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By James Locher
02 Sep 2010
World Politics Review
The Washington Post's recent series, "Top Secret America,"
depicts significant organizational challenges in the intelligence
community. Many of its observations have merit, but organizational
dysfunction is not confined to the intelligence system. The Post's
description of the sprawling, uncoordinated intelligence bureaucracy
mirrors the shortcomings of the overarching national security system.
By Daniel McDowell
10 Aug 2010 |
World Politics Review
Beijing announced last month that it was unpegging its currency
from the dollar and implementing a more flexible exchange rate system. With more
than a month of this new regime in the books, American
politicians are unimpressed with the yuan's appreciation against
the dollar. But examples from the recent past reveal that patience outperforms bluster when it comes to addressing Beijing's currency policy.
By Matt Armstrong
02 Aug 2010 |
World Politics Review
One rarely examined element of American public diplomacy is
the impact of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which for all practical
purposes labels U.S. public diplomacy and government broadcasting as
propaganda. This shows a lack of confidence and understanding of U.S.
public diplomacy and international broadcasting and ignores the
ways in which information and people now move across porous, often
non-existent borders.
By Frankie Sturm
01 Aug 2010 |
World Politics Review
Disney is picking up steam in China, and in addition to bringing cartoon
characters and theme parks, it's also bringing the English
language. U.S. policymakers should take notice. Disney will spearhead an expansion of
English-language schools in China, which the company says could deliver operating earnings of more than $100
million. Teaching English is good for business. It can also deliver strategic benefits.
By Joshua Foust and Paul Meinshausen
28 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
As Gen. David Petraeus takes over the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan,
he is right to continue a strategy of counterinsurgency and to strengthen it with a plan that seeks to give local Afghan communities the means to defend themselves. However, both the recently announced local defense plan and the
over-arching counterinsurgency of which it is a part take the wrong
path to reducing violence in Afghanistan.
By Richard Gowan and Bruce D. Jones
26 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
International officials like talking about conflict
prevention, but they are uncomfortable talking about how
conflicts actually work. Instead, they talk about how greed and natural
resources fuel violence, reducing rapacious governments and marauding
rebels to rational economic actors. Left
unexamined are the questions of how and why politicians decide whether
or not to stir up or harness popular angst.
By Amy Lieberman
21 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
Though foreign aid to Haiti is reaching the
government at a sluggish rate, waves of assistance to international aid
organizations working there continue to flow. But a continued reliance on organizations such as the Red Cross and Oxfam International could place Haiti on an unsustainable
path -- one that circumvents the broken national government and excludes
the Haitian people from rebuilding their own country.
By Joshua Gross
19 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
Lists of proscribed terrorist groups are an important element of U.S. counterterrorism policy. But
they are a blunt instrument -- too
resistant to modification when political realities shift. Worst of all, they force the U.S. to adopt a uniform policy that
disregards the variety among terrorist entities in size, location,
ideology and capabilities -- and the differences in how they might
respond to incentives and disincentives.
By Ambassador Erlan Idrissov
14 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
Last month, the Conference for Interaction and Confidence-Building
Measures in Asia (CICA) passed an historic milestone, as 36 Asian nations met for the first time
outside of Kazakhstan for a summit meeting in Istanbul. Regrettably,
Western media coverage of the summit focused almost exclusively on one
sensational event: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tirade
against Israel's interception of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza.
By Michael A. Cohen
09 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
In the two weeks since Gen. David Petraeus was nominated to be the new
commander for U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan, continuity has
been the dominant theme in describing what his replacement of ousted
Gen. Stanley McChrystal represents. But
continuity is the worst possible option for U.S. efforts in Afghanistan,
because it would mean maintaining a strategy that appears increasingly
unlikely to succeed.
By Eric Sterner
08 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
Since cyberspace's creation, the U.S. government has struggled with
protecting it. Part of the problem lies with the fact that policymakers are still
unsure how to treat cyber attacks. Are they acts of war? Crimes?
Intelligence operations? Once authorities categorize an attack, they
can use existing policymaking frameworks to deal with
it. But for now, policy development is stalled while the country tries to sort out the
answers.