with hope and expectations. Obama, who ran on a platform of “change,” has vowed to rebuild U.S. national power, reshape its international image, and renew its global leadership. However, he will face daunting internal and external challenges—fighting the disastrous financial crisis and economic recession, bringing the war on terror to an end, and coping with emerging powers, including China. What relevance does his victory have for U.S. policy toward China? Will Obama's China policy be one of change or continuity? What would we expect from the Obama administration in cultivating the future course for a China-U.S. constructive and cooperative partnership? These questions are the real concerns of the Chinese people as political power changes hands in the United States.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and China

46. The National Interest and the Law of the Sea

Author:: Scott G. Borgerson
Publication Date:: 05-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea—the instrument that created the overarching governance framework for nearly three-quarters of the earth's surface and what lies above and beneath it—has been signed and ratified by 156 countries and the European Community, but not by the United States. The Law of the Sea Convention, with annexes (hereafter in this report referred to as the “convention”), and the 1994 agreement on its implementation have been in force for more than a decade, but while the United States treats most parts of the convention as customary international law, it remains among only a handful of countries—and one of an even smaller number with coastlines, including Syria, North Korea, and Iran—to have signed but not yet acceded to the treaty.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, International Law, International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, and Maritime Commerce
Political Geography:: United States, North Korea, and Syria

47. The global financial crisis: will state emergency measures trigger international investment disputes?

Author:: Anne Van Aaken and Jürgen Kurtz
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: Several developed countries have introduced emergency measures to mitigate the effects of the Global Financial Crisis, including Australia, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Although the measures taken are still undergoing changes by the executive branch and are thus a “moving target”, our survey reveals early evidence of differentiation between foreign and domestic actors in the emergency plans adopted by this sample grouping. It is this differentiation that may give rise to liability as breaching guarantees against discrimination of foreign investors under international investment law.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, International Affairs, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Ireland

48. The Obama Administration and Iran: Towards a Constructive Dialogue

Author:: Ramin Jahanbegloo
Publication Date:: 06-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: For much of the last 30 years, official relations between the United States and Iran have been strained. The most visible indication of this was US President George W. Bush's labeling of Iran as a member of the "axis of evil" in 2002. Breaking with the past, the new US administration is taking a more conciliatory tone. President Barack Obama has demonstrated that Washington is willing to open the lines of communication with Iran. This paper seeks to locate the Obama administration's efforts within the history of US-Iranian relations while also highlighting the contemporary issues that would inform a constructive dialogue, such as the upcoming Iranian presidential elections. Improved dialogue between the two countries could help to improve the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, demonstrating how overlapping areas of interest may provide a new path for US-Iran relations.
Topic:: Diplomacy, International Affairs, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: United States, Iran, and Washington

49. Evaluating and Comparing the Innovative Performance of the United States and the European Union

Author:: Malgorzata Runiewicz-Wardyn
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: There are significant differences in the innovative capacities between the economies of the United States and European Union. The US was able to gain and maintain technological leadership, whereas most of the EU member states (with the exception of some Scandinavian economies) still lag behind in the competitiveness and innovation rankings.
Topic:: Economics and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

50. Shifting Trends in Global Student Mobility: Who is Going Where?

Author:: Rajika Bhandari
Publication Date:: 05-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:: Worldwide, there were over 2.9 million international students in 2006, a3% increase over the previous year. By 2025, almost 8 million students are projected to be studying outside their home country.
Topic:: Markets, Migration, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

51. Obama's Foreign Policy: Is this change we can believe in?

Author:: Camille Grand, Ivan Safranchuk, David Calleo, and Shen Dingli
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: For several months following the election of November, 2008, most Americans took great pleasure in their charismatic new president. A series of soaring speeches, frank interviews and pragmatic initiatives made real changes for the better seem possible. Of course other presidents have begun with high hopes, only to be ensnared in multiple dilemmas inherited from their predecessors. By the summer of 2009, Obama's own prospects begin to seem more problematic. Disagreements have surfaced between the Presidency and the Congress and rumours proliferate about splits within the ad ministration's own ranks. Fear grows that the president – attempting simultaneously to overcome a severe financial crisis, address long- neglected needs of the domestic economy and win two intractable wars – has overreached himself.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

52. Reinforcing Treasury's Strategic Roles in International Affairs and National Security

Author:: Jeremiah S. Pam
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: At this time of the U.S. Treasury's Department's extraordinary prominence in domestic affairs, it is possible to overlook the critical functions that the Treasury performs in U.S. international policy. This would be a significant oversight at any time, as Treasury has long made more international contributions, of greater importance to U.S. policy, than has often been widely understood. It is even more of an oversight in the post-9/11 international environment, which has presented new challenges that have sorely tested many of the United States' more well-known foreign policy and national security institutions.
Topic:: Security, Economics, International Affairs, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: United States

53. On the measure of power and the power of measure in International Relations

Author:: Stefano Guzzini
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Power is a central concept in theories of International Relations. Its explanatory role shows in such a key concept as the 'balance of power' which predicts that allied groups of states will tend to balance their respective powers. But it also plays an important role for understanding the outcome of conflicts, since here 'power' has often been likened to a 'cause': getting someone else to do what he/she would not have otherwise done. Knowing power distributions therefore is said to explain state behaviour and the outcome of their interaction. Such power analysis must assume the measurability of power. Unfortunately, as this Working Paper argues, such measure is of no avail, not because we have not yet thought enough about it, but because it is not possible. There are two main reasons. First, because of the missing fungibility of power resources, no standard of measure can be established. And secondly, for understanding power phenomena and the very value of such resources in the first place, we need to analyse legitimacy, which is, however, not reducible to any objective measure. Still, since power as a measurable fact appears crucial in the language and bargaining of international politics, measures of power are agreed to and constructed as a social fact: diplomats must agree first on what counts before they can start counting. The second part of the paper therefore moves the analysis of power away from the illusion of an objective measure to the political battle over defining the criteria of power, which in turn has political effects. In other words, besides understanding what power means, one has also to assess what its understanding, if shared, does. Being tied to the idea of responsibility in our political discourse ('ought implies can'), the act attributing power to actors asks them to justify their action or non-action: it 'empowers' certain actions. The paper illustrates such interactive effects by discussing the present debate about US power, showing the way we conceive power, if it becomes shared, implies and legitimates particular foreign policy action.
Topic:: Foreign Policy and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

54. International Journal of KOREAN STUDIES Volume XIII, Number 2 Fall/Winter 2009

Author:: Hugo Wheegook Kim
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:: International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:: The Korean peninsula continues to be a geostrategic and economic nexus for Northeast Asia. As such, relations involve economic, social, historical, and larger regional issues, as well as the nuclear issue. While the specifics are yet to emerge, this article surveys the Obama administration's strategic approach to the region and the peninsula, concluding that it is working with a broad tradition of U.S. approaches to the region: engage China, uphold traditional alliances, and contain the North Korean threat. The economic crisis has affected the specifics of this grand strategy, but not the overall U.S. approach to East Asia.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, China, East Asia, North Korea, and Northeast Asia

55. Preparing for Sudden Change in North Korea

Author:: Paul B. Stares and Joel S. Wit
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: For most of the 1990s, North Korea was under what can only be called a prolonged deathwatch, so common and confident were predictions of its demise. Despite suffering acute economic stress from the loss of its principal economic patron—the Soviet Union—in 1991, the sudden death of its founding father––Kim Il-Sung––in 1994, and then soon after a devastating famine that may have claimed as many as a million lives, North Korea managed to survive. By decade's end, North Korea's extraordinary resilience, combined with its defiant and at times belligerent attitude to the rest of the world, had convinced most experts that this was not a country about to pass either quickly or quietly into the history books. Since then, the conventional wisdom among most if not all North Korea watchers is that it will muddle through indefinitely even if its long-term future remains doubtful.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and North Korea

56. Ready to Lead? Rethinking America's Role in a Changed World

Author:: Robin Niblett
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: During his inaugural address on 20 January 2009, Barack Obama declared to 'all other peoples and governments, who are watching today, know that we are ready to lead once more'. In the following four weeks to the publication of this report, President Obama has set the United States on a course that is meeting widespread approval around the world. He has ordered the closure as soon as possible of the Guantánamo Bay detention facilities and of other secret facilities outside the United States that had so undermined America's international credibility with its allies and confirmed the anti-US narrative of its opponents. He has appointed special envoys for Middle East Peace and to implement an integrated strategy for both Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has offered to 'seek a new way forward' with the Muslim world as well as to 'extend a hand' to authoritarian governments if they are willing 'to unclench [their] fist'. His Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has said that America will be more effective if it can 'build a world with more partners and fewer adversaries'. Both have recognized the virtues of pragmatism over ideology and the reality of interdependence.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, America, Middle East, Asia, and Latin America

57. Come Home, NATO? The Atlantic Alliance's New Strategic Concept

Author:: Sten Rynning and Jens Ringsmose
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This DIIS Report provides an overview of the political and military issues that are likely to shape the coming discussions about NATO's new Strategic Concept. NATO's current Strategic Concept dates back to 1999 and over the last couple years an increasing number of policy-makers have suggested that it is time to take stock of the transatlantic Alliance. The exercise is significant because the Strategic Concept represents the operational view of the Washington Treaty - the basic text of NATO - and because it will bequeath a new strategic direction to the Alliance. The Report presents three arguments. One is that the Strategic Concept serves several functions: it codifies past decision and existing practices; it provides strategic direction; and it serves as an instrument of public diplomacy. The second argument is that the new Strategic Concept must balance the push and pull of two competing visions of NATO, one being 'Come home, NATO;' the other being 'Globalize, stupid.' The contest between these diverging visions has consequences for a number of issues that the Strategic Concept must address. Lastly, it is argued that although the agenda of globalization is being questioned, NATO will continue down the path of global engagement.
Topic:: Security, International Organization, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

58. Kosovo: It IS a Real Geopolitical Precedent

Author:: David Young
Publication Date:: 01-2008
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: European Affairs
Institution:: The European Institute
Abstract:: Supporters of independence for Kosovo because of its painful recent history ignore the fact that Western indifference permitted a cycle of terrorism and repression. That is the real lesson.
Topic:: NATO, Democratization, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

59. Educational Exchange between the United States and China

Publication Date:: 07-2008
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:: Few countries have seen such rapid economic and educational change in so short a time period as China. Since 1978, when Deng Xiaoping began to send students and scholars to study abroad in large numbers as part of his broad modernization efforts, some 800,000 Chinese students and scholars have studied outside their home country. These numbers make China the overall largest supplier of international students to countries around the world over the past decade. The liberalization of the education sector, which accompanied China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, has also permitted more students from outside China to enter the Chinese educational system. The number of Americans studying abroad in China increased by over 500% in the past ten years, making China one of the top 10 study abroad destination countries for U.S. students, and one of the top 10 host countries for all internationally mobile students.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Economics, Education, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and China

60. Clean Coal: U.S.-China Cooperation in Energy Security

Author:: David Wendt
Publication Date:: 05-2008
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: As major consumers of the world's energy resources, the United States and China are in dire need of secure energy solutions that can keep pace with their large appetites for energy. Enter coal. Both countries possess abundant coal reserves measured in the hundreds of billions of tons. But the approach to coal policy has been one of favoring cheap extraction rather than taking into serious consideration the societal costs of coal. For the United States, coal represents a major source of electrical power—and a major source of pollution. In China, the accessibility of coal has overtaken the environmental and health arguments against its widespread use. China uses more coal than the United States and European Union combined. The damaging side effects of coal mining and consumption have been overlooked in the face of easy availability and undeveloped or less accessible alternatives. In the current context of global energy uncertainty, coal has been forgiven much.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and China

61. Empowering Independent Media: U.S. Efforts to Foster Free and Independent News Around the World

Author:: Marguerite H. Sullivan
Publication Date:: 12-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:: In the last two decades, independent media assistance has become a significant aspect of the development field, helping countries to make democratic transitions, spur economic growth, conduct public health campaigns, and improve government accountability. Efforts to spread a free press have resulted in the professional development of tens of thousands of journalists and the founding of hundreds of new media enterprises.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, International Affairs, and Mass Media
Political Geography:: United States

62. Enhancing Democracy Assistance

Author:: Lincoln A. Mitchell and David L. Phillips
Publication Date:: 01-2008
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Atlantic Council
Abstract:: The Research Project on Enhancing Democracy Assistance is undertaken by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and the Atlantic Council of the United States. This report recognizes that democracy assistance is essential to the promotion of US foreign policy and global interests, and offers political and technical recommendations in order to enhance democracy assistance.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Democratization, Development, Globalization, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

63. Thinking Strategically About Russia

Author:: Dmitri V. Trenin
Publication Date:: 12-2008
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: U.S.–Russian relations matter again. To succeed where Bush has failed, Obama needs to approach Russia strategically: enhancing cooperation where possible, mitigating conflict where necessary. To prevent new conflict and receive Moscow's cooperation, Washington needs to deal seriously with Russian concerns. Leave Russia's domestic politics to the Russians. To keep Ukraine whole and free, the EU integration way is the way. NATO has reached the safe limits of eastward expansion. To protect against missile threats, a pan-European TMD system—which includes Russia—is the best option. On Iran and Afghanistan, Russia should be treated as an equal partner
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Russia, United States, Europe, Iran, Washington, Ukraine, and Moscow

64. Globalization and Global Governance in the 21st Century

Author:: Jeffrey Hart and Joan Edelman Spero
Publication Date:: 01-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Peace and Security Studies
Abstract:: An examination of international economic relations in the six decades since World War II reveals many ways in which political factors have shaped economic outcomes. The postwar security system significantly affected the postwar economic system. The creation of a bipolar security system following the outbreak of the Cold War led to the separation of the Eastern and Western economic systems and provided a basis for the dominant role of the United States in the Western system and of the Soviet Union in the Eastern system. The end of the Cold War led in turn to the end of the East-West economic divide and to the integration of the formerly Communist countries and China into the global capitalist economy.
Topic:: Cold War, Globalization, Government, International Cooperation, International Political Economy, International Security, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and China

65. Strengthen the Millennium Challenge Corporation: Better Results are Possible

Author:: Lex Rieffel and James W. Fox
Publication Date:: 12-2008
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is one of the outstanding innovations of the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush. No other aid agency-foreign or domestic-can match its purposeful mandate, its operational flexibility and its potential muscle.
Topic:: Development, Government, Humanitarian Aid, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States

66. Airpower: The Flip Side of COIN

Author:: Daniel F. Baltrusaitis
Publication Date:: 06-2008
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:: Despite the success of the U.S. military in conventional warfare, recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have illustrated the challenges of pursuing a counter-insurgent strategy against “asymmetric threats” such as improvised explosive devices or suicide bombers. The “asymmetric” strategy often adopted by insurgents allows a relatively weak for ce to incapacitate a stronger one by exploiting the stronger force's vulnera-bilities rather than meeting it head-on in conventional com-bat. Our current wars have focused national attention on the ability of the Army and Marine Corps to cope with this “asymmetric” environment, yet the influence of airpower has been conspicuously missing from the debate. Even the core military doctrine for counterinsurgency, or COIN, fails to acknowledge the benefits that airpower can play against these asymmetric threats. The Army and Marine Corps recently released Field Manual (FM) 3-24, Counterinsurgency (designated by the Marine Corps as Warfighting Publication 3-33.5), an impressive and influential 282-page document that skillfully addresses many difficult COIN issues. This doctrine is viewed as the overall plan for COIN operations in Iraq, and will likely become the centerpiece of new joint COIN doctrine that will guide all the armed services. Regrettably, this impressive document fails to inform the COIN strategist, and policymakers, on the influence of highly integrated joint COIN strategy. Rather, it treats the influence of airpower as an adjunct capability confined to a short, five-page annex of “supplemental information.” By failing to integrate the full potential of today's airpower capabilities and by focusing almost exclusively on only the ground dimension, FM 3-24 falls short of offering U.S. decisionmakers a pragmatic, joint solution for the challenge of COIN. The current doctrine fails to integrate all aspects of military power that may be implemented for the most effective counterinsurgency campaign. By failing to integrate airpower (or seapower) into this cornerstone doctrine document, U.S. and coalition forces risk planning operations in a dis-jointed fashion where planners do not understand the strengths and weaknesses of service capabilities. This paper examines the influence of airpower on COIN strategy and articulates the benefits of an integrated joint COIN doctrine to combat effectively the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Topic:: Civil Society, Globalization, Government, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and United States

67. What Can Iraq's Neighbors Contribute?

Author:: Daniel Serwer
Publication Date:: 06-2008
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:: While Iraq may be in desperate need of friends and help from its neighbors, the United States must first define its role and timeline for being there and then open the door for Iraq to accept that help.
Topic:: Civil Society, Globalization, Government, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and Iraq

68. American Muslims and the Use of Cultural Diplomacy

Author:: Hafsa Kanjwal
Publication Date:: 06-2008
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:: One of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century will be to address the growing mutual suspicion, fear, and misunderstanding between Western and Muslim societies. Within the United States, in particular, there is an increase in Islamophobia, which seeks to dominate the discussion surrounding Islam and Muslims by linking it to the actions and views of an extremist minority. Within this tense environment, a number of organizations and initiatives have taken steps to urge greater dialogue between the West and the Muslim world on an international level. Oftentimes, this is done with the underlying understanding that there is a bifurcation between “the West” and the “Muslim” and/or “Islamic world.” As such, the primary focus is not placed on changing negative perceptions of Islam in the West, but rather, to improve the image of the West in the Muslim world. The fact that Islam exists within the West, and, for the purposes of this article, in America, is often overlooked. Nonetheless, there are an estimated three to seven million Muslims living in America and a greater number of them are second or third generation Americans. The American Muslim community, especially its youth, is at a unique position in history because they actively engage in the process of reconciling its Muslim as well as American identities in the public sphere. Young American Muslims have the capacity to decrease the negative views that some Americans may have towards Islam. This article explores the specific role that the younger generation of American Muslims plays in using cultural expression to bridge the gap between Western and Muslim societies.
Topic:: Civil Society, Globalization, Government, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States and Rotterdam

69. Dubyu has gambled his standing away: George W. Bush's media image in Germany and Great Britain 2002 till 2006

Publication Date:: 06-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Media Tenor International
Abstract:: In the mid-term elections, the US voters have fi nally arrived at a view in line with how the German TV news covered the 2004 presidential campaign. The media image of the US President in Germany and Great Britain has not been able to recover from the setbacks of the past few years. It remains questionable whether or not the dismissal of the “scapegoat” Donald Rumsfeld and a more amenable attitude towards the Democrats' political ideas will truly improve his image.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Affairs, and Mass Media
Political Geography:: Britain, United States, Europe, and Germany

70. North Korean Relations: U.S. Policies, Laws Regulations

Author:: Kenneth Katzman
Publication Date:: 03-2007
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Atlantic Council
Abstract:: This compendium contains the text of major regulations, laws, and other documents governing U.S. interactions with North Korea. Also provided are the text of U.N. Resolutions, agreements, and other documents that represent major policy decisions in U.S. relations with North Korea. Accompanying each major document, law, or regulation is a brief analysis discussing the policy reflected by that document and major significance of the provisions of the law or regulation promulgated.
Topic:: Foreign Policy and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, Asia, and North Korea

71. Questions on Africa Policy for Candidates Policymakers

Publication Date:: 09-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:: As the U.S. enters an important election season with a greater focus than usual on foreign policy issues, Africa remains largely absent from the national debate. Despite historical ties and important current interests, Africa is still considered to fall outside the scope of U.S. policymakers' concerns.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Human Welfare, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Africa and United States

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS