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1591. Come Home, NATO? The Atlantic Alliance's New Strategic Concept

Author:
Sten Rynning and Jens Ringsmose
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This DIIS Report provides an overview of the political and military issues that are likely to shape the coming discussions about NATO's new Strategic Concept. NATO's current Strategic Concept dates back to 1999 and over the last couple years an increasing number of policy-makers have suggested that it is time to take stock of the transatlantic Alliance. The exercise is significant because the Strategic Concept represents the operational view of the Washington Treaty - the basic text of NATO - and because it will bequeath a new strategic direction to the Alliance. The Report presents three arguments. One is that the Strategic Concept serves several functions: it codifies past decision and existing practices; it provides strategic direction; and it serves as an instrument of public diplomacy. The second argument is that the new Strategic Concept must balance the push and pull of two competing visions of NATO, one being 'Come home, NATO;' the other being 'Globalize, stupid.' The contest between these diverging visions has consequences for a number of issues that the Strategic Concept must address. Lastly, it is argued that although the agenda of globalization is being questioned, NATO will continue down the path of global engagement.
Topic:
Security, International Organization, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

1592. The Georgia Crisis: Implications for the Partnership for Peace

Author:
Graeme P. Herd and Daniel A. Flesch
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
On 7 August 2008, Georgia attacked Tskhinvali, the capital city of South Ossetia, with heavy artillery, rocket launchers, and ground troops in an attempt to take control of the breakaway republic, which contained bases of both Russian and OSCE peacekeepers. Russia, claiming to be acting under the mandate of peace enforcement, pushed Georgia out of both South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian republic, Abkhazia, and deep into Georgian territory. This created the potential for regime change, as the Russian Army appeared to be moving on Tbilisi with the intent of overthrowing Georgia's democratically elected government. On 8 August 2008, Russian military forces crossed the Georgian border into South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a successful effort to repulse Georgian troops. The immediate casus belli for Russia was genocide, with claims that “over two thousand” South Ossetians had been killed by Georgian troops, along with the shooting of ten Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, which necessitated a humanitarian and peace enforcement operation. The Russian advance included ground troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers, and air and sea operations, combined with coordinated kinetic and cyber attacks. Russian forces also crossed into Abkhazia in defense of their compatriots – 70 percent of the Abkhaz population of 220,000 are Russian passport holders, and 90 percent of the South Ossetian population of 70,000 are also Russian citizens.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, International Affairs, and Population
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Georgia, and South Ossetia

1593. Are the northern sea routes really the shortest?

Author:
Svend Aage Christensen
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
We hear a lot about changes in the extension of the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. Reading the headlines in the newspapers one gets the impression that the Arctic Ocean will soon be ice-free.
Topic:
Climate Change, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs

1594. Buy American: Bad for Jobs, Worse for Reputation

Author:
Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jeffrey J. Schott
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
On January 28, 2009, the US House of Representatives passed its economic stimulus plan, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Out of the bill's 700 text pages, a small half-page section attracted enormous media attention: the section requiring that all public projects funded by the stimulus plan must use only iron and steel produced in the United States (box 1). Another provision, which drew less attention, extends the so-called Berry Amendment (an old Buy American provision) to uniforms purchased by the Department of Homeland Security.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Government, Industrial Policy, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States

1595. American Decision Making and the 1967 Arab-Israeli Conflict

Author:
Matthew J. Sheiffer
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
It is become common to argue that a special relationship exists between the United States and Israel and that this relationship explains unconditional American support for Israeli policies. These arguments generally focus on the period after the 1967 war. This makes examination of the period immediately before this time especially useful for understanding the nature of American relations with Israel. If this period marks the beginning of a special relationship, then there should be initial indicators of that relationship and its impact on the policy making process. In 1967, American policy was initially designed to accomplish the relatively modest goal of preventing an Israeli preemptive attack while building support for a multilateral plan to reopen the Gulf of Aqaba. Yet, the United States ultimately failed to achieve either objective. Given the potential danger of war to American interests, a strategic analysis of this case might predict active and vigorous efforts, using all aspects of American power, to prevent conflict. The puzzle is why this did not occur. By examining a purely systemic explanation for American actions in 1967, this paper will explore the complexities and tensions in the United States-Israel relationship in 1967 and investigate the nature through which domestic politics and decision making factors influence American foreign policy.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States, America, Middle East, and Arabia

1596. Democracy in Slow Motion

Author:
Bryan N. Groves
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
Bosnia-Herzegovina's democratization is in slow motion. On the outside it appears that the framework for democracy is in place. A closer look reveals that it lacks the civil society to under gird its political institutions. As Piotr Sztompka points out, "building a house is not the same as establishing a home. The former is only the shell, the empty framework ... it is a concern for architects. The latter is the living arena of social actions and interactions ... it is the concern for sociology. The more or less explicit recognition of that distinction between the institutional and the cultural-civilizational spheres is also indicated by other terms, i.e. public sphere versus civil society" (Sztompka, 1996 in Chandler, 2000). Bosnia-Herzegovina-from here forward Bosnia-lacks the inner workings that distinguish a home from a house.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Bosnia and Balkans

1597. Obama, Hillary Clinton, and China: Be Strategic, Be Green

Author:
Liu Xuecheng and Robert Oxnam
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Young and charismatic Barack Obama won a historic victory in the U.S. presidential election. This victory has sparked an international frenzy filled with hope and expectations. Obama, who ran on a platform of “change,” has vowed to rebuild U.S. national power, reshape its international image, and renew its global leadership. However, he will face daunting internal and external challenges—fighting the disastrous financial crisis and economic recession, bringing the war on terror to an end, and coping with emerging powers, including China. What relevance does his victory have for U.S. policy toward China? Will Obama's China policy be one of change or continuity? What would we expect from the Obama administration in cultivating the future course for a China-U.S. constructive and cooperative partnership? These questions are the real concerns of the Chinese people as political power changes hands in the United States.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States and China

1598. Confronting reality: responding to war criminals living in Australia

Author:
Fergus Hanson
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
It was as recently as 1994 that 800,000 Rwandans were systematically slaughtered and the world was reminded that genocide is still possible. July the following year it happened again, when more than 7,000 men were murdered in the Srebrenica massacre. Today, the killing continues in places like Darfur where the death toll now stands in the hundreds of thousands and the Democratic Republic of Congo where the toll stands in the millions. The crimes committed in these and the many other conflicts of recent decades – the mass killing of civilian populations, the rape of countless women and widespread use of torture – have shaken the conscience of the world.
Topic:
Crime, Government, International Cooperation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Australia/Pacific

1599. Obama's Foreign Policy: Is this change we can believe in?

Author:
Camille Grand, Ivan Safranchuk, David Calleo, and Shen Dingli
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
For several months following the election of November, 2008, most Americans took great pleasure in their charismatic new president. A series of soaring speeches, frank interviews and pragmatic initiatives made real changes for the better seem possible. Of course other presidents have begun with high hopes, only to be ensnared in multiple dilemmas inherited from their predecessors. By the summer of 2009, Obama's own prospects begin to seem more problematic. Disagreements have surfaced between the Presidency and the Congress and rumours proliferate about splits within the ad ministration's own ranks. Fear grows that the president – attempting simultaneously to overcome a severe financial crisis, address long- neglected needs of the domestic economy and win two intractable wars – has overreached himself.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States

1600. Good, But How Good? Monitoring and Evaluation of Media Assistance Projects

Author:
Andy Mosher
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
During the early '90s, international media assistance was transformed from a small field to a multimillion-dollar global endeavor. While how to gauge the impact of this wave of assistance was always a concern, the so-called media missionaries' strong sense of purpose and their limited understanding of social science techniques often led them to give short shrift to monitoring and evaluating their media development programs. Since then, things have changed. Interviews with more than a dozen donors, media assistance implementers, and professional evaluators indicate that the importance of monitoring and evaluation has become more widely appreciated. Monitoring—the tracking of programs and activities as they proceed, and the marshaling of the resulting data—has become more rigorous over time. And evaluation—the assessment of a program's impact—has become an integral part of virtually every assistance program, according to those who design and implement them.
Topic:
Economics, International Affairs, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid