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1. Rebuilding the American Food System—One Heirloom Tomato at a Time

Author:
Frederick Kirschenmann
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
The food system of the United States is currently witnessing a remarkable shift. Small farms and artisanal producers are on the rise, working with restaurants, institutional food services, and retail outlets to make locally-sourced, sustainably-grown food more widely available. Health- and environment-conscious consumers— “the locavores” —are placing new demands on the food system in ways that are affecting the nation's economy as well as its eating habits (see the “infographic” opposite). On March 4, 2011, United States Studies at the Wilson Center, with the support of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, convened practitioners, scholars, farmers, producers, and food activists to discuss both the scope of this phenomenon and the challenges faced by those seeking to transform the way Americans eat.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Markets, and Food
Political Geography:
United States

2. Women, Migration and the Work of Care: The United States in Comparative Perspective

Author:
Sonya Michel
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
In most societies, responsibility for care—of children, the elderly, and those living with chronic illness or disability—has traditionally been assigned to women. Today, however, the gendered division of labor is being reordered worldwide. Since the 1990s, women's shift into paid labor in countries around the globe has strained their capacity to care for their families. The “care deficits” produced by this shift present a challenge to individuals seeking to reconcile work and family, as well as to national policymakers who must balance demands for care with those for equal opportunity for women, and for the full development and utilization of human capital. This issue also has a marked transnational dimension, as “global care chains” increasingly draw women from poorer nations to take up paid care work positions in richer ones, producing not just care deficits but “care drains” from sending countries.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Globalization, Health, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

3. The United States and Mexico: More Than Neighbors

Author:
Andrew Selee, Katie Putnam, and Christopher Wilson
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
No country in the world affects daily life in the United States more than Mexico. The two countries are deeply intertwined, and what happens on one side of the border necessarily has consequences on the other side. Almost one in ten Americans is of Mexican descent, and a third of all immigrants in the United States today are from Mexico, while well over a half-million Americans live in Mexico. Mexico remains the second destination for U.S. exports after Canada, and millions of American jobs depend on this trade. From south to north the linkages are even greater: over three quarters of Mexico's exports go to the United States and one in ten Mexicans lives in the United States.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Politics, Regional Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, Immigration, and Law Enforcement
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, Central America, and Mexico

4. Environmental Change and Security Report: Issue 13

Author:
Geoffrey D. Dabelko, editor
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
"We are not your traditional environmentalists," General Gordon Sullivan (USA, Ret.), former U.S. Army chief of staff, wryly told reporters as he presented the Center for Naval Analysis' (CNA) report National Security and the Threat of Climate Change in April 2007 (Eskew, 2007). Arguing for more aggressive U.S. action on climate change, Sullivan said the incomplete scientific understanding of global warming was no excuse for delay. Military leaders make battlefield decisions based on partial information all the time-otherwise, more lives would be lost. Penned by Sullivan and 10 other former U.S. generals and admirals, the launch of the CNA report is but one event that marked the return of environmental security to the world stage in 2007 and 2008.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States

5. The United States and Mexico: Towards a Strategic Partnership

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
It is time to strengthen the U.S. relationship with Mexico. here are few countries—if any—which are as important to the United States as Mexico. We share more than just a two-thousand mile border. Our economies and societies are deeply interwoven and what happens on one side of our shared border inevitably affects the other side. As the United States seeks to redefine its role in the world, it is vital to start at home, with our neighbors.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Regional Cooperation, International Security, Bilateral Relations, Immigration, and Law Enforcement
Political Geography:
United States, Central America, and Mexico

6. Angolan Progress and Prospects: A Conference on Development and Reconstruction

Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
On May 9, 2007, a conference and celebration were held honoring Angola Day. The organizers and supporters were the Africa Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS), the Angolan Embassy, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S.-Angola Chamber of Commerce, with further sponsorship by an array of Angolan and international companies. The conference sought to share progress, challenges and opportunities facing Angola, now in its fifth year of peace following a brutal 27-year civil war. The celebratory nature of the event was not limited to the reception and cultural entertainment which took place at the WWICS that day, but also reflected the social, economic and political progress in Angola over these five years. For example, panelists in the conference shared information regarding an ambitious rehabilitation program of social infrastructure, steady economic growth, stabilizing political institutions and improved security conditions. They further cited specific opportunities for partnership with the United States, through international cooperation, private investment and increased trade. Scheduled to hold their first legislative and presidential elections since the end of the civil war in 2002, Angola is poised to become “a model of post-conflict democratic transition, and has the resources—human capital and natural endowments—to be a regional and global leader in world affairs” (Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
Topic:
Development, Government, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Angola, and Khartoum

7. U.S. Energy Security and Oil Revenue Transparency

Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
A diverse set of panelists addressed the challenges and opportunities presented by the growing importance of energy security as a central element of the U.S. foreign policy debate. The first panel featured speakers from the non-profit, private and financial sectors discussing the links between U.S. energy security and oil revenue transparency. All panelists focused on how a lack of transparency in energy transactions can contribute to both national instability in oil-rich nations and energy insecurity in oil-importing countries. Revenue transparency was seen by all as a critical first step in combating corruption. Panelists also noted the importance of conceiving of transparency in the broadest terms, to encompass budget transparency, contract transparency, reserves transparency, and transparency of concessions.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Energy Policy, International Political Economy, and Oil
Political Geography:
United States

8. Security and Intelligence in U.S.-Mexico Relations

Author:
Luis Herrera-Lasso
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
The relationship between Mexico and the United States has been defined by the countries' shared border, their economic interaction (which has been growing since the signing of NAFTA), and by their common geopolitical arena.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Intelligence, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

9. Education in the U.S. - Mexico Relationship

Author:
Eduardo Andere
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
There are four words that summarize the U.S. Mexico collaboration in the area of education: asymmetric, fragmented, aimless, and “institution-less”. This paper, drawing, from the recent history and policies in the education relationship will document this status of education in the bilateral relationship. The paper is organized in three sections. Section one refers to the U.S. – Mexico asymmetries in almost every single area of comparison from competitiveness to wellness and from education to research and development. The asymmetrical relationship (both, in sheer economic, competitiveness and wellness indicators on the one hand, and institutional governmental agencies, on the other) will be given as an assumption of the difficulties of forward bilateral collaboration in all areas including education and knowledge. Section two will depart from the asymmetrical institutional relationship and will refer to the overall bilateral education relationship between the two countries. The lack of an institutional framework and binational institutions in the educational collaborative realm will entice me to a third section of proposals for policy makers.
Topic:
International Relations, Education, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

10. Corporate Governance in Canada and the United States: A Comparative View

Author:
Edward J. Waitzer and Jay W. Lorsch
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Drawing on expertise from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, the One Issue,Two Voices series is designed to stimulate dialogue on policy issues that have a significant impact on the bilateral relationship. This fifth issue in the series provides an up-to-date snapshot of how corporate governance practices differ between Canada and the United States. Authors Jay Lorsch of the Harvard Business School and Edward Waitzer of the Canadian law firm Stikeman Elliott are leading experts on corporate governance.Together they give us a comparison of the way our countries have responded to changes mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) passed by the U.S. government in 2002.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, and North America