Search

Begin New Search Political Geography America Publication Year within 25 Years

1511. Local Lives, Transnational Ties, and the Meaning of Citizenship: Somali Histories and Herstories from Small Town America

Author:
Helga Leitner
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
United States immigration policy is based on the assumption that every legal immigrant to this country is on the road to becoming a U.S. citizen. In order to become a citizen, immigrants are explicitly or tacitly expected to assimilate into the U.S. sociocultural and economic system, to shed their attachment and allegiance to their home country, and to devote their loyalty to just one country, the United States. The first line of the citizenship oath makes this clear: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign…state…of…which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.” Viewing loyalty in such zero-sum terms has blinded American policymakers to migrants' transnational practices, ties, and multiple allegiances.
Political Geography:
United States and America

1512. Appendix

Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Among the enormous costs of the civil strife and the demise of Somali national institutions is the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people who have sought refuge in almost every continent. A large portion of those in flight have found succor in North America, particularly the United States, with the state of Minnesota as an epicenter. As was the case with others who fled their native lands, the degree of success of all arrivals to settle in the new environment depends on two interconnected processes: the construction of adaptive individual/ collective identities fit for the new time, and the willingness of the receiving communities to embrace cultural diversity, within a national framework, in the perennial remaking of America.
Political Geography:
America, North America, and Somalia

1513. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Reorganizing for Results

Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The National Academy of Public Administration
Abstract:
Of the Department of Energy's $23 billion budget, the $1.3 billion allocated to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) offers important opportunities to assist in resolving one of the major issues facing the Nation today—the need for sources of clean, reliable, efficient, secure and affordable energy. EERE's programs—which include advanced hydrogen fuel concepts, renewable power technologies, transportation and building technologies—are aimed at improving this country's efficient use of energy, increasing the diversity of energy sources on which we rely, and making us less dependent on foreign energy sources. The management of this small office should be of major interest to leaders of both government and industry as EERE leadership tries to ensure that every dollar is used most effectively in the pursuit of its mission to strengthen America's energy security. This was the goal of Assistant Secretary David Garman as he launched a comprehensive reorganization of EERE on July 1, 2002.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, Science and Technology, and Reform
Political Geography:
America and Germany

1514. Preventing Nuclear Terrorism: A Progress Update

Author:
Matthew Bunn
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
In the past year, there has been notable progress in ensuring that stockpiles of the essential ingredients of nuclear weapons around the world are secured from theft and transfer to terrorists. But there remains a dangerous gap between the pace of progress and the scope and urgency of the threat – a gap that, if left unfilled, could lead to unparalleled catastrophe. We must close the gap – to take action now that, within a few years, could reduce the danger that terrorists might turn the heart of a U.S. city into a new Hiroshima to a fraction of what it is today. This paper is intended to outline the continuing threat; summarize the progress made in addressing it in the past year, and the gaps that still remain; and recommend steps to close the gap between threat and response. The terrorists who have sworn to kill Americans wherever they can be found have undertaken an intensive effort to get a nuclear bomb, or the materials and expertise needed to make one. We need to be racing as fast as we can to stop them before they succeed. This paper is about steps to win that race.
Topic:
Security, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Hiroshima

1515. Haiti's Turmoil: Politics and Policy Under Aristide and Clinton

Author:
Robert I. Rotberg
Publication Date:
01-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Haiti is small, poor, and badly governed. That has been the lot of Haitians from 1804 to 1990, despite an emperor, a clutch of dictators, the despotic rule of the Duvalier family, an American occupation, and a few well-meaning democratic rulers. For nearly two centuries, Haitians have been waiting for leaders who favor the national over narrow personal interest, who seek a sustained improvement in the national condition, and who put the needs and claims of ordinary Haitians first.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Caribbean

1516. Protecting the American Homeland: One Year On

Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, a good deal has been done to improve the safety of Americans, not only in the offensive war on terror abroad but in protecting the homeland as well. Now aware of the harm terrorists can inflict, Americans are on alert, providing a first, crucial line of defense. Air travel is much safer. Intelligence sharing has improved, especially information about specific individuals suspected of ties to terrorism. Measures have been taken to ensure that suspicious ships entering U.S. waters are screened more frequently. Some early steps, with more to follow, have been taken to reduce the country's exposure to biological attacks, and oversight has been tightened on labs working with biological materials. Terrorism insurance is now backstopped by a new federal program. Certain types of major infrastructure, such as well-known bridges and tunnels and nuclear reactors, are protected by police and National Guard forces when terrorism alerts suggest that such measures are necessary.
Topic:
Security and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Arabia

1517. To Give or Not to Give: The Crisis of Confidence in Charities

Author:
Paul C. Light
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Public confidence is essential to America's 1.5 million charitable organizations and the 11 million Americans they employ. Confidence clearly affects the public's willingness to donate time and money, shapes the political and regulatory environment that governs charitable organizations, and has at least some influence on morale within the charitable workforce.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
America

1518. The Hinge to Europe: Don't Make Britain Choose Between the U.S. and the E.U.

Author:
Anatol Lieven
Publication Date:
08-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The vital U.S. relationship with Britain is much more fragile than many Americans think. Thanks to the Bush administration policy on a range of issues, hostility to the United States among the British public is higher than it has been since the Vietnam War. Only the personal commitment and moral courage of Tony Blair made British participation in the Iraq War possible—and the result has been seriously to endanger his leadership at home. Above all, Americans must understand that the strategy of this British government, and of the British foreign policy establishment in general, is to avoid having to make a definitive choice between Britain's alliance with the United States and its place in the European Union. If Washington forces Britain to choose between the two, it may not choose the United States, and a collapse of the relationship with Britain would leave the United States without a single major Western ally. The consequences for U.S. power and influence in the world would be nothing short of disastrous.
Topic:
International Cooperation and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Britain, United States, United Kingdom, America, Europe, and Vietnam

1519. Political Reconstruction in Iraq: A Reality Check

Author:
Marina Ottaway and Judith Yaphe
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The Bush administration's plans for post-Saddam Iraq beyond the initial occupation remain uncertain. In developing those plans, the administration needs to take a hard look at the reality of the country. Iraq is not a political blank slate, to be transformed at American will into a democratic, secular, pluralist, and federal state. Instead, it is a difficult country with multiple social groups and power centers with conflicting agendas. Some of these, such as the intelligence and security services, will be replaced with new versions acceptable to the United States and the future government. The top echelons of the military, government ministries, and the Ba'th Party will be eliminated. Other power centers, however, will remain, adding to the problems of reconciling rival ethnic and religious factions as well as internally and externally based opposition elements.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, America, and Middle East

1520. Liberalization Versus Democracy: Understanding Arab Political Reform

Author:
Daniel Brumberg
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
No American administration has talked more about democracy in the Middle East than the Bush administration. The president and his advisors have spoken optimistically about a post-Saddam democracy in Iraq, one that might eventually become a veritable light to other Arab nations. This grand vision assumes that sooner or later, advocates of democracy throughout the Middle East will demand the same freedoms and rights that Iraqis are now claiming. Yet, however inspiring this vision appears, the actual reform plan that the administration has thus far set out is unlikely to produce radical changes in the Arab world. Regardless of how dramatic the change in Baghdad is, when it comes to our friends in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Yemen, the administration's reform plan points to evolution rather than revolution.
Topic:
Democratization and Government
Political Geography:
Iraq, America, Middle East, Arabia, Arab Countries, and Egypt