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752. Implications of the 9-11 Report: Recommendations for U.S. Middle East Policy
- Author:
- Christopher Kojm, C. Michael Hurley, and Thomas Dowling
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On August 18, 2004, three staff members from the 9-11 Commission—Christopher Kojm, C. Michael Hurley, and Thomas Dowling—addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Mr. Kojm was the commission's deputy executive director. From 1998 until February 2003, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence policy and coordination in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Mr. Dowling was a professional staff member with the commission. He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2002 after a thirty-year career in which he served in several Middle Eastern countries. In his last assignment, he was the deputy director and acting director of the Office of Near East and South Asian Analysis in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Mr. Hurley was senior counsel on the commission and head of its counterterrorism team. A career CIA officer, he served as National Security Council director for the Balkans from 1998 to 1999. He also led CIA and military Special Forces teams in Afghanistan in the months after the September 11 attacks. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.
- Topic:
- Security and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, South Asia, Washington, Middle East, and Arabia
753. Industrial Location and Spatial Inequality: Theory and Evidence from India
- Author:
- Somik V. Lall and Sanjoy Chakravorty
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- We argue that spatial inequality of industry location is a primary cause of spatial income inequality in developing nations. We focus on understanding the process of spatial industrial variation—identifying the spatial factors that have cost implications for firms, and the factors that influence the location decisions of new industrial units. The analysis has two parts. First we examine the contribution of economic geography factors to the cost structure of firms in eight industry sectors and show that local industrial diversity is the one factor with significant and substantial cost reducing effects. We then show that new private sector industrial investments in India are biased toward existing industrial and coastal districts, whereas state industrial investments (in deep decline after structural reforms) are far less biased toward such districts. We conclude that structural reforms lead to increased spatial inequality in industrialization, and therefore, income.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
754. The Transition from Official Aid to Private Capital Flows: Implications for a Developing Country
- Author:
- Renu Kohli
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- India's capital account displays a sharp swing in external financing from official assistance to private capital transfers in the 1990s. This paper examines the implications of this transition for the country. An analysis of the private resource transfer reveals that unlike official flows, private capital flows are associated with real exchange rate appreciation, expansion in domestic money supply and stock market growth, liquidity and volatility. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the transition for economic policy.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
755. Spatial Horizontal Inequality and the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal
- Author:
- S. Mansoob Murshed and Scott Gates
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- The Maoist insurgency in Nepal is one of the highest intensity internal conflicts in recent times. Investigation into the causes of the conflict would suggest that grievance rather than greed is the main motivating force. The concept of horizontal or inter-group inequality, with both an ethnic and caste dimension, is highly relevant in explaining the Nepalese civil war. There is also a spatial aspect to the conflict, which is most intense in the most disadvantaged areas in terms of human development indicators and land holdings. Using the intensity of conflict (fatalities) as the dependent variable and HDI indicators and landlessness as explanatory variables, we find that the intensity of conflict across the districts of Nepal is significantly explained by the degree of inequalities.
- Topic:
- Ethnic Conflict, Human Welfare, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and Nepal
756. Is America Exporting Misguided Telecommunications Policy?
- Author:
- Motohiro Tsuchiya and Adam Thierer
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Global telecommunications markets have traditionally been closed to foreign trade and investment. Recent World Trade Organization negotiations resulted in a Basic Telecommunications agreement that sought to construct a multilateral framework to reverse that trend and begin opening telecom markets worldwide. Regrettably, this new WTO framework is quite ambiguous and open to pro-regulatory interpretations by member states.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, Science and Technology, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, and South Asia
757. Farmer's Willingness to Pay for Power in India
- Author:
- Rafiq Dossani and V. Ranganathan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- Electric power for rural pumpset usage is subsidized by all the states in India, the subsidy being estimated at 1.1 percent of GDP. Users are charged a highly subsidized, flat, annual fee that varies with pumpset size. This fixed charge has encouraged waste and raised subsidies over time. Unwilling to bear these costs any longer, states have proposed a range of strategies, including independent regulation, metering of agricultural pumpsets, and raising prices.
- Topic:
- Economics and Government
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
758. Matriarchy and Islam Post 9/11: The Case of the Minangkabau of Indonesia
- Author:
- Peggy Reeves Sanday
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- The distinction made in Indonesia and elsewhere between political Islam (also called Islamism) and cultural Islam puts into sharp relief the reality that in many parts of the Islamic world communities subscribing to the "five pillars" of Islamic practice also live in syncretism with traditions that can be traced to centuries-old pre-Islamic traditions. Like Christianity and many of the world's other religious traditions, the spread of Islam was due to its ability to accommodate not abolish local tradition.
- Topic:
- Security, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and Indonesia
759. New Priorities in South Asia
- Author:
- Frank G. II Wisner, Nicholas Platt, and Marshall M. Bouton
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- South Asia may be halfway around the globe from the United States, but in the age of the Internet and globalization, what happens there—as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda tragically underscored—can affect all Americans. The challenge to U.S. policy over the medium term (through 2010) is to design and implement a stable and sustained approach that will solidify bilateral ties with three of the key countries of the region—India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan—and give the United States an opportunity to influence major regional developments. This report assesses the strengths and weaknesses of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and recommends how U.S. policy can best take advantage of the opportunities while addressing the dangers that they present. Success in dealing with South Asia will require sustained and highlevel attention, sensitive diplomacy, a realistic view of what is possible, and, especially with Pakistan and Afghanistan, investment of substantial resources.
- Topic:
- Security, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, South Asia, and India
760. Afghanistan: Are We Losing the Peace?
- Author:
- Marshall Bouton, Frank G. Wisner, Nicholas Platt, Mahnaz Ispahani, and Dennis Kux
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Nineteen months after the defeat of the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies, Afghanistan remains a long way from achieving the U.S. goal of a stable self-governing state that no longer serves as a haven for terrorists. Indeed, failure to stem deteriorating security conditions and to spur economic reconstruction could lead to a reversion to warlord dominated anarchy and mark a major defeat for the U.S. war on terrorism. To prevent this from happening, the Task Force recommends that the United States strengthen the hand of President Hamid Karzai and intensify support for security, diplomatic, and economic reconstruction in Afghanistan.
- Topic:
- Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and South Asia