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171. Status, Identity, and Rising Powers

Author:
Deborah Welch Larson and Alexei Shevchenko
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Peace and Security Studies
Abstract:
In the current era, the most striking development is the appearance of rising powers. These include Brazil, Russia, India, and China but also South Africa, Mexico, and South Korea. No longer can a small group of advanced states, the Group of Seven (G-7), manage the world economy. The G-7 has for all practical purposes been replaced by the G-20, which includes China, India, South Korea, Indonesia, and Australia. The emerging powers in Asia account for a growing share of the world's global domestic product. These powers are spending more on their military—India already has an aircraft carrier and plans to procure two more. China's growing navy is a major concern to the United States military.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Power Politics
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, India, South Korea, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico

172. Rethinking HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Has Response Been Overmedicalized?

Author:
Nicholas Eberstadt and Laura M. Kelley
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
This paper examines the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on different levels of South African society (individual, household, and national) over time. Using differences in demographic projections to guide the analysis, the prospective implications of HIV/AIDS on households, society, economy and nation are discussed and issues that could influence or mitigate those possible impacts are examined. We outline the challenges that South Africa will likely face due to the effects of its AIDS-related excess mortality and conclude that programs delivering a broader variety of services than are currently offered are needed for South Africa to emerge a prosperous, regional power by mid-century. Inadequacies of current HIV/AIDS relief programs are broadly considered and suggestions are offered for improvement. We argue that a fundamental shift in the focus of HIV/AIDS strategies to include consideration of the needs of the survivors of this pandemic, and the world they will live in, is urgently necessary.
Topic:
Health
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

173. The Death of Doubt? Sport, Race, and Nationalism in the New South Africa

Author:
Derek Charles Catsam
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
In early December of 2009, South Africa held a ceremony to receive the World Cup trophy as a kickoff to a year-long celebration. President Jacob Zuma declared, ."Let us display the Rainbow Nation to the world, let us display that here on the southern tip of Africa, where mankind originates from, we can make the home of everyone."Chief Executive Officer of South Africa.' s 2010 FIFA World Cup bid Danny Jordaan.-whose job is admittedly to boost the significance of the event.-added, ."All of us who were [involved in the struggle against Apartheid] said .' one day we are going to be a democratic South Africa, one day we are going to host this World Cup.' Today, as we welcome this trophy, we announce the death of doubt."
Topic:
Nationalism and Race
Political Geography:
South Africa

174. The End of the African Renaissance

Author:
Bruce Gilley
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Twenty years ago, African leaders and intellectuals proclaimed an African renaissance. The grim days of postcolonial Africa, they said, were over. The end of the Cold War and the growing popular disgust with misrule had created an opportunity for lasting change. In its place would come democracy, development, and peace. ''Africa cries out for a new birth. We must, in action, say that there is no obstacle big enough to stop us from bringing about a new African renaissance,'' President Nelson Mandela of South Africa told a meeting of regional leaders in 1994.
Topic:
Cold War
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

175. Energy Innovation Policy in Major Emerging Countries

Author:
Ruud Kempener
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the six BRIMCS countries— Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, China, and South Africa—have become important global players in political and economic domains. In 2007, they were collectively responsible for a third of the world's energy consumption, driven by China's growing energy use. Despite their increasing significance in the world's energy sector, very little systematic analysis of their energy investments, innovation institutions, and energy innovation policies has taken place. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is one of the few agencies that have been collecting data on ERD investments, but none of the BRIMCS countries are members.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico

176. Climate Change, Development and Energy Problems in South Africa: Another World is Possible

Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In climate terms, South Africa is already living on the edge. Much of it is arid or semi-arid and the whole country is subject to droughts and floods. Even small variations in rainfall or temperatures would exacerbate this already stressed environment. Most South African crops are grown in areas that are only just climatically suitable and with limited water supplies.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

177. The Alien Tort Statute of 1789: Time for a Fresh Look

Author:
Gary Clyde Hufbauer
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
In 2007 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that US companies that had done business with apartheid South Africa could be found liable for monetary damages under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) of 1789 (Khulumani v. Barclay Nat. Bank Ltd., 504 F.3d 254 [2d Cir. 2007]). Liability arises, the Second Circuit declared, from their possible connections with human rights violations committed by South Africa during the apartheid era. Firms named in the suit include Bank of America, IBM, Coca-Cola, and General Motors. The governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland all opposed the lawsuit, as did the government of South Africa, which argued that the suit ran counter to its policy of reconciliation. The Bush administration also opposed the suit, but the Second Circuit rejected the argument that the cases could be dismissed for foreign policy reasons.
Topic:
Apartheid, Human Rights, International Law, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, United Kingdom, America, South Africa, and Germany

178. Negotiation on the Ground: Realizing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in South Africa, Nigeria and Peru

Author:
Natasha Sawh
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) came into force in 1948, the horrific memory of the Holocaust was fresh in the minds of the drafters. The rise of Nazism in Germany was made possible in large part by the severe economic depression the country suffered. In 1941, President Roosevelt outlined four essential freedoms he believed to be achievable worldwide within a generation, including freedom from want. In his 1944 State of the Union address, he stated a pragmatic rationale for socio-economic rights: “People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made” (cited in Eide 1995, p.29). In the aftermath of WWII, the importance of international standards that could protect all human beings against state oppression was clear. As a result, a group of influential states agreed upon the UDHR, which expressed a bold and comprehensive vision of human rights that included political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. Its preamble envisions the “advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want.”
Topic:
Civil Society and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Africa, South Africa, Germany, Latin America, Nigeria, and Peru

179. Charting Turkish Diplomacy in the Gaza Conflict

Author:
Selin M. Bolme
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
On December 27, 2008, Israel launched a deadly attack on Gaza. Turkey responded immediately to the Israeli attacks and strongly criticized the operation. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarked on a tour of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to garner support for an immediate ceasefire. Turkey's active diplomacy in the Gaza crisis is an indication of Turkey's new foreign policy vision and a self-confidence consolidated by strengthening relations with regional powers. Turkey's proactive policy in the region does not suggest that it will discontinue its relations with one side or the other. In fact, this supposition is marked by the old belief that Turkish foreign policy has a single axis or dimension. By observing the balance of power and keeping all actors involved in the process, Ankara has a greater chance of finding a just and sustainable solution to the Palestinian problem.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Turkey, Israel, South Africa, Gaza, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan

180. A League of Their Own

Author:
James M. Lindsay
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
To the Editor: Charles Kupchan's contribution to the debate over how best to promote international cooperation in a globalized world ("Minor League, Major Problems," November/December 2008) is welcome. Unfortunately, his criticisms of proposals to create a concert of democracies miss the mark.
Political Geography:
Europe, South Africa, and Brussels