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231. Deterring Conflict in the Taiwan Strait: The Successes and Failures of Taiwan's Defense Reform and Modernization Program

Author:
Micheal D. Swaine
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
THE TAIWAN STRAIT IS ONE OF THE TWO PLACES in the Asian Pacific where a major war could break out; the other place is the Korean Peninsula. For over fifty years, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, or Taiwan) have maintained an uneasy peace across the Strait, punctuated by brief periods of limited conflict or by occasional military displays. The PRC insists that Taiwan is a part of China and asserts that the island must one day be reunited with the mainland. Until the early 1990s, the ROC government also viewed Taiwan as an integral part of China and insisted on eventual reunification, albeit under the Chinese Nationalist flag. But in recent years, with democratization opening the system to native Taiwanese, public support for independence has grown, as has the alarm in Beijing. As tensions have grown and the prospect of the resumption of a cross-Strait understanding regarding Taiwan's status has become more remote, stability has depended primarily on military deterrence. For China, such deterrence aims to prevent the final consolidation of Taiwan's separate status. For Taiwan (and the United States), it aims at preventing China from using force to compel reunification on Beijing's terms.
Topic:
Security and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, Taiwan, Beijing, and Asia

232. Europe's Uncertain Pursuit of Middle East Reform

Author:
Richard Youngs
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
DELIBERATION OF DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST intensified after the attacks of 9/11, and has been further energized by the transatlantic debates that were progeny of the Iraqi conflict. More intense debate over support for political change in the Middle East has forced the United States and Europe into a closer exploration of each other's actual and intended approaches to democracy promotion in the region. Debates have centered, in particular, on preparations for June's Group of Eight (G8) and EU–U.S. summits and the United States' proposed Greater Middle East Initiative. While many in the U.S. bemoan European irresolution, others acknowledge the need for American policy to understand and harness the EU's more pervasive presence in much of the Middle East. While Europeans express dismay at the Bush administration's heavy-handed instrumentalism, they have also been forced to engage with new U.S. initiatives that appear to heed the EU's own pleas for a focus on the root causes of instability. With the U.S. and EU eyeing each other over the parapets of their Iraqi-inspired wrangles, it is an opportune moment to delineate and critically assess how Europeans have developed their democracy promotion policies in the Middle East.
Topic:
Democratization and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, America, Europe, and Middle East

233. 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

234. CATO Institute: When Ignorance Isn't Bliss: How Political Ignorance Threatens Democracy

Author:
Ilya Somin
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Democracy demands an informed electorate. Voters who lack adequate knowledge about politics will find it difficult to control public policy. Inadequate voter knowledge prevents government from reflecting the will of the people in any meaningful way. Such ignorance also raises doubts about democracy as a means of serving the interests of a majority. Voters who lack sufficient knowledge may be manipulated by elites. They may also demand policies that contravene their own interests.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

235. Three Myths about Voter Turnout in the United States

Author:
John Samples
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Critics of American politics and elections often focus on low voter turnout in the United States. They argue that voter turnout is steadily declining largely because of voter cynicism caused by big money campaigns and negative political advertising. Voter turnout is lower than it was in the 1960s, but almost the entire decline happened between 1968 and 1974. Sophisticated and detailed studies of both public trust in government and the consequences of political advertising show that neither factor has a negative effect on voter turnout.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and America

236. Analyzing the Kerry and Bush Health Proposals

Author:
Joseph Antos, Roland (Guy) King, Donald Muse, Wildsmith. Tom, and Judy Xanthopoulos
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The number of Americans without health insurance remains high. According to the latest Census Bureau figures, 45 million people were uninsured during 2003, an increase of almost 1.4 million from the year before. About 15.6 percent of the population did not have health insurance last year. That is the highest rate of non-coverage since 1998, when 16.3 percent were uninsured.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

237. U.S.–Latin American Relations: The Prospect

Author:
Mark Falcoff
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
This series began more than a dozen years ago with an essay titled “U.S.-Latin American Relations: Where Are We Now?” Since this is the last issue of Latin American Outlook, it seems worthwhile to pose the question again.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, South America, Latin America, Central America, and North America

238. A Matter of Degree: The Role of Journalists as Activists in Journalism Business and Policy

Author:
Neil Shister
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The prevailing view of journalism today draws on strands from a diverse portfolio of political, legal, and commercial theories. Some of the propositions underlying the way we regard the practice of the craft date back to the 18th-century “age of reason;” others are as current as yesterday's Wall Street media deal. “Journalism” is a historical hybrid— more an evolving social construct than a fixed point of reference. As such, it conveys contradictory associations: on one hand a band of swashbuckling iconoclasts daring to “speak truth to power;” on the other hand considerably more temperate, disinterested professionals gathering content to distribute through the “information division” of giant corporations. Each image is exaggerated; neither is wholly wrong
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

239. People / Networks / Power: Communications Technologies and the New International Politics

Author:
David Bollier
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Kurdish people living in Turkey can now receive satellite television broadcasts emanating from London. Iranians can view Farsi-language television programs that originate in Los Angeles. Even though they are dispersed throughout the world, emigrants from mainland China remain a vital diasporic community, thanks to websites and e-mail discussion lists. Insurgent movements from the Zapatistas to the East Timorese to Indonesian students have used the Internet to organize themselves and communicate a political vision to the world.
Topic:
International Relations, Politics, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States, Turkey, London, Kurdistan, and Los Angeles

240. Iran: Time for a New Approach

Author:
Robert M. Gates, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Susan Maloney
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Twenty-five years after its Islamic revolution, Iran represents a challenge and an opportunity for the United States. The issues at stake reflect the urgent and multifaceted dilemmas of U.S. security in the post–9/11 era: nuclear proliferation, state support of terrorism, the relationship between religion and politics, and the imperative of political and economic reform in the Middle East. At this time, as Iraq—Iran's neighbor and historic adversary—embarks on a difficult transition to post-conflict sovereignty, and as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) extends its scrutiny of Iranian nuclear activities, Iran looms large on the U.S. policy agenda. Recognizing this relevance to vital U.S. interests, the Task Force advocates selectively engaging with Iran to address critical U.S. concerns.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Iran, and Middle East