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2571. Broken Promises, Postponed Commitments

Author:
Rui Graça Feijó
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies
Abstract:
The First Republic was a short period in Portuguese History which, nevertheless, left deep marks on the social and political tissue of the country. It was marred by instability. The political elite of the time recanted on their defense of "universal suffrage" and thus deprived the regime of a much needed popular base of support. The Second Republic that emerged from the Carnation Revolution instituted a democratic regime based on universal suffrage, and enshrined in its Constitution provisions for popular participation in a much wider scale than it has effectively offered up to the present. This manifests itself in the absence of an effective Regional level of power as well as in poorly endowed municipalities, and is reflected in the lowering of popular confidence in Portuguese Democracy shown in consecutive surveys. The capacity of the Second Republic to develop the principles of democratic participation granted in the Constitution is a test to the present decade, failing what a Third Republic may be looming in the horizon.
Topic:
Economics, Political Economy, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Dominican Republic, and Portugal

2572. Address by Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer, Citi

Author:
Vikram Pandit
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This World Leaders Forum program features a keynote address by Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer of Citi, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

2573. Prioritizing Strategic Interests in South Asia

Author:
Robert B. Oakley and T.X. Hammes
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The focus on the war in Afghanistan has prevented the United States from developing a South Asia strategy rooted in the relative strategic importance of the nations in the region. India, a stable democracy enjoying rapid growth, clearly has the most potential as a strategic partner. Pakistan, as the home of al Qaeda leadership and over 60 nuclear weapons, is the greatest threat to regional stability and growth. Yet Afghanistan absorbs the vast majority of U.S. effort in the region. The United States needs to develop a genuine regional strategy. This paper argues that making the economic growth and social reform essential to the stability of Pakistan a higher priority than the conflict in Afghanistan is a core requirement of such a strategy.
Topic:
Political Violence, Economics, Terrorism, War, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, South Asia, and India

2574. EU-India strategic partnership: Taking the stock

Author:
Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, University of Calcutta
Abstract:
The prevalent perception of the European Union (EU) in India is predominantly constructed by the British and American media. At the time of a global economic downturn, its ripple effects on the continent especially on the 'PIIGS' (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) and an imminent crack in the Eurozone have been the debate of the day. In a recent article in The National Interest, James Joyner, has however examined this genre of 'Europe's obituary'. Making a comparison with EU's transatlantic sibling, he identifies three errors in this type of analyses, 'treating the EU as if it were a nation-state, regarding anything less than utopia as a failure, and projecting short-term trends long into the future'. However Joyner is also right when he describes the EU as 'a confusing array of overlapping treaty commitments'.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, America, Europe, India, Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland

2575. Are Economic Sanctions Still a Valid Option?

Author:
Zachary Selden
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Financial sanctions, rather than import or export sanctions, may serve as a significant economic tool to alter the behavior of non-compliant states. The merits of this approach are evaluated using Iran's compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a case study.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Iran

2576. Current Realities and Future Possibilities in 74/Myanmar

Author:
Dan Glickman (Co-Chair) and M.S. Swaminathan (Co-Chair)
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
In September 2009, the United States announced a new course in its policy toward Burma following a seven-month review undertaken by the Barack Obama administration. Recognizing that decades of pursuing policies of isolation and sanctions had done little to influence change among Burma's military leaders, the United States introduced a policy of “pragmatic engagement.” Under this new policy, the United States will maintain its sanctions on Burma while simultaneously undertaking direct dialogue with senior leaders of the Burmese regime. Dialogue, according to the United States, will “supplement, rather than replace,” decades of U.S. sanctions policy. These talks have already begun, and the United States has indicated that any improvement in relations between the two countries is possible only when Burma's military regime enacts meaningful and concrete reforms in the country, particularly in the areas of democracy and human rights.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Economics, Bilateral Relations, and Sanctions
Political Geography:
United States, Burma, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar

2577. Organized Crime in Iraq: Strategic Surprise and Lessons for Future Contingencies

Author:
Phil Williams
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the United States encountered a series of strategic surprises, including the hostility to the occupation, the fragility of Iraq's infrastructure, and the fractious nature of Iraqi politics. One of the least spectacular but most significant of these surprises was the rise of organized crime and its emergence as a postconflict spoiler. This development was simply not anticipated. Organized crime in Iraq in the months and years after March 2003 emerged as a major destabilizing influence, increasing the sense of lawlessness and public insecurity, undermining the efforts to regenerate the economy, and financing the violent opposition to the occupation forces. In 2003, the theft of copper from downed electric pylons made the restoration of power to the national grid much more difficult. In 2008, the capacity to generate funds through criminal activities enabled al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) to continue resisting both the U.S. military and the Iraqi government. Moreover, with the planned U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, organized crime in the country will continue to flourish by maintaining well established crime-corruption networks. It might also expand by exploiting the continued weakness of the Iraqi state.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and Iraq

2578. Forging a U.S. Policy Toward Fragile States

Author:
Pauline Baker
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
Of the many foreign policy challenges of the 21st century, one of the most complex and unpredictable is the problem of fragile and failing states, which often leads to civil war, mass atrocities, economic decline, and destabilization of other countries. The political era stemming from such challenges not only threatens civilians who are in harm's way, but also endangers international peace. Since the 1990s, such crises have become more prominent on the agendas of the major powers, intergovernmental institutions, humanitarian organizations, and vulnerable states themselves. Indeed, while the number of violent conflicts, particularly interstate wars, declined after the end of the Cold War, the duration and lethality of internal conflicts are rising. Casualty figures are considerably higher when “war deaths” beyond the battlefield and deaths resulting from infrastructure destruction are included. While Iraq and Afghanistan have dominated the public discourse on fragile states, the problem is not confined to these countries or their neighbors. Indeed, it is likely that global trends in civil conflicts will present more, not fewer, challenges to international peace and security, particularly in states where there is a history of instability, demographic pressures, rich mineral resources, questionable political legitimacy, a youth bulge, economic inequality, factionalized elites, and deep-seated group grievances.
Topic:
Security, Cold War, and Economics
Political Geography:
United States

2579. Post 9/11 Stability Operations: How U.S. Army Doctrine is Shaping National Security Strategy

Author:
Corri Zoli and Nicholas J. Armstrong
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
It was only a matter of time before the elevated language of post-9/11 security discourse, and the phrase the global war on terrorism itself, was bound to reap both practical applications and studied reversals. Without the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan and each country's challenging reconstruction projects, one might expect idealist solutions to this historical juncture. Only 8 short years ago, the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States (NSS 2002) offered just that, the virtues of pressing for freedom and democracy against a new breed of post-Cold War threats. In now memorable language, the policy document linked "the great struggles" of the 20th century "between liberty and totalitarianism" to a "single sustainable model for national success: freedom, democracy, and free enterprise." Displaying the "black and white" worldview of unchallenged power, NSS 2002 grouped 21st-century nations together that "share a commitment to protecting basic human rights and guaranteeing political and economic freedom," arguing that these values would "assure their future prosperity." Such values, it noted, are "right and true for every person" in "every society," and, in turn, "the duty of protecting" them "against their enemies" is the "common calling of freedom-loving people across the globe and across the ages"-a role spearheaded by the United States insofar as it enjoyed "unparalleled military strength and great economic and political influence."
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Iraq

2580. Portuguese Exceptionalism and the Return to Europe: the 25 April 1974 Coup and Democratization, 1974-2010

Author:
Paul Christopher Manuel
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The notion of Portuguese exceptionalism resonated with the European political and economic elite for some two hundred years: there was a widespread belief that Portuguese society and government existed outside of European understandings of society, politics and authority relations. In the thirty-five years since the 25 April 1974 Carnation Revolution, the Portuguese political system has developed new mechanisms for debate, elections and policy adoption. Portugal is currently completely integrated into Europe as a member of the European Union, with a democratic government and a developing economy. Portugal's return to the overall pattern of European democratic institutions in the years following the 25 April 1974 revolution can be understood as a much needed corrective of both Portuguese authoritarianism and its associated notions of lusotropicalism: that is, democracy and Europe have replaced corporatism and the Portuguese overseas empire as two of the key defining elements of contemporary Portuguese identity. It was certainly a long historical struggle from monarchy to democracy: the contemporary Portuguese political system is currently dynamic, democratic, durable and European.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, Politics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe