Search

Begin New Search Political Geography United States of America Content Type Working Paper Publication Year within 3 Years Publication Year within 1 Year

101. Digital legislation: convergence or divergence of models? A comparative look at the European Union, China and the United States

Author:
Aifang Ma
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:
In 1964, when the Canadian pioneer of media studies, Marshall McLuhan, argued that media is an extension of man, he did not foresee that future media, at the beginning of the 21st century, would produce increasingly pernicious effects[1]. While media have indeed extended human capacities, they have also shown to be generators of complicated social and ethical problems. In the same year philosopher, Herbert Marcuse, who analysed relations between Man and Machine from a deeply pessimistic viewpoint. His predictions seem to be corroborated by what we are now experiencing: the easy life made possible by technological progress has progressively gnawed into the individual critical reasoning. Instead of imposing their control over technologies, human beings are increasingly at their mercy. The domination of technology over individuals is all the stronger, since it seems harmless and is pleasant to use. In this context, the regulation of digital technologies[2] is flourishing in autocracies and democracies alike. Its importance goes far beyond the need of authoritarian regimes to cut off the transmission of destabilising content. It is universal since digital technologies set common challenges to national governments: illegal collection of users’ personal data, precarious working conditions for gig workers, monopolistic practices of large platforms, threats to human dignity and domestic security. These problems are causing trouble to all governments around the world. This article aims to be pragmatic. Beyond differences in political regime, it studies the regulatory approaches of the three largest digital economies in the world: China, the United States, and the European Union. The three models can potentially hinder or stimulate the development of digital technologies without necessarily opposing each other.
Topic:
European Union, Media, Legislation, and Digital Policy
Political Geography:
China, Europe, Asia, North America, and United States of America

102. The European Union between the United States and China: should we choose between equidistance and following?

Author:
Philippe Etienne
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:
The competition between the world's two major powers structures all international relations and influences the choices made by all other countries. The latter fear the consequences of tensions between the two giants and, in the main, want to avoid having to choose. But the problem is not the same everywhere. To put it simply, China benefits in the "global South" from a certain hostility towards the West, while the United States can play on the fear aroused by the emergence of Chinese power, which no longer hesitates to resort to power relations, especially in Eastern Asia[1]. Against this backdrop, Europe is in a delicate situation. It must contend with its assimilation to the United States as being part of the “West” which is increasingly rejected. Although it shares much with its American ally, particularly the values of democracy and security arrangements, it does not always have the same interests as the United States and must preserve its room for manoeuvre if it is not to be dragged into decisions in which it has no part. Before examining how the European Union is facing up to this challenge, and how it should behave in the future, the driving forces and prospects of the Sino-American rivalry require exploration.
Topic:
International Relations, Globalization, European Union, Global South, and Rivalry
Political Geography:
China, Europe, Asia, North America, and United States of America

103. Time to Reset the U.S. Trade Agenda

Author:
Peter Harrell
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The strongest argument for rebooting U.S. trade policy ultimately may not be geopolitics, nor even the economic argument that trade deals will help an already-strong U.S economy. Instead, the best argument is that trade is a key element of solving global challenges that affect us all, like the green energy transition and the risks of AI and the digital economy.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, Geopolitics, Digital Economy, Artificial Intelligence, Trade Policy, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

104. Inevitable Fractures: The Ukraine War and the Global System

Author:
Ashley J. Tellis
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The divisions in contemporary geopolitics are an inevitable consequence of colliding ideas and interests against the backdrop of American primacy. The United States should accept their reality while advancing its own interests in a competitive strategic environment.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Strategic Competition, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Ukraine, North America, and United States of America

105. Judging disparities: Recidivism risk, image motives and in-group bias on Wisconsin criminal courts

Author:
Ludovica Ciasullo and Martina Uccioli
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:
This paper studies racial in-group disparities in Wisconsin, which has one of the highest Black-to-White incarceration rate ratios among all U.S. states. The analysis is motivated by a model in which a judge may want to incarcerate more due to three factors: (1) when the defendant has higher recidivism risk and is more likely to commit future crimes; (2) when the defendant is from a different group (anti-out-group preferences); and (3) when the defendant is of the same group but that group is responsible for a majority of crimes (image motives). Further, a judge may have better information on recidivism risk due to two factors: (4) becoming more experienced, and (5) sharing the same group as the defendant. We take these ideas to new data on 1 million cases from Wisconsin criminal courts, 2005-2017. Using a recidivism risk score that we construct using machine learning tools to predict reoffense, we find evidence that judges do tend to incarcerate defendants with a higher recidivism risk (1). Consistent with judge experience leading to better information on defendant recidivism risk (4), we find that more experienced judges are more responsive in jailing defendants with a high recidivism risk score. Looking at racial disparities between majority (White) and minority (Black) judges and defendants, we find no evidence for anti-out-group bias (2). Consistent with image motives (3), we find that when the minority group is responsible for most crimes, minority-group judges are harsher on their in-group. Finally, consistent with judges having better information on recidivism risk for same-group defendants (5), we find that judges are more responsive to the recidivism risk score for defendants from the same group
Topic:
Law Enforcement, Courts, Incarceration, Structural Racism, and Criminal Recidivism
Political Geography:
North America, Wisconsin, and United States of America

106. Judicial selection and production efficiency: The role of campaign finance

Author:
Mayur Choudhary
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:
This paper studies the effect of campaign finance on judicial selection and production efficiency. Using the Supreme Court’s surprise verdict in the Citizens United v. FEC case in 2010, which generates exogenous variation in campaign finance laws, I document that the removal of such bans led to a 33% ($ 200,000) increase in the average electoral expenditure of judicial candidates and increased competition in State Supreme Court judge elections. The judicial bench also becomes populated with more business-friendly judges. State courts decide the majority of labor, contract, and administrative law disputes, and the State Supreme Court has the power to set legal precedents. Therefore, shifts in the judicial bench of the State Supreme Court affect the legal environment and the contracting choices of firms and labor. I document that labor productivity measured as value added per worker increased by 8% in treated states with judicial elections. For sectors more reliant on contract enforcement, labor productivity is higher in states with judicial elections. Overall, removing constraints on electoral finance improves competition in judicial elections, the judicial bench becomes more business-friendly, and improves production efficiency due to the alleviation of contract-enforcement frictions.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Elections, Supreme Court, Judiciary, and Campaign Finance
Political Geography:
United States of America and North America

107. Migration policy preferences and forms of trust in contexts of limited state capacity

Author:
William L. Allen, Matthew D. Bird, Luisa Feline Freier, Isabel Ruiz, and Carlos Vargas-Silva
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:
Why do citizens hold different migration policy preferences? US and European evidence suggests political trust matters by raising support for more open policies, attenuating concerns about costs and strengthening beliefs in governments’ implementation abilities. However, this may not hold in countries with limited state capacity. Instead, we argue interpersonal trust placed in policy beneficiaries matters more as citizens circumvent weaker institutions. We test this using conjoint experiments in Colombia and Peru—low-capacity countries experiencing large inflows of forcibly-displaced Venezuelans—that vary aspects of migration policies. Political trust selectively moderates preferences on migrants’ employment rights and numerical limits, contributing novel evidence of boundary conditions for this form of trust. By contrast, greater interpersonal trust is linked to more open preferences across all tested domains. Our results cast doubt on the importance of political trust for migration preferences in contexts of limited state capacity, instead highlighting its partial substitution by interpersonal trust.
Topic:
Trust, Migration Policy, and State Capacity
Political Geography:
Europe, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and United States of America

108. Foreign influence in US politics

Author:
Marco Grotteria, Max Miller, and S. Lakshmi Naaraayanan
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:
This paper documents that foreign lobbying influences US government spending. We introduce a comprehensive dataset of over 230,000 date-stamped, in-person meetings between agents representing foreign governments and individual US legislators, state governors, and employees of US executive agencies from 2000 to 2018. The data suggest that foreign agents meet disproportionately with individuals important for foreign aid and corporate subsidies, like legislators sitting on powerful congressional committees. Foreign agents also maintain connections with legislators even after they depart powerful committees, providing evidence that meetings do not just reflect short-term quid-pro-quo arrangements. Around meetings, foreign countries receive greater amounts of financial aid. Foreign firms whose governments lobby more often also receive larger corporate subsidies from areas the legislators and governors that they meet with represent. Finally, legislators who meet more often with foreign agents receive both monetary and electoral benefits, while we do not find changes in the political contributions they receive or in their probability of re-election, suggesting that legislators are not punished by their constituents for meeting with representatives of foreign countries.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Lobbying, and Foreign Influence
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

109. Spillover effects of the recent US monetary policy shocks on the South African economy: The role of monetary and fiscal policy coordination

Author:
Guangling Liu and Marrium Mustapher
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This study examines how different policy mix regimes affect the impact of recent US contractionary monetary policy on South Africa’s inflation and business cycles. The study uses a small open economy New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model with an integrated fiscal block to analyse these effects. Regime M (active monetary policy) is more effective at containing the spillover effects but leads to higher public debt, requiring larger future fiscal surpluses. The commitment to price stability under Regime M increases real interest rates, raising domestic debt service costs and the debt-to-GDP ratio. Regime F (active fiscal policy), in contrast, stabilizes debt more quickly but at the cost of higher inflation, as it does not use future surpluses to manage public debt. These spillover effects are more amplified under both Regime M and Regime F in the case of a complete exchange rate pass-through and a higher degree of trade openness, with Regime F exhibiting a stronger amplification effect.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Monetary Policy, Inflation, and Fiscal Policy
Political Geography:
Africa, South Africa, North America, and United States of America

110. The Political Economy of Conditionality and the New Industrial Policy

Author:
Fabio Bulfone, Timur Ergen, and Erez Maggor
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Conditionality was a central concern in the development literature of the 1990s. With the massive expansion of targeted public support to private firms since the Great Financial Crisis, the question of conditionality is once again at the center of industrial policy debates. Despite the growing interest in the concept, the existing literature does not provide a systematic conceptualization of conditionality in the context of industrial policy, nor does it outline the political factors that facilitate the introduction of conditionality by state actors. This paper addresses this gap by offering a systematic political economy of conditionality. We provide an overview of the literature on conditionality, focusing on different industries, historical periods, and national contexts. In doing so, we make three contributions to the debate on industrial policy. First, we distinguish between two broad instruments of conditionality: performance standards and corporate control devices. Next, we map the coalitional, institutional, ideational, and global contextual factors that facilitate conditionality. Finally, we offer two vignettes of recent industrial policy initiatives in the EU and the US as illustrative cases. We make two arguments. First, the presence of conditionality is not primarily a technical matter of political design, but is shaped by combinations of political economy factors. Second, industrial policy conditionality provides an important theoretical lens for assessing how and where the recent revival of state activism represents a substantive break from the neoliberal order.
Topic:
Development, Industrial Policy, Political Economy, European Union, Geopolitics, and Conditionality
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America

111. Firm Size and Society: The Link Between Firm Size, Job Outcomes, and Political Attitudes

Author:
Sinisa Hadziabdic and Sebastian Kohl
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Given the recent reconcentration of the economy in many private industries, the impact of working in firms of different sizes on occupational and political outcomes is of renewed interest. Using micro-level data for the US and Germany, two most dissimilar cases in terms of labor market and political institutions, we show that large firms provide substantially more material and welfare benefits to their workers, while small firms are characterized by the highest job satisfaction and more harmonious relational dynamics. Workers in medium-sized firms appear to be “betwixt and between,” being worst off in many dimensions, thus contradicting utopias of medium-sized-firm capitalism. Within firms of similar size, we also document a significant polarization between employers’ and their employees’ job experiences and political views. Given the number of waking hours spent in the workplace, the firm, hitherto a neglected locus of social sorting and socialization through which the economy shapes society, should figure more prominently in economic sociology research.
Topic:
Economy, Labor Market, Jobs, Political Attitudes, and Job Outcomes
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, North America, and United States of America

112. On U.S.-ASEAN Relations & Trade

Author:
Shay Wester and Kaewkamol Karen Pitakdumrongkit
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
As the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) deepen their economic ties, the stakes for both sides are rising. Comprising 10 Southeast Asian nations, ASEAN stands as the fourth-largest trading partner of the United States, with bilateral trade approaching $500 billion in 2023. The region maintains a $200 billion trade surplus with the United States, mainly from high-tech electronics and manufactured goods. Southeast Asia's economic importance to the United States is substantial and growing. By early 2024, the United States had overtaken China as ASEAN's largest export market, with 15% of ASEAN's exports destined for the United States, up nearly 4% since 2018. The United States is also the largest source of cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) in ASEAN, with total stock reaching nearly $480 billion in 2023 — almost double the combined U.S. investments in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The region's potential for future growth is impressive: with nearly 700 million people and a GDP of $3.6 trillion, Southeast Asia is projected to be the world's fastest-growing trade area, driven by its young population and economic diversity. The region’s digital economy alone is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030. These dynamics position Southeast Asia as not only an economic hub but also as a linchpin in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy. Recognizing this, the U.S. and ASEAN governments have advanced their economic cooperation across multiple fronts. Bilateral ties with key Southeast Asian partners have strengthened, including upgraded partnerships with Indonesia and Vietnam, a new dialogue with Singapore on critical technologies, and an infrastructure initiative in the Philippines. At the regional level, ASEAN plays a key role in facilitating dialogue and shaping economic policies among its member states and external partners. Through mechanisms such as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the organization aligns national priorities with broader regional objectives. In 2022, the U.S.-ASEAN relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with President Biden hosting a Special Summit in Washington. The Biden administration has intensified regional cooperation by launching new ministerial dialogues, establishing a U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, and increasing investments in areas such as infrastructure, digital economy, and clean energy. However, challenges remain in U.S.-ASEAN engagement. While the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) emerged as a key cooperation platform with seven ASEAN member states, its scope remains limited and progress on trade-related aspects has stalled due to congressional opposition over digital trade, labor, and environmental standards. Concerns about U.S. commitment to the region persist, particularly due to fluctuating policies and strategic competition with China. Many ASEAN nations feel that U.S. initiatives often focus more on countering China than on addressing their economic priorities. As they navigate challenges like economic instability, climate vulnerabilities, and widening socio-economic gaps, ASEAN countries seek more tangible benefits from their engagement with the United States, including improved market access and new investments.
Topic:
Economics, Bilateral Relations, Elections, Trade, and ASEAN
Political Geography:
North America, Southeast Asia, and United States of America

113. On the Economic Security Agenda

Author:
Jane Mellsop and Mariko Togashi
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Economic security has been hitting the headlines in recent years, with the catchcry that “economic security is national security” underpinning many countries’ view of the world today. While there is no single definition of economic security, the United States and its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific are increasingly concerned about the security and resiliency of their supply chains and access to markets for strategic products, including critical minerals; the disruptions their businesses face from geopolitical, health or climate crises; inappropriate technology transfers; and the risks of economic coercion. The emphasis that each of these countries places on individual economic security issues will necessarily differ due to a range of factors such as their development status, national interests, vulnerabilities, and China policies. In 2023, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders took the first unified step to put the spotlight on economic security as a critical global challenge. Japan shepherded through a new G7 Leaders’ Statement on Economic Resilience and Economic Security at the Hiroshima Summit, highlighting the need to address economic vulnerabilities and counter exploitative practices. By taking this move, the G7 illustrated its leadership in addressing pressing global economic issues, especially as other groups, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), falter in generating collective responses and rules to address new challenges. Representing around a third of the global economy, the G7 can set the tone and the agenda for action on critical issues facing the global economy, although its small number of members is also a limitation when trying to garner broad support for new initiatives.
Topic:
Security, Economics, National Security, G7, and Resilience
Political Geography:
North America, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

114. On U.S.-China Relations & Climate

Author:
Kate Logan and Li Shuo
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Climate change, and how to confront it, is one of the most politicized issues in the American political system. Regardless of how U.S. politicians talk about climate change, its effects are increasingly dire for Americans and the entire world — including many vulnerable populations in Asia. With the United States and China accounting for around 40% of annual greenhouse gas emissions globally, the speed and scale of their collective emissions reductions will largely determine the future magnitude of economic and human damages. Moreover, how the United States and China implement climate policy and interact will also shape geopolitics, especially for Asian economies that depend on fossil fuels or those rich in minerals and technologies needed for clean energy. The nature of climate change as a common global challenge previously enabled the United States and China to forge a uniquely cooperative relationship on the issue. U.S.-China joint action famously laid the groundwork for the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015, while tempering bilateral tensions. Former President Donald Trump’s subsequent withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, however, irrevocably damaged this cooperation, along with global trust in the United States as a climate leader. And the recent emergence of U.S. economic competitiveness with China as a rare area of bipartisan consensus has further complicated the issue, as U.S. policy responses aiming to limit China’s global dominance in essential clean technologies including solar panels and electric vehicles are seen as counterproductive to the global clean energy transition. Despite this, President Joe Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris — now the Democratic presidential nominee — have supported climate cooperation as a critical area of U.S.-China convergence. This is the backdrop against which this year’s U.S. election is playing out: two parties that largely align in their view of China as the top U.S. competitor, but who hold starkly polarized views toward climate policy as an economic enabler, in Harris’s and the Democrats’ case, or as a barrier to growth that must be dismantled, as Trump and his supporters contend. The stakes are high — for U.S.-China relations, as well as for the health and safety of our planet.
Topic:
Climate Change, Politics, Bilateral Relations, Carbon Emissions, and Vulnerability
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

115. On Science & Tech Diplomacy

Author:
Akshay Mathur and Helen Zhang
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
A new era of intergovernmental science and technology cooperation has emerged, driven by the United States and its Asian partners in the Indo-Pacific such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, and India. As science and technology take primacy in the modern economy, countries are introducing laws and policies to build new sovereign capabilities, protect sensitive innovations and industries, and govern cross-border cooperation. This essay examines the key trends we have observed in the United States and select Asian countries in the Indo-Pacific, the nature of agreements being inked, and the likely direction of cooperation under the next U.S. administration.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Economics, Science and Technology, and Trade
Political Geography:
Japan, India, Taiwan, Asia, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

116. On U.S.-China Relations & Political Economy

Author:
Lizzi C. Lee and Neil Thomas
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Communist leaders may not like electoral democracy but there are few events they will pay more attention to this year than the U.S. presidential election on November 5. General Secretary Xi Jinping says U.S.-China ties are “the most important bilateral relationship in the world,” and Chinese officials, scholars, and netizens are anxious to glean insights about Republican Party candidate and former President Donald Trump and Democratic Party candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris. For Beijing, the stakes are high. The presidencies of first Trump and now Joe Biden saw the United States adopt a posture of “strategic competition” toward China that has significantly impacted the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s external environment and domestic priorities. Trump imposed tariffs on most Chinese imports to the United States, which Biden ramped up in key industries including electric vehicles. Biden introduced extensive export controls aimed at curbing China’s chip industry, which could be expanded to other sectors. Trump and Biden have both elevated U.S. support for Taiwan; strengthened restrictions on inbound and outbound investment with China; and sanctioned hundreds of Chinese government agencies, state-owned enterprises, private firms, and individuals. Biden has further prioritized working with U.S. allies and partners on economic, political, and security policies to blunt China’s influence. Both countries seek “guardrails” against crisis and conflict, but bilateral diplomacy is increasingly fraught and multilateral cooperation on global challenges is increasingly difficult. This essay analyzes the China policies of both candidates, focusing on the diplomatic and economic dimensions of U.S.-China relations, highlighting how a second Trump administration could deliver acute shocks but potential openings while Harris would likely bring continuity with Biden’s approach. It argues that Beijing has no clear preference between the two candidates. Therefore, neither election outcome would fundamentally change China’s international strategy, although the result would produce different tactical responses. It concludes with recommendations for how both Washington and Beijing can safeguard global stability while preserving national sovereignty regardless of who succeeds Biden.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Political Economy, Sovereignty, Bilateral Relations, Elections, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

117. On U.S.-China Relations & Security

Author:
Lyle Morris and Wu Xinbo
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
In the run-up to the November 2024 U.S. presidential election, national security issues are playing a key role in the campaigns of the two candidates — Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. In particular, since China has been identified as the United States biggest “strategic competitor” during both the Trump and Biden administrations, a key question is how will the trajectory of U.S.-China relations will be affected under a Harris or a Trump presidency? This article explores how both candidates will approach China if elected president. In particular, both authors will present U.S. and Chinese perspectives of how both candidates will influence bilateral relations, with a particular focus on national security. The central question to be considered is this: Will there be any discernible changes to U.S. policy towards China under a Harris or a Trump presidency? If so, what changes might be expected? Both authors agree that there will be few differences at the macro level in the China strategies of Harris and Trump: “strategic competition” has become deeply ingrained as the guiding principle within the U.S. national strategy towards China. Furthermore, national security has seeped into U.S. trade and investment policy toward China in recent years, to include greater U.S. export controls on high-technology commodities. Thus, it is likely that both candidates will continue policies that nest national security considerations within an overall economic approach toward China. However, we may expect tactical differences in both candidates’ policies regarding trade and U.S. approaches to alliances. Harris will likely continue policies under a Biden administration that prioritize the central role that U.S. alliances in Asia and Europe play in the world. While Trump will likely inject uncertainty into the role of alliances within strategic competition with China. He will also likely adopt a much more aggressive stance on trade, to possibly include heavy tariffs on China, that may destabilize an already unstable bilateral relationship.
Topic:
Security, National Security, Bilateral Relations, Strategic Competition, and Presidential Elections
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

118. On U.S.-Australia Relations & AUKUS

Author:
Dominique Fraser and Anthony Bubalo
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
The forthcoming U.S. presidential election comes at a time of great strategic uncertainty for Australia. Successive governments have said repeatedly that Australia now faces its most complex strategic environment since World War II. A key element of Australia’s response has been to embark on a fundamental re-shaping of the Australian Defence Force. AUKUS, the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, lies at the heart of this transformation. AUKUS is groundbreaking for several reasons, but mainly because it involves the transfer of nuclear submarines to Australia. What also makes the pact remarkable is the length of time it covers — the end point has been set at 2075. This means that a succession of governments will need to sustain support for what is already a complex, ambitious, and expensive endeavor. Every future U.S. election — and for that matter every Australian and UK election — will be highly consequential for AUKUS. However, two things make this November’s election particularly important. It will be the first political test of sustained U.S. political commitment to AUKUS. Whichever candidate wins will be inheriting an agreement they did not sign. Moreover, because President Trump is running there are fears that should he win, his “America First” focus might imperil the agreement. For reasons mostly unrelated to Trump, these fears are probably overstated. Yet, because the next U.S. election will determine the personality and nature of U.S. global leadership, the election will shape Australian public attitudes to an agreement that is already going to entail tough fiscal choices for future Australian governments.
Topic:
Bilateral Relations, Leadership, Fiscal Policy, Presidential Elections, and AUKUS
Political Geography:
Australia and United States of America

119. On South Asia in the Indo-Pacific

Author:
Farwa Aamer and Vivek Mishra
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
In the dynamic landscape of geopolitical shifts, U.S. policy toward South Asia has consistently been a critical area of focus. As the region continues to evolve amid changing political, economic, and security imperatives, the outcomes of the upcoming elections in the United States necessitate a reassessment of strategic priorities and approaches. This article delves into the interplay of continuity and change in the U.S. policy toward South Asia, analyzing the implications of the possible electoral shifts and how the United States can navigate its interests and partnerships in this pivotal region post-election.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Elections, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
South Asia, North America, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

120. Energy justice through policy: A comparison of US and EU approaches

Author:
Cordelia Buchanan Ponczek and Marco Siddi
Publication Date:
12-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Abstract:
Policymakers have come to consensus on the need to prioritize the low-carbon energy transition. But this comes with costs and questions of fairness. Therefore, policymakers also see transition initiatives as an opportunity to ensure more just outcomes. This has been dubbed the “just energy transition”. But what does a just energy transition mean in practice? How do policymakers bridge the gap between assessed needs – injustices – and policies that correspond to those needs? This Working Paper evaluates and compares EU and US policies aimed at the energy transition and energy justice. It considers the extent to which the European Green Deal (EGD) and the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) attempt to enshrine “energy justice”, as well as the various understandings of the term from the distribution, recognition, and procedure points of view. The paper shows that the EGD is more specific in terms of procedural justice, whereas the IRA includes more explicit clauses pertaining to recognition-based justice. Both highlight elements of distributional justice.
Topic:
Climate Change, European Union, Energy, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, and United States of America

121. Examining U.S.-Turkish Relations post October 7th

Author:
Joseph Epstein
Publication Date:
12-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:
In our latest issue of Turkeyscope, Joseph Epstein examines the US-Turkey relationship after October 7th. Erdogan's decision to diplomatically support Hamas has complicated the relationship, adding new challenges amidst a rapidly changing balance of power in the Middle East.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Hamas, October 7, and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, North America, and United States of America