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962. Financial Crises in Asia and Latin America: Then and Now
- Author:
- G. L. Kaminsky and C. M. Reinhart
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Bilgi
- Institution:
- Sakarya University (SAU)
- Abstract:
- 2 Temmuz 1997 tarihinde Tayland Bahtı'nın devalüe edilmesinin ardından para ve menkul değerler piyasalarında, 1994 yılında Meksika Pesosu'nun devalüe edilmesinin ardından yaşanan “tekila” etkisini fazlasıyla aşan ölçülerde bir dalgalanma meydana gelmiştir. Kriz, ilk olarak, Doğu Asya'nın diğer ülkelerine bir dizi devalüasyon ve borsa çöküşü biçiminde yansımıştır. Sorunun derinlik kazanması ile birlikte, Hong Kong ve Güney Kore dahil, bölgedeki diğer ülkelerin para birimleri spekülatif baskılara maruz kalmıştır. Öte yandan kriz bölge dışına da taşmıştır. Arjantin, Brezilya ve Rusya gibi ülkelerin hisse senedi piyasalarında sert düşüşler yaşanmış ve ulusal para birimlerine dönük spekülatif saldırılar olmuştur. Döviz piyasalarında durum düzeldikçe, Tayland ve Güney Kore'de olduğu gibi, ülkelerin önemli bir bölümünde bankacılık sorunları, belki bunun da ötesinde büyük ölçekli bankacılık krizleri ortaya çıkmıştır.
- Topic:
- Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Latin America
963. Recovery: The Global Financial Crisis and Middle-Income Countries
- Author:
- Alejandro Foxley
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- No country has proved immune to the devastating effects of the current global financial crisis. But the middle-income countries of Eastern Europe, Latin America, and East Asia, which previously had achieved significant progress—economically and socially—have shown themselves to be particularly vulnerable. The crisis has highlighted important lessons for these countries, which inhabit a twilight zone between the developed and developing worlds?and those that aspire to join their ranks—as they rebuild.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Europe, East Asia, and Latin America
964. Market Versus State: Postcrisis Economics in Latin America
- Author:
- Alejandro Foxley
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The global financial crisis has reignited the fierce debate about the roles of the market and the state in modern economies. Latin America, in particular, revisits this debate every time it suffers an external shock. While some blame unregulated markets, others fault states' inability to design institutions or implement policies capable of neutralizing the negative impact of these shocks on output, employment, and social welfare.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
965. Peace in Colombia: Can the European Union and the US Collaborate?
- Author:
- Dorly Castañeda
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Colombia has been the recipient of the European Union Official Development Aid (ODA) and US foreign aid (military aid and ODA) since the late 1990s. Both international actors have their own particular understanding of the armed conflict, the possible solutions and the role of foreign aid. From one side, the US emphasises military aid and uses ODA in function with security objectives by working closely with the central government and President Uribe. On the other side the EU cautiously develops a common foreign policy to Colombia and insists on civil society participation and local programs in a rather bottom up peace building approach. Considering their different approaches to the Colombian conflict, the war on drugs, the war against terrorism and human rights in the Andean region this paper will asses the possibility of collaboration between both international actors.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Civil Society, Humanitarian Aid, and War on Drugs
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Colombia, and Latin America
966. Ending Colombia's FARC Conflict: Dealing the Right Card
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Latin America's oldest guerrilla organisation, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is under severe stress. Close to seven years of the Uribe presidency have hurt the FARC's capability and morale. Several top commanders have been captured, killed in combat, murdered by their own men, or died of natural causes, as in the case of Manuel Marulanda, the FARC's historic leader. Thousands of foot soldiers have deserted, bringing the guerrillas' troop strength down by almost half, to perhaps 10,000 today. Still, under its new leader, Alfonso Cano, the FARC has shown renewed internal cohesion and continued capacity to adapt to changes in the security environment. The Uribe government remains wedded to its hardline military approach until the FARC has no option but to negotiate surrender, but this strategy is problematic. President Uribe should keep military pressure up but emphasise devising a political strategy capable of drawing a weakened but still largely intact FARC into peace talks. Priority should also be on strengthening rule of law, protecting human rights and increasing citizen security.
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, Human Rights, and War
- Political Geography:
- Colombia and Latin America
967. Despite Recession, Immigration Reforms Essential to Normalize Labor Flows: Interview with Michael Chertoff
- Author:
- Robert McMahon
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Interview with Michael Chertoff, Former Homeland Security Secretary, on how immigration reforms are essential to normalize labor flows. The global economic crisis has triggered calls in some U.S. policy circles for tightening immigration rules to prevent non-Americans from competing for scarce jobs. Yet despite conditions, lawmakers should be preparing changes to immigration policy in anticipation of the country's economic revival, says former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who had jurisdiction over immigration issues. "We are going to need to have some workers coming from other parts of the world to do the jobs that Americans will not be willing to do," Chertoff said. In addition, he said, U.S. officials should increase contacts with Mexican authorities to work out a system for rationalizing the legal flow of migrant workers into the United States. He also stressed that tough enforcement of immigration laws, at the workplace and border, must be at the core of comprehensive reforms.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, Human Rights, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Latin America
968. Rice Crisis Forensics: How Asian Governments Carelessly Set the World Rice Market on Fire
- Author:
- Tom Slayton
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development (CGD)
- Abstract:
- The world rice market was aflame last spring and for several months it looked as if the trading edifice that had exhibited such resilience over the last two decades was going to burn to the ground. World prices trebled within less than four months and reached a 30- year inflation-adjusted high. Many market observers thought the previous record set in 1974 would soon be toast. The fire was man-made, not the result of natural developments. While the governments in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines did not to set the world market on fire, that was the unintended result of their actions which threatened both innocent bystanders (low-income rice importers as far away as Africa and Latin America) and, ultimately, poor rice consumers at home. This paper describes what sparked the fire and the accelerants that made a bad situation nearly catastrophic. Fortuitously, when the flames were raging at peak intensity, rain clouds appeared, the winds [market psychology] shifted, and conditions on the ground improved, allowing the fire to die down. It remains to be seen, however, if the trading edifice has been seriously undermined by the actions of decision makers in several key Asian rice exporting and importing countries. In describing the cascading negative effects of these seemingly rational domestic policies, this paper aims to help policy makers in the rice exporting and importing nations to avoid a repeat of the disastrous price spike of 2008.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Health, Humanitarian Aid, Markets, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Africa, India, Asia, and Latin America
969. Schooling Inequality, Crises, and Financial Liberalization in Latin America
- Author:
- Nancy Birdsall, Gunilla Pettersson, and Jere R. Behrman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development (CGD)
- Abstract:
- Latin America is characterized by high and persistent schooling, land, and income inequalities and extreme income concentration. In a highly unequal setting, powerful interests are more likely to dominate politics, pushing for policies that protect privileges rather than foster competition and growth. As a result, changes in policies that political elites resist may be postponed in high-inequality countries to the detriment of overall economic performance.
- Topic:
- Economics, Education, Globalization, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
970. African Diaspora Organizations and Homeland Development: The case of Somali and Ghanaian associations in Denmark
- Author:
- Nauja Kleist
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Diaspora and migrant associations are often praised as new 'agents of change' for their contributions to development in their countries of origin. While much is known about Latin American hometown associations, there has been less focus on African diaspora associations. This DIIS Brief examines Somali and Ghanaian migrant associations in Denmark and their involvement in development. It shows how associations involve themselves on the basis of particular loyalties and emphasizes the importance of local partners and collaboration.
- Topic:
- Migration, Poverty, and Diaspora
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Denmark, and Latin America
971. The Virtuous Twins: Protecting Human Rights and Improving Security in Colombia
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Over seven years, the government of President Álvaro Uribe has produced important security gains, but these have been accompanied by serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL). Colombia is still not close to the end of its armed conflict. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN), paramilitary successors and new illegal armed groups (NIAGs) – all responsible for multiple atrocities against civilians – can survive with drug financing and, to a degree, due to the state's inability to extend its legitimate presence into many rural areas. To move toward lasting peace, the Uribe administration must not only maintain its security achievements but also urgently improve its security policy by addressing serious human rights issues and expanding the rule of law and national reach of the state's civilian institutions. Holding to account senior military involved in extrajudicial killings is a first step but insufficient to curb abuses. International cooperation should focus on supporting the fight to end impunity and protect basic rights.
- Topic:
- Security, Democratization, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
972. Latin America and the Global Economic Crisis
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- An overview of the region up to 30 January 2009 by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (cepal) argues that the larger economies have been more directly affected by the global economic crisis (because in general they are more integrated with the global markets, especially finance), but are also better equipped to respond to it. In particular, Cepal sees South America as diverging from Central America and the Caribbean, which seem to be both less resilient in terms of their economies, and more exposed to the slump in the USA. They are being driven back to aid as the last/only resort. Mexico is in a category of its own, the most exposed to the US downturn, but as a large economy and an oil exporter, better placed to withstand the downturn than its Caribbean basin neighbours.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- South America, Latin America, and Caribbean
973. Reforming and Reinforcing the Revolution: The Post-TRIPS Politics of Patents in Latin America
- Author:
- Kenneth Shadlen
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- National policies toward intellectual property (IP) were revolutionized in the 1990s, as countries adopted new systems to conform to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). TRIPS-style IP regimes make patents available for more types of knowledge, grant long periods of patent protection, and endow patent owners with strong rights of exclusion. This paper analyzes two contrasting patterns of political mobilization and pressures for change that newly-introduced, TRIPS-style regimes became subject to by the early 21st Century. Most governments faced pressures to address aspects of their IP systems regarding pharmaceutical patents; governments came under pressure to reform their new patent systems, calling into question the appropriateness and utility of broad and strong private rights of exclusion as tools for disseminating knowledge. Most governments also faced pressures to modify aspects of their patent systems more broadly related to science, technology, and indigenous innovation (STI); governments came under pressure to reinforce their new patent systems, buttressing the role of private rights of exclusion as mechanisms to incentivize the creation and distribution of knowledge and technology. I provide a political explanation for the contrasting trajectories of reform and reinforcement by examining how different policy arrangements generate and mobilize interests for continuity and discontinuity. The focus is on asymmetric patterns of interest mobilization: those actors who benefit from policy interventions tend to mobilize more than those who suffer; those actors who suffer retain the capacities for mobilization and resistance more in the area of health-drugs than STI.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, and Intellectual Property/Copyright
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
974. The Environmental Impacts of Soybean Expansion And Infrastructure Development in Brazil's Amazon Basin
- Author:
- Maria del Carmen Vera-Diaz, Robert K. Kaufmann, and Daniel C. Nepstad
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- For decades, the development of transportation infrastructure in the Brazilian Amazon has been the government's main social and economic development policy in the region. Reductions in transportation costs have not only opened the agricultural frontier to cattle ranching and logging but have also caused more than two-thirds of Amazonian deforestation. Currently, soybean cultivation is a new economic force demanding improvements to roads in the region. Profitable soybean crops have spread over the Mato Grosso's cerrados and now head toward the core of the Amazon rain forest. One of the main constraints for soy expansion into the Amazon has been the poor condition of roads. In this study, we analyze the effect Amazon transportation infrastructure programs have on soybean expansion by lowering transport costs. The analysis is based on spatial estimates of transportation costs for the soybean sector, first using current road networks and then projecting changes based on the paving of the Cuiabá-Santarém road. Our results indicate that paving the Cuiabá-Santarém road would reduce transportation costs by an average of $10 per ton for farmers located in the northern part of Mato Grosso, by allowing producers to reroute soybean shipments to the Santarém port. Paving the road also would expand the area where growing soybeans is economically feasible by about 70 percent, from 120,000 to 205,000 km2 . Most of this new area would be located in the state of Pará and is covered largely by forests. A Cost-Benefit analysis of the road project indicates that the investments in infrastructure would generate more than $180 million for soybean farmers over a period of twenty years. These benefits, however, ignore the project's environmental impacts. If the destruction of ecological services and products provided by the existing forests is accounted for, then the Cuiabá-Santarém investment would generate a net loss of between $762 million and $1.9 billion. This result shows the importance of including the value of the natural capital in feasibility studies of infrastructure projects to reflect their real benefits to society as a whole.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Economics, Environment, and Infrastructure
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, Latin America, and Amazon Basin
975. Africa's Capitalist Revolution
- Author:
- Ethan B. Kapstein
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- In one of the great ironies of history, Africa may well emerge from the current global recession as the only region in the world that remains committed to global capitalism. While the tired industrialized nations of the West are nationalizing their banks and engaging in various forms of protectionism, Africa remains open for business -- promoting trade, foreign direct investment, and domestic entrepreneurship. Analysts in the industrialized countries are concerned that foreign aid flows to Africa might drop because of the recession, but Africans themselves are much more worried about rising barriers to their exports and diminishing private investment from abroad, which could impede the continuation of the impressive economic progress the continent has made over the past decade. It is still a well-kept secret that the African continent has been in the midst of a profound economic transformation. Since 2004, economic growth has boomed at an average level of six percent annually, on par with Latin America. This rate will undoubtedly decline as a result of the global financial crisis, but the International Monetary Fund still projects growth of around 1.5 percent for this year and four percent for 2010 throughout Africa -- a relatively healthy figure by today's depressing standards. International trade now accounts for nearly 60 percent of Africa's GDP (far above the level for Latin America), and foreign direct investment in Africa has more than doubled since 1998, to over $15 billion per year. Overall, private-sector investment constitutes more than 20 percent of GDP. Furthermore, since 1990, the number of countries with stock markets in sub-Saharan Africa has tripled and the capitalization of those exchanges has risen from virtually nothing to $245 billion (that is, outside of South Africa, which has long had an active stock exchange). These "frontier" markets have, until recently, given investors huge returns compared to those found in other emerging economies.
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Latin America
976. Retos locales de la política social en México: el funcionamiento del Programa de Desarrollo Humano "Oportunidades" en una comunidad indígena bajo el sistema de gobierno de usos y costumbres
- Author:
- Carmen Ávila Jaquez and Mariana Gabarrot Arenas
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
- Abstract:
- Uno de los principales problemas que México tiene como nación es la pobreza. El gobierno federal ha hecho importantes intentos para reducirla mediante programas de ayuda social. El más significativo de ellos es el Programa de Desarrollo Humano “Oportunidades ” (en adelante, Oportunidades ). Dicho programa, cuya población-objetivo son las mujeres, está encaminado a mitigar la pobreza rural o semirural, ya que, en nuestro país, ser campesino equivale a ser pobre. Esto significa mantener una relación estrecha y directa con ser indígena. Aunque no todos los campesinos de este país pertenezcan a un grupo étnico, la mayoría de los indígenas trabajan en el campo. Oaxaca es el estado del país con más población indígena y uno de los que más rezagos presentan, a pesar de la inversión federal en programas sociales.
- Topic:
- Ethnic Conflict, Poverty, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
977. La importancia de la Convención sobre la protección y la promoción de la diversidad de las expresiones culturales de la UNESCO y su impacto en las políticas culturales mexicanas
- Author:
- Fabiola Rodríguez Barba
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
- Abstract:
- En un contexto de globalización económica y de múltiples tratados comerciales de integración económica, asistimos a un creciente interés por el tema de la diversidad cultural. Desde esta perspectiva, la promoción y protección de la diversidad cultural se han convertido en una preocupación de la comunidad internacional, particularmente en la última década, como lo demuestra la publicación de diversos documentos: Reporte mundial sobre Cultura, creatividad y mercados ; Reporte mundial sobre la cultura 2000 . Diversidad cultural, conflicto y pluralismo; Informe sobre el Desarrollo Humano 2004 . La libertad cultural en el mundo diverso hoy ; así como la adopción de la Declaración universal de la UNESCO sobre la diversidad cultural proclamada en noviembre de 2001; y la Convención sobre la protección y promoción de la diversidad de las expresiones culturales (en adelante, Convención ) del mismo organismo, adoptada en 2005, y que entró en vigor en 2007.
- Topic:
- Economics, Education, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
978. Youth and Civic Engagement in the Americas Preliminary Findings From a Three-City Study: Rio De Janeiro, Chicago, and Mexico City
- Author:
- Irene Rizzini, María de Los Angeles Torres, and Norma Alicia Del RÃo Lugo
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper examines how civically engaged youth in three different cities and countries in the Americas became engaged in civic activity. The usual concern about youth is their lack of involvement. However, the authors have learned from their work in Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, and Mexico City that there are youth in each of these cities who care deeply about their communities and are active in diverse organizations and projects. This paper is part of a broader study that examines youth who are significantly engaged in civic activity. In this paper, the authors will focus particularly on the youths' initial process of engagement and what motivated them to get involved.
- Topic:
- Civil Society and Youth Culture
- Political Geography:
- America, Latin America, Mexico, and Chicago
979. La Revocatoria de Mandato: Lecciones a Partir de la Experiencia Venezolana
- Author:
- Miriam Kornblith
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper examines four related aspects of the recall of elected officials as defined and used in Venezuela: 1) The context in which the recall emerged; 2) the activation of the presidential recall throughout 2003 and 2004, which concluded with the recall referendum of August 15, 2004; 3) the legal and substantive aspects of the recall; 4) the assessment of the use of the recall. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this instrument of direct democracy from the Venezuelan experience.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Governance, and Law Enforcement
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Venezuela
980. Political Solidarity, Cultural Survival, and the Institutional Design of Autonomy in Nicaragua: From Heterogenous, Multiethnic Spaces to National Homelands
- Author:
- Juliet Hooker
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper analyzes autonomy regimes in Latin America, or rather the lack thereof. Autonomy is primarily conceived as a means of enabling minority groups that are spatially concentrated to gain control over their local affairs. Autonomy has been relative absent from the models of multiculturalism adopted in Latin America at the end of the twentieth century. Nicaragua is one of the few countries in the region (as well as one of the first) where territorial political autonomy for regions inhabited by Afro-descendant and indigenous groups were adopted by the national state and enshrined at the level of constitutional law. One of the most distinctive (and contested) elements of the model of regional autonomy adopted in Nicaragua is its multiethnic character. This paper explores the future of autonomy in Nicaragua, mainly in terms of the question of whether multiethnic regional models of autonomy can best accomplish the goals of promoting solidarity between groups, enabling the preservation of minority cultures, and making possible meaningful political self-government when multiple subordinated groups are present in the same geographic space. Alternatively, are these aims better achieved through the creation of separate national homelands for each ethnic/racial group? Is a model of overlapping, multiple autonomies a better option? These are key questions regarding the future of autonomy that indigenous and Afro-descendant groups are currently confronting in Nicaragua. The central focus of the paper is thus to consider how Nicaragua's experiences with autonomy complicate the assumptions and prescriptions about the institutional design of autonomy for minority cultural groups in theories of multiculturalism.
- Topic:
- Political Theory, Governance, and Political Power Sharing
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Nicaragua