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291. Immigrant Well-Being in New York and Los Angeles

Author:
Randy Capps and Michael E. Fix
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Despite their strong attachment to the labor force, large numbers of immigrants and their families in New York and Los Angeles have low incomes, lack health insurance, and are food insecure. The most powerful predictor of poverty and hardship is their limited English skills. Legal immigrants arriving after welfare reform's enactment in 1996—who have the most restricted access to public benefits—are poorer than immigrants arriving before the law's enactment.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States and New York

292. Facilitating Private - Public Partnerships for Drinking Water

Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The WaterLife Foundation is a New York-based charity designed to engage the corporate sector in small-scale/big impact sustainable drinking water partnerships in the developing world. WaterLife will work with local communities to install new wells, repository systems, sanitation systems, and a variety of other solutions, depending on the local need. WaterLife hosted "Facilitating Private - Public Partnerships for Drinking Water" in New York City on November 2, 2001. The meeting was sponsored by ExxonMobil and Columbia University, and the meeting logistics were organized by The Conference Board. The WaterLife Foundation hosted this innovative meeting with three goals in mind: Raise the corporate sector's awareness of the global drinking water problem Discuss the opportunities for partnerships between the corporate and non-profit sector Give the corporate sector the opportunity to design mutually beneficial partnerships with the WaterLife Foundation, in the area of sustainable drinking water initiatives. The emphasis of the November 2 meeting, and of the WaterLife Foundation, is on field work. WaterLife is not a research or policy organization, and this meeting resulted in concrete steps for ensuring corporate sector involvement in the active implementation of sustainable drinking water projects in the developing world.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Water
Political Geography:
New York

293. Biotechnology and the Future of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Author:
Jean Pascal Zanders, Frida Kuhlau, and John Hart
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The spectre of the deliberate use of disease in war has long haunted humankind. The biological warfare threat became more realistic after the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Not only did the terrorists demonstrate that they were prepared to murder large numbers of people indiscriminately, they also exposed the vulnerability of many societies. The sense of vulnerability was increased by attacks in the United States with letters containing anthrax bacteria, which killed several people and infected many more. Against this background the Fifth Review Conference of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) convened in Geneva on 19 November 2001. One of its main tasks was to evaluate the functioning of the treaty in the light of scientific and technological developments. Biotechnology has expanded rapidly in the past three decades—offering the prospect of a better quality of life—but it can be applied to design new types of biological weapons (BW). This raises concern as to whether the BTWC is sufficiently comprehensive to cover these developments.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Science and Technology, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, New York, and Washington

294. Empowering Local Actors: The UN and Multi-Track Conflict Prevention

Author:
Ben Rawlence
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The International Peace Academy convened an international policy workshop in New York on 10 December 2001 in the conference room of Chadbourne and Parke LLP bringing together approximately fifty members of the UN system and civil society representatives from around the world. The purpose of the workshop was to follow up on the June 2001 report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Prevention of Armed Conflict and address some of the opportunities and challenges involved in working to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict in tandem with relevant local actors.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
New York

295. Refashioning the Dialogue: Regional Perspectives on the Brahimi Report on UN Operations

Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
There is no single “developing world” perspective on UN peace operations — nor, indeed, a single perspective from each of the regions that took part in the consultation. Nevertheless, some broad themes emerged in the course of discussion, conditioned by particular regional experiences with such operations. Each of the meetings emphasized the importance of the Brahimi Report and took note of the timing and resource constraints that limited the scope of the Report essentially to peacekeeping. All meetings in the developing world, where people feel marginalized from UN decision-making, rued the lateness of the consultative process, noting that building a constituency for UN peace operations requires more extensive, deeper, and earlier consultation with a broad range of regional and local actors. At the New York meeting one permanent representative observed that, returning to the organization after a fifteen-year absence, he saw that the UN, too, was now being affected by the global demand for transparency and accountability.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
New York

296. Beyond Political Terrorism: The New Challenge of Transcendent Terror

Author:
Jeffrey S. Helmreich
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Abstract:
As the smoke clears in New York and Kabul, one blind spot still blocks the Western lens in the war against terror. There remains no official definition of "terrorism." The need for such a definition was affirmed by representatives of over 150 countries at a UN conference held in October 2001 on "What is Terrorism?" They came armed with prior resolutions that ban terrorism in any context, no matter its grievance or goal. But the delegates argued that in order to isolate and criminalize the act itself, they would need to identify it. Otherwise, future thugs who massacre innocent civilians could argue that their case is somehow different, or somehow justified by context. They could claim: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."
Topic:
Security, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
New York, Middle East, Arabia, and Kabul

297. Biotechnology and the Future of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The spectre of the deliberate use of disease in war has long haunted humankind. The biological warfare threat became more realistic after the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Not only did the terrorists demonstrate that they were prepared to murder large numbers of people indiscriminately, they also exposed the vulnerability of many societies. The sense of vulnerability was increased by attacks in the United States with letters containing anthrax bacteria, which killed several people and infected many more. Against this background the Fifth Review Conference of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) convened in Geneva on 19 November 2001. One of its main tasks was to evaluate the functioning of the treaty in the light of scientific and technological developments. Biotechnology has expanded rapidly in the past three decades–offering the prospect of a better quality of life–but it can be applied to design new types of biological weapons (BW). This raises concern as to whether the BTWC is sufficiently comprehensive to cover these developments.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Science and Technology, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
New York and Washington

298. A Year of Middle East Violence: Balance Sheet and Prospects in the Aftermath of September 11

Author:
David Makovsky
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
At the direct and repeated behest of the Bush administration, Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasir Arafat met yesterday at the Gaza Airport — their first meeting since June. Given the extraordinary circumstances of the September 11 attacks and the U.S. desire to fashion an international coalition against terrorism, the meeting is bound to raise hopes that the latest ceasefire will take hold. As previous Israeli-Palestinian ceasefires have collapsed, however, the implications of this meeting cannot be predicted with any certainty. This Friday, September 28, marks the first anniversary of the violence that has engulfed Israelis and Palestinians and scuttled the peace process. Such an occasion presents an opportunity to assess the impact of this violence and to consider the future in light of the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution
Political Geography:
United States, New York, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Arabia

299. Powell To The Middle East: Assessing The Key Elements Of Iraq Policy

Author:
Patrick Clawson
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
On February 26, U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell begins his tour of Iraq's Arab neighbors just as UN secretary-general Kofi Annan is scheduled to hold discussions with Iraqi foreign minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf in New York. Key themes in these meetings will be the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq; the future of UN sanctions; the need to prevent Iraqi adventurism, especially into the Arab–Israeli arena; and the larger U.S. goal of "regime change" in Iraq.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, New York, Middle East, Israel, and Arabia

300. Naturalization in the Wake of Anti-Immigrant Legislation: Dominicans in New York City

Author:
Audrey Singer and Greta Gilbertson
Publication Date:
02-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The motives of immigrants who seek to naturalize in the United States are a source of current controversy. Recent events, such as the passage in 1996 of anti-immigrant laws, appear to have increased the benefits of becoming a U.S. citizen and the costs of remaining a legal permanent resident. Critics of recent policies have argued that the laws pushed immigrants to naturalize in order to retain social welfare benefits, thus cheapening the value of U.S. citizenship. Most of the debate on this issue, however, is based on rhetoric rather than observation. The extant literature provides little insight into how these recent developments influence immigrants' propensity to naturalize through shaping their perceptions of citizenship. How immigrants understand and view the costs and benefits of U.S. citizenship are important, because they are likely to be the most proximate determinants of naturalization decisions (Alvarez 1987; Yang 1994).
Topic:
Government and Migration
Political Geography:
United States and New York