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Begin New Search Political Geography America Content Type Commentary and Analysis Publication Year within 25 Years Publication Year within 10 Years

1. Trump Isn’t Really Trying to End America’s Wars

Author:
Andrew J. Bacevich
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Let us stipulate at the outset that President Trump is a vulgar and dishonest fraud without a principled bone in his body. Yet history is nothing if not a tale overflowing with irony. Despite his massive shortcomings, President Trump appears intent on recalibrating America’s role in the world. Initiating a long-overdue process of aligning U.S. policy with actually existing global conditions just may prove to be his providentially anointed function.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus

2. The Ukraine Whistleblowers and the Rise of Partisan Whistleblowing

Author:
Hannah Gurman
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
This moment should spark a conversation about the place of national security whistleblowing in a democratic society.
Topic:
International Security, International Affairs, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Political Activism, and Democracy
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus

3. Congress Can Be Bipartisan: The Case of Human Rights

Author:
USIP
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
In an American political culture coarsened by belligerence, dozens within Congress still are shaping bipartisan foreign policies to maintain a strong U.S. defense of human rights worldwide. The ability of Congress to sustain bipartisanship on human rights issues is vital to long-term international stability and U.S. national security, according to the Republican and Democratic co-chairs of Congress’ prominent human rights group—the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
America

4. U.S. Leverage in South Asia: Enough to Meet Policy Goals?

Author:
Fred Strasser
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
As the U.S. seeks to advance its interests in South Asia 17 years into the Afghanistan war, a basic policy question unavoidably presents itself: How much leverage does America really have in the region?
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
America and South Asia

5. Why Americans pay too much for health care

Author:
Institute CATO
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Why do we pay $600 for EpiPens, a long-existing piece of technology that contains just a dollar’s worth of medicine? Why do hospitalized patients so frequently receive bills laden with inflated charges that come out of the blue from out-ofnetwork providers or that demand payment for services that weren’t delivered?
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

6. Cato Educates Capitol Hill

Author:
Cato Institute
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Congressional staff members play a vital role in shaping policy—they make decisions on which issues their bosses prioritize, which arguments the representatives and senators hear, and what language makes it into legislation. Cato’s popular Capitol Hill Briefings offer these staff members timely briefings on the most pressing issues facing their offices. At these events, Cato scholars and other experts update the staff on their latest scholarship and policy recommendations, critique current or upcoming legislation, and answer staffers’ questions.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

7. Your Uber Ambulance Has Arrived

Author:
Institute Cato
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Ambulances are notoriously expensive—one ride may cost more than $1,000, and insurance companies frequently refuse to cover them. In the past, patients had few alternatives to get themselves to the hospital—but in “Does Ride-Sharing Substitute for Ambulances?” (Research Briefs in Economic Policy no. 114), Leon S. Moskatel of Scripps Mercy Hospital and David J. G. Slusky of the University of Kansas demonstrate how the age of Uber and Lyft is changing that and is reducing expensive and unnecessary ambulance trips.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

8. Could Trump Deliver Iran an Oil Windfall?

Author:
Richard Nephew
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:
The president’s recent statement that OPEC should reduce their prices may merely be an attempt to assign blame for rising gasoline prices in the midst of the US driving season or an even more cynical attempt to rally his political base in opposition to globalism. Or, it may have something to do with the president’s own decision to create a crisis with Iran. While attention is duly paid to how much Americans have to pay at the pump, a more subtle and complicated story will soon play out with respect to Iran and the reapplication of US sanctions ordered by Trump on May 8, 2018. In fact, unless oil prices are contained, the primary result of the president’s action may be to ensure that Iran profits from the oil market risks that sanctions have created.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Geopolitics, and Global Political Economy
Political Geography:
America, Iran, and Global Focus

9. The United States braces itself for the midterm elections: Is there a foreign-policy dimension?

Author:
Ville Sinkkonen
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Foreign policy rarely plays a decisive role in congressional elections in the US. However, President Trump’s tendency to mix foreign policy into the domestic debate might increase its salience. Electoral success for the Democrats could both constrain and embolden the president’s international conduct.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

10. Government of the People, by the Elite, for the Rich Unequal Responsiveness in an Unlikely Case

Author:
Lea Elsässer, Svenja Hense, and Armin Schäfer
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Empirical studies have shown that US politics is heavily tilted in favor of the better-off, as political decisions tend to reflect the preferences of the rich while largely ignoring those of the poor and the middle classes. These findings have prompted a lively debate about potential mechanisms that cause this pattern of unequal responsiveness. Existing studies suggest that specific characteristics of the political system are a major explanatory factor – in particular, private donations and campaign financing. We build on these studies but focus for the first time on an entirely different case. In this paper, we ask whether similar patterns of unequal responsiveness are discernible in Germany, which not only is a more egalitarian country, but also funds election campaigns entirely differently from the US. We analyze an original dataset of more than 800 survey questions posed between 1980 and 2013. The questions deal with specific political decisions debated at the time and cover a broad range of politically relevant topics. Our results show a notable association between political decisions and the opinions of the rich, but none or even a negative association for the poor. Representational inequality in Germany thus resembles the findings for the US case, despite its different institutional setting. Against this background, we conclude by discussing potential mechanisms of unequal responsiveness
Topic:
International Political Economy and Hegemony
Political Geography:
America

11. Homeland Security Recommendations

Author:
Aspen Institute
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The Aspen Institute Homeland Security Group (AIHSG) is a bipartisan group of homeland security and counterterrorism experts who convene periodically to discuss these issues and to make recommendations to policy makers. To ensure the Department of Homeland Security makes further progress toward securing the homeland against ever evolving threats the AIHSG urges the President, Secretary, and Congress enact their recommendations.
Topic:
International Relations and International Security
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus

12. The US and the Iran Deal: No Time for Magical Thinking

Author:
Simon Palamar
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
In July 2015, the Islamic Republic of Iran, along with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, signed on to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement in which Iran would put substantial and verifiable limits on its nuclear science and engineering activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Many observers hailed the agreement as an important — if imperfect — tool for keeping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Former US President Barack Obama argued that “the United States, our partners, and the world are more secure because of the JCPOA.”
Topic:
International Security and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America and Iran

13. Financing the Reagan 600-ship Naval Modernization Program, 1981-89

Author:
William Schneider
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Hudson Institute
Abstract:
Testimony Before the United States Senate Committee on the Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

14. The Current State of Retirement Security in the United States

Author:
Walter Russell Mead
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Hudson Institute
Abstract:
Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

15. The Fund for American Studies: Celebrating 50 Years of Educating Leaders Throughout the World

Author:
Roger R Ream
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:
The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) was founded in 1967 with a mission focused on influencing the intellectual climate in the world by giving young people entering leadership positions a balanced perspective on political and economic systems. It was founded in the heat of the Cold War and during a period of growing unrest and even violent upheaval on college campuses. Many of the founders of the organization were actively engaged in international programs, including former Congressman Walter Judd and political organizer David R. Jones.
Topic:
International Organization and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

16. The Power of Rapid-Response Public Diplomacy: The IVLP On Demand

Author:
Monica Damberg-Ott
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:
The U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, or IVLP, is often referred to as the “gold standard” of exchange programs th within the public diplomacy community. The program celebrated its 75 anniversary in 2015, and more than 200,000 International Visitors have engaged with Americans through the IVLP, including more than 505 current or former Chiefs of State or Heads of Government,1 since its inception in 1940. Margaret Thatcher, Hamid Karzai, and Indira Gandhi, to name just a few, are alumni. But with recent budget constraints and the need to demonstrate immediate, results-driven programming, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is placing greater emphasis on its most flexible rapid-response exchanges. Among those programs is the highly adaptable and policy-responsive option: the IVLP On Demand. So how does it differ from the original model, how does it compare, and how might it help show results more quickly?
Topic:
Diplomacy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America

17. U.S.-Ghana Relations Are Strong Following December 2016 Elections

Author:
Robert Jackson
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:
Ghana is one of the leading democracies on the African continent, with multiple peaceful interparty transitions since the return of multi-party democracy in 1992; a good record on human rights; an apolitical military; and a lively, free media. Ghanaians often note that whenever the Republican Party wins the White House, Ghana’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) wins Jubilee House—a coincidental tradition that held true again in 2016. Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary elections were peaceful, transparent, and credible; U.S. engagement played a critical role in that success, as well as in the resulting peaceful transition of power.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America and Ghana

18. The United States and Namibia: Promoting Success in a Young African Democracy

Author:
Thomas F Daughton
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:
ust 27 years old, the Republic of Namibia is among Africa’s youngest countries, but one that stands out on the continent for its functioning multiparty democracy, open market economy and history of peaceful transitions of presidential power. The reasons for Namibia’s success lie in the international process that created it and in the pragmatism of its people. That international process and the United States’ involvement in it have also complicated the U.S.-Namibia relationship in the last three decades. But the United States has long recognized that an investment in the success of a country like Namibia is a strategic long-term investment in our own security. With that in mind, the United States has invested heavily since Namibian independence in 1990 to help ensure that the young country succeeds.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
America and Ghana

19. The United States and Colombia: A Special Relationship

Author:
Juan Pinzón Carlos
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:
The world has changed for Colombia. For the first time in more than 50 years, we are a nation building a lasting and stable peace. What has not changed is the special relationship Colombia shares with the United States. As the oldest and strongest democracies in the Western Hemisphere, the relationship between our two countries is deeply rooted in our steadfast commitment to the shared values of democracy, freedom and equality.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
America and Colombia

20. “Alternative” Strategic Perceptions in U.S.-China Relations

Author:
David J. Firestein and Euhwa Tran
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The EastWest Institute has released a new report on U.S.-China relations—"Alternative” Strategic Perceptions in U.S.-China Relations. The report lays out the differing strategic perceptions of the United States and China with respect to some of the most topical and challenging issues on the U.S.-China agenda today. These starkly differing perceptions inform and exacerbate actual policy and fuel mistrust and broad mutual strategic suspicion. By exposing the diverging perceptions of the two countries and bringing those perceptions into the fabric of bilateral discourse more explicitly and honestly, this report creates the basis for a more honest, substantive, constructive, fruitful and mutually beneficial dialogue.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
China and America