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811. American Muslims and the Use of Cultural Diplomacy

Author:
Hafsa Kanjwal
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
One of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century will be to address the growing mutual suspicion, fear, and misunderstanding between Western and Muslim societies. Within the United States, in particular, there is an increase in Islamophobia, which seeks to dominate the discussion surrounding Islam and Muslims by linking it to the actions and views of an extremist minority. Within this tense environment, a number of organizations and initiatives have taken steps to urge greater dialogue between the West and the Muslim world on an international level. Oftentimes, this is done with the underlying understanding that there is a bifurcation between “the West” and the “Muslim” and/or “Islamic world.” As such, the primary focus is not placed on changing negative perceptions of Islam in the West, but rather, to improve the image of the West in the Muslim world. The fact that Islam exists within the West, and, for the purposes of this article, in America, is often overlooked. Nonetheless, there are an estimated three to seven million Muslims living in America and a greater number of them are second or third generation Americans. The American Muslim community, especially its youth, is at a unique position in history because they actively engage in the process of reconciling its Muslim as well as American identities in the public sphere. Young American Muslims have the capacity to decrease the negative views that some Americans may have towards Islam. This article explores the specific role that the younger generation of American Muslims plays in using cultural expression to bridge the gap between Western and Muslim societies.
Topic:
Civil Society, Globalization, Government, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States and Rotterdam

812. Food Safety and Trade Liberalization in an Age of Globalization

Author:
Obijiofor Aginam and Christina Hansen
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Consumer trust of food producers and the governments that regulate them is in notable decline throughout the world, due to frequent and recurring instances of food contamination. Yet consumer trust is pivotal in order to sustain the increasingly globalized nature of food production, processing, and distribution in the international trading relations of states. With an increasing population, rapid urbanization and rise of the middle class, the demand for processed food is increasing significantly, and thus presents inherent risks for food safety and sustainability. The challenge of ensuring effective global food safety standards is inexorably linked to the progressive trade liberalization agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In a globalized world, food-borne outbreaks, like air-borne infectious diseases, disregard the geopolitical boundaries of sovereign states. Food products grown in one part of the world, because of advancements in food production trends and burgeoning international trade between states, are now easily transported to other regions of the world. International trade norms and policies often focus predominantly on traded goods and services, especially “Northern” access to “Southern” markets. Founded on the free trade agenda of market access, and driven by the principles of “National Treatment” and “Most Favoured Nation”, the international trading system—with nation-states as the dominant actors—is asymmetrical in nature. Very often, the international trading system does not effectively address the many fundamental and pressing issues related to environmental degradation, pesticide use and chemical dependency common in modern agricultural practices.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance

813. Between Bureaucracy and the People: A Political History of Informality

Author:
Keith Hart
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
I explore here the dialectic of formal and informal economy in the context of 'development' discourse over the last four decades. It would not be hard, in post-colonial Africa for example, to conceive of this dialectic as a war waged by the bureaucracy on the people, allowing informal economic practices to be portrayed as a kind of democratic resistance. Yet, however much we might endorse the political value of self-organized economic activities, there are tasks of large-scale co-ordination for which bureaucracy is well-suited; and the institution's origins were closely linked to aspirations for political equality, even if historical experience has undermined that expectation. So the task is not only to find practical ways of harnessing the complementary potential of bureaucracy and informality, but also to advance thinking about their dialectical movement.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Africa

814. Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World

Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The international system—as constructed following the Second World War—will be almost unrecognizable by 2025 owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalizing economy, an historic transfer of relative wealth and economic power from West to East, and the growing influence of nonstate actors. By 2025, the international system will be a global multipolar one with gaps in national power continuing to narrow between developed and developing countries. Concurrent with the shift in power among nation-states, the relative power of various nonstate actors—including businesses, tribes, religious organizations, and criminal networks—is increasing. The players are changing, but so too are the scope and breadth of transnational issues important for continued global prosperity. Aging populations in the developed world; growing energy, food, and water constraints; and worries about climate change will limit and diminish what will still be an historically unprecedented age of prosperity.
Topic:
International Relations, Globalization, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States

815. America's Role in the World: Foreign Policy Choices for the Next President

Author:
Thomas R. Pickering, Chester A. Crocker, and Casimir A. Yost
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
This report is about the central foreign policy choices the next president of the United States, the Congress, and the American people will face in 2009 and beyond.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Globalization
Political Geography:
United States and America

816. Globalization and the Great Divergence: Terms of Trade Booms and Volatility in the Poor Periphery 1782-1913

Author:
Jeffrey G. Williamson
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
W. Arthur Lewis argued that a new international economic order emerged between 1870 and 1913, and that global terms of trade forces produced rising primary product specialization and de-industrialization in the poor periphery. More recently, modern economists argue that volatility reduces growth in the poor periphery. This paper assess these de-industrialization and volatility forces between 1782 and 1913 during the Great Divergence. First, it argues that the new economic order had been firmly established by 1870, and that the transition took place in the century before, not after. Second, based on econometric evidence from 1870-1939, we know that while a terms of trade improvement raised long run growth in the rich core, it did not do so in the poor periphery. Given that the secular terms of trade boom in the poor periphery was much bigger over the century before 1870 than after, it seems plausible to infer that it might help explain the great 19th century divergence between core and periphery. Third, the boom and its de-industrialization impact was only part of the story; growth-reducing terms of trade volatility was the other. Between 1820 and 1870, terms of trade volatility was much greater in the poor periphery than the core. It was still very big after 1870, certainly far bigger than in the core. Based on econometric evidence from 1870-2000, we know that terms of trade volatility lowers long run growth in the poor periphery, and that the negative impact is big. Given that terms of trade volatility in the poor periphery was even bigger during the century before 1870, it seems plausible to infer that it also helps explain the great 19th century divergence between core and periphery.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Global Focus

817. Globalization and Smallholders: The Adoption, Diffusion, and Welfare Impact of Non-traditional Export Crops in Guatemala

Author:
Paul Winters, Angeli Kirk, Benjamim Davis, and Calogero Carletto
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
As developing countries continue on the path of economic liberalization, there is a compelling need to ensure that the benefits of globalization reach poor rural communities. Increased commercialization of agriculture and diversification into nontraditional exports (NTXs) is one strategy that has often been advocated as a way for developing countries to use their comparative advantage in lower labor costs and to achieve growth in the agricultural sector. Given the predominantly rural nature of most developing countries and the preponderance of poor people in these areas, high-value agricultural production is considered the ideal mechanism to extend the benefits of globalization directly to the rural poor:1 Allowing poor farmers to shift into the export sector and take advantage of internationally demand driven prices that are higher relative to traditional crops may reduce inequality while fostering overall economic growth (Nissanke and Thorbecke 2007).
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Global Focus

818. Globalization and Formal Sector Migration in Brazil (Revised)

Author:
Marc-Andreas Muendler, Jennifer Pamela Poole, and Ernesto Aguayo-Tellez
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Comprehensive linked employer{employee data allow us to study the relationship between domestic formal sector migration in Brazil and globalization. Considerable worker flows in the formal labor market between 1997 and 2001 are directed toward lower income regions|the reverse flows of those often posited for informal labor markets. Estimation of the worker's multi-choice migration problem shows that previously unobserved employer covariates are significant predictors associated with migration flows. These results support the idea that globalization acts on internal migration through job stability at exporting establishments and employment opportunities at locations with a concentration of foreign owned establishments. A 1% increase in exporter employment predicts a 0.3% reduced probability of migration. A 1% increase in the concentration of foreign owned establishments at potential destinations is associated with a 0.2% increase in the migration rate.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Markets, Migration, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Latin America

819. Minimum Wages, Globalization, and Poverty in Honduras

Author:
T. H. Gindling and Katherine Terrell
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
To be competitive in the global economy, some argue that Latin American countries need to reduce or eliminate labor market regulations such as minimum wage legislation because they constrain job creation and hence increase poverty. On the other hand, minimum wage increases can have a direct positive impact on family income and may therefore help to reduce poverty. We take advantage of a complex minimum wage system in a poor country that has been exposed to the forces of globalization to test whether minimum wages are an effective poverty reduction tool in this environment. We find that minimum wage increases in Honduras reduce extreme poverty, with an elasticity of -0.18, and all poverty, with an elasticity of -0.10 (using the national poverty lines). These results are driven entirely by the effect on workers in large private sector firms, where minimum wage legislation is enforced. Increases in the minimum do not affect the incidence of poverty in sectors where minimum wages are not enforced (small firms) or do not apply (self-employed and public sector).
Topic:
Globalization, Political Economy, Poverty, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Global Focus

820. Globalization, American Power, and International Security

Author:
Jonathan Kirshner
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Abstract:
What are the consequences of globalization for international conflict in general and American power in particular? While there is an enormous and still burgeoning literature on globalization, the answer to this crucial question remains unclear.' But failure to account for the influence of globalization will make it increasingly difficult to understand changes in the balance of power, prospects for war, and strategic choices embraced by states. Switching from polo on horseback to water polo does not change the principals or their objectives, but the contest is still profoundly transformed by the change in setting. Some players, for example, might have been much better riders than they are swimmers.
Topic:
Globalization
Political Geography:
Global Focus