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1421. Koizumi's legacy: Japan's new politics

Author:
Dr. Malcolm Cook
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
September 20th will be a landmark day in Japanese politics. Junichiro Koizumi will step down as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and, consequently, as prime minister of Japan. The fact that Koizumi will be stepping down on his own terms as Japan's longest-serving post-war leader and with his favoured successor, chief cabinet secretary Shinzo Abe, the clear front-runner to replace him, indicates just how much this self-styled maverick has recast Japanese politics. Abe's (likely) victory will institutionalise his predecessor's political legacy. This will ensure that Koizumi was not simply a charismatic flash in the pan, as his most trenchant critics inside the LDP and out had hoped, but a political reformer who has changed the nature of Japanese politics.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Japan and Israel

1422. The next UN Secretary-General

Author:
Dr. Michael Fullilove
Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
This Issues Brief assesses the relationship between the United Nations and Asia – both the UN's activities in Asia and the behaviour of Asian states at the UN. Dr Michael Fullilove, Program Director for Global Issues, reviews the current stances of the three major regional powers — China, India, and Japan — towards the UN, previews the September World Summit on UN reform, and examines the prospects for an Asian Secretary-General, which has the potential to thicken Asia's interactions with the UN.
Topic:
Development, Politics, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States and Asia

1423. Completing the Doha Round

Author:
Jeffrey J. Schott
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) was suspended indefinitely in late July 2006 after a succession of failed attempts to reach agree¬ment on the modalities for cutting farm subsidies and tariffs. Trade ministers are now consulting on how to put the WTO talks back on track. Without a rapid return to active negotiations, US officials may be relegated to the sidelines in Geneva due to the expiration of US trade promotion authority (TPA)—leaving the Doha Round adrift possibly until the next US administration takes office in 2009 or even longer.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Politics, and Treaties and Agreements

1424. Afghanistan Stage III: NATO's most ambitious operation?

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
In the months ahead, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will deploy thousands more troops to Afghanistan as part of its ongoing mission to “support the Government of Afghanistan in providing and maintaining a secure environment in order to facilitate the re-building of Afghanistan.” Troop levels are expected to rise from about 8,000 in January to 17,000 by the end of October. The expansion, known as Stage III, will be responsible for maintaining security in the troubled southern provinces, where most violent attacks against foreign and domestic forces have taken place. NATO's commander, U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said ISAF could total as many as 25,000 troops eventually. British, Dutch and Canadian forces will be leading the effort to bring peace to Afghanistan through both civilian and military methods. Troops will be engaged in peacekeeping, reconstruction and, in all likelihood, open conflict – an effort Jones called “NATO's most ambitious operation.” Despite a lack of popular support for the missions in all three of the main troop-contributing countries, international leaders have pledged to safeguard Afghanistan from both internal and external forces that would otherwise lead the country into chaos.
Topic:
NATO, Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

1425. Afghan Update: April 1 - April 30, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
A senior U.S. State Department official said on April 3 that more violence was expected in the coming months. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher reaffirmed the opinion of some U.S. military leaders that the warmer months and the increased presence of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops would signal a stepped up effort by insurgents to disrupt peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts. Boucher also cited the battle against narcotics traffickers as cause for increased fighting.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States and Asia

1426. Terrorism Statistics Flawed

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
It has become a truism that any attempt to define or quantify terrorism is informed by political trends, and thus subject to fluctuations based not on hard facts but on political fashion. Yet the State Department's now defunct annual publication, Patterns of Global Terrorism, was the closest approximation of any government effort to provide information in an objective and consistent manner. As a successor to Patterns, the report produced by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) – called A Chronology of Significant International Terrorism for 2004--effectively ends over 20 years of analytical consistency in the U.S. government's terrorism accounting practices.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

1427. Afghan Update: March 3 - March 31, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Three Afghan guards and a French Special Forces officer were killed when insurgents attacked a post in Kandahar on March 4. The same day, a roadside bomb exploded when a government vehicle drove by, killing a local intelligence chief and three of his bodyguards. The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

1428. Afghan Update: Jan. 1 - Feb. 7, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Four U.S. soldiers were killed on Feb. 13 when their vehicle hit a bomb in central Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. It was the deadliest single-day loss of American troops since September, when five died in a helicopter crash.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

1429. Afghan Update: Jan. 1 - Feb. 7, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Four U.S. soldiers were killed on Feb. 13 when their vehicle hit a bomb in central Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. It was the deadliest single-day loss of American troops since September, when five died in a helicopter crash. On Feb. 19, the Pentagon announced that 215 U.S. soldiers had been killed since the conflict began in late 2001. Of those, 129 were killed by hostile action. On Feb. 23, a man driving a truck filled with explosives was shot and killed by coalition forces after the material failed to explode. He managed to throw one grenade but no soldiers were hurt.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and America

1430. Afghan Update: Nov. 28 - Dec. 31, 2005

Author:
Joseph Button
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
On Nov. 30, suspected Taliban militants ambushed a U.S.-led convoy in Helmand province. U.S. warplanes and troops responding to the attack killed two militants. On Dec. 4, two U.S. Chinook helicopters facing enemy fire made emergency landings. The first landed harshly north of Kandahar, injuring five U.S. soldiers. The second aircraft made a came down at a forward base in Uruzgan province, injuring an Afghan soldier.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States