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2041. Birth of a Democracy

Author:
Reuel Marc Gerecht
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The Iraqi election demonstrated for the first time in Arab history that national sovereignty can be achieved without tyranny. The pictures of courageous Iraqi voters and of the images to follow of the incipient democratic government of Iraq can inspire popular desire to open up regimes throughout the Arab world.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, and Government
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Arabia

2042. Zimbabwe's Impending Elections: What Other Countries Can Do, and Why

Author:
Roger Bate
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Without pressure from outside nations, upcoming elections in Zimbabwe are almost certain to hasten the country's slide into dictatorship under longtime leader Robert Mugabe. Pressure must be brought to bear on Zimbabwe's Southern African neighbors to enforce the agreed election protocols or they, and not just Zimbabwe, should face the withdrawal of aid, trade deals, and other U.S. largesse.
Topic:
International Relations and Government
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

2043. Should Americans Save More?

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Alarmists who call for American households to save more point to a steady drop in the conventionally measured U.S. saving rate to about 1 per- cent at the end of last year and to a rise in household debt to a level well over 100 percent of personal disposable income. The current account deficit, our external deficit, measures national dis-saving at close to 6 percent of GDP. The federal government's budget deficit contributes about 4 percentage points to national dis-saving and it, too, is the subject of considerable hand-wringing by those who point to a need for higher U.S. saving at both the household and national levels.
Topic:
Security, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and America

2044. Resurrecting Clear Skies

Author:
Ted Gayer
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
After failing to make it out of Senate committee in March, the future of the president's Clear Skies bill is uncertain. While the bill contains some flaws, most of its opponents criticized the virtues of Clear Skies, thus making it more difficult to fix the real problems and to strike a compromise. There is still some hope that the bill will pass later this congressional session. In lieu of Clear Skies, the Environmental Protection Agency recently promulgated two administrative rules to tighten regulations on power plant air pollution. These rules are certain to be litigated and thus delayed. With Clear Skies, we get a greater guarantee that the air quality goals will be met, and we get greater regulatory certainty that leads to lower costs.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Government, and Politics

2045. Climate Change Science: Time for "Team B"?

Author:
Steven F. Hayward
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is currently working on its fourth assessment report. Despite the IPCC's noble intent to generate a scientific consensus, a number of factors have compromised the research and drafting process, assuring that its next assessment report will be just as controversial as previous reports in 1995 and 2001. Efforts to reform this large bureaucratic effort are unlikely to succeed. Perhaps the time has come to consider competition as the means of checking the IPCC's monopoly and generating more reliable climate science.
Topic:
Environment, Government, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

2046. Post-Election Strategy in Afghanistan

Author:
Vance Serchuk
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
On September 18, 2005, Afghanistan held its first democratic parliamentary and provincial elections in more than thirty-five years. The vote marks the successful completion of the transitional political process outlined by the 2001 Bonn Accords, the internationally brokered framework that has guided Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban. The United States and its allies in Kabul can rightly celebrate the passage of this milestone and the remarkable progress that has been achieved over the past four years. At the same time, the end of Bonn is also a natural time to raise questions about the Bush administration's long-term road map for Afghanistan. Two problems with the current American strategy—too much faith in NATO and too little investment in indigenous Afghan institutions—deserve particular attention.
Topic:
NATO, Democratization, and Government
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, America, Middle East, Taliban, and Kabul

2047. The War against Reserves

Author:
Frederick W. Kagan
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
U.S. defense policy today rests heavily on two basic assumptions: that the American armed forces will make perfect decisions and take perfect actions, and that the enemy will never surprise us or offer us unexpected opportunities to exploit. These assumptions can be seen in the elimination of reserve forces from all echelons of the military structure and the heavy burden that the current war has placed on the Army Reserves and National Guard. The result of these decisions has been to leave the United States with little ability to react to unforeseen difficulties, either in Iraq or Afghanistan or elsewhere. If this policy continues, it will place American national security in grave jeopardy for years to come.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Government, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and America

2048. The Democrats and Defense

Author:
Thomas Donnelly
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
To those who follow the politics of national security and defense, it came as no surprise recently when Senator Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) put herself in the vanguard of Democrats calling for a substantial increase in the size of the active-duty army. Hillary—the one-named superstar of Democratic politics— actually has been working hard over the past few years to burnish her credentials on these issues, particularly in regard to Iraq. She seems to grasp what many in her party still cannot: in the post-9/11 world, the job of an American president is to be a wartime commander in chief.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Iraq and America

2049. The Battle over the Draft

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
On December 29, 2004, Russia's minister of defense, Sergei Ivanov, announced plans to eliminate draft deferments for college students. Predictably, the popular reaction was so uniformly negative and furious that the abolition of deferments has been postponed—but not eliminated from the Kremlin's agenda.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, and War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

2050. The Inevitable Peaking of World Oil Production

Author:
Robert L. Hirsch
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The era of plentiful, low-cost petroleum is approaching an end. The good news is that commercially viable mitigation options are ready for implementation. The bad news is that unless mitigation is orchestrated on a timely basis, the economic damage to the world economy will be dire and long-lasting.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, and Government