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1072. A Strategy for Nuclear Iran
- Author:
- Thomas Donnelly
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- Regardless of who is elected to the presidency in November, the growing threat posed by a nuclear Iran is certain to be at the top of the next administration's national security agenda. Unfortunately, neither a "grand bargain" with Tehran nor a conventional military strike against its nuclear facilities offers much hope of preventing one of the world's most dangerous regimes from acquiring the world's most dangerous weapons. In the short term, at least, the United States must instead work to isolate Iran not only militarily but ideologically, by succeeding in the democratic transformation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
- Topic:
- Security and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Iran
1073. Taiwan: Test Case of the Bush Doctrine
- Author:
- Thomas Donnelly
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- While the Bush administration has articulated an ambitious agenda for the liberalization of the greater Middle East, fighting to establish beachheads of freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as pressuring regimes in the region to adopt domestic reforms, it has thus far proven somewhat reluctant to embrace this commitment to liberty in other parts of the world. Nowhere has this retreat from its rhetoric been more pointed than in Taiwan, a flourishing free-market democracy menaced by an authoritarian colossus next door. Taiwan's March 20 election provides fresh evidence of the extent to which the "one China" policy and "strategic ambiguity"—those avatars of conventional wisdom—have passed into the realm of anachronism. Indeed, if the Bush Doctrine represents anything, it is the conviction that there must be nothing ambiguous about America's support for the forces of freedom.
- Topic:
- Security and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, China, Iraq, Middle East, and Taiwan
1074. Iraqi Freedom and American History
- Author:
- Thomas Donnelly
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- With the capture of Saddam Hussein and the diminishing number of attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, there is a new sense of confidence and optimism about the direction of the Bush administration's foreign policy. It is important, however, to place these recent developments within the broader context of the endeavor to which the president has committed our nation. The invasion of Afghanistan in the autumn of 2001 and that of Iraq in the spring of 2003 together mark a significant departure from longstanding American strategy in the greater Middle East. In place of "off-shore balancing," wherein the United States sought to preserve the status quo by supporting a revolving rogue's gallery of native regimes, American power is now actively engaged in reshaping the political order of the Islamic world. This is, by definition, a generational commitment.
- Topic:
- Security and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Middle East
1075. The Post 9/11 Partnership: Transatlantic Cooperation Against Terrorism
- Author:
- David L. Aaron, Frances G. Burwell, C. Richard Nelson, Anna M. Beauchesne, K. Jack Riley, and Brian Zimmer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- On September 11, 2001, the world was introduced to a new type of terrorism, one that was truly global in its organization and its impact. In both Europe and the United States, it was immediately clear that an effective response would require new levels of cooperation across the Atlantic and around the world. The initial response was in part military, as NATO invoked its mutual defense clause for the first time ever and a military campaign began in Afghanistan. But equally important was the decision by both the European Union and the United States to boost the capacity of their domestic law enforcement agencies and judiciary to respond to global terrorism and to look for ways to cooperate with each other in doing so. Since then, U.S.-EU cooperation in combating terrorism has been one of the success stories of transatlantic relations.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Europe
1076. Minimal Investments, Minimal Results: The Failure of Security Policy in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Michael Bhatia, Kevin Lanigan, and Philip Wilkinson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia International Affairs Online
- Abstract:
- Prime Minister Tony Blair's 2003 declaration that the international community “will not walk away from” Afghanistan missed the real question: When will the international community really walk into Afghanistan, and make the necessary commitments and investments that will give the Afghan people a reasonable chance at building a peaceful and stable country?
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Asia
1077. Kyrgyzstan: A Small Arms Anomaly in Central Asia?
- Author:
- S. Neil MacFarlane and Stina Torjesen Torjesen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- Central Asia is often portrayed as a hotbed of potential conflict. With this report, the Small Arms Survey seeks to determine whether the Kyrgyz Republic, by virtue of its location, should indeed be grouped with its friction-prone neighbours. Weak state structures, a history of ethnic tension, inequality, and poverty – features that characterize the Kyrgyz state – are factors that normally fuel the proliferation of arms. The ripple effects of the fragile situation in Afghanistan are also expected to have effects on Central Asian countries. This in-depth study has found, however, that small arms are less of a problem in Kyrgyzstan than commonly assumed: few families own arms; demand is limited; and trafficking is modest. While the proliferation of small arms may pose a serious threat in countries such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, this assertion cannot be applied to Central Asia as a whole. This report highlights the need for the disaggregation of regional generalizations and seeks to explain why Kyrgyzstan is different from its southern neighbours.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Tajikistan
1078. Security Sector Transformation in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Mark Sedra
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The U.S.-led Coalition's swift victory over the Taliban regime in October 2001 created a security vacuum across Afghanistan that the international community was unprepared to fill. Winning the peace in Afghanistan has proven to be a much more complex, costly, and protracted endeavour than winning the war, an imposing burden that has severely tested the resolve of the international donor community. With only 11,000-13,000 Coalition troops mandated to eradicate the last remnants of al-Qaeda an the Taliban in the south and a limited NATO presence of 6,000 troops deployed in the capital to insulate the fledgling political process, the onus for maintaining security in the country fell on the Afghan government and its fledgling security forces. After 23 years of civil war the country's security sector was in a state of disarray, its infrastructure destroyed, resources limited, and facing a shortage of human capacity. To bolster Afghanistan's beleaguered security institutions and ensure they conform to international standards, the major donors engaged in the country launched a security sector reform (SSR) process. Security sector transformation rather than reform seems more appropriate to describe the task of creating efficient, effective, and democratically accountable security forces in Afghanistan, for the bulk of the country's formal security apparatus ceased to function over a decade ago. In spite of the massive challenges that face program, it has been portrayed as the primary means to redress Afghanistan's immediate security woes. What by its very nature is a gradual, long-term process has been thrust into the position as short-term panacea.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, and Taliban
1079. Elections and Security in Afghanistan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Representatives of the Afghan government, the UN and the major donor countries and institutions will assemble in Berlin on 31 March and 1 April for the first high-level diplomatic meeting on Afghanistan in more than two years. The principal objective is to secure substantial long-term aid commitments -- the Afghan government seeks U.S.$27.6 billion over seven years. In addition to meeting this global figure, it will be important for donors to make multi-year pledges that provide a basis for predictability and to increase cash on hand for immediate projects over the coming year. All this is needed if Afghanistan's governance and security institutions are to be reconstructed, development goals met, and poverty alleviated.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and United Nations
1080. Road to Ruin: Afghanistan's Booming Opium Industry
- Author:
- Barnett Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- President George W. Bush declared recently that “the people of Afghanistan are now free.” While the president boasts, Afghanistan's opium industry, which fosters terrorism, violence, debt bondage, and organized crime, has expanded to the point that it could undermine the entire U.S. and international effort. As President Bush's own special envoy and ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, recently admitted, ''[r]ather than getting better, it's gotten worse. There is a potential for drugs overwhelming the institutions – a sort of a narco-state."
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia