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11. Time to Stop Fooling Ourselves about Foreign Aid: A Practitioner's View

Author:
Thomas Dichter
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The foreign aid industry has for decades tried one approach after another in an effort to make aid work. A career of field experience in the aid industry, however, confirms the empirical record that aid is unimportant to growth or poverty reduction and suggests that aid is not likely to work in the future. The belief that foreign assistance has been generally ineffective, moreover, appears to be widespread among aid practitioners with long field experience.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, International Cooperation, and United Nations

12. CATO Institute: Don't Resurrect the Law of the Sea Treaty

Author:
Doug Bandow
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
For more than 20 years, the United States has refused to become a party to the Law of the Sea Treaty. Advocates of the treaty, a comprehensive measure governing navigational rights on the sea and mineral rights on the seabed, claimed that U.S. failure to join the convention would result in chaos on the high seas. It has not. Very few Americans know anything about the treaty, and even advocates are hard-pressed to explain how the United States would benefit from its adoption.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Law, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States

13. How the Drug War in Afghanistan Undermines America's War on Terror

Author:
Ted Galen Carpenter
Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
There is a growing tension between two U .S. objectives in Afghanistan. The most important objective is—or at least should be—the eradication of the remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in that country. But the United States and its coalition partners are now also emphasizing the eradication of Afghanistan's drug trade. These antidrug efforts may fatally undermine the far more important anti-terrorism campaign.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, and Taliban

14. President Bush's Muddled Policy on Taiwan

Author:
Ted Galen Carpenter
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Bush administration has gone from one extreme to the other with regard to U.S. policy on Taiwan. During the early months of his administration, the president gave a seemingly unconditional pledge to defend Taiwan from attack by mainland China—going significantly further than his predecessors had. He followed that assurance by approving the largest arms sales package to Taiwan in nearly a decade. In marked contrast to the Clinton years, high-profile visits by Taiwanese leaders to the United States have been encouraged, despite Beijing's protests.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Asia

15. European Union Defense Policy: An American Perspective

Author:
Leslie S. Lebl
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
For almost 50 years, proposals by the European Union to develop a common foreign and security policy for all member states failed. Since the late 1990s, however, the situation has changed. Despite, or perhaps because of, member states' disagreements over Iraq, the EU probably will continue to develop common foreign and security policies, and the European Commission may begin to play a role in developing new European military capabilities.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Iraq, America, Europe, and Middle East

16. At a Crossroads in Afghanistan: Should the United States Be Engaged in Nation Building?

Author:
Subodh Atal
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Despite progress in the return of refugees and the prevention of humanitarian disasters, stability in Afghanistan is threatened by ethnic tension, feuding warlords, and violence perpetrated by regrouping elements of the Taliban and their allies. The United States is being asked to increase its level of commitment to rebuilding Afghanistan as a means of stabilizing the country, even as American troops battle the resurgent Islamic extremists who operate along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, America, Middle East, Taliban, and Arabia

17. Missile Defense: Defending America or Building Empire?

Author:
Charles V. Peña
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The rationale for missile defense put forward by its advocates is often a “doom and gloom” picture: America and its citizens are defenseless against the threat of ballistic missiles, and missile defense is supposed to protect the American people. The administration's vision of missile defense is not just a global system that protects the United States against long-range missiles but a global system capable of engaging all classes of ballistic missiles to protect U.S. forces deployed worldwide, U.S. allies, and other friendly countries. Thus, the purpose of missile defense is extended well beyond protecting America and Americans.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
United States and America

18. Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Why Military Action Should Not Be Used to Resolve the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

Author:
Doug Bandow
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Ever since North Korea's dramatic revelation that it was producing materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons, the Bush administration has considered a range of policy options—including a military strike on North Korean nuclear facilities. Although the administration officially dismisses such talk, President Bush has left the military option on the table, and influential advisers outside of the administration have openly called for military action along the lines of the Israeli attack on Iraqi nuclear facilities at Osirak in 1981.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Israel, and North Korea

19. Casualties of War: Transatlantic Relations and the Future of NATO in the Wake of the Second Gulf War

Author:
Christopher Layne
Publication Date:
08-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Iraq War represents a turning point in transatlantic relations. Euro-American ties have been ruptured, and never again will be the same. But the growing estrangement between the European powers and the United States is tied primarily to the nature of power in the international system and to America's dominant role in the world today.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and America

20. Responding to the Threat of Smallpox Bioterrorism: An Ounce of Prevention Is Best Approach

Author:
Veronique de Rugy and Charles V. Peña
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The threat of direct terrorist attack against the United States proved to be real. And the subsequent anthrax cases point to the possibility of a future bioterrorist attack, including use of the deadly smallpox virus. The nature of terrorism is such that it is impossible to accurately predict the probability of such an attack, but the potential consequences are catastrophic. Therefore, it is a serious threat that deserves serious attention.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Government
Political Geography:
United States and Europe