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1761. Iran: Breaking the Nuclear Deadlock

Author:
Richard Dalton(ed.)
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The dispute over Iran's nuclear programme is deadlocked. Five years of negotiations, proposals, UN resolutions and sanctions have failed to achieve a breakthrough. As diplomacy struggles and Iran continues to advance its nuclear capabilities, the issue becomes ever more grave and pressing.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Oil, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Security
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Iran, and Middle East

1762. Israel C1. Vice PM and FM Tzipi Livni, Address to the International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, Jerusalem, 24 February 2008 (excerpts)

Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The following excerpts from Minister Livni's welcoming speech to delegates from forty states participating in the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism conference held in Jerusalem on 24-25 February indicate that the Israeli government considers the fight against anti-Semitism to be central to Israeli foreign policy and urges more states to confront anti-Semitism in an urgent and systematic manner. (For comparison, see the U.S. Department of State's "Report on Global Anti-Semitism" in Doc. D3 below.)
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Israel

1763. C2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Responding to Hamas Attacks from Gaza—Issues of Proportionality," March 2008 (excerpts)

Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
In response to criticisms that its military attacks on Gaza following Hamas Qassam rocket strikes in Sederot were causing unnecessary civilian casualties, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a background paper in March, excerpted below, to clarify and justify the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) understanding of the principle of proportionality. This principle, along with the principle of intentionality, forms the jurisprudence of International Humanitarian Law. Citing a number of international legal scholars and Article 52(2) of the Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions (1977), to which Israel is a signatory, the background paper attempts to redefine proportionality in order to legitimate attacks on targets that are not strictly military, placing the blame for any civilian deaths on Hamas for using civilians as "human shields." Although the IDF and the MFA have advanced this argument in response to international criticism about IDF strikes causing civilian deaths in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories, this background paper represents an attempt to subordinate the need to cause as little harm to civilians as possible to Israel's stated need to preempt future attacks. The report is available online at www.mfa.gov.il.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Lebanon

1764. Educational Exchange between the United States and China

Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute of International Education
Abstract:
Few countries have seen such rapid economic and educational change in so short a time period as China. Since 1978, when Deng Xiaoping began to send students and scholars to study abroad in large numbers as part of his broad modernization efforts, some 800,000 Chinese students and scholars have studied outside their home country. These numbers make China the overall largest supplier of international students to countries around the world over the past decade. The liberalization of the education sector, which accompanied China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, has also permitted more students from outside China to enter the Chinese educational system. The number of Americans studying abroad in China increased by over 500% in the past ten years, making China one of the top 10 study abroad destination countries for U.S. students, and one of the top 10 host countries for all internationally mobile students.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Education, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States and China

1765. Fragility, Instability, and the Failure of States: Assessing Sources of Systemic Risk

Author:
Monty G. Marshall
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
A public debate over the threat posed by weak, fragile, failing, and failed states and what can or should be done about them has become increasing visible and vocal since the attacks of September 11, 2001. As President George W. Bush declared in his 2002 National Security Strategy report: “America is now threatened less by conquering states than ... by failing ones.” This debate has grown particularly acute as the United States' prolonged military response to the war on global terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq has revealed the difficulties of controlling militancy and extremism by direct military intervention and enforced democratic change. The challenges associated with weak or failing states have garnered increase d attention by the policy community, but major differences about how to assess the level of risk in any given case remain.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Foreign Policy, Political Violence, Development, Diplomacy, Government, and International Security
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and America

1766. The Williamsburg Conference

Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Coming in the midst of a very heated U.S. presidential election campaign, where the U.S. is faced with numerous foreign policy challenges in the Asia-Pacific region and at a critical juncture in Islam's relationship with the rest of the world, the Asia Society convened over 50 Asian and American leaders at a very opportune time in Bali, Indonesia from April 3-6, 2008. Delegates discussed the characteristics of Islam in Asian countries with multiethnic or multireligious populations like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. They also suggested ways of tackling radicalism and extremism by alleviating poverty, improving education, and reforming prisons and rehabilitation Centres, to name a few. During the second half of the conference, delegates engaged in a conversation about the evolving U.S. role in Asia. Contemporary affairs like the protests in Myanmar and Tibet, engagement with North Korea, and the impact of the Iraq war on U.S. foreign policy towards Asia were analyzed in light of the coming presidential election. Asian leaders were invited to give advice to the new U.S. president. Finally, young leaders from the Asia Pacific region shared their thoughts on what kinds of leadership and values are needed in the future.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Trade and Finance, Islam, Post Colonialism, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, Indonesia, India, Israel, Asia, and Southeast Asia

1767. Engaging Pakistan

Author:
Claude Rakisits
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
The late November terror attacks in Mumbai have once again thrown the spotlight onto Pakistan. The country had already been struggling with growing international pressure over the safe haven and support that the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and international terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda were obtaining in Pakistan's troubled Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and North West Frontier Province. Claims that the Mumbai attacks were carried out by Pakistani nationals, perhaps linked to the terrorist group Lashkar–e-Taiba (LeT), will place even more pressure on Islamabad.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Political Violence, Diplomacy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Asia and Australia/Pacific

1768. Shared Challenges and Solutions: Australia's Unique Contribution to the Future of African Development

Author:
Glenn Denning and Joel Negin
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
The new Australian government has made a significant commitment to increasing its overseas development assistance (ODA) from 0.3% of gross national income (GNI) in the 2007-08 budget to 0.5% of GNI by 2015/16. This represents a return to the levels last seen in the 1970s that were eroded over the 1990s and early 2000s (Figure 1). Depending on the projected economic growth rate, some estimates foresee a tripling of ODA from the mid-2000s to 2015/16.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa and Australia/Pacific

1769. Forceful Engagement: Rethinking the Role of Military Power in US Global Policy

Author:
Carl Conetta
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project on Defense Alternatives
Abstract:
A key objective of the new administration will be to "rebalance" America's foreign and security policy "tool kit", giving greater prominence to diplomacy and other elements of "soft power". And it is easy to see why. The surge in US defense spending and military activity that began ten years ago, and then sharply accelerated after the 11 September 2001 attacks, has had disconcerting results-to say the least. But setting an effective alternative course for US policy will not be as easy to accomplish as some assume.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States

1770. Re-Envisioning Defense: An Agenda for US Policy Debate and Transition

Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project on Defense Alternatives
Abstract:
The United States is entering a critical period of policy transition. Beginning with the advent of the Obama administration, and continuing through the end of 2010, all of America's national security and defense planning guidance will be revised. Certainly the need for change is broadly felt by the public. And it is not difficult to understand why.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States