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141. America's Growing Stake in Central Asia

Author:
Robert O. Blake, Jr.
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
This year marks the 20th anniversary of independence for the five republics of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This anniversary is a good opportunity to reflect on America's growing stake in Central Asia. Since 1991, our desire for a stable, independent, and prosperous Central Asia has guided US policy priorities in the region, with each of the five nations working towards building strong, market-oriented democracies. In recent years, the United States has sought to increase engagement with this region on a broad range of issues, particularly as we work to bring stability, security, and prosperity to Afghanistan, which borders three of the Central Asian republics. Located at the critical geostrategic crossroads of Eurasia, the region is rich not only in natural resources, economic opportunity, and human capacity, but also in its diversity of people, culture, and ideas. Just as the region was at the center of the Silk Road of centuries past, Central Asia has the potential once again to serve as a hub of trade, transport, and ideas in Eurasia, linking the people and markets of East and West, and North and South. We look forward to working with the Central Asian republics, their neighbors, and international partners to create a new Silk Road that integrates this strategically vital region and offers new opportunities for its people.
Topic:
Culture
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, America, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan

142. The Missing End Game for Afghanistan: A Sustainable Post Bin Laden Strategy

Author:
David M. Abshire
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
On June 22, 2011, President Obama outlined his plans for the withdrawal of 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012 with the removal of all combat troops by 2014. The announcement has reenergized an ongoing debate sparked by the recent death of Osama bin Laden over the United States’ role in Afghanistan. Pundits and politicians from both the political Right and Left are calling for a speedier withdrawal and reduction in aid in the wake of bin Laden’s death.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

143. 3.11: How I Saw It

Author:
Ichiro Fujisaki
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
What a horrific scene it was. Places where houses and buildings had been, and where people had been walking and working, were washed away. Driving through the area with my wife and daughter four months after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsumani struck Japan, I met school teachers and others who had lost family members. Despite their tragic experiences, I was encouraged that many of them were trying to recover from the shock and were working hard on behalf of their families and their communities.
Political Geography:
Japan

144. Honduras: Crisis, Transition and Reform

Author:
Hugo Llorens
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
This should be a time of triumph and opportunity for Honduras. Two years after a coup d'état toppled President José Manuel Zelaya, Honduras has successfully restored its dynamic and democratic political system. The freely elected government of President Porfirio Lobo has secured deserved international recognition. In May, former President Zelaya returned to Honduras, ending a lengthy exile in the Dominican Republic that had prolonged the country's political polarization. The following month, the Organization of American States (OAS) lifted its suspension on Honduras's participation, a moment of profound symbolic and practical significance and a diplomatic objective that the United States and other countries in the region had worked long and hard to achieve.
Topic:
Democratization and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Dominican Republic

145. Privatization Helps: The Hungarian Example

Author:
Donald Blinken
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
As Greece works out of financial crisis, it should look to Hungary fifteen years ago for part of the answer. Far too large a segment of the Greek economy remains locked up in public hands. Their sale to the private sector, as Hungarians discovered, while not a panacea, will help reduce catastrophic public debts, and salaries and pensions will become the responsibility of private owners rather than the government. The Greek Parliament's austerity plan would raise 70 billion euros from privatization by 2015. The government will sell stakes in banking, airports, water utilities, motorway concessions, port operations, state land, and mining rights. Selling assets to the private sector will also improve managerial know-how, increase transparency, and encourage confidence in a Greek recovery.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Greece

146. Sweden Assumes the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council

Author:
Gustaf Lind
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
Sweden assumed the chairmanship of the Arctic Council at its ministerial meeting in Nuuk, Greenland in May 2011 and will lead, over the next two years, its work on many important and challenging tasks. The Arctic Council is the primary forum for cooperation between the Arctic states. Sweden intends to make use of its chairmanship to undertake substantial projects for the benefit of the people of the Arctic, to introduce more policymaking in the Council and to strengthen further the role of the Council and the relevance of its work. The Arctic Council should reflect the common vision of the Arctic states in order to promote effective cooperation in the region.
Political Geography:
Sweden

147. "The Rock Star of the Recovery": Explaining Sweden's Strong Economic Performance

Author:
Johan Berggren
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
Europe is beset by economic and financial risks: uneven and in many cases slow growth, high unemployment, weak public finances, jittery financial markets, and popular dissatisfaction with consolidation schemes. The sovereign debt crisis afflicting several southern and peripheral Euro-economies exemplifies Europe's current travails.
Topic:
Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Sweden

148. The Seven States of the Former Yugoslavia: An Evaluation

Author:
Thomas P. Melady and J. Cushman Laurent
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
The area formerly known as Yugoslavia, positioned at the crossroads of East and West, is a melting pot of ethnicities and religions. As one country, Yugoslavia's rich multiculturalism was a source of contention, culminating in a series of bloody conflicts in the early 1990s. The Dayton Accords of 1995 brought peace to the region and created separate nations organized along ethnic and religious lines. Sixteen years after the signing of the Dayton Accords, we examine the geopolitical situation in each of the seven independent states of the former Yugoslavia.
Political Geography:
Yugoslavia

149. Public Diplomacy: At the Crossroads Between Practitioner and Theorist

Author:
Michelle A. Lee, Ph.D.
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
“He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.” Many educators would bristle at least a little bit at this statement, originally penned by George Bernard Shaw in his work, Maxims for Revolutionists. While the divide between practitioners and theorists in various subjects is long-standing, it has never been more apparent in the field of public diplomacy than today. This is partly attributable to the fact that the formal academic study of public diplomacy is a relatively new undertaking. Increasingly in the past decade, academics, independent analysts, councils, and commissions dedicated to US public diplomacy have produced numerous articles, blogs, publications, and reports, often focusing on the weakness of American public diplomacy. Many include recommendations on ways to improve the US government's efforts to engage foreign publics around the world. The extent to which these analyses are read by actual practitioners of public diplomacy is unknown; anecdotally, I venture the guess that few active field practitioners have the time to read much of the published academic literature on the subject of public diplomacy.
Topic:
Diplomacy
Political Geography:
United States and America

150. Table of Contents

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
No abstract is available.