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841. Waiting for Goldilocks: Getting Japan’s Foreign Policy Just Right

Author:
Richard J Samuels
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Generations of American parents have read their children a story called "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." It is the story of a young girl who wanders into the bears’ home in the woods. Goldilocks sits on chairs that are too big and too small, before find- ing one that is “just right.” She rejects bowls of their porridge as being too hot and as too cold, until she finds one that is “just right.” Like most children’s stories, Goldilocks is metaphorical. Americans use it to describe the process of finding just the right balance between alternatives that are too extreme. This metaphor captures the challenges awaiting Abe Shinzo, Japan’s new prime minister very nicely—particularly in the areas of foreign and secu- rity policy. His predecessor, Koizumi Junichiro, had already been like Goldilocks in his extended effort to find just the right policy toward North Korea. In his 2002 visit to Pyongyang he explored engagement, only to adopt toward a harder, more confrontational line. If the first was too hot and the second too cold, Abe is left with the responsibility to find a policy toward the DPRK that is “just right.” North Korea’s nuclear weapons test in October 2006 and its July 2006 missile tests certainly do not make this any easier.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:
Japan, China, Asia, South Korea, and North Korea

842. China: What's the Big Mystery?

Author:
John Feffer
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The latest recruitment brochure from the Central Intelligence Agency, which beckons the uninitiated to be a part of a mission that's larger than all of us, opens to reveal an image of the red-roofed entrance to Beijing's Forbidden City. From an oversized portrait on the ancient wall, Chairman Mao and his Mona Lisa smile behold the vast granite expanse of Tiananmen Square. The Cold War is over, and the Soviet Union is gone. The cloak-and-dagger games of Berlin and Prague have been replaced by business and tourism. But Chinaland of ancient secrets, autocratic leaders, and memories of suppressed uprisingsstill holds out the promise of world-historical struggle that can help the CIA meet its recruitment goals.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States, China, Asia, and Soviet Union

843. Wrangling Over Arms Sales to China

Author:
Rachel Stohl
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
On June 4, 1989, the world watched in horror as the Chinese government's crackdown on student protestors took a deadly turn. As Chinese soldiers fired their weapons indiscriminately and Chinese tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square, an unknown number of students and soldiers were killed. The Chinese military continued its campaign of terror throughout the summer of 1989, drawing strong international condemnation.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Foreign Exchange
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and Asia

844. What's So Special About China's Exports?

Author:
Dani Rodrik
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
The phenomenal performance of China constitutes the great economic miracle of the last quarter century. China's economy has expanded by leaps and bounds, at historically unprecedented rates that few economists would have found plausible or feasible ex ante. More importantly, this growth has lifted hundreds of millions of people from deep poverty and has helped improve health, education, and other social standards. China has accomplished all this using its own brand of experimental gradualism--increasingly relying on markets and on price signals, yet until very recently doing so within the boundaries of a highly unorthodox set of institutions.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Economics
Political Geography:
China and Asia

845. Japan-China Relations: Four Fallacies Masquerading as Common Sense

Author:
Kazuo Ogoura
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
To gain insight into the future of the Sino-Japanese relationship, we need to clear up the misconceptions, misunderstandings, and errors that beset the two countries' relations and take an intellectual scalpel to their source. Some of the errors are related to the way people think about or perceive themselves, while others stem from the thinking or attitudes of the other party; still others are linked to the history of Japan-China relations. Here, in four questions and answers, are errors currently regarded as virtually self-evident truths.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Japan and China

846. The Neo Con: The Bush Defense Record by the Numbers - An Analysis of the Data Behind the Bush Approach to National Security

Author:
Sharon Burke and Harlan Greer
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Third Way
Abstract:
Like all presidents before him, President George W. Bush came to office promising to keep America safe, strong, secure, and the leader of the world. There are some who believe that the President has kept this promise. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others inside the Bush Administration have continued to maintain that America's national security strategy—and in particular, the strategy in Iraq—has been successful. But there are many who disagree—even leading conservatives. William Kristol, one of the intellectual leaders behind the Bush foreign policy, now regards America's national security situation as dire. Several retired senior military officers have leveled a barrage of criticism at Bush, with calls for the firing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, breaking a tradition among retired military against publicly criticizing the commander-in-chief.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, China, Iraq, America, Iran, and North Korea

847. Managing Uncertainty: Formulating A U.S. Grand Strategy for China

Author:
Christopher E. Schildt
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
This paper posits that in the face of uncertainty over China’s rise to power, traditional realist and liberal theories of international relations are impractical for formulating U.S. policy. Instead, this paper outlines a new way of thinking about international order and then uses a game theory model to analyze U.S.-Sino relations in light of this new framework. The model fi nds that a mixed strategy equilibrium exists whereby the United States pursues both competitive and cooperative policies toward China. This U.S. policy of “guarded engagement” could induce Beijing to cooperate but leaves the United States prepared for confl ict if it does not.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Grand Strategy, Game Theory, and Uncertainty
Political Geography:
China and Asia

848. Rising Spatial Disparities and Development

Author:
Ravi Kanbur and Anthony J. Venables
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Amidst a growing concern about increasing inequality, the spatial dimensions of inequality have begun to attract considerable policy interest. In China, Russia, India, Mexico, and South Africa, as well as most other developing and transition economies, there is a sense that spatial and regional disparities in economic activity, incomes and social indicators, are on the increase. Spatial inequality is a dimension of overall inequality, but it has added significance when spatial and regional divisions align with political and ethnic tensions to undermine social and political stability. Also important in the policy debate is a perceived sense that increasing internal spatial inequality is related to greater openness of economies, and to globalization in general.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Demographics, and Development
Political Geography:
Russia, China, India, South Africa, and Mexico

849. President Attempts to Show that Asia Matters to the United States

Author:
John Gershman
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
President Bush is in Asia this week for a series of meetings, including bilateral meetings in Japan, South Korea, China, and Mongolia and attending the economic leaders meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. This trip comes on the heels of a disastrous trip by President Bush to Latin America, but there is little sign this trip will do much to rescue the President's sinking foreign policy reputation.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, China, Asia, and South Korea

850. Raising the Salience of Mexico and Canada

Author:
Chappell Lawson
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Canada and Mexico rarely figure high on the list of American priorities. Policymakers focus on conflicts in the Middle East; specialists in international relations discuss China's growing influence; and newspapers cover the international crisis du jour. It is easy to forget about two countries that appear to pose no direct or immediate threat to U.S. interests.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Politics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
China, America, Middle East, Canada, North America, and Mexico