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51. Review of The Price of Fear: The Truth Behind the Financial War on Terror by Ibrahim Warde

Author:
Rebecca Hekman
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
al Nakhlah
Institution:
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:
On November 7, 2001, amid much fanfare, the U.S. led a global shutdown of Al-Barakaat, a large Somali remittance company headquartered in Dubai. The first major target in the financial war on terror, the company stood accused of providing $15-25 million annually to Al-Qaeda. U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill called Al-Barakaat “the quartermasters of terror” Bush announced that the strike was predicated on “solid and credible” evidence that the company was “operating 'at the service of mass murderers.” Simultaneous police raids in four U.S. states, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and the UAE were hailed as a resounding success. Having ostensibly interrupted Al-Qaeda's communications and made a significant dent in the organization's finances, the strike was also to uncover a wealth of information for law enforcement
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, Italy, and Switzerland

52. Water Wars: Obscuring Opportunities

Author:
Geoffrey D. Dabelko and Karin R. Bencala
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Speaking at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon weighed in on water conflict: The challenge of securing safe and plentiful water for all is one of the most daunting challenges faced by the world today...Too often, where we need water, we find guns instead. Population growth will make the problem worse. So will climate change. As the global economy grows, so will its thirst. Many more conflicts lie just over the horizon.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
United Nations and Switzerland

53. Missile Defence Systems: Global and Regional Implications

Author:
Dennis M. Gormley, Catherine M. Kelleher, and Scott Warren
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
The GCSP hosted a workshop on missile defence systems, supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. A range of experts, officials and academics contributed to the policy discussion on current and future issues related to missile defence systems. Participants sought to develop a common understanding of current missile defence capabilities, as well as potential threats. Throughout the workshop, experts explored military-technical and political-diplomatic responses to these identified threats.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Switzerland

54. The Swiss National Bank: 1907–2007 by Werner Abegg, Ernst Baltensperger, et al., contributors

Author:
Kurt Schuler
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Swiss franc is the world's best-performing currency over the last century: it has lost only about 87 percent of its value in terms of gold, compared to 97 percent for the U.S. dollar and more than 99 percent for almost all other currencies. Switzerland's avoidance of wars, which is part policy and part lucky geography, has contributed to the relative stability of the franc. So have the conservative financial habits of its citizens, which have been reflected in the country's generally prudent government finances. But some credit undoubtedly belongs to the central bank, the Swiss National Bank. It has consistently pursued monetary policies that have produced low inflation, and has made few consequential errors since it was established in 1907. Its experience therefore should be of interest far beyond the borders of Switzerland. This centennial volume, by a constellation of 40 Swiss and foreign authors, is a history and an examination of issues in monetary policy the central bank has faced. It is typically Swiss in its occasionally ponderous thoroughness, pleasing design, and high quality.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
France and Switzerland

55. Memorandum of understanding between the Department of Defense of the United States of America and the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection, and Sports of Switzerland Concerning Cooperation in the Development of an Internet- Based Website, to Support the Work of the Partnership For Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes

Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Defense of the United States of America (hereinafter referred to as “the United States”) and the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection, and Sports of Switzerland (hereinafter referred to as “Switzerland”) is in furtherance of the principles established in the Partnership for Peace (PFP) Framework Document adopted by the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels on 10 January 1994.
Political Geography:
United States, America, North Atlantic, and Switzerland

56. List of the PfP Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes Annual Conferences

Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Focus on Advanced Distributive Learning and planning a Future for the Consortium During the 3rd International Security Forum in Zurich, Switzerland on October 19-21, 1998 (which also counts as the 1st Annual Partnership for Peace Consortium Conference) the interest to create a Consortium was confirmed.
Political Geography:
Switzerland and Zurich

57. Jihadism in Indonesia: Poso on the Edge

Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
After eight months of trying to induce surrenders, the Indonesian police have conducted two major raids this month in Poso, Central Sulawesi, to arrest a group of men, most local members of the terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), wanted for a range of bombings, beheadings and drive-by shootings. Peaceful efforts had clearly failed but the high death toll from the second raid has turned the wanted men into victims. A jihad that has been largely directed against local Christians could now be focused on the police as a thoghut (anti-Islamic force) and give a boost to Indonesia's weakened jihadi movement. The urgent task now is for the government to work with Muslim leaders to explain in detail who the suspects were and why force was used. It also should examine how police operations were conducted to see if further measures could have been taken to prevent casualties. Authorities likewise need to begin addressing a wide range of local grievances.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Indonesia, Asia, and Switzerland

58. Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Switzerland

Author:
Valerie Paris and Elizabeth Docteur
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of the Swiss pharmaceutical sector, and assesses the degree to which Switzerland has achieved certain policy goals. In Switzerland, pharmaceutical spending has not been growing faster than health expenditure as a whole, as has been the case in many other OECD countries. Swiss pharmaceutical spending per capita and as a share of GDP is modest by OECD standards. This in part reflects relatively low levels of pharmaceutical consumption, given that public prices are among the highest in Europe and the Swiss tend to be early adopters of new pharmaceutical products. Switzerland’s regulation of prices for reimbursed drugs, based on referencing across countries and within the therapeutic class for products with comparators, appears to result in prices lower than what would be obtained absent regulation. Although ex-manufacturer prices are somewhat high relative to other European countries, recent reforms have reduced the differential. While costs are under control, Switzerland has scope to improve the cost-effectiveness of its expenditures in the pharmaceutical area. Generic penetration of the market is increasing but falls short of what has been achieved elsewhere and the prices of generic products are higher than what is found in other countries.
Topic:
Social Policy, Drugs, Mediation, and Pharmaceuticals
Political Geography:
Europe and Switzerland

59. Switzerland is reduced to tennis: Switzerland's image in the foreign media

Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Media Tenor International
Abstract:
The wounds have healed slowly. At the turn of the millennium, the country of the Alps, of lakes and chocolate was faced with a media storm on a part of its history, which the Swiss themselves would have preferred to ignore: What role did their politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, teachers and others actually play during the Hitler period? The neutral image, passed on for decades in schoolbooks, rhetorical speeches and media coverage, had cracked in view of an international wave of litigation that was caused by American lawyer Ed Fagan, representing Jewish victims of the Holocaust. He tried to publicly demonstrate that Swiss banks, in particular, but also other companies, as well as the Federal Council of Bern had profited from the victims' suffering.
Topic:
International Relations, International Law, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
America, Europe, and Switzerland

60. Iran, Its Nuclear Ambitions, the Region, and the West

Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs convened a conference, “Iran, Its Nuclear Ambitions, the Region, and the West,” on 31 March and 1 April 2006. The conference gathered a group of diplomats and international practitioners concerned with the ongoing Iranian nuclear crisis, as well as academics and experts familiar with the nuclear question, Iran, the region, and related policy issues. Over two days of intensive discussions, participants engaged with the pressing issues of Iran's nuclear aspirations based on the internal politics of the country, Iran's interstate relations and the role it occupies within the Middle East and Central Asia, and Iran's and the wider region's relations with Asia and the West. On Friday, participants viewed, via videolink with the Geneva Center for Security Policy in Switzerland, an address delivered at the Center earlier in the day by Manouchehr Mottaki, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. On Saturday Ambassador Javad Zarif, Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations in New York, also participated in the discussions via videolink.
Topic:
Islam, Nuclear Weapons, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
New York, Iran, Central Asia, Middle East, and Switzerland