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CIAO DATE: 09/02
Volume 117 No. 2 (Summer 2002)
Abstracts
The Pragmatic Fanaticism of al Qaeda: An Anatomy of Extremism in Middle Eastern Politics
Michael Doran analyzes Osama bin Laden as a rational actor, arguing that his extremist religious beliefs did not dictate his short-term political behavior, which is actually based on the principle of realpolitik. Al Qaeda’s defeat in Afghanistan resulted not because its strategic thinking was clouded by religious dogmas, but rather because the balance of power in the Middle East is inherently difficult to read.
CIA’s Strategic Intelligence in Iraq
Richard L. Russell examines the strengths and weaknesses of American intelligence during the Gulf War in gauging Iraqi political intentions and military capabilities. He finds that overall strategic intelligence served policy makers well, but that some shortcomings, particularly in human intelligence collection, need to be corrected if the United States is to successfully deal with Iraq in the post-September 11 world. The role of the CIA was diminished after the war, even though he finds that the CIA’s estimates were more accurate than those of the Defense establishment.
[Full Text, PDF Format, 18 pages, 100kb]
North Korea’s Weapons of Mass Destruction: Badges, Shields, or Swords?
Victor D. Cha examines the question about relative merits of engaging or containing North Korea that has resurfaced after President Bush’s "axis of evil" statements. The author argues that this policy question cannot be answered without an understanding of the strategic doctrine behind North Korea’s alleged nuclear weapons capabilities.
Human Rights and Domestic Violence
Darren Hawkins and Melissa Humes explain why western hemisphere states rapidly adopted policies to combat domestic violence in the 1990s. They develop a twostage model in which domestic politics drives early adopters and international socialization prods followers to action. Leader states possess autonomous women’s groups and domestic windows of opportunity, follower states are relatively weak or unstable, and nonconformist states are wealthy and stable but lack autonomous women’s groups or domestic political opportunities.
The Increasing Senate Scrutiny of Lower Federal Court Nominees
Roger E. Hartley and Lisa M. Holmes find that although the current delay in processing judicial appointments is the longest in recent history, this kind of delay and scrutiny of lower federal nominees is not a new political phenomenon. The authors argue that institutional changes have led the Senate to invigorate its role of “Advice and Consent” and have increased the political scrutiny of lower court nominations.
Jewish Kinship at a Crossroads: Lessons for Homelands and Diasporas
Yossi Shain examines the growing involvement of Jewish-Americans in what he calls the Israeli Kulturkampf and underscores how Israel is reaching out to diasporic voices in an unprecedented manner. He also evaluates how the interplay between Jewish security and Jewish identity affects the sense of kinship solidarity.
Reference Books and Other Publications of Interest
Book Reviews
James M. Lindsay and Michael E. O’Hanlon, Defending America: The Case for Limited National Missile Defense
Reviewed by Richard L. Garwin
Bradley Graham, Hit to Kill: The New Battle Over Shielding America From Missile Attack
Reviewed by James J. Wirtz
[Full Text, PDF Format, 3 pages, 52kb]
Craig Eisendrath, Melvin A. Goodman, and Gerald E. Marsh, The Phantom Defense: America’s Pursuit of the Star Wars Illusion
Reviewed by Julian Schofield
James J. Wirtz and Jeffrey A. Larsen, eds., Rockets’ Red Glare: Missile Defenses and the Future of World Politics
Reviewed by Jon Western
Ivan Eland, Putting "Defense" Back into U.S. Defense Policy: Rethinking U.S. Security in the Post-Cold War World
Reviewed by James Russell
Wilson Dizard, Jr., Digital Diplomacy: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Information Age
Reviewed by Beth Simone Noveck
Gregory J. Rattray, Strategic Warfare in Cyberspace
Reviewed by John Arquilla
John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
Reviewed by Robert J. Lieber
Richard J. Aldrich, The Hidden Hand: Britain, America and Cold War Secret Intelligence
Reviewed by Raymond L. Garthoff
John Dumbrell, A Special Relationship: Anglo-American Relations in the Cold War and After
Reviewed by Warren F. Kimball
Mark Phythian, The Politics of British Arms Sales Since 1964
Reviewed by Robert Harkavy
David M. Lampton, ed., The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform
Reviewed by Dennis Van Vranken Hickey
Chen Jian, Mao’s China and the Cold War
Reviewed by Daniel S. Markey
Steven S. Smith and Thomas F. Remington, The Politics of Institutional Choice: The Formation of the Russian State Duma
Reviewed by Juliet Johnson
Zoltan Barany and Robert G. Moser, eds., Russian Politics: Challenges of Democratization
Reviewed by Valerie Sperling
Igor Zevelev, Russia and its New Diasporas
Reviewed by Mikhail A. Alexseev
David Patrick Houghton, U.S. Foreign Policy and the Iran Hostage Crisis
Reviewed by Barbara Farnham
J. Ann Tickner, Gendering World Politics: Issues and Approaches in the Post-Cold War Era
Reviewed by Meredith Reid Sarkees
Julie A. Mertus, War’s Offense on Women: The Humanitarian Challenge in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan
Reviewed by Elisabeth Jay Friedman
John S. Sislin and Frederic S. Pearson, Arms and Ethnic Conflict
Reviewed by Chaim Kaufmann
J. Stephen Morrison and Jennifer G. Cooke, eds., Africa Policy in the Clinton Years: Critical Choices for the Bush Administration
Reviewed by John F. Clark
Howard J. Wiadra and Margaret MacLeish Mott, Catholic Roots and Democratic Flowers: Political Systems in Spain and Portugal
Reviewed by Andrew Greeley
Lawrence R. Jacobs and Robert Y. Shapiro, Don’t Pander: Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness
Reviewed by David R. Mayhew
[Full Text, PDF Format, 3 pages, 52kb]
Richard A. Posner, Frontiers of Legal Theory
Reviewed by Rogers M. Smith
Jacob Lentz, Electing Jesse Ventura: A Third-Party Success Story
Reviewed by Frank J. Sorauf
[Full Text, PDF Format, 4 pages, 56kb]
R. Allen Hays, Who Speaks for the Poor?
Reviewed by Ralph da Costa Nunez
Thomas M. Carsey, Campaign Dynamics: The Race for Governor
Reviewed by David P. Redlawsk
Eric Schickler, Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress
Reviewed by Garry Young
Colton C. Campbell and John F. Stack, Jr., eds., Congress Confronts the Court: The Struggle for Legitimacy and Authority in Lawmaking
Reviewed by Mark A. Graber
Daniel Lazare, The Velvet Coup: The Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the Decline of American Democracy
Reviewed by Richard L. Pacelle, Jr.