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231. Making the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Work for Sri Lanka

Author:
Ganeshan Wignaraja
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
In April 2019, the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) approved a compact program for Sri Lanka. This is a large five-year grant that was provided to Sri Lanka on the basis that it meets the MCC’s eligibility criteria of good governance, economic freedom, and investment in its citizens. It will be implemented by a team appointed by the Sri Lankan government, under the guidance of MCC. As the process has taken longer than expected, it is hoped that the MCC Board when they meet on 18 September 2019 will grant additional time for the MCC Sri Lanka Compact (MCC Compact) to be approved by Sri Lanka’s Cabinet. President Maithripala Sirisena has suggested that a decision would be taken after the upcoming Presidential elections in Sri Lanka in December 2019. Proponents argue that it can reduce bottlenecks in transport and commercial land administration. Meanwhile, critics of the MCC Compact raise a host of legal, environmental, and external political interference issues. As Sri Lanka prepared to make a decision on whether to proceed with the MCC Compact, a simple cost-benefit analysis of the MCC-Sri Lanka Compact from a national economic perspective is imperative.
Topic:
Governance, Economy, Investment, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
South Asia and Sri Lanka

232. US-Southeast Asia Trade is Increasing, but so are Deficits

Author:
Malcolm Cook
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Conventional narratives are either supported by facts or overcome them. Recent increased trade flows between the US and the ten economies of Southeast Asia suggest that the predominant narrative of the commercial displacement of the United States by China in Southeast Asia is incorrect. However, the United States’s growing trade deficits and shrinking surpluses with Southeast Asia do bolster an American mercantilist narrative that bilateral deficits are an economic loss for the US caused by Southeast Asian governments’ unfair trade policies.
Topic:
Global Markets, Economy, Trade, and Deficit
Political Geography:
Asia, Southeast Asia, and United States of America

233. Domestic Politics Force India's Withdrawal from RCEP and Broader Trade Disengagement

Author:
Amitendu Palit
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations concluded at the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok on November 4, 2019. Fifteen RCEP members, including the ten-ASEAN countries, and Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand, agreed to commence preparation of the legal text of the agreement for signing in 2020. India was the only member to opt out, citing significant unresolved outstanding issues. India’s decision was surprising as it actively participated in the negotiations that lasted for 29 rounds and went on for more than six years since beginning in 2013. Domestic pressures forced Prime Minister Modi to withdraw India from RCEP at the last minute. It also points to disengagement becoming the prominent character of India’s trade policy as domestic protectionist interests successfully undermine outward-oriented economic visions.
Topic:
Politics, Treaties and Agreements, Economy, Trade, and ASEAN
Political Geography:
China, India, and Asia

234. The Azerbaijani economy in the first nine months of 2019: Brief Overview

Author:
CESD Research Team
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD)
Abstract:
CESD – the Center for Economic and Social Development – concluded its macro-economic survey results for the first nine months of 2019. According to the State Statistic Committee of Azerbaijan, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 2.5 % in January-September 2019 compared with the same period of previous year: The CESD’s figure for the same period was 2.0 %.
Topic:
Development, Budget, Economy, and Macroeconomics
Political Geography:
Eurasia, Caucasus, and Azerbaijan

235. Azerbaijan’s Tourism Sector – Opportunities and Obstacles

Author:
Madina Hashimli
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD)
Abstract:
This research paper is a comprehensive study of the Azerbaijani government’s strategies for the tourism sector. It will gauge the government’s policy in affecting tourist patterns and explore whether the existing capacity of tourist infrastructure is aligned with the government’s goals. It will be suggested that several issues, such as targeted visa regimes, high prices in air transportation, and lack of adequate accommodations, detract from the sustainable development of the tourism sector in Azerbaijan and, as such, must be addressed by the government in order to make full use of the potential of this sector.
Topic:
Government, Tourism, and Economy
Political Geography:
Eurasia, Caucasus, and Azerbaijan

236. The Azerbaijani economy in the first half of 2019: Brief Overview

Author:
CESD Research Team
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD)
Abstract:
CESD – the Center for Economic and Social Development – concluded its macro-economic survey results for the first half of 2019. According to the State Statistic Committee of Azerbaijan, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 2.4 % in January-June 2019 compared with the same period of previous year: The CESD’s figure for the same period was 2.0 %. The GDP totaled 37,825 billion manat ($22,250 billion USD) in the first half of 2019.
Topic:
Development, GDP, Economy, and Macroeconomics
Political Geography:
Eurasia, Caucasus, and Azerbaijan

237. Development and Prevention: National Examples of Linkages

Author:
Paige Arthur and Céline Monnier
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Development is an essential tool for conflict prevention, as often root causes are related to lack of equitable access to economic opportunities, or a combination of political and economic inequalities that fuel grievances—as highlighted in the 2011 World Development Report and the 2018 UN–World Bank Pathways for Peace report. Some risk factors may therefore need to be addressed with development tools. Drawing on field research and on member state reporting at the recent High-level Political Forum in July 2019, this briefing highlights development measures countries have taken to support prevention, and highlights ways the UN system can better assist these efforts. This paper highlights practical examples of how countries are using development tools for preventive purposes. We draw on field research from Colombia, where there has been a high degree of creative and innovative initiatives to address violence, as well as presentations for the voluntary national reviews on SDG16 at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). We conclude by drawing lessons for the UN system.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Development, United Nations, Economy, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

238. Record Number of Americans Say International Trade Is Good for the US Economy

Author:
Brendan Helm, Dina Smeltz, and Alexander Hitch
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
President Donald Trump has embarked on an ambitious and disruptive trade agenda, driven by his belief that the United States has lost “many billions of dollars” to trading partners and that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.”[1] During his term, the president has escalated trade tensions with China; has renegotiated trade agreements with countries such as Mexico, Canada, and South Korea; and has withdrawn US involvement in trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The 2019 Chicago Council Survey finds that though Republicans and Democrats differ on whether President Trump’s strategy is an effective approach to trade policy, the American public is more likely than ever to say that international trade benefits the United States.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, Economy, and WTO
Political Geography:
Canada, South Korea, North America, Mexico, Global Focus, and United States of America

239. Girls Leading: From Rural Economies to Global Solutions

Author:
Catherine Bertini
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
An estimated 3 billion of the world’s 6.9 billion people live in rural areas of the developing world. More than 60 percent of them live in poverty. Poverty affects women and girls disproportionately; rural girls face the triple challenges to their empowerment and well-being by virtue of their youth, gender, and location. Investing in rural girls’ health and safety, as well as their personal and professional development, has the potential to transform rural economies. Girls Leading: From Rural Economies to Global Solutions—available as both a fully online digital experience and as a PDF—is a collection of diverse perspectives from 20 authors around the world. The authors share their research and stories of personal struggle and triumph to highlight the needs of rural girls and solutions to the challenges they face. The report also includes recommendations, arranged by age group, for critical moments in a girl’s life where both small and large actions can make a huge difference. Many of the most pressing global issues—climate change, economic development, health, and education—demand that we consider rural girls. The world changes as their lives change. Join the conversation at #GirlsLeading.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Education, Gender Issues, Health, Poverty, Children, Women, Economy, Youth, and Rural
Political Geography:
Global Focus

240. The Looming Global Obesity Threat

Author:
Roger Thurow
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
This paper seeks to raise awareness of the growing global obesity epidemic and the need to address the economic, security, and humanitarian threats it poses for the United States and the world. While the development community—including global agriculture, health, and security practitioners—has been focused on combatting undernutrition, the number of people who are obese or overweight has been on the rise and is now on par with the 2 billion who are food insecure. In western countries where the epidemic started, obesity is not just an enormous health and economic burden, but a national security threat. Seventy percent of 17-to 24-year-olds in America are reported to be unfit to serve in the military, with being overweight and obese as the leading disqualifier. An increasingly sedentary lifestyle and growing reliance on unhealthy processed food has spread to low and middle-income countries around the world. Many of these countries are experiencing a “double burden” of malnutrition, in which people who are overweight or have obesity coexist with those experiencing undernutrition, threatening the growth and vitality of their societies. So far, policy responses from national governments have been slow and inadequate. The costs of the epidemic have not yet been viewed as urgent enough to generate the public demand or political will to act. The view of obesity as a global “syndemic,” along with undernutrition and climate change, has the potential to help rally attention to the challenge. The paper calls for local, national, and global efforts to recognize obesity as the economic, moral, and security crisis that it is and to summon the political will to end the epidemic.
Topic:
Security, Health, Economy, and Non-Traditional Threats
Political Geography:
Global Focus