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1711. Food Security in North Korea: Designing Realistic Possibilities

Author:
Randall Ireson
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Between about 1990 and 1996, North Korea experienced what can only be described as a catastrophic economic collapse, which included a 70 percent reduction in food production compared to the late 1980s. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) initially insisted that the agriculture collapse was a consequence of natural disasters. However, it is clear that the seeds of this catastrophe had been planted decades earlier, the result of ill-advised and ultimately unsustainable national agricultural policies. Yet difficult as the situation is, it is not without options for significant improvement. This paper outlines a strategy for agricultural revitalization in North Korea, which could, in the foreseeable future, enable the DPRK to produce—domestically and in a sustainable manner—nearly all the food needed to supply a basic balanced diet for its population. Whether this strategy can be implemented, or indeed whether it is the best strategy for the DPRK in the longer term, depends on many factors outside the farm sector, including world and regional international political issues, and DPRK policy choices regarding participation in world trade and commerce.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Asia, North Korea, and Korea

1712. A Conversation with Henry Kissinger

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Henry Kissinger was US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977. He served as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from 1969 to 1975. In July 1983 he was appointed by President Reagan to chair the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America until it ceased operation in January 1985, and from 1984-1990 he served as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. From 1986-1988 he was a member of the Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy of the National Security Council and Defense Department. Among the awards Dr. Kissinger has received have been the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973; the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the nation's highest civilian award) in 1977; and the Medal of Liberty (given one time to ten foreign-born American leaders) in 1986. Dr. Kissinger was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1938 and was naturalized a US citizen in 1943. He served in the army from 1943 to 1946. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1950 and received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1952 and 1954. At present, Dr. Kissinger is Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm. This interview with AsiaSource was conducted by Nermeen Shaikh prior to the Asia Society 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner of which Dr. Kissinger was an honorary chairman.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and National Security
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Central America

1713. Savings in America: Building Opportunities for All

Author:
Suzanne Nora Johnson, Lisa Mensah, and C. Eugene Steuerle
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Savings policy in the United States is at a critical juncture. The U.S. personal saving rate has declined from 10.8 percent in 1984 to zero in 2005.The national saving rate, which includes government and business savings, is the lowest among the G-20 countries and has decreased significantly in recent decades. These low levels of saving generally suggest lower growth rates of income and standards of living in the future.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and America

1714. Neglected Defense: Mobilizing the Private Sector to Support Homeland Security

Author:
Daniel Prieto and Stephen Flynn
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
In policy and strategy documents since September 11, 2001, the Bush administration and Congress have repeatedly stressed the critical importance of “public-private partnerships” to make the country safer. Yet the capabilities, assets, and goodwill of the private sector to bolster our homeland security remain largely untapped. That is the primary conclusion reached by the Council on Foreign Relations working group on homeland security and the private sector over the course of one year.
Topic:
Security, Government, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
North America

1715. In Medias Res: The Development of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a Security Community

Author:
Marc Lanteigne
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
As the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation observed its fifth anniversary in June 2006, the question of where the regime fits within the expanding area of international strategic institutions in Asia and elsewhere assumes an even greater importance. The SCO has begun to establish itself as a more formal actor in the complex area of Eurasian security, and has evolved from a largely consultative grouping into a security community. As well, the SCO has become the cornerstone of China's Central Asian diplomacy and its promotion of "non-alliance" forms of strategic cooperation. However, despite the SCO's endeavours to portray itself as a forum for information-sharing and confidence-building, as well as political and economic cooperation, hard power considerations remain an important part of the organisation's policymaking. Although the SCO was seen as marginalized when Western forces entered Central Asia after September 2001, the organisation plays key roles and should not be dismissed as a strategic actor and source of regional cooperation. Moreover, with American forces remaining in Central Asia for the foreseeable future and Central Asian governments becoming increasingly concerned about the potential after-shocks of the recent "colour revolutions" in the former USSR, there is the greater possibility that a more mature SCO may engage in overt power-balancing behaviour vis-à-vis the West, resulting in rivalries rather than cooperation. To prevent this scenario, it is argued that the international community should take the opportunity to better engage the SCO in the name of promoting peace and stability in Eurasia.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
China, America, Central Asia, and Eurasia

1716. Dilemmas Confronting Social Entrepreneurs: Care Homes for Elderly People in Chinese Cities

Author:
Linda Wong and Jun Tang
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
In socialist China, rapid aging, severe shortage of public provisions for frail elders, and the state's admitted failure to meet vast unmet needs have led the state to promote the use of non-profits as a key peg of welfare policy for the elderly. To this end, the Chinese government passed the Provisional Regulation on the Registration and Management of Civilian-run Non-enterprise Units in 1998 to set out the legal framework. Using tax exemption and preferential utility charges as baits, the 1998 decree encourages the birth of nonprofits to meet the shortfall in social services. The sharp rise in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) after 1998 suggests the policy is achieving its intended effect. However, the insistence on self-sufficiency and ban on profit taking means that such agencies have to operate as social enterprises, combining their social mission with an entrepreneurial mode of management as they rely on fee charges as the primary income source. The paper begins by examining the policy and demographic contexts for old age care and the concepts of NPOs, social enterprises and social entrepreneurship. It then presents research findings on the agency profiles and operational experiences of 137 non-state care homes in three Chinese cities. This is followed by an analysis of the motives for social entrepreneurship, namely family circumstances, personal attributes, social commitment, and entrepreneurial drive. The final part discusses the link between the nonprofit policy, NPO attributes and social entrepreneurship. It is argued that it is the peculiarity of the existing policy that attracted a very special group of social investors into the old age care business.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
China

1717. The Political Economy of Japanese Sanctions towards North Korea: Domestic Coalitions and International Systemic Pressures

Author:
Christopher W. Hughes
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Pacific Affairs
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
Japan has often been dismissed by mainstream international relations and policy discourse as a bit-part actor in Korean Peninsula security affairs. If ascribed any role at all, it is seen as a secondary and submissive actor, generally bending to US strategy and international systemic pressures. This paper argues, however, that Japanese policy towards North Korea is now challenging these international systemic pressures, and threatening divergence with US policy. This is due to the fact that Japan's policy is increasingly driven by domestic political considerations that are rivalling or even superseding international influences in importance. In order to highlight these domestic dynamics, the paper utilizes domestic sanctions theory and a detailed empirical analysis of the Japanese policy-making process with regard to the imposition of sanctions on North Korea. It demonstrates that a "threshold coalition" has now emerged in Japan which is tipping government policy towards sanctions, irrespective of, or even in opposition to, international systemic pressures to desist from such actions. The paper highlights the changing disposition of a pluralistic range of domestic actors away from default engagement to default containment. The consequence of these aggregate domestic pressures is that the Japanese government is finding it progressively harder to converge with US and international strategy towards North Korea. Japan is thus set to augment its influence in Korean Peninsula security affairs by becoming a more obstructive partner in attempts to find an international resolution to the nuclear crisis.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Japan, North Korea, and Korea

1718. War and the Liberal Democratic State

Author:
Vivienne Jabri
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
En matière de politique internationale, la guerre est une technologie de contrôle. Tandis que ses manifestations violentes comme l\'invasion et l\'occupation de l\'Irak sont directement ressenties par les populations visées, les pratiques qui y sont associées ainsi que ladite « guerre au terrorisme » ont des effets d\'une portée mondiale. Cet article offre une lecture de la guerre globale comme forme de contrôle propre à cette modernité tardive. Il montre que les pratiques qui constituent la guerre globale sont à comprendre en termes de matrice, ceci comprenant les Etats et leurs bureaucraties ainsi que des agents non étatiques, visant Etats, communautés particulières et individus. La matrice de la guerre opère au nom de l\'humanité, mais c\'est finalement cette même humanité qui en vient à devenir le sujet de ces opérations de contrôle global. Comme le montre l\'article, les conséquences sont monumentales pour le gouvernement, l\'examen démocratique et les espaces possibles de dissidence.
Topic:
Government and War
Political Geography:
Iraq

1719. Human rights cooperation between Russia and European intergovernmental organisations: a one-way transference of norms or a mutual process of adaptation?

Author:
Sinikukka Saari
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The European intergovernmental organisations such as the Council of Europe, OSCE and the EU have taken up the task to promote actively human rights in Russia. The organisations differ in methods, instrument s and over-all strategies but the goal of socialising Russia to common European human rights norms is the same for all these organisations. Socialisation means a process through which norms are transmitted from one party to another and they become firmly established domestic practices.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

1720. Privatisation in Deep Water? Water Governance and Options for Development Cooperation, INEF-Report 84

Author:
Annabelle Houdret and Miriam Shabafrouz
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Development and Peace
Abstract:
Water is an essential factor for human development and health, but also for agricultural production, the development of the tourism sector and industrial growth. The increasing scarcity of the resource contributes to high competition between these user groups. Growing tension and conflict over water allocation urge for new approaches in demand management.
Topic:
Development, Government, Health, and Privatization