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482. Keep Pentagon Cuts in Perspective: What the administration proposes is hardly dramatic
- Author:
- Carl Conetta
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Project on Defense Alternatives
- Abstract:
- Despite the hyperbole surrounding it, the proposal to roll back the DoD budget plan for 2013-2017 by $260 billion, asserted by Defense Secretary Panetta last fall, doesn't amount to much of a reduction from recent spending levels – about 4 percent in real terms. The roll back does appear more significant when measured against the administration's earlier spending plans for 2013-2017. But that's only because those earlier plans had aimed to continue the real growth in the Pentagon's base budget that had been underway since 1998.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Government, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States
483. Raising our Sights: Russian-American Strategic Restraint in an Age of Vulnerability
- Author:
- David C. Gompert and Michael Kofman
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The United States and Russia have sought to reduce the danger of nuclear war by limiting offensive strategic capabilities through negotiated agreements, relying on mutual deterrence based on reciprocal threats and the corresponding fear of retaliation. Although nuclear arsenals have been pared, this is fundamentally the same way the United States and Soviet Union sought to reduce the danger of nuclear war during the Cold War, when both were impelled to do so because they were adversaries and able to do so despite being adversaries. It is ironic—not to say unimaginative—that although the two are no longer adversaries, they stick to a path chosen when they were. This current approach is inadequate given new strategic vulnerabilities brought on by technological change. Both the opportunity and the need now exist for a different, more ambitious approach to avoiding strategic conflict—one designed for new possibilities as well as new vulnerabilities. The United States and Russia can and should raise their sights from linear numerical progress to qualitative transformation of their strategic relationship.
- Topic:
- Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Science and Technology, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Russia and United States
484. Capable Companies or Changing Markets? Explaining the Export Performance of Firms in the Defence Industry
- Author:
- Fulvio Castellacci and Arne Fevolden
- Publication Date:
- 02-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The paper carries out an empirical analysis of the factors explaining the export performance of firms in the defence sector. We focus on the case of Norway, and make use of two complementary methodologies: the first is based on quantitative firm-level data analysis for the whole population of defence companies, and the second is based on qualitative case study research on the three most important defence export products (weapon stations, ammunition, electronics). Our empirical results highlight the importance of four major success factors for exporting firms: (1) the participation in offset agreements; (2) the ability to focus on their set of core competencies; (3) their R activities and interactions with the public S system; (4) demand opportunities and, relatedly, user-producer interactions.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Markets, Science and Technology, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Norway
485. Defence Firms Facing Liberalization: Innovation and Export in an Agent-based Model of the Defence Industry
- Author:
- Fulvio Castellacci, Arne Fevolden, and Martin Blom
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The paper presents an agent-based simulation model of the defence industry. The model resembles some of the key characteristics of the European defence sector, and studies how firms in this market will respond to the challenges and opportunities provided by a higher degree of openness and liberalization in the future. The simulation analysis points out that European defence firms will progressively become more efficient, less dependent on public procurement and innovation policy support, and more prone to knowledge sharing and inter-firm collaborations. This firmlevel dynamics will in the long-run lead to an increase in the industry's export propensity and a less concentrated market.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Markets, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Europe
486. Regional Arms Control Regime in the Middle East
- Author:
- Farhad Ghasemi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
- Abstract:
- Arms control and the designing of global and regional security regimes is important issues in the field of strategic studies. This article proposes that strategic stability and systemic equilibrium are causally related to the formation of security regimes in international politics and Middle East studies. In respect to barriers to the formation of such regime, the author argues that systemic equilibrium and strategic stability are necessary preconditions in order to creation arms control regime in the Middle East. Thus, in light of these arguments, the research concludes that the main obstacles to the formation and sustainability of arms control regimes consist of: structural disequilibrium, imbalance of power, interventions of intrusive powers, global cycles of power and its linkage to this region, as well as strategic instability caused by these variables.
- Topic:
- Security and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
487. Should Greenland Mine its Uranium?
- Author:
- Cindy Vestergaard and France Bourgouin
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The world uranium industry has been undergoing a resurgence since 2002, and current supplies are not meeting demand. This increase in energy demand, coupled with concerns about energy security, is fuelling commercial interests in mining uranium. In 2010 the Greenland Government decided to relax its zero-tolerance uranium policy and allowed mining companies to explore prospects for potential uranium mining. With Greenland having the potential to become a uranium supplier, there are a range of domestic and international policy challenges that need to be addressed.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Natural Resources, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Greenland
488. Fixing Pakistan's Civil-Military Imbalance: A Dangerous Temptation
- Author:
- Moeed Yusuf
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Out of the proposed alternatives for dealing with Pakistan discussed in Washington, one that seems to have gained some traction calls for aggressively playing up Pakistan's civil-military divide by propping up civilians while dealing harshly with the military and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). While normatively attractive, the approach to deal with Pakistan as two Pakistans is unworkable. It grossly exaggerates the U.S.'s capacity to affect institutional change in Pakistan and fundamentally misunderstands what underpins the civil-military dynamic. In reality, any attempt by the U.S. to actively exploit this internal disconnect is likely to end up strengthening right wing rhetoric in Pakistan, provide more space for security-centric policies, and further alienate the Pakistani people from the U.S. A more prudent approach would be one that limits itself to targeted interventions in areas truly at the heart of the civil-military dichotomy and that would resonate positively with the Pakistani people: by continuing to help improve civilian governance performance and by providing regional security assurances to Pakistan.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Corruption, Islam, Terrorism, War, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, South Asia, and Washington
489. Looking Beyond the Chicago Summit: Nuclear Weapons in Europe and the Future of NATO
- Author:
- George Perkovich, Steven Pifer, Malcolm Chalmers, Paul Schulte, and Jaclyn Tandler
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will meet for a summit in Chicago this May to conclude their Deterrence and Defense Posture Review (DDPR), which was intended to be a vehicle for resolving key questions about the future role of nuclear weapons in NATO policy. However, NATO is unlikely to resolve the question of what to do about its forward deployed nuclear weapons before the summit.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Chicago
490. CNS NPT Monitoring Report - Disarmament
- Author:
- Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
- Abstract:
- The Eighth Review Conference (RevCon) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) concluded on May 28, 2010 with the adoption by consensus of Conclusions and Recommendations for Follow-on Actions, which contain 64 action items across the three pillars of the NPT: nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. An additional set of recommendations contained in the final document pertains to the implementation of the 1995 Resolution on the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East. While the adoption of the “action plan” was widely and deservedly regarded as a success, its long-term impact will depend on the implementation by the NPT member states.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Peace Studies, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Middle East