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201. Wither Medical Marijuana

Author:
Lester Grinspoon
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
The medical marijuana problem is a Janus-like conundrum. One face represents the growing number of suffering patients who are denied medical marijuana yet find it less toxic, more useful, and cheaper than legally available medications. From this perspective, the problem is how to acquire and to use this medicine without swelling the ranks (more than 800,000 annually) of those who are arrested for using this illegal substance, and how to avoid jeopardizing job security through random urine testing. The other face represents that of an obdurate government, which defensively and inconsistently insists that ."marijuana is not a medicine." while buttressing this ill-informed position with the full force of its legal power.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States

202. Chronology of US-Korea Relations

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Comparative Connections
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and Korea

203. Chronology of US-Southeast Asian Relations

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Comparative Connections
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
International Relations and Government
Political Geography:
United States, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia

204. Buy American: Bad for Jobs, Worse for Reputation

Author:
Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jeffrey J. Schott
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
Abstract:
On January 28, 2009, the US House of Representatives passed its economic stimulus plan, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Out of the bill's 700 text pages, a small half-page section attracted enormous media attention: the section requiring that all public projects funded by the stimulus plan must use only iron and steel produced in the United States (box 1). Another provision, which drew less attention, extends the so-called Berry Amendment (an old Buy American provision) to uniforms purchased by the Department of Homeland Security.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Government, Industrial Policy, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States

205. Did Reagan Rule In Vain? A Closer Look at True Expenditure Levels in the United States and Europe

Author:
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
Abstract:
It is generally believed that the United States is a country of low taxes and small government, at least when compared with countries in Europe (and until the financial crisis so greatly expanded the role of the federal government in the United States in late 2008). Fully accounting for the role, size, and effect of the government in an economy is a complex endeavor, however, and it is hardly accomplished by repeatedly restating differences in top marginal tax rates, overall tax burdens, or gross sizes of governments in GDP terms.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Political Economy, and Privatization
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

206. The Private Sector in Security Sector Reform: Essential But Not Yet Optimized

Author:
Robert Perito
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
While the U.S. and world economies are slowing markedly, Security Sector Reform (SSR) is a growth industry for the private sector. U.S. government employees may set SSR policy and design projects, but implementation is extensively outsourced to private contractors. With the forthcoming surge of U.S. military forces into Afghanistan, the U.S. Army has announced contracts worth $1.1 billion for the construction of military bases and training centers for Afghan military and police. Private firms supply everything from construction materials to trainers and administrative staff. Private contractors operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan are required to provide their own security. Up to 15 percent of the cost of construction will go to private security firms, which guard convoys, facilities and personnel.
Topic:
Security, Economics, Government, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and United States

207. Somalia's New Government and the Challenge of Al-Shabab

Author:
David H. Shinn
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
CTC Sentinel
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
After the september 11 attacks, the Bush administration's foreign policy toward Somalia focused primarily on counterterrorism. This focus was a result of Somalia's proximity to the Middle East, U.S. concern that al-Qa'ida might relocate to the country, a history of terrorist bombings targeting Western interests in nearby Kenya and Tanzania and early contact between al-Qa'ida and individuals in Somalia. Although ties exist between al-Qa'ida and Somalia's al-Shabab militant group, the overwhelming objective of U.S. policy in Somalia should not be confronting international terrorist activity. Instead, the United States should contribute to creating a moderate government of national unity in Somalia, which offers the best hope of minimizing Somali links to international terrorism. Long-term U.S. interests in the Horn of Africa will not be served by a policy that is consumed with military action to the detriment of supporting economic development and a broad based Somali government.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Middle East, Tanzania, and Somalia

208. Alan Greenspan Explains "Mistake" behind Global Meltdown

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
The American economic guru explains how he missed the signs that the economy was going off a cliff during the decade he was chairing "the Fed," the body that functions as the U.S. central bank. A strong believer that markets can self-regulate thanks to the enlightened self-interest of the players, he failed to recognize the danger signals of the U.S. financial collapse that also engulfed Europe.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Europe

209. Gazprom: The Octopus in Europe's Energy Market

Author:
Stuart Weaver
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Gazprom, the Russian monopoly, has been on a shopping spree to acquire commercial interests (and political leverage) in "downstream" gas and energy companies and distributors in Europe. Here is a partial list of those European holdings gleaned from the chapter entitled "Buying Europe: Purchase as Politics" in a new book on this monopolistic strategy by Janusz Bugajski.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

210. Talking Business Facts about Europe's Gas Problems

Author:
J. Robinson West
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
A practitioner in the oil and gas business warns that Europe's worst weakness regarding natural gas supplies comes from the absence of a free internal market in natural gas among the EU nations. Freeing up the flows in Europe would drastically reduce the rigidities that Gazprom exploits. A good investment would be gas storage facilities, but such infrastructure is costly.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States and Europe