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41. Talking with Terrorists: Terrorist Groups and the Challenge of Legitimization.

Author:
Joshua Gross
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
When Lebanese voters lined up to vote on June 7, 2009, the Obama administration was unprepared to face the alarming prospect of a Hezbollah-dominated government. The U.S. government remains hamstrung by legal and political obstacles that bar any contact with designated terrorist groups, including Hezbollah. This article examines the hurdles that the United States faces when terrorist groups gain legitimacy through democratic elections. Some terrorism analysts have begun advocating engagement of hostile terrorist groups as an element of a successful counterterrorism campaign. Yet, in the case of Lebanon, Hezbollah's electoral success has not resulted in the degree of behavioral change necessary to make the group a credible candidate for U.S. engagement. Moving forward, the United States should support a process that enables Hezbollah and other terrorist groups to be removed from the terrorist lists should they exhibit consistent and credible progress toward moderation and participation.
Political Geography:
United States and Lebanon

42. Do Conditional Cash Transfers Increase Poor Households' Coping Capabilities? Accessing the Effect of Oportunidades in Poor Urban Settings in Mexico.

Author:
Claudia Vinay
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
This paper examines whether Mexico's conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, Oportunidades, has an effect on poor urban households' coping decisions when faced with an idiosyncratic shock. Poor households are often uninsured and thus have limited risk coping capabilities. While evaluations have found the program to have a positive effect on outcomes such as school enrollment and health seeking behavior, they have primarily focused on rural areas and not examined whether the program helps urban households cope with risks. This paper explores the effect of Oportunidades on poor, urban households' riskcoping strategies by using the latest External Urban Household Evaluation Survey (ENCELURB) The results indicate that the program does not have a strong or consistent effect on the decisions households make when faced with a negative idiosyncratic shock. Rather, household characteristics seem to be more important. The paper concludes with policy recommendations and areas for future research.
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

43. Fulfilling the Prague Promise: A Framework for Nuclear Security

Author:
Julia C. Morse
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
The lack of an international framework that stipulates specific nuclear security standards poses a significant threat to international security. Terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda have expressed their desire to acquire and use nuclear weapons. Such actors could gain access to the necessary fissile material to produce a bomb at military or civilian nuclear sites throughout the world. Significant quantities of nuclear material are stored and processed under varying degrees of security, making them vulnerable to theft. When states choose to implement weak nuclear security standards, whether because of a low threat appraisal or a lack of capacity, this vulnerable nuclear material poses a global threat.

44. Between Policy and Justice: The Brazilian National Policy on Pharmaceuticals

Author:
Mariana Peixoto Socal
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
With around 190 million inhabitants, Brazil is one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical markets in the world. Annually, domestic pharmaceutical sales amount to approximately U.S. $15 billion and the country also imports an estimated U.S. $4 billion in pharmaceuticals (SINDUSFARMA 2010). The consumption of medicines is unequally distributed, with the richest 15 percent of the population consuming 48 percent, and the bottom 51 percent consuming only 16 percent (Dias 2006). To remedy this, the public healthcare system, Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), provides medicines for free for those individuals who cannot afford them but have a medical prescription confirming their need. In 2007, SUS distributed more than 443 million free medicines throughout the country (DATASUS 2007).
Political Geography:
United States and Brazil

45. Letter from the Editor

Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
No abstract is available.

46. Peace in its Wake? The 2004 Tsunami and Internal Conflict in Indonesia and Sri Lanka

Author:
Jason S. Enia
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
Almost every recent natural disaster that has occurred within a zone of conflict has been followed by expressions of hope from both diplomats and journalists that the disaster might somehow lead to peace. In order to assess whether the concept of “disaster diplomacy” has any merit, more systematic comparative research is needed, contrasting cases where disaster diplomacy seems to have been present with cases where it has not. As a step in this direction, this article explores the differing outcomes with respect to the separatist conflicts in Indonesia and Sri Lanka that followed the 2004 tsunami. In each of these cases, the tsunami provided an opportunity for separatist groups to supply critical public and private relief goods and thereby send a powerful signal about the functional legitimacy of their respective claims to autonomy. In this way, the tsunami affected the separatists' relative bargaining strength, creating an atmosphere more inclined toward peace in Indonesia and renewed civil war in Sri Lanka. The differing narratives suggest that the world pay more attention to post-disaster conflict zones given their positive and negative dynamic potential.
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Sri Lanka

47. "We're all Smarter than Any One of Us": The Role of Inter-Agency Intelligence Organizations in Combating Armed Groups

Author:
Jeanne Hull
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
Non-state armed groups present a direct threat to U.S. national security at home and abroad. Their decentralized structures, informal and formal logistics networks, and ability to merge with and hide among the world's civilian populations make them extremely difficult targets for threatened states and their intelligence and security organizations to address. Joint interagency and international intelligence and security efforts are arguably necessary to respond to such threats; however, despite the obvious advantages of intelligence collaboration at all levels of a conflict, obstacles to inter-agency and international cooperation remain. These obstacles arise from lack of capability, a lack of will, or a combination thereof. This paper discusses three lack-of-will challenges related to collective action and two capability problems using as case studies tactical-operational joint-agency task forces in Bosnia and Northern Iraq Based on lessons learned from these cases, I recommend that Joint- Inter-Agency Task Forces (JIATFs) become integrated into U.S. joint doctrine, that lead agencies or personnel for these organizations be established at their inception, that JIATFs at the strategic level focus more on the importance of networking and cooperation than operations, and the incentive mechanisms for participants be restructured to promote teamwork over individual accomplishment. These recommendations address a variety of problems with inter-agency collaboration; other problems—personalities paramount among them—require a more long-term approach.
Political Geography:
Iraq and Bosnia

48. Lessons from the Soviet Occupation in Afghanistan for the United States and NATO

Author:
Jonathan Gandomi
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
Already in its seventh year in Afghanistan, U.S. and NATO forces appear as if they will approach and likely surpass the decade-long occupation by Soviet troops. Currently, Afghanistan is far from becoming stable and even reaching the normalcy of developing-nation status. As the Spring 2008 NATO summit illustrated, it represents an important test of commitment for the trans-Atlantic alliance. This article will examine some of the military and political lessons from the Soviet experience and identify those that can be applied to the present period. Drawing on a number of transcripts from Politburo sessions and other significant Soviet documents from the 1979-1989 period, this article argues that despite the distinctions between 1988 and 2008 a number of common experiences and mistakes emerge. As the Taliban continues to fight an insurgency campaign and patience wears thin among Afghans for President Karzai's government and the international community to deliver results, these lessons might be useful in informing U.S. and NATO policy. Ultimately, Afghans, especially in rural areas, must be offered tangible gains from siding with the current government, and a political solution must accompany military efforts to overcome the challenges that confront Afghanistan and its allies.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Taliban, and Soviet Union

49. What is in it for the Poor? Evidence from Fiscal Decentralization in Vietnam

Author:
Hoang-Phuong Nguyen
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
Like other developing countries, Vietnam has attempted to push for greater fiscal decentralization in the hope of a more efficient delivery of social services to targeted citizens. The fiscal decentralization initiative is encouraging and merits pursuit, but the present study however, shows that a misstep in the decentralization process can discriminate disproportionately against the poor. Specifically, an increase in the sub-provincial share of the total provincial expenditures is predicted to bring about an appreciable decrease in the lowest-quintile average monthly income. We suggest that the Vietnamese government require provinces to adopt pro-poor allocation norms rather than reclaiming its control over the provincial expenditure assignment. This paper's empirical findings sound a note of considerable caution that other developing countries should exercise in their fiscal decentralization efforts to avoid creating unintended consequences for the poor.
Political Geography:
Vietnam

50. Targeting Cultural Property: The Role of International Law

Author:
Ashlyn Milligan
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
Oftentimes the exigencies of war necessarily take primacy over the preservation of cultural property, but emerging norms and sentiments within the international community have signaled an increased desire on the part of states to preserve, for posterity, the cultural heritage of mankind. Thus, the critical question becomes: how do states balance these seemingly irreconcilable ends, and to what extent is the current state of the international legal regime able to facilitate an adequate response to the protection of cultural property during an armed conflict? This paper will examine current examples drawn from conflicts in Iraq, the Balkans, and Afghanistan in order to expound these questions and discuss in greater detail some of the factors that underpin the decisions made by states when they either deliberately target or are required out of military necessity, to use cultural property in armed conflict. This article will assess the ability of international law to address and mitigate the deleterious effect of these motivations before making several recommendations for international policy.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Balkans