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1891. American hegemony: A dangerous aspiration?

Author:
James L. Richardson
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Australian National University Department of International Relations
Abstract:
The Bush administration's foreign policies have sparked off a round of new debates on America's power and its international role. At the core of these debates are ideas of empire and hegemony, but these terms are used in many senses and often interchangeably. The paper first distinguishes among these usages and spells out its own concepts. As understood here, a hegemonic power is one that plays a leading role in shaping and maintaining a certain international order, exercising its dominant power in such a way as to win broad acceptance and legitimacy. It is argued that the discussion of hegemony can best be advanced by distinguishing among the various domains of power: military, economic, ideological and political, to follow Michael Mann's breakdown. The US is closest to hegemony in the international economic domain, but in each domain its hegemony is at best partial and qualified. Nonetheless, it remains the preponderant power, with aspirations to hegemony and empire. The benefits of American preponderance are widely acclaimed in the West and infrequently questioned in the international relations discipline, but its dangers merit far greater attention than they normally receive. In particular, beyond the short-term context, the specifically American version of liberal ideology renders the US ill-suited to respond to some of the foreseeable challenges of the twenty-first century. Consequently there is a need for others to engage a great deal more actively than heretofore with the construction of a more viable international order.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Development
Political Geography:
United States and America

1892. Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Energy Security Series: China

Author:
Erica Downs
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
China's blistering economic growth has made access to adequate energy supplies an increasingly important priority. It is the world's second largest consumer and third largest producer of primary energy. From 2000 to 2005, China's energy consumption rose by 60 percent, accounting for almost half of the growth in world energy consumption. The country is able to meet more than 90 percent of its energy needs with domestic supplies — largely because of abundant coal reserves and a coal-based economy. However, it imports almost half of the oil it consumes.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
China and Asia

1893. Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Energy Security Series: Japan

Author:
Peter C. Evans
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
For decades, Japan dominated Asia's energy picture. At the time of the first oil shock in 1973, it held a 60 percent share of Asia's oil demand. During the 1980s, Japan looked to China for oil and coal as part of its energy import diversification strategy. Today, Japan remains an important energy market but its position in Asia's energy supply and demand balance is rapidly changing. In the wake of surging regional demand, Japan's share of oil consumption is likely to fall below 15 percent of total Asian consumption by 2020. Demand for its major fuel needs — including oil, gas, coal, and uranium — is expected to remain relatively flat or increase only marginally. Meanwhile, the rest of Asia's requirement for these fuels is projected to grow dramatically, leaving Japan to confront a future in which it will be a smaller energy player facing a more crowded field of competitors for these energy supplies.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
Japan, China, and Asia

1894. China's Charm: Implications of Chinese Soft Power

Author:
Josh Kurlantzick
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Over the past decade China has downplayed its hard power in Southeast Asia, instead creating a strategy to build its soft power. For the first time in post-WWII history, the United States may be facing a situation in which another country's appeal outstrips its own in an important region, a change sure to shock the United States. Before China's appeal spreads to other parts of the developing world, U.S. policy makers need to understand how China exerts soft power, if China's soft power could be dangerous to developing nations, and whether elements of China's charm could threaten U.S. interests.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
United States, China, Asia, and Southeast Asia

1895. Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations in the Post-9/11 Era

Author:
Frédéric Grare
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Taliban insurgents and their Al Qaeda allies, once thought defeated in Afghanistan, are regaining strength. Regrouped and reorganized, better equipped and financed, and more sophisticated tactically, they are threatening both the reconstruction process and the U.S.-led coalition forces on the ground. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, sixty-six U.S. troops were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2005, more than in the previous four years combined.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, and Taliban

1896. How Canada's Supreme Court Sparked a Patients' Rights Revolution

Author:
Jacques Chaoulli
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Early efforts by Western democracies to restrict freedom of contract were rationalized on the ground that such restrictions were necessary to prevent the suffering of ordinary citizens. People who oppose the freedom to opt out of state-run health insurance schemes turn that rationale on its head: they oppose freedom of contract even when it is necessary to prevent the suffering of ordinary citizens. A recent ruling by the Canadian Supreme Court has helped to restore that freedom and the right of patients to make their own medical decisions.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, and International Law
Political Geography:
Canada

1897. Reappraising Nuclear Security Strategy

Author:
Rensselaer Lee
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The danger posed by Russia's inadequately secured stocks of nuclear weapons and fissile material is a major national security concern for the United States. Various cooperative U.S.-Russian programs aimed at securing nuclear material, weapons, and design intelligence have been mounted since the 1990s, but clever and determined adversaries may be able to circumvent or defeat the defenses that the United States and its partners are attempting to put in place. U.S. programs are by their nature reactive: they have long time horizons; they focus preeminently on the supply side of the problem; and they face serious technological limitations. Russia's imperfect commitment to nonproliferation also undermines the effectiveness of U.S. nonproliferation efforts.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia

1898. US Policy in South Asia: Under Secretary Burns

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Good evening, and thank you Dan for that nice introduction. It is a pleasure to be here at the Asia Society. Thank you, Vishakha [Desai, President] for your remarks and also for inviting me.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, and Asia

1899. AsiaSource Interview with Under Secretary Nicholas Burns

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns is the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Department of State's third ranking official. Prior to his current assignment, Ambassador Burns was the United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As Ambassador to NATO, he headed the combined State-Defense Department U.S. Mission to NATO at a time when the Alliance committed to new missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war against terrorism, and accepted seven new members.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia

1900. Torben Gettermann on the Danish Cartoon Controversy

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
In this interview, Torben Gettermann, the Consul General of Denmark to New York, discusses the controversy over the publication of cartoons depicting caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in the Danish Jyllands-Posten. Mr Gettermann entered the Danish Foreign Service in 1980. He has had postings in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Hungary, among others. Prior to arriving in New York in September 2005, Mr Gettermann served as Denmark's Ambassador in Baghdad, Iraq. This interview was conducted prior to the Asia Society event Not a Laughing Matter: Behind the Danish Cartoon Controversy on March 22, 2006.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
New York and Europe