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21. Very Low Fertility in Asia: Is There a Problem? Can It Be Solved?

Author:
Sidney B. Westley, Robert D. Retherford, and Minja Kim Choe
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Fifty years ago, women in Asia were having, on average, more than five children each, and there was widespread fear of a “population explosion” in the region. Then birth rates began to fall—in several countries more steeply than anyone had anticipated. This unexpected trend has now raised concerns about the social and economic impact of extremely low fertility. Today, four of Asia's most prosperous economies—Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan—have among the lowest birth rates in the world. With women having, on average, only one child each, these societies have expanding elderly populations and a shrinking workforce to pay for social services and drive economic growth. And in Japan, overall population numbers are already going down. Why are women choosing to have so few children? How are policy- makers responding to these trends? Government leaders have initiated a variety of policies and programs designed to encourage marriage and childbearing, but to what effect? Given current social and economic trends, it is unlikely that Asia' s steep fertility decline will be reversed, at least not in the for eseeable future.
Topic:
Demographics, Health, and Population
Political Geography:
Japan, Taiwan, Asia, South Korea, and Singapore

22. Complex Operations in Weak and Failing States: The Sudan Rebel Perspective

Author:
William Reno
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
The U.S. Government provides a comprehensive plan for civilian-military efforts in failing states aimed at showing citizens that their own governments can protect them. The object is to weaken any appeal that rebels might develop among these populations. In Sudan, which ranks third in a prominent index of failed states, this effort entails U.S. coordination of humanitarian aid, the provision of basic social services, and help to improve governmental function. This latest effort, part of the implementation of a 2005 peace agreement between a rebel army and Sudan's government, is part of an intensive 20-year official engagement with this country and its conflicts.
Topic:
Population
Political Geography:
United States and Sudan

23. Inexpensive Leadership: On Canada's Global Normative Position and Its Potentials

Author:
Amir Mirtaheri
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
On the global stage, Canada holds a special status in many ways. This comes from a peculiar combination of Canada's geography, population and history on the one hand and its position vis - à - vis the rest of the world and especially the rest of the West on the other. It is the second largest country in the world and yet has a relatively low population of about 34 million based on the 2009 UN estimation. This latter characteristic can be seen as one of Canada's main strategic challenges in the path of becoming a major player in global affairs. A country with significant reservoirs of natural resources, Canada has been trying to add to its pool of human resources by admitting over six million migrants based on United Nations (UN) 2006 estimations. Although there have been vigorous debates in the country about immigration and the notion of multiculturalism, Canada has been relatively more successful compared to most (if not all) European countries in enriching its social tapestry through embracing more tolerant policies towards immigration. This has rendered Canada better - positioned to address inherent challenges in opening the doors to people of various cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Despite the lack of a major or urgent security threat, Canada is an integral part of NATO, one of the most enduring security organizations in recent history. Still, it has not come under fire, by and large, for being an arrogant power. It is an important part of global economy as according to the World Trade Organization: in 2007 Canada was the tenth largest exporter and the tenth largest importer of merchandise in the world. The same report estimates that excluding the intra - EU trade; yet, in the same year, Canada was the fifth largest exporter and the fifth largest importer of merchandise in the world. Despite this high profile in global trade, Canada's external image does not severely suffer from a record of colonialism (in contrast to Europe or Japan), neither has it been accused of neo - colonialism (in contrast to the United States or China.
Topic:
NATO and Population
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, China, Europe, and Canada

24. D2. U.S. State Department, 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom, Washington, 26 October 2009 (excerpts)

Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
Based on its pre-1967 borders, the country has an area of 7,685 square miles. The country has a population of 7.4 million (including settlers living in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem), of which 5.6 million are Jews, 1.5 million are Arab Muslims and Christians, and 320,000 are classified as "other"-mostly persons from the former Soviet Union who immigrated under the Law of Return but who did not qualify as Jews according to the Orthodox Jewish definition used by the government for civil procedures.
Topic:
Population
Political Geography:
Jerusalem

25. The Georgia Crisis: Implications for the Partnership for Peace

Author:
Graeme P. Herd and Daniel A. Flesch
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
On 7 August 2008, Georgia attacked Tskhinvali, the capital city of South Ossetia, with heavy artillery, rocket launchers, and ground troops in an attempt to take control of the breakaway republic, which contained bases of both Russian and OSCE peacekeepers. Russia, claiming to be acting under the mandate of peace enforcement, pushed Georgia out of both South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian republic, Abkhazia, and deep into Georgian territory. This created the potential for regime change, as the Russian Army appeared to be moving on Tbilisi with the intent of overthrowing Georgia's democratically elected government. On 8 August 2008, Russian military forces crossed the Georgian border into South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a successful effort to repulse Georgian troops. The immediate casus belli for Russia was genocide, with claims that “over two thousand” South Ossetians had been killed by Georgian troops, along with the shooting of ten Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, which necessitated a humanitarian and peace enforcement operation. The Russian advance included ground troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers, and air and sea operations, combined with coordinated kinetic and cyber attacks. Russian forces also crossed into Abkhazia in defense of their compatriots – 70 percent of the Abkhaz population of 220,000 are Russian passport holders, and 90 percent of the South Ossetian population of 70,000 are also Russian citizens.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, International Affairs, and Population
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Georgia, and South Ossetia

26. Income Per Natural: Measuring Development for People rather than Places - Working Paper 143

Author:
Michael Clemens and Lant Pritchett
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
It is easy to learn the average income of a resident of El Salvador or Albania. But there is no systematic source of information on the average income of a Salvadoran or Albanian. We create a first estimate a new statistic: income per natural—the mean annual income of persons born in a given country, regardless of where that person now resides. If income per capita has any interpretation as a welfare measure, exclusive focus on the nationally resident population can lead to substantial errors of the income of the natural population for countries where emigration is an important path to greater welfare. The estimates differ substantially from traditional measures of GDP or GNI per resident, and not just for a handful of tiny countries. Almost 43 million people live in a group of countries whose income per natural collectively is 50% higher than GDP per resident. For 1.1 billion people the difference exceeds 10%. We also show that poverty estimates are very different for national residents and naturals; for example, 26 percent of Haitian naturals who are not poor by the two-dollar-a-day standard live in the United States. These estimates are simply descriptive statistics and do not depend on any assumptions about how much of observed income differences across naturals is selection and how much is a pure location effect. Our conservative, if rough, estimate is that three quarters of this difference represents the effect of international migration on income per natural. This means that departing one's country of birth is today one of the most important sources of poverty reduction for a large portion of the developing world. If economic development is defined as rising human well being, then a residence-neutral measure of well-being emphasizes that crossing international borders is not an alternative to economic development, it is economic development.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Economics, Migration, Poverty, and Population
Political Geography:
United States and Albania

27. Thinking About the Future of Food: The Chatham House Food Supply Scenarios

Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Demand for food is increasing because the global population is rising and major developing economies are expanding. Global supply capacity, meanwhile, is struggling to keep up with changing requirements. Four global food supply scenarios have been developed by the Chatham House Food Supply Project to consider the challenges created and their impact on the EU/UK: 'Just a Blip': what if the present high price of food proves to be a brief spike with a return to cheap food at some point soon? 'Food Inflation': what if food prices remain high for a decade or more? 'Into a New Era': what if today's food system has reached its limits and must change? 'Food in Crisis': what if a major world food crisis develops? Across the world the responses to change will be conditioned by uncertainties surrounding the availability of sufficient energy, water, land and skills. EU/UK stakeholders need to start planning now to develop new food supply systems that are up to the task.
Topic:
Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Population
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

28. Rising Food Prices: Drivers and Implications for Development

Author:
Alex Evans
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Global food prices have risen 83 per cent over the last three years. The increases have been driven by high income growth in emerging economies (probably the single most significant factor), use of crops for biofuels, the relative inelasticity of supply, historically low stock levels and some speculative investment. More recently, national concerns over inflation and prices have led some countries to reduce exports and others to try to build up stocks – creating a feedback loop that feeds on itself to drive prices up still further. In the medium to longer term, 'scarcity trends' – climate change, the cost of energy inputs, scarcity of land and water – could limit the supply-side response. In the immediate term, the priority is to increase both the volume and the quality of humanitarian assistance available to poor people, including by moving away from in-kind food aid and towards cash transfers or voucher systems – although it is important to be clear that there are outstanding questions about how these social protection systems will work, and they should not be seen as a panacea. The issue of compensatory financing may also arise for some countries facing balanceof- payments difficulties. In the longer term, the key challenge is to increase the supply of food: the World Bank estimates that demand for food will rise by 50 per cent by 2030, as a result of rising affluence and growing world population. Achieving this challenge will require something close to a revolution, and a massive investment in agriculture in developing countries. If supply fails to keep pace with rising demand, then the question of 'fair shares' is likely to emerge as a significant global issue. Already, the effect of a burgeoning global middle class switching to diets with more meat and dairy products – both relatively inefficient in terms of grain use – has been to reduce the affordability of staple foods for poorer consumers.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Environment, International Trade and Finance, World Bank, and Population

29. Crimes Against Humanity: Directing Attacks Against A Civilian Population

Author:
Chile Eboe-Osuji
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
In international criminal law, to sustain a charge of crimes against humanity, the Prosecution must prove, among other elements, that the perpetrator was involved in an attack directed against a civilian population. In Prosecutor v Fofana and Kondewa, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found that the Prosecution failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the civilian population was the 'primary object' of the attack and acquitted the accused on the counts of murder and other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity. The Appeals Chamber accepted this view. However, it reversed Trial Chamber I on the ground that the Prosecution evidence did establish that the civilian population had been the primary, as opposed to incidental, target of the attack. The author suggests that this is an error resulting from the undue jurisprudential pre-occupation with the meaning of 'primary' in relation to the notion of attack against a civilian population. Instead, the inquiry should focus on whether the civilian population was 'intentionally' targeted in the attack, notwithstanding that it may not have been the primary object of the attack. He submits that this approach would be consistent with the classic theory of mens rea in criminal law.
Topic:
Population

30. Mission Not Yet Accomplished: Managing Water Resources in the Nile River Basin

Author:
Ashok Swain
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
River runoff is widely accepted as one of the most important sources of avaiable fresh water for human consumption. Worldwide, there are 263 major river systems that cross national boundaries and are responsible for 85 percent of the earth's runoff. When two or more countries are dependent on the same river system, upstream withdrawal, pollution or management can lead not only to upstream-downstream conflict but also to cooperation. In recent years, policymaking and research communities have been engaged in exploring various means to transform conflict into riparian cooperation in these international river basins. The following analysis explores this notion through a closer look at the Nile River, which has long been considered the longest international river in the world. Many analysts have considered that the Nile River has a high potential to induce interstate conflict. At least for the greater part of the 20th century, the Nile River has been the source of political tension among three of its major riparian countries—Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. In the face of potential armed conflict and regional instability, the Nile basin countries, in cooperation with the international community, have recently begun working for basin-wide cooperative solutions. The main aim of this paper is to suggest policy measures that riparian countries, as well as the international community, might be in a position to adopt, which could further reduce tension over scarce water resources and facilitating effective and lasting cooperation in the Nile basin. It is crucial not only for the region, but also for global peace and development, to achieve success in bringing the countries together in the basin for efficient benefit sharing of resources of this important river.
Topic:
Population
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Ethiopia, and Egypt