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322. Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention: Illusory Benefits and Nasty Side Effects
- Author:
- Eric R. Taylor
- Publication Date:
- 10-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The Biological Toxins and Weapons Convention—signed in 1972—prohibits signatory nations from developing, possessing, employing, or transferring biological weapons. The convention does not contain any protocols for its enforcement, however. There is now an international effort under way to develop such protocols.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United States
323. Corporate Welfare for Weapons Makers the Hidden Costs of Spending on Defense and Foreign Aid
- Author:
- William D. Hartung
- Publication Date:
- 08-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The defense and foreign aid budgets are the largest single source of government funding for private corporations. More than half of U.S. weapons sales are now being financed by taxpayers instead of foreign arms purchasers. During fiscal year 1996 (the last year for which full statistics are available), the government spent more than $7.9 billion to help U.S. companies secure just over $12 billion in agreements for new international arms sales. The annual $7.9 billion in subsidies includes taxpayer-backed loans, grants, and government promotional activities that help U.S. weapons makers sell their products to foreign customers. Also, the provision of low-cost facilities and extensive subsidies for research and development and mergers and acquisitions to major contractors fosters a “risk-free” environment in which weapons makers have little economic incentive to produce effective systems at affordable prices. Furthermore, a portion of the $120 billion the Pentagon spends each year on contracts with U.S. defense contractors is being wasted on defense pork—that is, redundant or unneeded weapons systems. Such subsidies and spending for defense pork can interfere with the fulfillment of legitimate security needs.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Climate Change, Government, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
324. Blunder in the Balkans: The Clinton Administration's Bungled War against Serbia
- Author:
- Christopher Layne
- Publication Date:
- 05-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The Clinton administration has made one miscalculation after another in dealing with the Kosovo crisis. U.S. officials and their NATO colleagues never understood the historical and emotional importance of Kosovo to the Serbia n people, believing instead that Belgrade's harsh repression of the ethnic Albanian secessionist movement in Kosovo merely reflected the will of President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia. The administration's foreign policy team mistakenly concluded that, under a threat of air strikes, the Yugoslav government would sign a dictate d peace accord (the Rambouillet agreement) to be implemented by a NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Even if Milosevic initially refused to sign the Rambouillet agreement, administration leaders believed that Belgrade would relent after a brief “demonstration” bombing campaign. Those calculations proved to be disastrously wrong.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, China, Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Balkans, and Albania
325. Old Wine in New Bottles: The Pentagon's East Asia Security Strategy Report
- Author:
- Doug Bandow
- Publication Date:
- 05-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- To contain Soviet-led communism and, secondarily, to prevent a militarily resurgent Japan, Washington established a network of alliances, bases, and deployments throughout East Asia after World War II. By the 1990s the Soviet Union had imploded, China had become a reasonably restrained international player, and other communist states had lost their ideological edge. At the same time, the noncommunist nations had leaped ahead economically. Despite such momentous developments, however, U.S. policy remains fundamentally the same.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Washington, Israel, and Soviet Union
326. Is Readiness Overrated? Implications for a Tiered Readiness Force Structure
- Author:
- James L. George
- Publication Date:
- 04-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Readiness, the capability to respond quickly to a conflict with the appropriate force, is considered one of the most important elements in defense planning. From one-third to well over one-half of the defense budget goes toward maintaining readiness. Few people questioned the need for readiness, especially after the attack by North Korea against South Korea in 1950 and during the Cold War, when the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact was poised to quickly thrust into Western Europe without much warning.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Cold War
- Political Geography:
- United States, South Korea, North Korea, and Western Europe
327. National Missile Defense: Examining the Options
- Author:
- Charles V. Peña and Barbara Conry
- Publication Date:
- 03-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- To date, the debate surrounding national missile defense (NMD) has been dominated by political rhetoric. Supporters (usually conservatives) often paint a “doom-and-gloom” picture, pointing out that the United States is vulnerable to an attack by ballistic missiles. Critics (usually liberals) defend the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty as the cornerstone of deterrence and stability and argue that any defensive deployment would upset the balance between the offensive strategic nuclear forces of the United States and Russia.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia and United States
328. U.S. Assistance for Market Reforms: Foreign Aid Failures in Russia and the Former Soviet Bloc
- Author:
- Janine R. Wedel
- Publication Date:
- 03-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the governments of the United States and other Western countries have provided massive aid to promote a transition to the free market in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. But aid for market reforms in the region has been largely ineffective. Whether provided in the form of technical assistance, grants to political groups or nongovernmental organizations, loans and guarantees to the private sector, or direct financial aid to post-communist governments, that aid has been plagued by a number of problems. The failed $22.6 billion bailout of Russia by the International Monetary Fund in July 1998 only confirmed the flawed nature of the aid-for-reform approach.
- Topic:
- Economics and Emerging Markets
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union
329. Tilting at Windmills: Post-Cold War Military Threats to U.S. Security
- Author:
- Ivan Eland
- Publication Date:
- 02-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Serious military threats to U.S. security have diminished dramatically since the end of the Cold War. The threat from conventional Russian military forces has all but disintegrated and would take many years to reconstitute. China would take 20 to 30 years to transform its bloated and obsolete military into a major threat to U.S. vital interests. The militaries in both nations should be watched, but they may never develop into credible threats.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States
330. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: The Costs Outweigh the Benefits
- Author:
- Kathleen C. Bailey
- Publication Date:
- 01-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is now before the U.S. Senate for its advice and consent. The treaty bans all explosive testing of nuclear weapons. Advocates of the CTBT make several arguments in support of the treaty. The reasons reduce to two points: the ban will constrain the modernization and development of nuclear weapons by the nations that already possess them, and it will help prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to additional nations. Both objectives are set out in the CTBT's preamble.
- Topic:
- Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States
331. Does U.S. Intervention Overseas Breed Terrorism?: The Historical Record
- Author:
- Ivan Eland
- Publication Date:
- 12-1998
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- According to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, terrorism is the most important threat the United States and the world face as the 21st century begins. High-level U.S. officials have acknowledged that terrorists are now more likely to be able to obtain and use nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons than ever before.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States
332. Time to Terminate the ESF and the IMF
- Author:
- Anna J. Schwartz
- Publication Date:
- 08-1998
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Treasury Department's Exchange Stabilization Fund are undemocratic institutions unaccountable for their actions. Their current functions have little to do with their original missions. The ESF is used by the executive branch to circumvent Congress in the provision of foreign aid. Its foreign exchange interventions have, in any event, always been wasteful and ineffective at controlling the relative price of the U.S. dollar. The IMF has also been used to provide massive bailouts in the cases of Mexico in 1995 and of Asian countries since 1997. Defenders of the IMF as an international lender of last resort are misinformed since the IMF does not and cannot serve that purpose. Both institutions should be abolished, not reformed, because they are not needed to resolve currency crises and they preclude superior solutions.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Asia, and Mexico
333. America's Maligned and Misunderstood Trade Deficit
- Author:
- Daniel T. Griswold
- Publication Date:
- 04-1998
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- America's annual trade deficit, already large by historical standards, could reach a new record in 1998, fueling protectionist sentiment in Congress. Political fallout from the trade deficit numbers could impede efforts to reduce barriers to trade in the United States and abroad. Contrary to popular conception, the trade deficit is not caused by unfair trade practices abroad or declining industrial competitiveness at home. Trade deficits reflect the flow of capital across international borders, flows that are determined by national rates of savings and investment. This renders trade policy an ineffective tool for reducing a nation's trade deficit.
- Topic:
- Economics and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States