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Begin New Search Topic International Political Economy Content Type Policy Brief Publication Year within 25 Years

31. Overcoming ‘Boom and Bust’? Analyzing National Shipbuilding Plans in Canada and Australia

Author:
Jeff Collins
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
While both Canada and Australia share similar constitutional frameworks and imperial histories, they are also no stranger to procurement challenges. Cost overruns, delays, regionalism, and protracted intellectual property disputes have all been part of major defence acquisition projects in recent decades. This Policy Paper analyzes the largest and most expensive procurement projects undertaken by either country, Canada’s $73 billion (estimated) National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), launched in 2010, and Australia’s A$90 billion Naval Shipbuilding Plan (NSP), launched in 2017. Each project represents an attempt to implement a rational, multi-decade approach to naval acquisition. Driven by a desire to overcome previous boom-and-bust cycles, the NSS and NSP aim to create a sustainable shipbuilding sector capable of meeting the immediate and future naval demands of Ottawa and Canberra. Neither country has attempted a shipbuilding plan on this scale before.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

32. The Arctic is Warming and Turning Red: Implications for Canada and Russia in an Evolving Polar Region

Author:
Ron Wallace
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Canada and the Russian Federation have pursued significantly different strategies for economic development and security in their respective circumpolar regions. These policies have resulted in very different northern strategic outcomes. While Canada and its circumpolar neighbours (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and the United States) have advanced their polar resource claims through the UN, Russia has taken additional bold steps to secure its polar resources. Events since 2000 have demonstrated a fierce Russian political resolve to secure its economic independence from the West and to achieve a prominent place on the world geopolitical stage. In a steadily warming Arctic, Russia has recognized the potential economic and strategic significance of its Northern Sea Route and is now the foremost military and shipping leader in the circumpolar region. Russia continues to accelerate its efforts to re-open abandoned former Soviet Siberian military bases and to construct new operational bases. The largest Russian military build-up in the polar region since 1991 provides an indication that, consistent with its geopolitical aspirations, Russia is prepared to assert and defend its Arctic resources and sea routes. This accelerating Russian presence and military capability, paralleled by certain Chinese initiatives (China increasingly views itself as a near-Arctic state) have occasioned not just re-evaluations, but a reinvigoration of certain Arctic defence postures among circumpolar allies in NATO.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

33. Strong Leadership And Effective Partnerships For Successful Municipal FTTP Projects

Author:
Jennifer Terry
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
Abstract:
Access to affordable, high-speed Internet is essential for individuals, businesses, and government to function effectively in the 21st century. Many U.S. and European communities lack access to affordable, high-speed Internet. Communities have tried to address this issue by building municipally-owned fiber networks or by engaging the private sector in municipal efforts to expand access to affordable, high-speed Internet.
Topic:
International Political Economy, Science and Technology, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

34. Reform In Armenia Assessing Progress and Opportunities for U.S. Policy

Author:
Johnathan Katz
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
Abstract:
Thank you for the opportunity to join this distinguished panel to discuss Armenia’s democratic transformation and steps the United States and other international partners can take to work with the government in Yerevan, along with Armenian citizens and the Armenian diaspora, to strengthen rule of law and transparency in Armenia. As you may be aware, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and our Black Sea Trust based in Bucharest continue to support democracy, civil society, and free media in Armenia and across Eastern Europe.
Topic:
International Relations, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Armenia

35. Achieving Political Inclusion

Author:
GMF
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
Abstract:
Democracies are facing serious stresses at this time. We believe that by making political practice in our democracies more inclusive, we will also make our democracies more robust and enduring, and better showcase this political system which is well suited to organize stable, peaceful and lawful societies for our world on the move. In this reader, we introduce themes for action and share perspectives of diverse political actors and activists in the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) network. We look toward democratic practice where the full involvement of citizens increases the total amount of power available in our societies, rather than zero sum approaches to democratic practice where power is considered to be limited and the temptation is therefore to monopolize and to withhold it.
Topic:
Gender Issues, International Political Economy, and Income Inequality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

36. Trump Tariffs Primarily Hit Multinational Supply Chains, Harm US Technology Competitiveness

Author:
Mary Lovely
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
he Trump administration’s Section 301 tariffs are an ineffective response to US concerns about China’s high-technology aspirations. They are a prime example of 20th century tools aimed at the knowledge-embodying trade flows of the 21st century. Instead, these tariffs disadvantage American producers and harm US allies operating in East Asia while missing the mark on penalizing Chinese domestic firms that may have misappropriated US and other advanced economies’ technologies.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
America

37. NAFTA Termination: Legal Process in Canada and Mexico

Author:
Tetyana Payosova, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, and Euijin Jung
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The mechanics of US withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have been widely explored, with an emerging consensus among legal experts that President Donald Trump does have the authority to pull out of the accord. This Policy Brief examines the legal procedures in Canada and Mexico in the event that either country decides to withdraw or terminate NAFTA. Relative to the United States, Canada and Mexico have clearer legal procedures. To terminate NAFTA in Canada, the Department of International Trade would send the notice to withdrawal upon approval by the Cabinet and the Order in Council. In Mexico, the president can notify withdrawal from NAFTA under Article 2205, following Senate approval. To raise tariffs to the MFN level, Canada requires amendment of federal statutes that requires passage in both chambers of the Parliament through regular procedures. To raise its tariffs, Mexico requires a bill to amend federal legislation that has the approval of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Canada and Mexico

38. How to Solve the Greek Debt Problem

Author:
Jeromin Zettelmeyer et al
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Greece’s debt currently stands at close to €330 billion, over 180 percent of GDP, with almost 70 percent owed to European official creditors. The fact that Greece’s public debts must be restructured is by now widely accepted. What remains controversial, however, is the extent of debt relief needed to make Greece’s debt sustainable.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Greece

39. Five Reasons Why the Focus on Trade Deficits Is Misleading

Author:
Robert Z. Lawrence
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
President Trump has asserted that trade balances are a key measure of a nation’s commercial success and that large US trade deficits prove that past trade approaches have been flawed. But trade deficits are not in fact a good measure of how well a country is doing with respect to its trade policies. Many of the assumptions on which the administration’s beliefs rest are not supported by the evidence. This Policy Brief argues that trade deficits are not necessarily bad, do not necessarily cost jobs or reduce growth, and are not a measure of whether foreign trade policies or agreements with other countries are fair or unfair. Efforts to use trade policy and agreements to reduce either bilateral or overall trade deficits are also unlikely to produce the effects the administration claims they will and instead lead to friction with US trading partners, harming the people the policies claim to help
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

40. Why Has the Stock Market Risen So Much Since the US Presidential Election?

Author:
Olivier Blanchard, Christopher G. Collins, Mohammad R Jahan-Parvar, and Thomas Pellet
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Immediately following the US presidential election in November 2016, many economists were concerned that increased uncertainty over economic policy would lead to a decline in the US stock market. From the time of the election to the end of 2017, however, the stock market, as measured by the Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 index, increased by about 25 percent. Price swings since then have led investors and economists to increasingly ask: Was the stock market rise justified by an increase in actual and expected future dividends, or did it reflect unhealthy price developments, which may reverse in the future?
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Markets