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1761. The Inflated Yet Unsolvable North Korean Nuclear Threat

Author:
Boyan Boyanov
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
After Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test on the 5th of January 2016 and declared it a successful experiment with a hydrogen bomb, the international community resumed its appeals for finding a definitive solution to the issue with North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. What impresses is the routine of the international response following the North Korean habitual act of defying the nuclear nonproliferation system: diplomatic condemnation mostly coming from the United States, South Korea, Japan, and, in a far more restrained manner – from China. When Pyongyang launched a satellite in space two days later, Seoul responded by shutting down the Kaesong industrial complex – a mutually beneficial industrial zone where South Korean companies employ North Korean labor1 . Even this seemingly harsh action does not constitute a precedent. At that time it was not very demanding to foretell the execution of consequential U.S. – South Korea military drills to display the U.S. resolution to be constantly involved in whatever is happening on the Korean Peninsula and to dismay the latest great leader of the North. Indications appear to suggest that China, completely in terms with its traditional business-asusual foreign policy, would not apply overwhelmingly dutifully the up-to-date UNSC sanctions imposed on Pyongyang2 . Then, after months of expected scolding from abroad, Pyongyang remained true to its own behavioral logic and conducted a fifth nuclear test on September 9 2016, the repercussions of which are yet to unfold
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1762. What Slaveholders Think: How Contemporary Perpetrators Rationalize What They Do

Author:
Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
Drawing on fifteen years of work in the antislavery movement, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick examines the systematic oppression of men, women, and children in rural India and asks: How do contemporary slaveholders rationalize the subjugation of other human beings, and how do they respond when their power is threatened? More than a billion dollars have been spent on antislavery efforts, yet the practice persists. Why? Unpacking what slaveholders think about emancipation is critical for scholars and policy makers who want to understand the broader context, especially as seen by the powerful. Insight into those moments when the powerful either double down or back off provides a sobering counterbalance to scholarship on popular struggle. Through frank and unprecedented conversations with slaveholders, Choi-Fitzpatrick reveals the condescending and paternalistic thought processes that blind them. While they understand they are exploiting workers' vulnerabilities, slaveholders also feel they are doing workers a favor, often taking pride in this relationship. And when the victims share this perspective, their emancipation is harder to secure, driving some in the antislavery movement to ask why slaves fear freedom. The answer, Choi-Fitzpatrick convincingly argues, lies in the power relationship. Whether slaveholders recoil at their past behavior or plot a return to power, Choi-Fitzpatrick zeroes in on the relational dynamics of their self-assessment, unpacking what happens next. Incorporating the experiences of such pivotal actors into antislavery research is an immensely important step toward crafting effective antislavery policies and intervention. It also contributes to scholarship on social change, social movements, and the realization of human rights.
Topic:
Human Rights, Sex Trafficking, and Slavery
Political Geography:
India and Global Focus
Publication Identifier:
9780231543828
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

1763. Towards Enhancing the Role of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the Country's Democratic Development

Author:
GFSIS
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies -GFSIS
Abstract:
The publication includes research findings assessing the attitudes and perceptions within the Georgian Orthodox Church on the issues of domestic and foreign policy and recommendations for enhancing the Church’s role in the country’s democratic development. This study was conducted in the framework of the project “Investigating the Attitudes of the Georgian Church on Democracy and Development” supported by the National Endowment for Democracy
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1764. Georgia-EU: Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area

Author:
Kakha Gogolashvili
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies -GFSIS
Abstract:
The European integration has a narrow and broad understanding. The narrow sense of this term implies the processes taking place within the EU - legislative harmonization, deepening of joint policies, relations within the common market, economic and monetary union.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1765. Chronic Poverty and Income Inequality in Georgia

Author:
Merab Kakulia
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies -GFSIS
Abstract:
Poverty alleviation still remains one of the key challenges for Georgia, as for any sovereign country. According to our calculations, in 2016, every seventh family consumed less than the subsistence minimum. Further, following a significant decrease in 2012-2014, the poverty level did not substantially change in 2015-2016; which means that the mentioned decrease might be of episodic nature and in reality there is serious risk of an increase in the scale of poverty. In 2014-2016, the situation became even more complicated, since the trend of reduction in the difference between the income levels of the richest and the poorest people, observed before, almost came to a stop. This points to the need for further economicstatistical research into poverty and inequality, and the implementation of a more effective policy for poverty reduction
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1766. Belt And Road Initiative, The Russian Factor And Main Challenges For Georgia

Author:
Vladimer Papava
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies -GFSIS
Abstract:
Beijing’s new global project Belt and Road Initiative (DRI) includes the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1767. EU-Georgia Relations Future Perspectives

Author:
Kakha Gogolashvili
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies -GFSIS
Abstract:
This paper discusses the main stages of the development of EU-Georgia relations as well as important achievements and existing challenges
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1768. Crafting Resistance through Narratives in Afghanistan

Author:
Tahir Ul Mulk Kahlon
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Abstract:
Narrative offers an evocative opportunity to understand the power of knowledge manipulation within the public policy system. Despite the influence of narratives in designing, formulating, and implementing of public policies, it is a relatively nascent concept in public policy studies.The war in Afghanistan truly represents a battle of narratives. This paper takes a Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) approach to explore the narratives used by resistance forces in Afghanistan within the belief system of a religion. It acknowledges that narratives matter and that by studying the same, one can construe their influence on policies. The paper finds that resistance groups such as the Taliban, mobilize support and operate in battlefields across Afghanistan; simultaneously bolstering their legitimacy and community influence garnering support from within and outside Afghanistan.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1769. The Complex Ties between Poverty and Exclusion

Author:
Michelle Nicholasen and Lucie White
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
To what extent does poverty contribute to social exclusion? How can the exclusion of particular groups be reduced? These were just two of the questions scholars addressed at the Social Inclusion and Poverty Eradication Workshop on November 17–18, 2016, a two-day event co-sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Center for European Studies, and the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP). The conference was convened by Weatherhead Center Director Michèle Lamont, Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies and professor of sociology and of African and African American studies at Harvard University; and Hilary Silver, professor of sociology and urban studies and professor of public policy at Brown University. Though the related challenges of poverty and exclusion have been exhaustively studied individually, their mutual interplay, in their socioeconomic and historical contexts, have rarely been mapped in a nuanced way. As Lamont and Silver emphasized in their remarks, only by subtle analysis of these interactions can responsive strategies be designed to alleviate the impacts of either factor. Lamont addressed the theme of intersection by calling for the reintroduction of the concept of “culture” into the study of poverty and social exclusion. Supporting this frame, keynote speaker Vijayendra Rao, lead economist for the World Bank’s Development Research Group, emphasized working within a local culture to help citizens arrive at their own solutions for more social engagement.
Topic:
Poverty, Culture, World Bank, Discrimination, Socioeconomics, and Exclusion
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1770. he Power of Restraint in the “Golden Age” of Arms Control: A Tribute to Thomas C. Schelling

Author:
David C. Atkinson
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Thomas Schelling’s passing last month represents a great loss to many in this community and beyond. He leaves a remarkably rich intellectual legacy. Among his many achievements, Schelling’s influence on the theory and practice of arms control cannot be overstated. He produced his seminal works on the subject—Strategy and Arms Control, published with Morton Halperin in 1961, and Arms and Influence, published in 1966—during his twelve years in residence at the Center for International Affairs (1959–1971). I had the pleasure of spending time with Professor Schelling at his home in Bethesda while researching my book on the history of the Center in 2005. Two things stood out from that conversation then, and perhaps even more so now in retrospect. First, Schelling was deeply committed to policy-relevant research, and his long life of work reflects that fact. Secondly—and relatedly—his work on the efficacy and control of nuclear weapons remains a singular benchmark for research in the field and a profoundly erudite and intelligent guide for today’s policy makers, just as it was for their predecessors some sixty years ago.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Military Strategy, Nuclear Power, and Weapons
Political Geography:
Global Focus