CIAO DATE: 10/2008
Volume: 87, Issue: 2
March/April 2008
America the Resilient: Defying Terrorism and Mitigating Natural Disasters (PDF)
Stephen E. Flynn
Summary: A climate of fear and a sense of powerlessness caused by the threats of terrorism and natural disasters are undermining American ideals and fueling political demagoguery. Rebuilding the resilience of American society is the way to reverse this and respond to today's challenges.
STEPHEN E. FLYNN is Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation (Random House, 2007), from which this essay is drawn.
Staying Alive: Why North Korea Will Not Change (PDF)
Andrei Lankov
Summary: Despite international calls for reform, the North Korean government is doing its best to maintain the domestic status quo -- and with good reason, at least from its perspective. Still, change is coming in very slow motion thanks to international aid and illegal exchanges with the outside world, which are eroding Pyongyang's legitimacy.
ANDREI LANKOV is an Associate Professor at Kookmin University, in Seoul.
Us and Them The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism (PDF)
Jerry Z. Muller
Summary: Americans generally belittle the role of ethnic nationalism in politics. But in fact, it corresponds to some enduring propensities of the human spirit, it is galvanized by modernization, and in one form or another, it will drive global politics for generations to come. Once ethnic nationalism has captured the imagination of groups in a multiethnic society, ethnic disaggregation or partition is often the least bad answer.
JERRY Z. MULLER is Professor of History at the Catholic University of America. His most recent book is The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Modern European Thought.
The Democratic Rollback The Resurgence of the Predatory State (PDF)
Larry Diamond
Summary: After decades of historic gains, the world has slipped into a democratic recession. Predatory states are on the rise, threatening both nascent and established democracies throughout the world. But this trend can be reversed with the development of good governance and strict accountability and the help of conditional aid from the West.
LARRY DIAMOND is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Co-Editor of the Journal of Democracy. This essay is adapted from his new book, The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World (Times Books, 2008), © Larry Diamond.
An Empty Revolution: The Unfulfilled Promises of Hugo Chávez (PDF)
Francisco Rodríguez
Summary: Even critics of Hugo Chávez tend to concede that he has made helping the poor his top priority. But in fact, Chávez's government has not done any more to fight poverty than past Venezuelan governments, and his much-heralded social programs have had little effect. A close look at the evidence reveals just how much Chávez's "revolution" has hurt Venezuela's economy -- and that the poor are hurting most of all.
FRANCISCO RODRÍGUEZ, Assistant Professor of Economics and Latin American Studies at Wesleyan University, was Chief Economist of the Venezuelan National Assembly from 2000 to 2004.
Arctic Meltdown: The Economic and Security Implications of Global Warming (PDF)
Scott G. Borgerson
Summary: Thanks to global warming, the Arctic icecap is rapidly melting, opening up access to massive natural resources and creating shipping shortcuts that could save billions of dollars a year. But there are currently no clear rules governing this economically and strategically vital region. Unless Washington leads the way toward a multilateral diplomatic solution, the Arctic could descend into armed conflict.SCOTT G. BORGERSON is International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Copenhagen Consensus: Reading Adam Smith in Denmark (PDF)
Robert Kuttner
Summary: Denmark has forged a social and economic model that couples the best of the free market with the best of the welfare state, transcending tradeoffs between dynamism and security, efficiency and equality. Other countries may not be able to simply copy the Danish model of social democracy, but it nonetheless offers important lessons for governments confronting the dilemmas of globalization.ROBERT KUTTNER is Co-Editor of The American Prospect, a Senior Fellow at the think tank Demos, and the author of The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity. He conducted the research for this article as a German Marshall Fund Journalism Fellow.
China and India Go to Africa: New Deals in the Developing World (PDF)
Harry G. Broadman
Summary: Economic activity between Africa and Asia, especially China and India, is booming like never before. If the problems and imbalances this sometimes creates are managed well, this expanding engagement could be an unprecedented opportunity for Africa's growth and for its integration into the global economy.
HARRY G. BROADMAN, Economic Adviser for the Africa Region at the World Bank, is the author of Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economic Frontier (World Bank, 2007), from which this essay is drawn. The views expressed here are his own.
Diplomacy in an Age of Faith Religious Freedom and National Security (PDF)
Thomas F. Farr
Summary: The United States has failed to understand the global resurgence of religiosity. Washington should put the promotion of religious freedom at the center of U.S. foreign policy -- recognizing that it is vital not only to liberty and stability abroad but also to U.S. national security.
THOMAS F. FARR is Visiting Professor of Religion and Foreign Affairs at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and the author of World of Faith and Freedom: Why Religious Liberty Is Vital to American National Security in the Twenty-first Century. He was the first Director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom.
Transforming Nations: How the WTO Boosts Economies and Opens Societies (PDF)
Peter D. Sutherland
Summary: The World Trade Organization has changed the world in the past decade by welcoming China and transforming national fortunes in Cambodia and Saudi Arabia. It provides the catalyst that political leaders need to reform.
PETER D. SUTHERLAND is Chair of BP p.l.c. and Goldman Sachs International. He was Director General of the GATT from 1993 to 1995 and Founding Director of the WTO.
Intelligent Design? The Unending Saga of Intelligence Reform (PDF)
Paul R. Pillar
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA . Tim Weiner . Doubleday , 2007 , 720 $27.95Summary: Two new books on intelligence reform -- Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes and Amy Zegart's Spying Blind -- distort the historical record. A third, by Richard Betts, rightly observes that no matter how good the spies, failures are inevitable.
PAUL R. PILLAR is on the faculty of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Concluding a long career in the Central Intelligence Agency, he served as National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005.
Bye Bye Bush: What History Will Make of 43 (PDF)
Adam Garfinkle
Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power . Fred Kaplan . Wiley , 2008 , 256 $25.95Summary: Three flawed books on George W. Bush's presidency are useful, but only for background. They focus on the administration's various errors even though sins of omission are more likely to define the Bush legacy.
ADAM GARFINKLE, Editor of The American Interest, was a speechwriter for the U.S. Secretary of State from 2003 to 2005.
Pyongyang Blues (PDF)
Victor Cha, James Kelly
To the Editor:
Leon Sigal's letter "Asian Blunders" ("Letters to the Editor," January/February 2008) misses the reality of what has been a remarkably consistent U.S. policy toward North Korea during George W. Bush's two terms as president: use diplomacy to seek a "peaceful resolution" to the North's decades-long nuclear weapons program. Some figures either in or close to the administration have made remarks suggesting that nothing less than regime change would suffice, but they were and are without support from the president.
To the Editor: Misunderstanding India (PDF)
Rajiv Sikri
To the Editor:
R. Nicholas Burns' case ("America's Strategic Opportunity With India," November/December 2007) for a U.S.-Indian partnership rests on flawed assumptions. Contrary to what Burns states, the nuclear issue has not been the key point keeping India and the United States apart. Indian mistrust of the United States is rooted in the decades-old U.S. policy of military and diplomatic support for Pakistan. The United States' opposition to India's becoming a nuclear weapons power and its unwillingness to support India's permanent membership in the UN Security Council have only strengthened Indian misgivings.
To the Editor: Chinese Ghosts (PDF)
Harold Brown
To the Editor:
G. John Ikenberry propagates a misconception ("The Rise of China and the Future of the West," January/February 2008) by using GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) to conclude that China will surpass the United States in terms of economic weight sometime around 2020. A nation's weight in the world economy is primarily exerted through imports and exports, investment and capital flows. All of these take place at currency exchange rates, not at PPP. A haircut in Wuhan may cost a dollar's worth of yuan and be worth $15 to the Chinese GDP at PPP, but its effect on the outside world's economy is nothing, at least not until China can export haircuts.
To the Editor: Russian Handshake (PDF)
Harry C. Blaney III
To the Editor:
Ronald Asmus' article "Europe's Eastern Promise" (January/February 2008) was right on the fundamental importance of promoting stability, security, and democracy in eastern Europe. However, such an approach should be combined with a Western strategy to engage Russia in major efforts to promote cooperation and Russia's integration with the West...
No Peace in Jerusalem (PDF)
Stephanie London, David Anthony Abruzzi
To the Editor:
L. Carl Brown begins his review of Lords of the Land ("Recent Books on International Relations," January/February 2008) this way: "After the Six-Day War, Israel could have negotiated a restoration of the territories conquered in return for a definitive peace settlement with its Arab neighbors." Really? When was that? Was that before or after the Khartoum resolution of September 1, 1967, when eight Arab heads of state committed themselves to "no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it"?