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1972. Security Challenges to Libya's Quest for Democracy
- Author:
- Karim Mezran and Fadel Lamen
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- The fragile progress towards a more pluralistic, if not yet democratic, Libya is threatened by several serious security problems. Car bombings, political assassinations of high ranking officials, attacks on foreign diplomatic staff and NGOs, and violent quarrels between armed militiamen have become daily events. It is in the interests of the United States and other members of the international community to aid Libya's nascent government in achieving national reconciliation to avoid an otherwise inevitable descent into anarchy.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Democratization, Diplomacy, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- United States, Libya, and North Africa
1973. When "Not My Problem" Isn't Enough: Political Neutrality and National Responsibility in Cyber Conflict
- Author:
- Jason Healey
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Since the Internet makes us all neighbors, more nations are likely to be affected by conflicts in cyberspace than in the air, land, or sea. Nations are increasingly looking to limit potential cyber conflicts using the same devices that have limited more traditional wars: treaties, conventions, and norms.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- United States
1974. Water Insecurity: A Threat for Pakistan and India
- Author:
- Shahid Ahmad
- Publication Date:
- 10-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- For over thirty years (1960-90), the Indus Water Treaty has proved to be an outstanding example of conflict resolution between India and Pakistan. Due to the increase in water stress in the basin states since the early 90s, the Treaty has come under strain. It may find it difficult to survive into the next decade, even though there is no exit clause in the Treaty. Rising Pakistani demand and the continued building of hydro-power and other dams by India on the western rivers may further threaten the Treaty. What is the reality behind the emerging debates between the two basin states on water access and usage?
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, and Water
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, Europe, South Asia, India, and Southeast Asia
1975. A Winning Gambit
- Author:
- Siegfried S. Hecker
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for International Security and Cooperation
- Abstract:
- CISAC Co-Director Siegfried Hecker explains why nuclear arms states stand to gain more than they lose by ratifying the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). He explains why it is crucial to prevent states from testing nuclear weapons, with the strongest barrier to testing being the CTBT.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- United States
1976. Irak 2012
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- Termination of the US military presence in Iraq at the end of 2011, bring some problems for Iraq on military, domestic politics and economic area. Just a few months later US military withdrawal, escalating political tension began to delimitate coalition government built on a fragile structure and at the same time has led to emergence of some struggles with in the country. Discourses or expectations of many Iraqi leaders that Iraq will be saved from the problems which he faced and even new independent era will start with the year of 2012 have been turned upside down because of violence and political instability occurring at the beginning of this new independent era. Bombings, political and military strife between ethnic groups, struggle between national government and the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and particularly worsening of Iraq-Turkey relations forced Baghdad government to waste large part of its energy on these issues. In addition to this, natural resources having strategic importance for economic developments and Iraq's future stand out as a shaping factor of Iraq's foreign and domestic politics.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and Iraq
1977. Explaining the Pentagon’s Defense Strategy
- Author:
- Julie Zelnick and Mieke Eoyang
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Third Way
- Abstract:
- The purpose of this paper is to translate the long and technical national security strategic directive the Obama Administration laid out on January 5, 2012 into plain language and provide policymakers with guidance on how to make the case for the President’s plan. The directive has four over-arching goals, which are reflected in the budget
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Imperialism, and Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- United States, North America, and Global Focus
1978. Rising Democracies and the Arab Awakening: Implications for Global Democracy and Human Rights
- Author:
- Ted Piccone and Emily Alinikoff
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- As the emerging global order takes shape, debate is growing more intense around the trajectory of the rising powers and what their ascendency to positions of regional and international influence means for the United States, its traditional allies, and global governance more broadly. Commentary about these rising powers— often referred to in a generic way as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) but actually encompassing a dozen or so countries largely represented in the G-20—ranges from alarmist to sanguine. Pessimists argue that China, with its impressive economic growth and increasingly global reach, is well-positioned to challenge the United States' role of global superpower and to weaken the commitment of other rising powers, and various international organizations, to liberal values. More optimistic analysts insist that the rise of middle powers, most of which are democracies of varying stripes, bodes well for the world: millions are being lifted out of poverty, rule of law is taking hold and the international system is bound to be a more inclusive, representative one.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Economics, Globalization, Human Rights, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Poverty, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Arabia
1979. "Targeting Top Terrorists: How Leadership Decapitation Contributes to Counterterrorism"
- Author:
- Bryan Rice
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Security
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Late in the evening of May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced to the nation that Osama bin Laden was dead. Earlier that day, the president had ordered a team of elite military forces deep into Pakistan to kill the mastermind behind the September 11 terrorist attacks, which had shocked the country and the world nearly ten years before. During his speech, President Obama said that he had told his new director of central intelligence, Leon Panetta, that getting bin Laden was the number one priority in the United States' counterterrorism strategy against al-Qaida. Upon hearing of bin Laden's death, Americans broke out in spontaneous celebration, and pundits immediately began speculating about its symbolic and operational importance. But what does bin Laden's death mean, if anything, for the future of al-Qaida? More broadly, what does it mean when terrorist groups experience leadership decapitation.
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and United States
1980. "Does Decapitation Work? Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Targeting in Counterinsurgency Campaigns"
- Author:
- Patrick Johnston
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Security
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Targeting of militant leaders is central to many states' national security strategies, but does it work? What should policymakers expect when armed forces capture or kill militant leaders? Is leadership decapitation more likely to succeed or fail under certain conditions? These questions have never been more pressing than after the May 2011 killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. As relevant as these questions are to current U.S. policy and strategy, they are also fundamental questions of asymmetric warfare. They matter because almost all policies of "high-value" targeting require difficult judgments concerning both the potential consequences and the opportunity costs of targeting militant leaders. The decision to target enemy leaders requires that policymakers adjudicate among numerous difficult, and potentially contradictory, choices. Leadership targeting strategies affect how states allocate scarce military, intelligence, and economic resources; how they construct their counterinsurgency or counterterrorism postures; and how interested foreign and domestic audiences react to their behavior.
- Topic:
- Economics and Intelligence
- Political Geography:
- United States