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1501. Urban and Industrial Pollution Programs: Czech Republic Case Study

Author:
Matthew Addison, Steven Gale, Keith Forbes, and Michael Gould
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
In 1995 USAID Launched the Environmental Action Program Support Project. EAPS grew out of a 1993 international conference held in Lucerne, Switzerland, to develop a joint environmental action program. The project sought to decrease environmental degradation in six central and eastern European countries that were making the transition from centrally controlled economies and authoritarian governments to open markets and more democratic institutions. The Czech Republic was the first USAID-assisted country where EAPS was implemented.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Switzerland, and Czech Republic

1502. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Improving Fuel Efficiency of Weapons Platforms

Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), recognizing the crucial importance of weapons platform fuel usage to U.S. military capability, requested that the Defense Science Board form a task force on Improving Fuel Efficiency of Weapons Platforms. Asked to consider existing or emerging technologies that could significantly improve platform efficiency, the task force also examined institutional barriers that exist and must be overcome to understand and capture the full advantages of more efficient military systems.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

1503. Commentaries: The U.S. National Intelligence Council's Global Trends 2015: Excerpts, Commentaries, And Response

Author:
Ellen Laipson, Michael A. Ledeen, Michael J. White, John Gannon, Eugene J. Carroll, Richard P. Cincotta, Johanna Mendelson Forman, Michael Hanssler, Liliana Hisas, Leslie Johnston, Gavin Kitchingham, Gayl D. Ness, David Rejeski, Ervin J. Rokke, Judith Shapiro, Aleksei V. Yablokov, and Arno Weinmann
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
In January 2001, the U.S. National Intelligence Council (NIC), a center within the Central Intelligence Agency that provides the agency's director with mid- and long-term strategic thinking and direction, published Global Trends 2015: A Dialogue About the Future with Nongovernmental Experts. This unclassified and public report, which expanded on the NIC's previous effort Global Trends 2010, takes a look at the world over the next 15 years from the perspective of the national security policymaker.
Topic:
Security, Development, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

1504. Environmental Stress and Human Security in Northern Pakistan

Author:
Richard A. Matthew
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Environmental and social factors are generating high levels of conflict and insecurity in Northern Pakistan. Several factors make this case an important subject for analysis and discussion: (a) the strategic location of the region; (b) the potential for far-reaching and even global consequences should conflict spill across the borders and into countries such as Afghanistan and India; and (c) the similarities between this case and many others in the world. The article concludes with policy suggestions for both domestic and foreign parties concerned about the situation.
Topic:
Security, Development, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India

1505. Conflict: A Cause and Effect of Hunger

Author:
Marc J. Cohen, Ellen Messer, and Thomas Marchione
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Ensuring food security—especially in Africa—depends on breaking cycles of hunger and conflict. Whether one believes that (a) environmental scarcities (including food insecurity) can cause conflict, or (b) that conflict is primarily caused by political factors, it is indisputable that access to food is always disrupted by conflict. Much has been written about the linkages between environmental scarcities, hunger, and conflict. This article (a) highlights certain gaps in the information about the steps that lead from hunger to conflict, and then (b) suggests policies and actions to break these connections.
Topic:
Security, Development, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Africa

1506. Dilemmas For Conservation In The Brazilian Amazon

Author:
Margaret E. Keck
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
More than a decade after images of flames devouring the rainforest focused international attention on the Brazilian Amazon, the fires continue to burn. This article traces the history of conservation efforts in the Brazilian Amazon and then argues that repeated failure to understand or accommodate the political factors at work in the Amazon undermines environmentalists' efforts to protect the rainforest.
Topic:
Security, Development, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Brazil

1507. Brazil's SIVAM: As It Monitors The Amazon, Will It Fulfill Its Human Security Promise?

Author:
Thomaz Guedes da Costa
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
As Brazil implements its System for Vigilance of the Amazon (SIVAM), the country's leadership continues to tout the system as a major effort towards achieving its national security objectives—especially (a) preserving the countr y's sovereignty over its territories in that tropical forest region; (b) assisting in Amazon law enforcement, particularly in deterring illegal flights associated with contraband and narco-trafficking; and (c) providing environmental information aimed at promoting sustainable development and the preservation of natural habitats in the Amazon. But while official arguments promise SIVAM will contribute to all three objectives, the lack of: (a) transparency in the program's development and implementation; and (b) greater participation by non-official organizations in how SIVAM will gather, process, and disseminate information threatens the environmental and human security value of the system.
Topic:
Security, Development, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Brazil

1508. A Country-Driven Approach to the Phaseout of Ozone-Depleting Substances in Developing Countries

Author:
Rasmus Rasmusson, Christo Artusio, Olga Gassan-zade, Etienne Gonin, and Joel Ngugi
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The Montreal Protocol–the 1987 international agreement that aims to phase out the production and consumption of substances that deplete the earth's ozone layer–faces significant new challenges, particularly in the developing world. The Protocol's Multilateral Fund, which helps to finance phaseout in developing countries, has succeeded in considerably reducing the consumption of chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) in the manufacturing sector. It now faces the urgent task of reducing the consumption of ODSs in a countless number of widely dispersed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). (Many other environmental conventions face a similar challenge.) In particular, there is a need to phase out CFCs used in refrigeration and methyl bromide used in agriculture. To meet these new challenges, the Montreal Protocol and the Multilateral Fund must employ a new strategy–one that puts the developing countries squarely in the driver's seat.
Topic:
Environment, International Cooperation, and Third World

1509. Facilitating Private - Public Partnerships for Drinking Water

Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The WaterLife Foundation is a New York-based charity designed to engage the corporate sector in small-scale/big impact sustainable drinking water partnerships in the developing world. WaterLife will work with local communities to install new wells, repository systems, sanitation systems, and a variety of other solutions, depending on the local need. WaterLife hosted "Facilitating Private - Public Partnerships for Drinking Water" in New York City on November 2, 2001. The meeting was sponsored by ExxonMobil and Columbia University, and the meeting logistics were organized by The Conference Board. The WaterLife Foundation hosted this innovative meeting with three goals in mind: Raise the corporate sector's awareness of the global drinking water problem Discuss the opportunities for partnerships between the corporate and non-profit sector Give the corporate sector the opportunity to design mutually beneficial partnerships with the WaterLife Foundation, in the area of sustainable drinking water initiatives. The emphasis of the November 2 meeting, and of the WaterLife Foundation, is on field work. WaterLife is not a research or policy organization, and this meeting resulted in concrete steps for ensuring corporate sector involvement in the active implementation of sustainable drinking water projects in the developing world.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Water
Political Geography:
New York

1510. Israel Looks Over the Horizon: Responding to the Threats of Weapons Proliferation

Author:
Gerald M. Steinberg
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Abstract:
The wave of Palestinian violence and terrorism that began at the end of September 2000 led to a widespread tendency to focus exclusively on Israeli-Palestinian political and security relationships. This narrow concentration of attention is potentially misleading and obscures the fundamental security threats that Israel is facing at the beginning of the twenty-first century. These threats come primarily from the wider Middle Eastern environment, extending from Libya and Egypt (and to a lesser degree, North Africa) to Iraq and Iran. Indeed, the Palestinian strategy is based, to a large degree, on widening the circle of conflict through escalation and regionalizing the confrontation. As a result, the importance of strategic deterrence, in response to revived coalitions and new military capabilities that threaten Israeli security, should be a basic factor in Israeli planning.
Topic:
Security, Environment, and Religion
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Libya, Arabia, and Egypt