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Issue no. 872
June 2005
Please cite issue and article number in your request
ECONOMIC SECURITY
AA 05155
Chassy, Aaron M.
THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION: MAKING IT WORK
(Foreign Service Journal, April 2005, pp. 37-45)
Chassy, a former USAID Foreign Service Officer, asks whether or not the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC), as currently designed and operated, can produce
significantly better development outcomes than USAID, the government's traditional
aid program. The MCC could help sharpen the focus of U.S. development policy and
programs, or at least serve as an assistance delivery mechanism that places a
premium on results while insisting on accountability, he says. But, he notes, the MCC
will have to overcome some major challenges in order to succeed. Some of the
challenges Chassy identifies include: escaping the same kind of bureaucratic
regulations that have encumbered USAID; determining how to objectively measure
performance and ensure valid accountability and reporting; improving the metrics
used to measure qualifying indicators, which currently suffer from untested methods
and subjectivity; and over-reliance on the unfounded assumption that politics can be
removed from foreign assistance decision process.
AA 05143
Stokes, Bruce
WILL CAFTA HELP CENTRAL AMERICA'S POOR?
(National Journal, Vol. 37, No. 18, April 30, 2005, pp. 1326-1329)
Stokes says the trade liberalization that the Central America Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA) will create both winners and losers. President Bush's faith in trade is based
on economists' long-standing belief that the poor in developing countries are the
most likely to gain from trade liberalization, he writes. But the world is more
complicated than a simple measurement of countries' comparative advantages, he
says. For example, Mexico's anticipated gains from liberalized trade with the U.S.
under NAFTA were undermined in some areas by competition from cheaper labor in
China, explains Stokes. Trade liberalization under CAFTA certainly should produce
winners, but more attention should be paid to the need for safety nets, training and
job placement for those dislocated by trade liberalization in Central America.
AA 05171
Measuring Globalization
(Foreign Policy, No. 148, May/June 2005, pp. 52-60)
This article reports on the fifth annual A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Globalization
Index for 2003, which ranks 62 countries on political, economic, personal and
technological globalization. The article reports, among other things, that despite
early 2003 troubles -- slow trade growth of less than one percent -- brought on by
the Iraq War, trade jumped more than 5 percent in the second half of 2003. Also,
Global development aid increased dramatically worldwide -- the United States
provided the largest increase, boosting its foreign aid by more than 20 percent. This
article also compares globalization rankings with the Index of Freedom and the
Corruption Index -- effectively graphing the strong correlation between globalization,
freedom and good governance. A comparison with the Patterns of Global Terrorism
rankings revealed a weak connection between globalization and terrorism; and a
comparison with World Bank data on public education showed a positive relation,
especially in developing countries, between education spending and globalization.
AA 05173
Wang, Robert
CHINA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH: SOURCE OF DISORDER?
(Foreign Service Journal, May 2005, pp. 18-23)
China's rapid economic growth has raised concerns about its ramifications for the
region and the rest of the world, says Wang. However, he cautions, it is important to
put China's emergence in proper perspective: its 2004 GDP of $1.65 trillion is still
about one-seventh that of the United States, one-third that of Japan, and about the
size of the British economy. Beijing faces an increasingly difficult task in reforming
its financial system, and needs to restructure its relatively inefficient state-owned
enterprises that still account for nearly half of its economy. China also faces severe
infrastructure and resource constraints. Assuming China's economy continues to
grow in spite of its many challenges, it is in the best interest of the international
community -- both economically and politically -- to make room for it and other
developing economies, he notes. Support for further integration into the global
community will help ensure that the required adjustments in the world order
promote stability rather than instability, explains Wang.
DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
AA 05171
MIDDLE EAST DEMOCRACY:
WHO GETS THE CREDIT? WHAT ARE THE LESSONS?
(Washington Monthly, vol. 37, no. 5, May 2005, pp. 20-31)
In this series of articles on the possibility of democratic change in the Middle East,
several authors weigh in with their opinions. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) writes in
CREDIT BUSH'S RHETORIC, NOT HIS ACTIONS that there is still a significant gap
between the president's public statements and his policies. Gen. Wesley Clark notes
in WAR DIDN'T, AND DOESN'T, BRING DEMOCRACY that many hopeful events that
have recently taken place in the Middle East were more directly the result of a local
event than from U.S. policy. CATO Institute scholar Jonathan Clarke states in
CREDIT, DESERVED OR NOT, GOES TO THE WINNER that democracy in Iraq could
just as easily generate another dictator. National Interest editor Nikolas Gvosdev
writes in WAR WAS A CATALYST, BUT FOR WHAT? that the U.S. tends to forget that
democracy must appeal to people's interests, not just their aspirations. Ex-Clinton
White House official Heather Hurlburt notes in EVERYTHING BUT WAR MADE THE
DIFFERENCE that democracy comes slowly, after years of opposition and
international support have worn down authoritarian regimes. Ex-Clinton official
Nancy Soderberg concludes in TURNS OUT DIPLOMACY WORKS that the results of
unilateralist policies of the last few years are that the U.S. is bearing the cost of
rebuilding and securing Iraq on its own.
AA 05139
Lane, Charles L
A VIEW TO A KILL
(Foreign Policy, no. 148, May/June 2005, pp. 37-42)
Lane, a staff writer for the Washington Post, describes capital punishment in Japan.
Capital punishment in Japan is on the rise as a result of a surge in street crime and
events such as the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. 81% of the Japanese
public approve of capital punishment. Other Asian democracies such as India,
Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand also have
capital punishment. The author describes how the Japan differs from the United
States -- more of the details of the execution are kept secret from the public and the
prisoner. The article also describes the difference in how the Japanese handle
criminal investigations and interrogations of the accused.
AA 05152
Gerecht, Reuel Marc
AGAINST RENDITION
(Weekly Standard, vol. 10, no. 33, May 16, 2005, pp. 21-26)
Gerecht considers the "muddle" the U.S. finds itself in with rendition, the arrest and
transporting of terror suspects to other nations for interrogation that may involve the
use of torture; he notes that it is a glaring contradiction with administration calls for
democratization in the Arab world. He writes that the practice was inherited from the
Clinton years, and is the byproduct of years of inability to recruit or plant agents
within many Mid-Eastern countries. On the "slippery slope" that may have led to
abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, he says rendition may have slowly "fueled a
U.S. appetite" to try methods used by countries to which prisoners were rendered.
But, he questions whether rendition is still wrong, given the potential for life-saving
information. In the end, he concludes that rendition is not worth it, that it stands in
violation of basic tenets of intelligence-gathering (i.e., controlling one's subject) and
is an obstacle to developing more effective counterterrorism techniques. He posits
that a bipartisan evaluation of information gained through rendered prisoners would
clearly show that rendition has not resulted in more or better intelligence. Finally, he
recommends repatriation as the most humane option for non-threatening detainees.
AA 05153
May, Ernest R.
WHEN GOVERNMENT WRITES HISTORY
(New Republic, vol. 232, no. 4714, May 23, 2005, pp. 30-35)
May, senior advisor to the 9/11 Commission, provides a compelling insider's account
of the drafting of the Commission Report. Unlike traditional government reports, the
authors strove to present an "enduring readable history" of the events leading to the
attacks, instead of the "findings" so often found in official reports. The commission
also chose an historical narrative approach in order to avoid partisan attacks. May
reveals that the final report differed from the original outline in three ways, opening
with a detailed description of the events on September 11, instead of background on
al Qaeda; condensing six planned-for recommendation chapters into two, covering
future counterterrorist strategies and organizational approaches; and finally, the
addition of a chapter dealing with intelligence warnings from the summer of 2001.
May delves into the logistics of drafting a report with a collective of authors, which,
he says, resulted in weaknesses such as not addressing the question of whether U.S.
policies may have fed the anger that led to 9/11. Most importantly, he feels that the
report is actually "too balanced" -- a result of many of the contributing authors
shying away from criticizing too harshly the very agencies they would be returning
to.
GLOBAL ISSUES
AA 05114
Roush, Wade
THE INFINITE LIBRARY
(Technology Review, vol. 108, no. 5, May 2005, pp. 54-59)
The decision by search engine leader Google to digitize millions of books offers the
promise of boundless access to the world's knowledge. Library experts welcome the
conversion of full texts into searchable web pages, but some are concerned that the
project undertaken by the for-profit Google has the potential to undercut the free
public access to information that has long been a core library principle. The copyright
protections of publishers and authors in the new format are another potentially
thorny dilemma. The author wonders if the portability offered by web-based retrieval
will render libraries obsolete, and examines the promises and pitfalls wrought by the
new era of mass digitization.
AA 05127
Kemper, Steve
EVOLUTION ON TRIAL
(Smithsonian, Vol. 36, No. 1, April 2005, pp. 52-62)
The 1925 trial of a science teacher for daring to teach his students Darwinian
theories of evolution takes on new relevance when the same debate in being relived
today. State lawmakers in Alabama, Kansas, Georgia and other parts of the United
States are promoting the teaching of creationism -- or "intelligent design" -alongside the teaching of the theory of evolution. Kemper reexamines the trial, the
characters and the national media attention that surrounded the event. In returning
to the scene of the trial, Dayton, Tennessee, he also finds that most of the people
there still give greater credence to creationism than evolution.
AA 05128
Kilgannon, Corey
STUDYING THE RHYTHM OF THE HEALTHY HEART
(San Diego Union-Tribune, November 24, 2004)
Milton Graves, 63, is a talented jazz drummer who made his mark in the 1960s, but
after years of hard living as a musician, began studying and teaching holistic healing,
and became interested in the effects of music on physiological function. Curious
about the heartbeat as a source of musical rhythm, he created computer programs
to analyze the heart's rhythms and pitches, and realized that he was able to detect
faulty heartbeats, and maybe even correct them through biofeedback. His work
earned him a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation in 2000 to buy equipment. Dr.
Baruch Krauss, who teaches pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and is an
emergency physician at Boston Children's Hospital, says that the medical
establishment has only recently begun to appreciate the rhythmic importance of the
heartbeat. Says Krauss, "this is what a Renaissance man looks like today ... Milford
is right on the cutting edge of this stuff. He brings to it what doctors can't, because
he approaches it as a musician."
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
AA 05162
Levi, Michael A.; O'hanlon, Michael E.,
THE FUTURE OF ARMS CONTROL
(Brookings Institution Press, 2005, 190 pp)
The new global security risk posed by terrorism requires a shift in dialog on arms
control from bilateral accords and multinational regimes to coordinated international
efforts to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of those who would willingly use
them, postulate authors Michael Levi and Michael O'Hanlon. They propose initiatives
to strengthen managerial controls over nuclear and biological weaponry and improve
transparency for timely detection of illicit transfers. Extending security guarantees to
nations willing to remain non-nuclear and including within arms control agreements
planned, coercive responses to violations are also among their recommendations.
Modern arms control, they argue, must also involve addressing the proliferation of
small arms, as well as humanitarian needs, in developing countries.
AA 05177
Hegland, Corine
IRAQ EXPERT PESSIMISTIC ON INSURGENCY
(National Journal, vol. 37, no. 22, May 28, 2005, pp. 1640-1641)
The author interviews Wayne White, an adjunct scholar with the Middle East
Institute, who reveals his pessimism on the Iraq insurgency. The retired State
Department employee believes that a military solution in Iraq would be ineffective,
but also fears the likelihood of civil war. White notes that looting devastated the
national infrastructure, created a state of chaos and alienated the Baath Party,
resulting in post-war destruction that exceeded pre-war expectations. White believes
the only way to approach the insurgency is to deal with credible figures within it, and
not confine our relations with "extremely well-meaning Sunni Arab politicians whom
we and the Shiites deal with comfortably, but who have absolutely no standing in
large swaths of the Sunni Arab heartland." Furthermore, he believes that Iraq needs
an integrated military of Kurds, Shiites, and Sunni Arabs to create "truly national
units that will fight, and fight hard." He feels that creating an army from one
dominant ethnic group would only instigate civil strife or further divide the country.
AA 05176
TROUBLED MARRIAGE: THE UNITED STATES AND
THE UN: INTERVIEW WITH AMBASSADOR WILLIAM H. LUERS
(Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, vol. 6, no 1, Winter 2005, pp. 87-93)
In this interview, Ambassador Luers, head of the United Nations Association of the
United States, discusses the U.N.'s strengths, weaknesses, and role in the twentyfirst century. Ambassador Luers argues that no other organization better symbolizes
global cooperation and shared values than the sixty-nine year old institution
headquartered in New York. He concedes that, as disagreements have risen on
global issues, the effectiveness of the United Nations has been questioned. Many in
the U.S. and specifically the second Bush administration remain unconvinced of the
U.N.'s ability to successfully address pressing security questions. Recent
circumstances in Iraq, Iran, and Darfur have exacerbated underlying tensions,
resulting in the current strained relationship between the U.S. and the U.N.
U.S. SOCIETY & VALUES
AA 05181
Marotti, Micol
CHRIS EYRE
(American Indian, Summer 2005, pp. 38-44)
Eyre, a filmmaker and director of the Cheyenne/Arapaho tribe, whose 1998 film
SMOKE SIGNALS won multiple awards at the Sundance Film Festival, discusses his
current film projects in an interview with AI magazine, and his desire to break the
Native American stereotypes in mainstream movies.
AA 05182
Mollison, Andrew
AFTER 25 YEARS, ED IS HERE TO STAY
(Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 86, no. 9, May 2005, pp. 666-673
The U.S. Department of Education was created in 1980, after a legislative battle in
the late 1970s between the two major teachers' organizations, the National
Education Association (NEA) and the AFL-CIO union American Federation of Teachers
(AFT). The NEA, which supported President Carter, wanted to give education a higher
profile in the federal government; the Office of Education was at the time buried in
the then-Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The losing coalition, headed
by the AFT, opposed increasing federal influence in education and defended local
control of schools. The author chronicles the history of the Education Department
and the often-contentious debates over its role in education in the U.S.