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57501. Fuelling Mistrust Between Iran and the United States

Author:
Roger Howard
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Imagine your reaction if, during last November's presidential contest, the mullahs of Iran had suddenly launched a tirade of criticism against the American system of democracy and beamed their message onto our television sets and radios for all of us to hear: democracy in the United States, the mullahs might perhaps have claimed, is a corrupt process that is determined largely by the influence of the wealthiest donors, and a process that wholly fails to address the religious needs of a secular, materialist culture.
Topic:
International Relations and Government
Political Geography:
United States, America, Iran, and Middle East

57502. Undermining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty—It Didn't Start With the Bush Administration

Author:
Stephen Zunes
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Most of the international community and arms control advocates here in the United States have correctly blamed the Bush administration for the failure of the recently-completed review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In the course of the four-week meeting of representatives of the 188 countries which have signed and ratified the treaty, the United States refused to uphold its previous arms control pledges, blocked consideration of the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, refused to rule out U.S. nuclear attacks against non-nuclear states, and demanded that Iran and North Korea—but not U.S. allies like Israel, Pakistan, and India—be singled out for UN sanctions for their nuclear programs. Thomas Graham, who served as a U.S. envoy to disarmament talks in the Clinton administration noted that the Bush administration's demands resulted in what appears to be "the most acute failure in the treaty's history."
Topic:
International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, India, Israel, and Korea

57503. Lingering Shadows of World War II

Author:
Zia Mian
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Many events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War were held this past May. Yet there has been little or no discussion of some of the most important and enduring legacies of that war, legacies that have cast long shadows ever since. Nationalism, industrial production, the bureaucratic state, and science and technology were harnessed to the cause of war in terrible new ways. It brought us the gas chambers, the systematic bombing of cities, and nuclear weapons. These three forms of modern violence are different in some significant ways, but they shared important features. Among these were centralized authority, extensive compartmentalization of responsibilities, tasks, and knowledge accompanied by strong organizational loyalty, along with scientific rationalization for the policy and technical ways of distancing perpetrators from victims.
Topic:
Security, Development, Science and Technology, and War
Political Geography:
Germany

57504. The Me Too Club

Author:
Tad Daley
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The "nuclear option" may have receded in the U.S. Senate for the time being. Unfortunately, it's still very much on the table for the two newest aspirants to the nuclear club. Not to mention those who already have their membership cards.
Topic:
International Relations and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
United States and Middle East

57505. Reflections on Vietnam and the Iraq War

Author:
Daniel Ellsberg
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
I'm often asked whether there aren't big differences between the Iraq War and Vietnam. And I'm always quick to say, of course, there are differences. In Iraq, it's a dry heat. And the language that none of our troops or diplomats speak is Arabic rather than Vietnamese.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, Human Rights, and War
Political Geography:
Iraq, Vietnam, and Arabia

57506. The Iglesias Legacy and the IDB's Future

Author:
Nadia Martinez
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
After 17 years at the helm of Latin America's largest source of development financing, the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is stepping down. Enrique Iglesias is slated to pass the reins to his successor in September. Like the recent fight over the leadership position at the Organization of American States, this contest promises to be a long and arduous process of political negotiation. As the United States attempts to maintain its traditionally hegemonic role in Latin America, Brazil is more boldly gaining some of that ground. And with annual lending to Latin American countries surpassing $8 billion annually, the IDB has significant influence over the region's economies.
Topic:
International Relations and Government
Political Geography:
United States, America, Brazil, South America, and Latin America

57507. The Network Paradigm of Strategic Public Diplomacy

Author:
R. S. Zaharna
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
With the nomination of Karen Hughes as the new undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, the United States has the potential to embark on a new and more effective phase in its communication with the international community, particularly with the Arab and Islamic world. Hughes' close working relationship with President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and other advisers in the administration's inner circle qualifies her as a communication heavyweight. If she uses this asset, she can transform the old model of public diplomacy used during the Cold War into a more strategic approach.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

57508. A Unified Security Budget for the United States, 2006

Author:
Miriam Pemberton and Marcus Corbin
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
During the last year, the ground under the security debate has begun to shift. A diverse and growing universe of voices, including former national security advisors, representatives of the business community, and the Bush administration itself, now recognizes that expanding the role of nonmilitary tools in our portfolio of security spending is necessary to keep Americans and the rest of the world safe. In the federal budget, though, where the debate takes concrete form, this shift barely registers. Small increases planned by the administration for some nonmilitary security programs would still leave the overall proportion of resources severely unbalanced.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

57509. Washington Doesn't Get Its Way in the OAS: Latin America's Coming of Age

Author:
Laura Carlsen
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The May 2 victory of Chilean Interior Minister José Miguel Insulza as secretary general of the Organization of American States ends one phase of a drama that is only beginning. The showdown over the leadership of the OAS began when Costa Rica's former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez resigned in October 2004 due to corruption charges in his home country. Rodríguez was elected by consensus and had served only three weeks of his five–year term when forced to leave.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Government
Political Geography:
America, Washington, South America, Latin America, and North America

57510. The Dragon the Chrysanthemum

Author:
Conn Hallinan
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
At first glance, the growing tension between China and Japan seems almost inexplicable. Massive anti-Japanese demonstrations in China over events that took place more than half a century ago? A heated exchange filled with mutual threats over an offshore petroleum field that western oil companies think is not worth exploiting? Has a Shinto shrine and slanted textbooks really driven the two great Asian powers to the edge of a Cold War or worse?
Topic:
International Relations and War
Political Geography:
Japan, China, Israel, and Asia