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57642. In Focus: Sri Lanka's Long War
- Author:
- Miriam Young
- Publication Date:
- 10-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- Sri Lanka's troubles are rooted in the practices of its former colonial power and in unaddressed political and economic grievances following independence. This is a war that takes few prisoners; both parties practice blatant disregard for international humanitarian law, causing ongoing civilian suffering and massive internal displacement. The war has eroded Sri Lanka's social achievements in health and education.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Ethnic Conflict, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- United States, South Asia, and Sri Lanka
57643. In Focus: Peru: Democracy
- Author:
- Coletta A. Youngers
- Publication Date:
- 10-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- Since taking office in 1990, President Fujimori has concentrated power in his own hands, greatly strengthened the role of the armed forces and SIN, and thwarted political opposition through bribery and intimidation. The recent Peruvian elections failed to meet even the most minimal international standards for a free and fair process, and Fujimori embarked upon an unconstitutional third term, which left the country deeply polarized. Fujimori's decision to call for new elections and dismantle SIN is an important step toward putting Peru back on the path to democratization; however, the situation remains very tense and the position of the military and intelligence services uncertain.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States, South America, Latin America, and Peru
57644. In Focus: U.S. Policy Regarding Burma
- Author:
- Philip S. Robertson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- A world-class human rights abuser, Burma's military junta is condemned both by the UN Human Rights Commission—every year since 1989—and by the International Labor Organization for its systematic use of forced labor. The SPDC continues to refuse to recognize the results of the 1990 elections, won overwhelmingly by the National League for Democracy (NLD), and has imprisoned over 55 NLD parliamentarians. Economic sanctions by the U.S. and other nations continue to pressure the SPDC regime, despite a recent ruling by the Supreme Court overturning the Massachusetts Burma law.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- United States, Burma, and Southeast Asia
57645. Foreign Policy In Focus: Colombia in Crisis
- Author:
- Carlos Salinas
- Publication Date:
- 03-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- Violence and warfare in Colombia are often blamed on the drug trade, but the roots run much deeper. The overwhelming majority of victims are noncombatant civilians. Since 1987, more than 35,000 noncombatant civilians have been murdered or have “disappeared.” Despite rich natural resources, Colombia's wealth is unevenly distributed, with some sectors of the population in deep misery.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- United States, Colombia, South America, and Latin America
57646. In Focus: Central Asia: Aral Sea Problem
- Author:
- Erika Weinthal
- Publication Date:
- 03-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- U.S. foreign policy is geared toward oil development in Central Asia. The Aral Sea crisis has offered a safe issue-area in which to exert U.S. foreign policy in Central Asia. Effectively mitigating the Aral Sea crisis in Central Asia has proven more difficult than originally conceived by U.S. and Central Asian policymakers.
- Topic:
- Security, Environment, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States, Central Asia, and Asia
57647. Lebanon: Key Battleground for Middle East Policy
- Author:
- Stephen Zunes, Tom Barry, Martha Honey, and As'ad Abukhalil
- Publication Date:
- 02-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- U.S. involvement with Lebanon has extended over several decades. The Middle East was a key battleground during the cold war era, the legacy of which continues to this day. The U.S. sent combat troops into Lebanon in 1958 and again in 1982 to support unpopular right-wing presidents. The U.S. has largely supported Israeli attacks against Lebanon, furthering Lebanese resentment of the U.S. role in the region.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, and Lebanon
57648. The United States and Europe: Smooth Sailing or Storm Clouds Ahead?
- Author:
- William Hitchcock
- Publication Date:
- 08-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Two years ago, when many of us gathered together in the dramatic Alpine setting of Leukerbad to consider the recent past and the likely future of US-European relations, our group was full of dire prognostications. Russia was headed toward collapse, the EU looked weak after the Yugoslav war, NATO expansion appeared to be dividing Europe; the introduction of the euro looked liked a risky gamble that might worsen trans-Atlantic relations; and most disturbing for me as an American, my government was preoccupied with the Lewinsky scandal and the future of the Clinton presidency seemed at risk. Indeed, one of our colleagues, discussing the crisis over after-dinner drinks, declared that Clinton would resign from the presidency within matter of weeks.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia
57649. Through the Glass Ceiling: Towards a New Security Regime for Europe?
- Author:
- Anne Deighton
- Publication Date:
- 08-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- The 'St Malo process' which has being taking shape since December 1998, will bring a qualitative change in the EU's role as an international institution. Many of the big initiatives that the Union undertakes are not fully understood early on - unexpected, and sometimes unintended consequences can result from the changes that the EU agrees to. It takes time for the institutional implications of major changes to emerge: the Single Act was, in the mid 80s, often seen as the 'elephant that gave birth to a mouse'; and the Maastricht Treaty as at once called too federalist, and too timid. Likewise, the exact configuration of the changes that St Malo may bring will also take time to become clear. 'Militarising' the EU, however, ends one of the last policy taboos of a 'civilian-power' European Union and breaks through the 'glass ceiling' of the EU's self-denying ordinance against the adoption of the instruments of military force which has existed since its inception. This paper assesses how far these changes got by the summer of 2000 and asks whether the last eighteen months are one stage in the messy birth of a post-Cold War pan-European defence and security regime with institutions based around NATO and the EU. Europe's institutional configuration tends to matter more to Europeans than to our transatlantic partners; but institutions are the reality of contemporary European international politics. 'Multilateral institutionalism' too, is inescapable, and how institutions relate to each other has become an increasingly significant question. To accept this does not meant that states do not matter, for states also use institutions, as well as being shaped by institutions.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Asia, and Switzerland
57650. NATO's Past, NATO's Future
- Author:
- John Lewis Gaddis
- Publication Date:
- 08-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization stands at a crossroads. Critical choices lie ahead that will determine its future. I begin my paper this way because it is customary to begin pronouncements on NATO with this kind of statement. Indeed papers and speeches on NATO have been beginning this way through the half-century of the alliance's existence - and yet NATO never quite reaches whatever crisis the speaker or writer has in mind. NATO seems to have a life of its own, which is remarkably detached from the shocks and surprises that dominate most of history, certainly Cold War history. And NATO's members, both actual and aspiring, seem bent on keeping it that way. So what is a crossroad anyway in historical terms? Most of my colleagues, I think, would say that it's a turning point: a moment at which it becomes clear that the status quo can no longer sustain itself, at which decisions have to be made about new courses of action, at which the results of those decisions shape what happens for years to come. The Cold War was full of such moments: the Korean War, Khrushchev's de-Stalinization speech, the Hungarian and Suez crises, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Six Day War, the Tet offensive, Nixon's trip to China, the invasion of Afghanistan, the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War itself. What strikes me as a historian, though, is how little impact these turning points had on NATO's history - even General deGaulle, who tried to turn himself personally into a turning point. The structure and purposes of the alliance today are not greatly different from what they were when NATO was founded. Which is to say that NATO's history, compared to that of most other Cold War institutions, is uneventful, bland, and even (let us be frank) a little dull. That very uneventfulness, though, is turning out to be one of the more significant aspects of Cold War history. It surprised the historians, who have been able to cite no other example of a multi-national alliance that has had the robustness, the durability, the continuity, some might say the apparent immortality, of this one. It has also surprised the international relations theorists, for it is a fundamental principle of their discipline that alliances form when nations balance against threats. It follows, then, that as threats dissipate, alliances should also - and yet this one shows no signs of doing so. An instrument of statecraft, which is what an alliance normally is, has in this instance come to be regarded as a fundamental interest of statecraft. That requires explanation, which is what I should like to attempt here.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Russia, United States, China, Europe, Asia, Soviet Union, Germany, and Berlin