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1101. Return the Favour with a Thousand Cuts: India’s Pakistan Policy

Author:
Vivek Chadha
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Abstract:
During the last couple of years, India has recalibrated its policy towards Pakistan by adopting a two-pronged approach. One prong consists of not holding formal talks until Pakistan stops using terrorism as an instrument of state policy against India.1 And the second prong involves retaining the right of retaliation against those elements and locations along the Line of Control (LoC) that are complicit in perpetrating cross border terrorism.2 In essence, India's aim has been to gain leverage over Pakistan by striking it where it hurts the most.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1102. Resituating Menser and Darchen-Labrang in the Boundary Negotiations with China

Author:
P. Stobdan
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Abstract:
The recent launch of the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) by China and Pakistan has provided India with a fresh impetus to assert its sovereign claim over Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), including Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, which had hitherto remained in diplomatic abeyance. The Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947 warranted India’s control over the entire territory of the erstwhile Princely State of Jammu & Kashmir. And, Section 4 of the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Constitution defined the State’s territory as comprising all the territories which, on the fifteenth day of August 1947, were under the sovereignty or suzerainty of the Ruler of the Stat
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1103. New Armies for a New Era Decrypting post-2011 Arab Military Reform Trends

Author:
Eleanore Ardemagni and Umberto Profazio
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Th e reaction of the Arab armies to the 2011 uprisings is a subject that has been frequently examined, but the evolution and reform of Arab armies is a neglected topic.2 In times of global interdependence, the Atlantic Alliance must be ready to understand and interact with a changing Middle East, since NATO Arab partners’ security is more and more NATO’s security, in terms of shared objectives, common threats and cooperative security. Arab armies have entered a new era: traditional obstacles to military reform, mostly due to their politicization, persist; other variables emerge from the interaction of domestic, foreign and transnational threats.
Topic:
International Security
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1104. Closing Sweden’s Military Security Defi cit: the National Debate on NATO Membership

Author:
Ian Anthony and Carrie Weintraub
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Th e National Security Strategy published by the Swedish government in January 2017 underlines that the security challenges facing the country are complex and subject to rapid change. One current challenge is the re-emergence of traditional forms of power politics, including in the Baltic Sea region, which is described as one of the main areas of friction between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).2
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1105. IMF Quota and Governance Reform Once Again

Author:
Edwin M. Truman
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Once again, the United States and other members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been asked to address the adequacy of IMF financial resources and the distribution of voting power in the Fund. Observers are justified in thinking that they just witnessed this drama. IMF members completed an agreement on the size of IMF quota resources and governance—or voting power—reform in November 2010. As part of that agreement on the 14th general review of IMF quotas, members committed to bring forward the completion of the 15th general review of quotas to January 2014. The target was not met because the United States delayed approving the 2010 agreement until December 2015, which was necessary for the implementation of the 14th review. As a result, in December 2016, the governors of the IMF freshly resolved to complete the 15th review by the spring of 2019 or the fall of 2019 at the latest.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1106. The Case for Raising de minimis Thresholds in NAFTA 2.0

Author:
Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Euijin Jung, and (Lucy) Lu Zhiyao
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The fraught negotiations over revising the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have focused largely on US demands to limit imports from Canada and Mexico. But one little discussed step could help the United States increase exports to Canada and Mexico in a way the Trump administration ought to support. US express shipments to its NAFTA partners are far below potential, partly due to what are called low de minimis thresholds in those countries. The de minimis threshold refers to the value of imported goods below which no duty or tax is collected, and the customs declaration is very simple.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1107. Five Reasons Why the Focus on Trade Deficits Is Misleading

Author:
Robert Z. Lawrence
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
President Trump has asserted that trade balances are a key measure of a nation’s commercial success and that large US trade deficits prove that past trade approaches have been flawed. But trade deficits are not in fact a good measure of how well a country is doing with respect to its trade policies. Many of the assumptions on which the administration’s beliefs rest are not supported by the evidence. This Policy Brief argues that trade deficits are not necessarily bad, do not necessarily cost jobs or reduce growth, and are not a measure of whether foreign trade policies or agreements with other countries are fair or unfair. Efforts to use trade policy and agreements to reduce either bilateral or overall trade deficits are also unlikely to produce the effects the administration claims they will and instead lead to friction with US trading partners, harming the people the policies claim to help
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1108. The Dispute Settlement Crisis in the World Trade Organization: Causes and Cures

Author:
Tetyana Payosova, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, and Jeffrey Schott
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Since its inception in 1995, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism has resolved an impressive number of trade disputes and has earned a reputation as the “crown jewel” of the global trading system. Today, however, the mechanism is in crisis. WTO members have failed to negotiate updates to the rulebook, including rules on dispute settlement itself. As a result, the WTO Appellate Body increasingly is asked to render decisions on ambiguous or incomplete WTO rules. Its interpretations of such provisions have provoked charges by the United States and others that binding Appellate Body rulings, which establish precedents for future cases, effectively circumvent the prerogative of member countries to revise the WTO rulebook and thus undercut the national sovereignty of WTO members. For the past few years, US officials have blocked appointments of Appellate Body members to force WTO members to negotiate new rules that address US concerns and limit the scope for judicial overreach. If this problem is not resolved, the Appellate Body soon will not have enough members to review cases and the vaunted WTO dispute settlement system will grind to a halt.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1109. The New Tax Law’s Impact on Inequality

Author:
William R Cline
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The centerpiece of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 is the reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated the net revenue loss from the tax overhaul at $1 trillion over the next decade. The underlying premise of the legislation is that lower corporate taxes will spur growth, with trickle-down wage benefits that spread the resulting economic gains.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1110. China Needs Better Credit Data to Help Consumers

Author:
Martin Chorzempa
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Formidable barriers stand between the modern financial system and the hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens still using costly informal credit. For many, the financial data that could be used to give them a credit score that would lead to a fair priced loan exist but are not being used. This analysis finds that the most difficult barriers cutting these data off from their potential use for greater financial inclusion are the legal and political restrictions on data sharing and use, economic and competitive concerns from data holders, and the technical difficulty of integrating disparate systems. Policies that encourage coordination between public authorities and private actors in finance and technology can go a long way towards making these data available and driving access to credit in China. This shift would not only help borrowers: It would also encourage the needed economic rebalancing towards consumption, increase competition in the financial sector, raise efficiency through better credit allocation, and contribute to sustainable economic growth and social welfare.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus