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962. Retooling U.S. Policy For Peace In Colombia
- Author:
- Milburn Line
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace Justice, University of San Diego
- Abstract:
- It is time to reconsider U.S. policy in Colombia, including adding a peace agenda to our strategy. Following problematic and inconclusive results of more than a decade of support known as Plan Colombia, which is largely directed to the Colombian military, the Obama administration should retool U.S. policy. Adding support for a peace process offers specific policy benefits , including: protecting civilian populations by reducing violations of human rights and humanitarian law; strengthening democratic practice and creating consensus on a post-conflict Colombia; improving relations between Colombia and its neighbors; creating clearer policy channels for other U.S. priorities, including free trade and efforts to control the illicit narcotics trade; and renewing respect for American leadership in the region.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Cold War, Armed Struggle, and Territorial Disputes
- Political Geography:
- United States, Colombia, and Latin America
963. Mock Democracies: Authoritarian Cover-ups
- Author:
- Mario Bours Laborin
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- As ideological challenges to the West dissipated after the end of the Cold War, many authoritarian regimes found themselves political and economic orphans. In this context, a new breed of hybrid regime emerged—democratic in appearance but authoritarian in nature. The democratic aspects of these regimes were mostly a product of the desire to conform to Western norms in order to access aid as well as political good standing.
- Topic:
- Cold War
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America
964. Making Rio 2012 work: Setting the stage for global economic, social and ecological renewal
- Author:
- Alex Evans and David Steven
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
- Abstract:
- The Rio 2012 summit on sustainable development is now one year away. Over two decades since the 1992 'Earth Summit', sustainable development has not materialized: as global GDP has risen, so have greenhouse gas emissions, species loss and environmental degradation.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Economics, Environment, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
965. Amérique latine. Political Outlook 2011
- Author:
- Mathilde Arrigoni, Cecilia Baeza, Ernesto Zadillo Ponce de Léon, Doris Buu-Sao, Maya Colombo, Olivier Dabène, Marie Doucey, Guillaume Fontaine, Marie-Laure Geoffray, Erica Guevara, Marie-Esther Lacuisse, Thierry Noël, Kevin Parthenay, Gustavo Pastor, Camila Minerva Rodriguez Tavárez, and Adriana Urrutia
- Publication Date:
- 12-2011
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI)
- Abstract:
- Le Political Outlook 2011 de l’Amérique latine est une publication de l’Observatoire politique de l’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes (Opalc) du CERI-Sciences Po. Il prolonge la démarche du site www. opalc.org en offrant des clefs de compréhension d’un continent en proie à des transformations profondes. Des informations complémentaires à cette publication sont disponibles sur le site.
- Topic:
- Markets, Political Economy, Politics, History, Governance, and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Cuba, Latin America, Nicaragua, Caribbean, Haiti, and Chile
966. Convergence Clubs in Latin America: A Historical Approach
- Author:
- Paola Andrea Barrientos Quiroga
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
- Abstract:
- Literature on convergence among Latin American countries is still scarce compared to other regions. Almost none of the research connects convergence to the economic history of Latin America and the usual finding is one speed of convergence assuming one globally stable steady-state. In this paper I analyze 32 countries and 108 years, more observations than any other study, which allows me to use chronological events to explain, analyze and validate the historical convergence clubs in Latin America, assuming multiple steady-states. The chronological time-line is divided into three important known phases, from which I find two to three convergence clubs. Following Thorp (1998), the first phase, called “the exporting phase” goes from 1900 to 1930, the second, “the industrialization phase” from 1931 to 1974, and the last one, “the globalization phase” from 1975 to 2007. During the last two phases, I find strong evidence of convergence among those clubs that succeeded in industrializing and / or building good institutions. The reason may be that technology diffusion and capital accumulation is easier when these two phenomena occur. Furthermore, I find no evidence that geographical aspects nor integration processes helped countries to converge.
- Topic:
- History, Economic Growth, and Convergence
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
967. Did the Mexican Revolution Change the Privilees of The Elite or Not? The Relationship between the Government and the Media
- Author:
- Juan Enrique Huerta Wong
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
- Abstract:
- The investigation in education and its role in social stratification has been the focus of attention in the sociology literature for a number of decades now. However, very little is known as to what takes place in Latin America. The supposed point of departure to study education and its role in social stratification is that education should act to break the inertias between origins and destinies. This article has asked the question whether education is a factor that contributes to break the cycle of persistent inequality in Mexico, and also if this is a form to evaluate the achievements of the social contract that came out of the Mexican Revolution, which this year, 2010, celebrates its century of existence. This is so because one of the main objectives of the revolution was to cut down the privileges of the dominant class, and along with it, the intergenerational transmission of wealth that perpetuates inequality. Two models of structural equations were compared to evaluate the relationship between wealth in the home of origin, the schooling of the parents, childhood academic achievement, the final schooling of the ego, and its economic wellbeing. The results show that there are statistical differences between the cases of Mexico and Chile in terms of the process of stratification. In Mexico, the wealth of the home of origin and the childhood academic achievement are the variables that best explain both the final level of schooling as well as the socioeconomic wellbeing of ego. In Chile, education functions as a variable that interrupts the weight of the inter-generational legacy. It is discussed then that the State in Mexico has failed in providing an educational system that can break the inertia of the association between origins and destinies, and the implications of the importance of childhood academic achievement, which calls upon keeping children in their classrooms, at least for the time period that the law mandates.
- Topic:
- Education, History, Elites, and Social Mobility
- Political Geography:
- South America, Latin America, Mexico, and Chile
968. ENERGY (STILL) MATTERS
- Author:
- Karel Hirman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
- Institution:
- Slovak Foreign Policy Association
- Abstract:
- Energy, energy security and the threat of climate change have been the central issues of international politics in recent years. This was also noticed at the last meeting of the International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries being held in October 2009 at its headquarters in Paris. The ministers of 28 member states (including Slovakia) together with the European Commission agreed that the world is facing unprecedented economic, environmental and security threats and that all of them are, more-or-less, related to energy. Their solution aims at creating a safer, cleaner and more sustainable energy future. In other words, it is inevitable to switch into a low-carbon energy and economy. The events of recent years suggest that the global economy finds itself at the beginning of the end of the 'oil era'. One assumes that traditional fossil fuels, particularly oil, gas and coal, will be, for at least two decades, the basic raw materials for global energy, i.e. for our global civilization. It is also clear, however, that the increase in consumption of the fossil fuels, due to the increase in living standards in the countries of Asia, Latin America or Africa, is limited not only by the size of their reserves, but also by the impact on the environment and geopolitical-security risks arising from their location and transportation routes.
- Topic:
- Security
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Slovakia
969. The Great Crash of 2008: Causes and Consequences
- Author:
- Deepak Lal
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Cato Journal
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- In the early 1980s, I was working as the research administrator at the World Bank, while the Third World was engulfed by a debt crisis. The current global financial crisis has eerie similarities, but different outcomes. Why?
- Topic:
- Third World and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Asia, and Latin America
970. Reforming the Inter-American Defense Board
- Author:
- John A. Cope
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The Western Hemisphere's delegations to the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) should represent and be responsible to ministers of defense or their equivalents, rather than to the armed forces, as is the case in most countries in the Americas today. This breakthrough reform would bring the Board in line with democratic constitutional practices, strengthen Organization of American States (OAS) support for democracy, and help implement the 2003 Mexico City “Declaration on Security in the Americas,” which adopted a broadened multidimensional view of security. The reform could be accomplished without change to the March 2006 statutes and would bring the Board into the OAS General Secretariat associated with the Secretariat on Multidimensional Security.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Civil Society, and Crime
- Political Geography:
- United States and Latin America
971. Significance of Turkey-Brazil Nuclear Deal with Iran
- Author:
- Mehmet Ozkan
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, University of Calcutta
- Abstract:
- With the participation of the foreign ministers of Turkey and Brazil along with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Iran has signed a joint declaration on May 17, 2010 with Brazil and Turkey "in which Iran agreed to send low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for enriched fuel for a research reactor.” This joint declaration was considered a very serious one by specialists closely following the nuclear negotiations. However, instead of responding positively to the agreement, the US and the overall reaction of the West had fixated on making sanctions against Iran a reality, although the content of the deal was what the US sought from Iran. This has materialized itself with the new UN Security Council decision which brings new sanctions on Iran. On June 9, 2010, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1929, imposing a complete arms embargo on Iran, travel bans on certain Iranian figures, banned Iran from any activities related to ballistic missiles, the freezing of all assets to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and Iran Shipping Lines, and to inspect all Iranian cargo or financial institutions, such as banks, on their territory.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Iran, Turkey, Brazil, and Latin America
972. The East Asian Loophole in Iran Sanctions: Encouraging Compliance by Our Allies and China
- Author:
- Christina Lin
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Starting in August, U.S. officials are visiting East Asia, Latin America, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to garner support for tightening Iran sanctions under UN Security Council Resolution 1929. Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control, and Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant secretary of the treasury for terrorist financing and financial crime, started with a trip to Japan and South Korea and are planning a trip to China in late August. On July 29, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing entitled "Implementation of Iran Sanctions" in which both Einhorn and Glaser expressed concern over China's compliance, with Einhorn emphasizing the "need for [China] not to 'backfill' when responsible countries have distanced themselves from Iran."
- Topic:
- United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iran, Israel, Latin America, and United Arab Emirates
973. Mining for facts: PacRim Cayman LLC v. El Salvador
- Author:
- Alexandre de Gramont
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- In his recent article, “Thinking twice about a gold rush: Pacific Rim v. El Salvador” (Columbia FDI Perspectives, No. 23, May 24, 2010), Professor Gus Van Harten uses the PacRim v. El Salvador arbitration, pending at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), as the basis for asserting a number of criticisms against the overall system of arbitration under investment treaties.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
974. Thinking twice about a gold rush: Pacific Rim v El Salvador
- Author:
- Gus Van Harten
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Whether it concerns oil drilling or gold mining, sometimes a government, facing new circumstances, must change its mind.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
975. How BRIC MNEs deal with international political risk
- Author:
- Premila Nazareth Satyanand
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Hitherto, political risk has worried developed country multinational enterprises (MNEs) investing in developing country markets. But as more emerging market firms invest overseas, they too must grapple with this subject. World Investment and Political Risk 2009 looks at this issue for the first time and finds that Brazilian, Russian, Indian, and Chinese (BRIC) firms appear to worry more about political risk than global counterparts. Though these results are based on as mall sample of 90 of the largest BRIC investors, they are thought-provoking nonetheless.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, India, and Latin America
976. Inward FDI in Colombia and its policy context
- Author:
- Miguel Posada Betancourt
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Colombia used to be a synonym for violence and drugs, but not anymore. Today, the country has one of the best performing economies in Latin America, and violence levels have been dramatically reduced. The outgoing administration made improving investor confidence and the business environment one of the pillars of its policy. As a result of important reforms and aggressive campaigns to promote the country as an attractive location, inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) has risen to unprecedented levels. Due to these positive changes, Colombia has been designated a “top reformer” for the past four years in the World Bank's Doing Business reports, and the new Government has promised to maintain and reinforce efforts to attract foreign investment. Even though IFDI flows decreased in the past two years as a consequence of the economic and financial crisis, many foreign affiliates in Colombia achieved positive profits. A country that a decade ago was avoided is now in many investors' plans.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, War on Drugs, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Colombia and Latin America
977. Winds From the East: How the People's Republic of China Seeks to Influence the Media in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia
- Author:
- Andy Mosher and Douglas Farah
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- National Endowment for Democracy
- Abstract:
- The People's Republic of China (PRC) is using various components of public diplomacy to influence the media in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. China's primary purposes appear to be to present China as a reliable friend and partner, as well as to make sure that China's image in the developing world is positive. As part of its efforts to do this, the Chinese government seeks to fundamentally reshape much of the world's media in its own image, away from a watchdog stance toward the government to one where the government's interests are the paramount concern in deciding what to disseminate. The Chinese efforts often result in helping authoritarian governments expand control of their local media.
- Topic:
- Mass Media
- Political Geography:
- Africa, China, Latin America, and Southeast Asia
978. Inward FDI in Peru and its policy context
- Author:
- Benjamin Chavez and Jaime Dupuy
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Peru has shifted from being a small FDI player in the Latin America and Caribbean region in the 1990s to being the sixth largest FDI host country in 2008. With inflows of US$ 6.9 and US$ 4.8 billions in 2008 and 2009, respectively, Peru has managed to contain the impact of the financial crisis on inward FDI (IFDI). The main determinants of the improved FDI performance were: a stable economic and FDI policy since 1992;) vast natural resources; strong gross domestic product (GDP) and market growth; and an export-oriented economy, especially during the past decade. In recent years, Peru has become one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America and a diversified commercial hub for IFDI in the region.
- Topic:
- Economics, Monetary Policy, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Latin America, Caribbean, and Peru
979. Mining Water for the Revolution: Marte R. Gómez and the Business of Agrarian Reform in "La Laguna," Mexico, 1920s to 1960s
- Author:
- Mikael Wolfe
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- In this paper I examine the little explored historical relationship between advances in “ecotechnical” knowledge of Mexico's scarce and fragile water resources and the state developmental imperatives of agrarian reform from the 1920s to the 1960s. In particular, I focus on how this relationship played out in the Comarca Lagunera of north-central Mexico, which was the emblematic region of Cardenista agrarian reform in the 1930s. Drawing on primary documentation, technical journals, newspapers, and secondary sources, I argue that the key actor in this history, hydraulic engineer-agronomist and Secretary of Agriculture Marte R.Gómez, epitomized the contradictions among advances in scientific understanding of Mexico's hydrology, agricultural development, and business. I further contend that these contradictions were at the heart of Mexican agrarian reform and its long-term ecological as well as social and economic unsustainability.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Mexico
980. The Meaning of Left-Right in Latin America: A Comparative View
- Author:
- Nina Wiesehomeier
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- During recent years the so-called left turn across the Latin American continent has stimulated research seeking to explain this resurgence, accompanied by a lively debate about distinct variants of the left, broadly conceived as “good” and “bad,” social democratic and populist. This paper goes beyond this simplistic distinction: It explores the substantive policy content of left and right in Latin American countries using original expert survey data of policy positions of political parties and presidents in 18 countries and furthermore compares these left-right estimates with results from elite surveys. The examples discussed underscore the need to take policy positions on particular policy dimensions into account and show that caution is recommended in the use of the general left-right axis.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Politics, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Latin America