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56941. Armed Conflict in Georgia: A Case in Humanitarian Action and Peacekeeping

Author:
S. Neil MacFarlane, Larry Minear, and Stephen D. Shenfield
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
Abstract:
This is a study of the world's response to internal armed conflicts in the Republic of Georgia. The principal features of that response on the humanitarian side were the delivery of emergency assistance and the protection of human rights. That response also included the establishment of peacekeeping operations, both by the Commonwealth of Independent States, with the United Nations' blessing, and by the United Nations itself. This report assesses the performance and effectiveness of humanitarian and peacekeeping activities and reviews the interaction between the two.
Topic:
Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Georgia

56942. Imagining a Free Cuba: Carlos Manuuel de Cespedes and José Martí

Author:
Wayne S. Smith, Cathy L. Jrade, Geaorge Monteiro, Nelson R. Orringer, Louis A. Pérez,Jr, Ivan A. Schulman, and Thomas E. Skidmore
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
Abstract:
Thirty-five years ago, Cuba was at the center of a Cold War confrontation that brought us closer to the brink of a nuclear holocaust than we had ever been before. The 1962 missile crisis, eventually solved by diplomacy, was the highest point of danger in the troubled history of mankind since World War II. That terrifying experience alone should justify our efforts to understand how Cuba has reached its present moment in history.
Political Geography:
Cuba

56943. The Policies of Mercy: UN Coordination in Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Rwanda

Author:
Antonio Donini
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
Abstract:
As it struggles through the first decade of the post-Cold War era, the international community is confronted with an unprecedented increase in the number of internal conflicts and complex emergencies. With some 120 active wars and more starting each year than are ending, the world is a much less safer place than ten years ago. Never since the end of World War II has conflict-related displacement reached such levels. Fifty million refugees and internally displaced persons, or one in every 115 living human beings, require assistance. Tens of millions more do not show up on the statistics, such as the direct and indirect casualties of conflict and violent or forgotten crises. More than 90 percent of the casualties are civilians.

56944. Responses to the Quest for Nationhood, 1986-1996

Author:
Larry Minear, Thomas G. Weiss, William G. O'Neill, Robert Maguire, Edwige Blutansky, Jaques Fomerand, and Sarah Zaidi
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
Abstract:
In his inaugural speech February 7, 1991, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told representatives of the international community that Haiti “will be looking forward to a close cooperation of our countries with mutual support and assistance.” That cooperation would help the country fulfill its dreams of becoming “a democracy [that] will mean justice and well-being for all.

56945. War and Humanitarian Action in Chechnya

Author:
Greg Hansen and Robert Seeley
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
Abstract:
The war in Chechnya has presented unique obstacles to effective humanitarian action. The continued precariousness of the humanitarian effort points to the need to reflect upon the experiences of humanitarian actors in this perilous setting and to identify and clarify lessons to be learned from unfolding events. This report appraises the context and effectiveness of humanitarian action associated with the war in Chechnya and offers several recommendations.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and War
Political Geography:
Chechnya

56946. Global Cooperation in Science, Engineering, and Medicine

Author:
Susan Raymond and Rodney Nichols
Publication Date:
02-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
New York Academy of Sciences
Abstract:
Many experienced observers have noted a persistent fatigue in current systems of international cooperation on research in science, engineering, and medicine. The institutions designed to serve global science since the end of World War II are not keeping pace with the changes sweeping science and technology. In the mid–1990s, the unease and uncertainty has become acute. Yet, simultaneously, research and education in science, engineering, and medicine are themselves becoming increasingly international in scope. This trend is not created by formal collaborative institutions. Instead, the factors setting the global pace include the rise of high–capacity, rapid modes of electronic communications; the end of the Cold War and the defense–based motivations that drove much innovation; the expanding scientific capacity throughout the world; and the emergence of new scientific problems that are increasingly global in nature and widely acknowledged as common priorities among scientists and nations. The uncertain “fit” between traditional institutional arrangements and tomorrow's generation of scientific activities has engendered widespread concern. A central question is how best to re–tool existing mechanisms to serve most effectively international collaboration in addressing the societal goals and research frontiers of the 21st century. The prescription for possible therapies, however, must be accompanied by a clear understanding of the nature of the symptoms and a careful analysis of the current state of existing, collaborative mechanisms.
Topic:
Government, International Cooperation, International Political Economy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
New York

56947. Caribbean Basin Economic Development and the Section 936 Tax Credit

Author:
Richard L. Bernal and Stephen E. Lamar
Publication Date:
12-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
In 1986, as part of a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code, the U.S. Congress made a valuable source of private sector financing available for Caribbean economic development. Less than 10 years later, as part of a series of measures to balance the U.S. federal budget and enact a package of tax cuts for small businesses, the Congress approved legislation to terminate this source of funds for the Caribbean.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Development, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Caribbean

56948. Intellectual Property, Trade, and Economic Development: A Road Map for the FTAA Negotiations

Author:
Carlos A. Primo Braga and Robert M. Sherwood
Publication Date:
09-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
Intellectual property (IP) protection is becoming increasingly crucial in the context of new international commitments, the competition for private investments, and global “technology racing.” This paper examines the common base for a Western Hemisphere IP arrangement and notes the most prominent existing regional integration accords that include IP commitments. It assesses the recent Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Law, and International Trade and Finance

56949. The Politics of Free Trade in the Western Hemisphere

Author:
Manuel Pastor and Carol Wise
Publication Date:
08-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
Just as the 1980s now stand out as the decade of the debt crisis in Latin America, the 1990s have become the free trade decade. After a number of failed attempts at trade liberalization during the 1970s, many states in the region now have made dramatic progress in their efforts to reduce tariffs and eliminate quantitative restrictions (QRs) (see Table 1). The strongest evidence of this new openness is reflected in Mexico's 1994 entry into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada, the stated intention at the 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami to develop a plan for the full expansion of hemispheric free trade, and the ongoing consolidation of such subregional trade pacts as South America's Southern Cone Common Market (MER - COSUR), including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Topic:
Development, Government, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, Brazil, South America, Uruguay, Caribbean, North America, and Paraguay

56950. The Binational Center and U.S. Foreign Policy

Author:
Louis P. Falino
Publication Date:
06-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
The binational center (BNC) has been one of the most successful elements in U.S. cultural programs overseas and, as such, has made important contributions to U.S. foreign policy. Through the historical study of binational centers, one sees that contemporary issues in cultural relations and public diplomacy have been dealt with on many occasions in the past, and they resurface according to the demands of the moment. This historical study of BNCs thus provides a way of reflecting upon and reconsidering perennial issues involving cultural programs and the effective conduct of U.S. foreign policy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States