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862. Education in the U.S. - Mexico Relationship
- Author:
- Eduardo Andere
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Wilson Center
- Abstract:
- There are four words that summarize the U.S. Mexico collaboration in the area of education: asymmetric, fragmented, aimless, and “institution-less”. This paper, drawing, from the recent history and policies in the education relationship will document this status of education in the bilateral relationship. The paper is organized in three sections. Section one refers to the U.S. – Mexico asymmetries in almost every single area of comparison from competitiveness to wellness and from education to research and development. The asymmetrical relationship (both, in sheer economic, competitiveness and wellness indicators on the one hand, and institutional governmental agencies, on the other) will be given as an assumption of the difficulties of forward bilateral collaboration in all areas including education and knowledge. Section two will depart from the asymmetrical institutional relationship and will refer to the overall bilateral education relationship between the two countries. The lack of an institutional framework and binational institutions in the educational collaborative realm will entice me to a third section of proposals for policy makers.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Education, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United States and Mexico
863. Can German Locomotive Drive the European Economy?
- Author:
- Jan Neutze and Frances G. Burwell
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- During the second half of 2006 and in early 2007, the German economic engine seemed to gain speed, moving into recovery after several years of stagnation. Whether this recovery is sustainable is still unclear, however. With its reliance on exports, Germany remains vulnerable to any downturn in the global economy. Nor is it yet clear that the recent upswing will result in long term job growth and increased consumer spending. To reinforce this recovery, the chancellor should go beyond an economic policy based on balancing the budget and reducing corporate taxes. She should focus now on creating more flexible conditions of employment, so that more workers can be hired and companies can expand, and should work with German business to develop the successor industries to today's export champions. Her government must also rethink the failed policy of subsidizing the eastern Länder, and take steps to deal with the long term challenges of an aging workforce and an education system that does not produce workers with the right skills. Chancellor Merkel knows that coping with globalization will require a liberalized economy with more freedom and flexibility for its workers and its companies.
- Topic:
- Economics, Political Economy, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Germany
864. Latin America and the Caribbean: Domestic and Transnational Insecurity
- Author:
- Arlene B. Tickner
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- In Latin America and the Caribbean, the end of the Cold War coincided with transitions to democracy in Brazil and the Southern Cone, and the peaceful resolution of armed conflict in Central America. These developments, along with the intensification of globalization processes worldwide, inaugurated a hopeful era of “democratic peace” or “no war” suggesting a decreasing importance for traditional security matters. Although a series of bilateral border disputes continue to simmer in the region, the most intransient ones have been resolved. Indeed, since the 1995 war between Peru and Ecuador, interstate conflict has been all but erased, and military competition has been reduced dramatically. With the exception of Colombia's entrenched civil war and Haiti's faltering state, internal conflicts characterized by significant episodes of political violence have also become a distant memory.
- Topic:
- Security and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, Colombia, South America, Latin America, Central America, Caribbean, Haiti, Peru, and Ecuador
865. Current Status of Debate in European States on the Constitutional Treaty
- Author:
- Adam Szymański, Leszek Jesień, Łukasz Adamski, Mateusz Gniazdowski, Emil Pietras, Rafał Tarnogórski, and Beata Wojna
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- This elaborate paper provokes a series of questions. Where are EU member states heading in their effort to reform the Community's institutions? Are there leaders of the pack among them, are there stragglers? Are the present considerations on the constitutional treaty linked to a vision of sorts? These are vital questions, to be answered probably during the forthcoming months and years, when watching the politicians' efforts to have their share in this realm of European integration.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
866. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization
- Author:
- Pan Guang, Mikhail Troitskiy, Pál Dunay, and Alyson J. K. Bailes
- Publication Date:
- 05-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- Established in 2001 with China, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as members, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has remained one of the world's least-known and least-analysed multilateral groups. It makes little effort itself for transparency and is only patchily institutionalized in any case. Such useful research materials as are available on it are often in Chinese or Russian. Outside its participant countries, the SCO has attracted mainly sceptical and negative comment: some questioning whether it has anything more than symbolic substance, others criticizing the lack of democratic credentials of its members and questioning the legitimacy of their various policies. These points have been made especially strongly by commentators in the United States following the inclusion of Iran—along with India, Pakistan and Mongolia—as an SCO observer state and hints that it may attain full membership.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Shanghai, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
867. Regionalism in South Asian Diplomacy
- Author:
- John Gooneratne, Mavara Inayat, Jamshed Ayaz Khan, Swaran Singh, and Alyson J. K. Bailes
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- In any survey of present-day regional cooperation, South Asia is liable to be cited as one of the problem cases. The dominant strategic feature of the region is the tension and rivalry between India and Pakistan, two powers that have more than once gone to war or to the verge of war and that now have nuclear weapons. Unlike the East–West confrontation of cold war times, this confrontation has not (yet) led to more than a few fragmentary elements of a larger structure of confidence building and conflict avoidance. Even this major challenge is only one of the difficulties in the way of a non-zero-sum multilateral security order for the region. The discrepancy of size and power between India, a nation of over 1 billion people, and all its neighbours leads to natural concerns among the latter about India's dominance in the region and potential interference in their affairs. At different times this has been a significant strand in the policy thinking of states such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka and has led them to seek security assistance first and foremost from outside South Asia when they need it.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Cooperation, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal
868. Regional Monetary Arrangements in ASEAN+3 as Insurance through Reserve Accumulation and Swaps
- Author:
- O.G. Dayaratna-Banda and John Whalley
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- East Asia is witnessing the emergence of an informal monetary system which focuses on self-insurance through own reserve accumulation and co-insurance through swaps. The former is concentrated in a small number of large countries (China, Japan, and Korea), while the latter involves informal monetary cooperation among monetary authorities in a large number of countries. The origins of this system lie in the Asian financial crises, and reflect concerns both to avoid repetition of similar events and any spread of further crises through contagion effects. This paper first characterizes and documents this emerging system describing how it works and what its objectives are, and then discusses its performance, its incompleteness, and assesses the system's ability to move towards deeper integration without adopting a single monetary authority as well as the impediments it faces. What is clear is that this type of system among individual countries is incomplete and falls well short of complete monetary integration, but at present it performs well even if it experiences a number of deficiencies. Most countries seem better off with partial reserve pooling, while incremental gains from higher degrees of pooling in the region tend to be small.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Japan, China, Asia, and Korea
869. The Rising Dragon: SCO Peace Mission 2007
- Author:
- Roger N. McDermott
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- China's economic influence within Central Asia is undoubtedly growing rapidly, even as energy concerns and economic issues dominate the calculus behind Sino-Russian security cooperation and their engagement with Central Asia. In October 2005, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of the Heads of State held in Moscow, Beijing revealed the extent of its geopolitical ambition in Central Asia by offering $900 million in export credits for SCO members with a 2 percent interest and repayment over 20 years. This was seen by observers as an attempt by Beijing to fund the economies of the SCO members and to create a China-led free trade zone (Xinhua, October 26, 2005).
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
870. Helping Win the War on Our Doorstep
- Author:
- Roger Noriega
- Publication Date:
- 08-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- Most of the fiercest opponents of the comprehensive immigration reform legislation saw no higher priority than securing our borders. With that divisive bill shelved for the foreseeable future, controlling our frontiers remains an urgent challenge. As we focus our attention on that task, many will be surprised to discover that our neighbor to the south is in the fight of its life. Unless we provide Mexico with the substantial help it needs and wants to battle the deadly drug syndicates that terrorize that nation, we may soon find our southern border more porous, dangerous, and unmanageable than ever.
- Topic:
- Political Economy, Regional Cooperation, and War on Drugs
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Mexico