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4111. Development Aid and Economic Freedom: Are They Related?

Author:
Benjamin Powell and Matt Ryan
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
For more than 50 years individual countries and international agencies have given aid to third world countries to promote economic development, yet poverty still persists in many recipient nations. In recent years development economists and agencies have increasingly recognized the importance of institutions that support property rights and economic freedom in promoting development. Nevertheless, nations continue to provide aid to less developed countries. This raises two important questions. Does the receipt of aid lead to increases or decreases in economic freedom, and are increases in economic freedom rewarded with more aid or punished with reduced aid?
Topic:
Development, Economics, Government, and Poverty

4112. Is Cybersecurity a Public Good? Evidence from the Financial Services Industry

Author:
Benjamin Powell
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States heightened concerns about vulnerabilities to future attacks. One new area of concern is cyberterrorism: the possibility of terrorists using computers to attack our critical infrastructure electronically. The government has made efforts to better secure its own computer networks to prevent terrorists from hacking into computer systems in the Pentagon, FBI, and other government agencies. Increasingly, however, the government has been concerned that the private sector is vulnerable to cyberterrorism. The private sector owns approximately 85 percent of the critical infrastructure in the U.S. (Deloitte 2004 p. 15). There are concerns that a cyber attack on dams, trains, electrical grids, pipeline pumps, communications networks, or the financial services industry could cause significant physical or economic damage to the U.S. The policy question being asked is whether private businesses, when left to their own devices, provide enough cybersecurity or if some form of government involvement is justified.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States and United Nations

4113. "Not Merely Perfidious but Ungrateful";: The U.S. Takeover of West Florida

Author:
Robert Higgs
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
Probably not one American in a hundred knows anything about the short-lived Republic of West Florida (1810). At first glance it might seem to have sprung from a worthy fight for self-government and independence from Spain. West Floriday, that lovely nation, Free from king and tyranny, Thru' the world shall be respected, For her true love of Liberty. On closer inspection, however, this venture, born of low-level filibuster and high-level intrigue, illustrates the same ingrained American propensity for land-grabbing so evident in other U.S. acquisitions of territory.
Topic:
Development and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Spain

4114. Mind the Gap: Policy Development and Research on Conflict Issue

Author:
Cheyanne Church
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity
Abstract:
Since the 1950's, a steadily increasing amount of research and scholarly attention has been paid to the resolution of violent conflict. Today this has become the foundation of a robust body of knowledge focusing on non-military approaches to preventing, managing and ending conflicts. Despite this, the public and political perception of force as the primary response to conflict remains.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, Ethnic Conflict, and Politics

4115. Whither Ripeness Theory?

Author:
Dean G. Pruitt
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University
Abstract:
Ripeness theory, in its most common version, concerns the psychological states that encourage parties who are involved in severe conflict to move into negotiation—either bilateral or mediated. This monograph first summarizes ripeness theory as it stands today, while drawing on the writings of I. William Zartman, the founder of this field, and several other international relations scholars. Then it presents a critique, which recasts this important theory in conventional psychological terms; uses the language of variables rather than necessary states; and focuses on the psychological states of individual actors rather than on joint psychological states.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, Education, and Peace Studies

4116. Unequal Prospects: Disparities in the Quantity and Quality of Labour Supply in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Christopher Cramer and John Sender
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
The issue of labour supply in Sub-Sahara n Africa, like so many other economic and social issues in the region, is often discussed as if the whole sub-continent faced essentially similar, overwhelming and intractable problem s. This pessimistic and over-generalised literature has been criticized elsewhere (Sender, 1999). By contrast, this paper stresses the importance of differences between and within Sub-Saharan African economies in the quantity and quality of labour supplies, and highlights the scope for policies to overcome constraints on employment prospects. The paper also points to the dangers of one-size-fits-all policy recommendations for the labour market, while at the same time identifying certain similarities in the characteristics of the most disadvantaged labour market entrants in many Sub-Saharan African economies. The aim is to begin to isolate the sub-set of policies that might be most relevant for these entrants, if donors and governments wish to re-allocate resources to improve prospects for the poorest Africans.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Economics, and International Political Economy

4117. The Role of the Wider Black Sea Area in a Future European Security Space, Volume 1

Author:
Jean Dufourcq(ed.) and Lionel Ponsard(ed.)
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
The Black Sea is at the forefront of the strategic agenda for 2 005, though its ordinary geographical name tends to conceal the dynamic geopolitical realities of an area where a transformation is in full swing.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Development
Political Geography:
Europe

4118. The Role of the Wider Black Sea Area in a Future European Security Space, Volume 2

Author:
Jean Dufourcq(ed.) and Lionel Ponsard(ed.)
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
This second booklet of reflections on Black Sea security issues is the companion volume to the one published during the continuation of the seminar sponsored by the NSC at Constanta (Romana) on 6 and 7 June 2005 on the subject of “The Role of the Wider Black Sea Area in a Future European Security Space”.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Development
Political Geography:
Europe

4119. Security Strategies and their Implications for NATO's Strategic Concept

Author:
Jean Dufourcq(ed.) and Carlo Masala(ed.)
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
This volume contains the three presentations delivered on the occasion of the 52nd Anciens' Annual Conference and Seminar held on 23 September 2005 at the NATO Defense College in Rome. The seminar was dedicated to the subject of “Security Strategies”–especially those of the United States, the European Union, and of course the 1999 NATO Strategic Concept. One major issue examined at the seminar was the impact that the evolution of the first two strategies may have on the Alliance's current strategic concept.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and Development
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Rome

4120. Housing, Land, Property and Conflict Management: Identifying Policy Options for Rule of Law Programming

Author:
Agnes Hurwitz, Kaysie Studdard, and Rhodri Williams
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Housing, land and property (HLP) policies should, as far as possible be addressed in conjunction to ensure that residential and land rights are dealt with more comprehensively by domestic and international actors.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Development, Economics, and Government