This project sought to refocus the attention of North and Latin America and the Caribbean towards the idea of common hemispheric objectives. The first two phases dealt with U.S. interests in the region and the final two phases incorporated Latin American and Caribbean participants to discuss issues of democratization and economic integration.
In recent years American's political system has not performed as well as its economic system. While the strong economy of the past decade should provide policy makers with the opportunity to move forward on long-term social and economic goals, they seem stuck in the mindset of short-term fixes and shrill oratory common to leaner times. Focusing on three issues--productivity growth, income inequality and the aging of the baby-boom generation--this concise volume describes a "radically moderate" agenda that captures or political moment. The distinguished authors begin by acknowledging the difficult tradeoffs required for revamping programs for the aged and poor while keeping the economy growing. They then untangle the complexities of the policy debate and propose sensible ways to move American into the new century.
Drawing on the 2001 Uniting America Assembly on racial equality, this report argues that racial equality is contingent on wider progress in reforming criminal justice and increasing economic opportunity for all Americans.
Raise any number of public issues—health care, education, welfare—and religious beliefs inevitably shape Americans' viewpoints. On certain topics the introduction of religion can be explosive. This book discusses how we can and why we should hear religious voices in the public square.
This 2001 report from the Uniting America series, "Collaborating to Make Democracy Work," emphasized the role of collaboration between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in addressing problems of accountability and good governance. Participants called for a reinvigoration, in particular, of the role of business leaders as partners in addressing challenges at the community level
Economic recovery in the region requires stable currencies and open markets. The best way to establish these two basic conditions quickly is for the countries concerned to immediately link their currencies to the euro via a currency board and join the customs union of the EU. The EU should support this radical approach financially in two ways: a) through compensation for lost tariff revenues (conditional on clean and efficient border controls), and, b) emergency loans to acquire the necessary backing for the currency board. The currency boards should graduate to full euroisation in 2002. The total cost for the EU would be modest: around 2 billion euro p.a. if all countries participate. A market-led approach that pays local hosts to house refugees would ensure that the expenditure on refugees benefits the local economies.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Migration
Can Turkey's demands for equal treatment with EU member states be reconciled with the EU's demand for autonomous decision capacity? This commentary analyses the Turkish position and assesses the theoretical and practical possibilities for accommodating Turkey's demands in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
In terms of meeting the fiscal Maastricht criteria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland are better placed today than were some of the current euro area members from the “Club Med” (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) at a comparable point in time leading up to their joining EMU. The CEE-3 should thus be able to qualify for full membership by early 2006, following a decision by the EU as early as 2005.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Europe, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Portugal
Health, and not wealth, should be the decisive criterion when considering the prospects of the Central and Eastern European candidates for EU membership and the capacity of the EU to enlarge. Viewed from this perspective, the outlook is promising. The CEECs are still very poor, compared to most of the existing EU members, but they are also much more dynamic. Their growth rates are generally expected to remain around 4-5% for the foreseeable future, compared to about 2-3% for the EU. This still implies that full catch-up in terms of GDP per capita will take decades, rather than years, but full catch-up is not the relevant goal if one is concerned about enlargement. Experience in the EU has shown that problems are much more likely to arise from established rich member countries with stagnant economies (Belgium in the 1980s and part of the 1990s) than poor, but more dynamic states (e.g. Portugal and Ireland today). The fact that most of the so-called 'periphery' is now experiencing stronger growth than the 'core' confirms that EU integration benefits poorer countries even more.
With the cancellation of the Oslo ministerial mini-summit, the prospects for an early entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol are rapidly fading. Even if the US agrees to an outcome at a resumed COPbis in July, continued Congressional opposition and unresolved questions concerning the developing countries' commitments make US ratification highly implausible.
Topic:
Environment, International Law, and Science and Technology