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202. South Korea: Responding to the North Korean threat
- Author:
- Bruce E. Bechtol
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- South Korea is in a unique position. It is an economic powerhouse and a thriving democracy that faces the most ominous and imminent threat on its borders of any democracy in the world. Moreover, this is a threat that continues to evolve, with increasing missile, cyber, special operations, and nuclear capabilities and a new leader who shows no signs that he will be any less ruthless or belligerent than his father. To meet this threat, Seoul has undertaken a number of efforts to better deter and defend against North Korean capabilities and provocations, including increasing the defense budget, upping training with US forces, creating new command elements, and establishing plans for preemptive strikes against imminent North Korean missile launches. However, in part because of administration changes in Seoul, the South Korean effort has been uneven. And decisions remain to be made in the areas of missile defense, tactical fighter aircraft, and command-and-control arrangements that will be significant for not only South Korea but all states that have an interest in Northeast Asia's peace and stability.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Democratization, Development, Emerging Markets, Nuclear Weapons, Bilateral Relations, and Territorial Disputes
- Political Geography:
- United States, East Asia, South Korea, and North Korea
203. Falling short: How bad economic choices threaten the US-India relationship and India's rise
- Author:
- Aparna Mathur, Sadanand Dhume, Julissa Milligan, and Hemal Shah
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- Two decades after the end of the Cold War, US–India relations stand at a crossroads. Not so long ago, many in Washington viewed the signing of the historic US–India civil nuclear deal as the advent of a dynamic partnership with the potential to transform Asia and the world. Today US–India ties are just as often characterized as unrealistic or oversold.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Diplomacy, Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- United States, South Asia, Washington, and India
204. Honduras under siege
- Author:
- Roger F. Noriega and José Javier Lanza
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- As stepped-up counternarcotics policies in Colombia and Mexico have increased pressure on regional drug trafficking networks, organized crime syndicates have relocated operations to Central America, where law enforcement agencies and institutions are ill-equipped to withstand the onslaught. These multibillion-dollar gangs are making common cause with some local politicians who are following a playbook honed by Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. The result in Venezuela was the birth of a narcostate, and similar dramas are playing out in Central America. Like Chávez, caudillos are using the democratic process to seek power, weaken institutions, and undermine the rule of law—generating turmoil that accommodates narcotrafficking. Making matters worse for Honduras is that left-wing activists abroad, in support of ousted president and Chávez acolyte Manuel Zelaya, are waging a very public campaign of outlandish claims seeking to block any US assistance to help the Honduran government resist the drug cartels. It is imperative that US policymakers vigorously support democracy, the rule of law, and antidrug programs in Honduras.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Crime, Democratization, War on Drugs, Narcotics Trafficking, and Fragile/Failed State
- Political Geography:
- America, Latin America, and Mexico
205. Civil Society Engagement with Political Parties During Elections: Lessons from Ghana and Sierra Leone
- Author:
- Francis Kwakye Oppong, Franklin Oduro, Mohammed Awal, and Emmanuel Debrah
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Oxfam commissioned the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) to conduct a study into how civil society organizations (CSOs) can effectively engage with and/or influence political parties during election campaigns. The fundamental question underlying the study was: "What conditions and contexts facilitate the most effective mechanisms to advance long-term success by CSOs in influencing the political commitments and programmes of political parties during election campaigns?? The study aimed to contribute vital knowledge on this subject, about which there was very little pre-existing documentation, particularly concerning West Africa. The study was based on CSOs? experiences from the 2012 elections in Ghana and Sierra Leone.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Mass Media
- Political Geography:
- West Africa, Sierra Leone, and Ghana
206. Moroccan Exceptionalism Examined: Constitutional Insights pre- and post-2011
- Author:
- Mohammed Hashas
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Compared to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, Morocco's political development looks like an oasis of tranquillity. "Moroccan exceptionalism" is often drawn on as a positive status, the result of at least one decade of reforms implemented by the monarchy, long before the Arab Spring events. An alternative view is offered by some civil society movements inside the country and by the 20 February Movement, born amidst the waves of the Arab Spring, which are critical of this exceptionalism and call for more reforms. By making reference to the constitutional reforms undertaken by the country since 1908 and by assessing the most recent reform efforts, this paper argues that "Moroccan exceptionalism" is yet to go through the test of the implementation of what is often referred to as a "promising constitution" that should in its intentions pave the way for a genuine constitutional monarchy in Morocco. "Moroccan exceptionalism," as the paper concludes, is not the description of a "final" political situation; rather, it is merely "a phase" in the political life of a country undergoing transition. It is then the outcome of this "phase" that will determine whether "exceptionalism" takes on a positive or a negative meaning and whether the two contrasting narratives about "exceptionalism" can ultimately be reconciled.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Political Economy, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Libya, North Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia
207. You Say You Want a Revolution...Then What? The Challenges of Media Training in Post-Qaddafi Libya: A First-Person Essay
- Author:
- Carolyn Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 02-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- National Endowment for Democracy
- Abstract:
- CIMA announces the release of a special report, You Say You Want a Revolution … Then What?, a first-person account by veteran journalist and media trainer Carolyn Robinson of her experiences training broadcast journalists in Libya after the death of leader Moammar Qaddafi. Robinson outlines some of the unusual obstacles and challenges she faced in managing two USAID/OTI grants in Libya for Internews in the very early days after the revolution, and how her team came up with novel approaches to overcome the special circumstances they faced on the ground. Her essay is not so much about what can and should be done for media development in Libya today, but about how to structure training in chaotic post-conflict environments.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Oil, Mass Media, and Regime Change
- Political Geography:
- Libya, Arabia, and North Africa
208. Russia assumes and exploits the chairmanship of the G20
- Author:
- Pavel K. Baev
- Publication Date:
- 02-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- Russia's plans for chairing the G20 in 2013 go further than staging a pompous summit in St Petersburg similar to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vladivostok in September 2012. Russian leadership feels an acute need to re-establish a solid international profile eroded by the evolving domestic crisis, which undermines the credibility of Putin's regime.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Democratization, Emerging Markets, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Norway, Asia, Moscow, and Syria
209. South Africa's Media 20 Years After Apartheid
- Author:
- Libby Lloyd
- Publication Date:
- 07-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- National Endowment for Democracy
- Abstract:
- CIMA announces the release of its most recent report, South Africa's Media 20 Years After Apartheid, by Libby Lloyd, a journalist and researcher on freedom of expression and media policy in South Africa. The report traces how in the post-1994 democratic era South Africa's news media has become among the most concentrated in the world, affecting the quality of its content and the sales of its newspapers. It also examines how decreasing international development support has exacerbated that process - See more at: http://cima.ned.org/publications/south-africas-media-20-years-after-apartheid#sthash.4gCKzUe6.dpuf.
- Topic:
- Apartheid, Democratization, Human Rights, and Mass Media
- Political Geography:
- Africa
210. Sustaining Myanmar's Transition
- Author:
- Priscilla Clapp, Suzanne DiMaggio, Ike Reed, and U Kyaw Tin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- New York, June 26, 2013 - At the launch of a new Asia Society paper on Myanmar, Priscilla Clapp, Suzanne DiMaggio, Ike Reed, and Myanmar Representative to the UN U Kyaw Tin assess challenges facing a newly democratizing Myanmar. Introduction by former Ambassador Frank Wisner. (1 hr., 21 min.)
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Economics, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- New York and Asia