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1421. In Focus: Bolivia: Eradicating Democracy

Author:
George Ann Potter and Linda Farthing
Publication Date:
10-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
In September 2000, Bolivia, South America's poorest country, was rocked by a series of civilian protests, including roadblocks throughout the country. Unionists, teachers, peasant coca farmers, and others have demanded that the Bolivian and U.S. governments stop trying to completely eradicate coca growing and cease construction of three new military bases in the Chapare region. Among the other demands, protesters also want the government to improve alternative development programs in the coca growing region. In mid-October, the two sides reached a 19-point “truce”, but protesters vowed to reinstate the roadblocks in 30 days if the government did not adhere to the the agreement.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Democratization, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States, South America, Latin America, and Bolivia

1422. In Focus: Papua: Another East Timor?

Author:
Abigail Abrash
Publication Date:
10-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Papua is a leading example of a failed decolonization process. Indonesian integration-cum-colonization of Papua—implemented with U.S. complicity—has amounted to an undeclared war against the indigenous population. Indonesia's military buildup and East Timor-style militia activities threaten to destabilize Papua and the region.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Environment, Ethnic Conflict, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States, Southeast Asia, and Papua

1423. In Focus: Sri Lanka's Long War

Author:
Miriam Young
Publication Date:
10-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Sri Lanka's troubles are rooted in the practices of its former colonial power and in unaddressed political and economic grievances following independence. This is a war that takes few prisoners; both parties practice blatant disregard for international humanitarian law, causing ongoing civilian suffering and massive internal displacement. The war has eroded Sri Lanka's social achievements in health and education.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Ethnic Conflict, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, and Sri Lanka

1424. In Focus: U.S. Policy Regarding Burma

Author:
Philip S. Robertson
Publication Date:
09-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
A world-class human rights abuser, Burma's military junta is condemned both by the UN Human Rights Commission—every year since 1989—and by the International Labor Organization for its systematic use of forced labor. The SPDC continues to refuse to recognize the results of the 1990 elections, won overwhelmingly by the National League for Democracy (NLD), and has imprisoned over 55 NLD parliamentarians. Economic sanctions by the U.S. and other nations continue to pressure the SPDC regime, despite a recent ruling by the Supreme Court overturning the Massachusetts Burma law.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, Burma, and Southeast Asia

1425. Foreign Policy In Focus: Colombia in Crisis

Author:
Carlos Salinas
Publication Date:
03-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Violence and warfare in Colombia are often blamed on the drug trade, but the roots run much deeper. The overwhelming majority of victims are noncombatant civilians. Since 1987, more than 35,000 noncombatant civilians have been murdered or have “disappeared.” Despite rich natural resources, Colombia's wealth is unevenly distributed, with some sectors of the population in deep misery.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States, Colombia, South America, and Latin America

1426. Redefining Sovereignty . The Use of Force After the End of the Cold War. New Options, Lawful and Legitimate?

Publication Date:
11-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The conference was organised by the Institute for International Affairs (IAI) with the support of the Centre for High Defence Studies (CASD), the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the NATO Office for Information and Press and the Thyssen Foundation. It was held in Rome, at the Centre for High Defence Studies, on 24 and 25 November 2000.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, NATO, Cold War, Human Rights, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
United States, Germany, and Rome

1427. U.S. Immigration Policy: Unilateral and Cooperative Responses to Undocumented Immigration

Author:
Marc R. Rosenblum
Publication Date:
01-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
Abstract:
This paper addresses the problem of undocumented immigration to the UnitedStates from Mexico, and current and proposed policies designed to control these undocumented flows. Undocumented migration from Mexico is a subject that already receives disproportionate attention in the sense that many-and probably most-undocumented immigrants in the United States do not illegally cross the U.S.-Mexican border, yet INS enforcement efforts focus overwhelmingly on these border crossers. Although undocumented Mexican migration to the United States is disproportionately targeted, the subject merits analytical attention for three reasons. First, undocumented immigration from Mexico to the United States is the largest illicit migration flow in the world, at about one million crossings per year. Second, partly for this reason, U.S. enforcement efforts devoted to controlling Mexican immigration cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and have resulted in the transformation of the INS into the largest civilian gun-carrying force in the world. And third, immigration remains central to U.S.-Mexican bilateral relations (Binational Commission 1997, Rico 1992, Rosenblum 1998) as U.S. immigration policy-making takes on an increasingly transnational character (Rosenblum 1999 and forthcoming).
Topic:
Human Rights and Migration
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

1428. Anti-Globalization Movements at the Cross-Roads

Author:
Raimo Väyrynen
Publication Date:
11-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
Although it appears to be growing in strength and numbers, the anti-globalization protest movement is now at a cross-roads. The core of the anti-globalization movement, which is rooted in social justice and human rights, has been unable to control violent fringe groups. Furthermore, international economic agencies such as the World Bank and the IMF have been surprisingly responsive, expanding and accelerating their policies on debt relief and strengthening their focus on the mitigation of poverty. The protest movement thus faces the challenge of developing new instrumental goals for the next phase.
Topic:
Globalization, Human Rights, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Washington

1429. Altruism and Imperialism: The Western Religious and Cultural Missionary Enterprise in the Middle East

Author:
Eleanor Doumato, Andrew Porter, Samir Khalaf, Reeva Simon, Elizabeth Thompson, Carolyn Goffman, Hans-Lukas Kieser, Jeremy Salt, Ruth Kark, Paul Sedra, Michael Zirinsky, Mahmoud Haddad, Linda Herrera, and Eleanor H. Tejirian
Publication Date:
08-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Middle East Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
The Western missionary enterprise in the Middle East, while in theory altruistic, has generally been considered part and parcel of Western imperialism and colonialism as it evolved in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, deconstruction of this enterprise reveals that it was by no means monolithic, nor was it necessarily directly related to or supportive of Western imperial ambitions. This project, of which a conference at the Rockefeller Foundation Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, in August 2000 is a part, seeks to examine all aspects of the Western missionary enterprise in the Middle East, focusing on its political and social impact on the region as well as on its entanglement with the political and social currents of the Western countries from which it came. Furthermore, the premise of the project is that the missionary enterprise was also the forerunner of the activities of Western nongovernmental organizations in the region, setting the agenda and establishing the categories of these activities in areas including human rights, education, and economic development.
Topic:
Economics, Human Rights, Non-Governmental Organization, and Religion
Political Geography:
Middle East

1430. An Essay on Child Labor in Sub-Saharan Africa—A bargaining approach

Author:
Jens Chr.1 Andvig
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The separation of children from their families have a large number of social and economic aspects. At least the economic aspects are under-researched. At the point of transition of leaving their families somehow the children have to be considered as separate decisionmakers. This is the perspective I adopt in this essay. The question raised is whether poverty, changes in social norms or external shocks to the family system such as the AIDS epidemic, lead the children to prematurely fend for themselves in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Topic:
Economics, Human Rights, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa