JOURNAL ARTICLES
July, 2009
"Does Funding From Donors Displace Government Spending For Health In Developing Countries?"
Health Affairs
By Marwa Farag, Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
ABSTRACT: The notable increases in funding from various donors for health over the past several years have made examining the effectiveness of aid all the more important. We examine the extent to which donor funding for health substitutes for-rather than complements- health financing by recipient governments. We find evidence of a strong substitution effect. The proportionate decrease in government spending associated with an increase in donor funding is largest in low-income countries. The results suggest that aid needs to be structured in a way that better aligns donors' and recipient governments' incentives, using innovative approaches such as performance-based aid financing. [Health Affairs 28, no. 4 (2009): 1045-1055; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.4.1045]
For the full article, click here.
Summer 2009
"Dynamics of Maritime Terrorists Threats to Russia and the Government's Reponse"
Connections Quarterly, volume III
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Simon Saradzhyan identifies actors that have the capacity and motivation to commit acts of maritime terrorism against Russia. Saradzhyan also reviews Russia’s maritime and freshwater infrastructure and activities before outlining selected scenarios of terrorist acts that could take advantage of vulnerabilities in this infrastructure and facilities.
AP Photo
June 2009
"Empowerment Boom or Bust? Assessing Women's Post-Conflict Empowerment Initiatives"
Cambridge Review of International Affairs, issue 2, volume 22
By Megan Mackenzie, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Women in Public Policy Program, 2008-2009
Over the past decade, the term 'empowerment' has been generously employed and woefully ill-defined. In particular, women's empowerment has been embraced by such a vast number of development actors that it appears to be a unifying mission within development. Despite the boom in women's empowerment initiatives, there remains little critical analysis of the use of empowerment in general, and the perceived success or failures of specific empowerment initiatives. Using the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in Sierra Leone as a case study, this paper examines how reintegration was described as a source of empowerment for women. Drawing from interviews and analysis of related policy discourses, it is argued that, rather than representing a radical shift in development approaches towards more inclusive and representative policies, empowerment projects are shaped by neoliberal ideas such as individualism, responsibility and economic order and carry implicit, gendered and disciplining messages about appropriate social behaviour.
AP Photo
February 2009
"Driving Carbon Capture and Storage Forward in China"
Energy Procedia, issue 1, volume 1
By Hengwei Liu, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), as an option in the portfolio of mitigation actions to combat climate change, is expected to have far-reaching implications for China. This paper (1) explores the strategic significance of CCS for China by making an extreme scenario analysis of Chinese power sector in 2030; (2) provides an overview of the recent CCS activities in China; and (3) identifies the major challenges with respect to CCS development in China and put forwards immediate strategies.
AP Photo
Forthcoming October 2009
"Understanding China's Climate Change Policy—From Both International and Domestic Perspectives"
American Journal of Chinese Studies, issue 2, volume 16
By Bo Wang, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2008-2009
China's climate change policy expresses both continuity and change over time. Continuity is observed in China's active involvement in policy formation, both domestically and internationally. Changes are reflected both in China's institutional arrangements on climate change mitigation and adaptation and increasing flexibility in international negotiations. Both continuity and change can be attributed to international and domestic factors. Among China's foreign policy objectives are enhancing its international image, international engagement, sovereignty concerns, and solidarity with developing countries. Domestic objectives include the need for continued economic development, increased attention to environmental protection, and social learning effects.
AP Photo
In Press
"Sustainable Development of the Indian Coal Sector"
Energy
By Ananth Chikkatur, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy, Ambuj D. Sagar, Former Visiting Scholar, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group (ETIP), June 2009; Former Research Fellow, ETIP, 1996-2002; Former Senior Research Associate, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, 2007-2008 and T. L. Sankar
Increased availability of energy, especially electricity, is important for India to help advance economic and human development. Coal, which currently accounts for more than 50% of total primary commercial energy supply in the country and for about 70% of total electricity generation, is likely to remain a key energy source for India for at least the next 30–40 years. Thus, sustainable development of the Indian coal sector is necessary to ensure the ability to sustain the increased production of coal in the country and to do so in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.
June 2009
"Global Learning on Carbon Capture and Storage: A Call for Strong International Cooperation on CCS Demonstration"
Energy Policy, issue 6, volume 37
By Heleen de Coninck, Jennie Stephens, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy and Bert Metz
In this Viewpoint, the authors argue that global coordination, transparency, cost-sharing and communication are key principles in facilitating efficient and cost-effective collaborative global learning on CCS.
AP Photo
April 2009
"Securitization and Desecuritization: Female Soldiers and the Reconstruction of Women in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone"
Security Studies, issue 2, volume 18
By Megan Mackenzie, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Women in Public Policy Program, 2008-2009
This article focuses on the construction of "soldier" and "victim" by post-conflict programs in Sierra Leone. Focusing on the absence of individual testimonies and interviews that inform representations of women and girls post-conflict, this article demonstrates that the ideal of the female war victim has limited the ways in which female combatants are addressed by disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs in Sierra Leone. It is argued that titles given to female soldiers such as "females associated with the war," "dependents," or "camp followers" reveal the reluctance of reintegration agencies to identify females who participated in war as soldiers. In addition, I argue that men and masculinity are securitized post-conflict while women—even when they act in highly securitized roles such as soldiers—are desecuritized and, in effect, de-emphasized in post-conflict policy making. The impact of this categorization has been that the reintegration process for men has been securitized, or emphasized as an essential element of the transition from war to peace. In contrast, the reintegration process for females has been deemed a social concern and has been moralized as a return to normal.
Spring 2009
"Who Are These Belligerent Democratizers? Reassessing the Impact of Democratization on War"
International Organization, issue 2, volume 63
By Vipin Narang, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom and Rebecca M. Nelson
In a key finding in the democratic peace literature, Mansfield and Snyder argue that states with weak institutions undergoing incomplete transitions to democracy are more likely to initiate an external war than other types of states. We show that the empirical data do not support this claim. We find a dearth of observations where incomplete democratizers with weak institutions participated in war. Additionally, we find that the statistical relationship between incomplete democratization and war is entirely dependent on the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire prior to World War I. We also find that the case selection in Mansfield and Snyder rarely involved incomplete democratizers with weak institutions. We therefore conclude that the finding that incomplete democratizers with weak institutions are more likely to initiate or participate in war is not supported by the empirical data.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
April 2009
"The Viennese Connection: Engelbert Broda, Alan Nunn May and Atomic Espionage"
Intelligence and National Security, issue 2, volume 24
By Andrew Brown, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
Recently declassified materials have revealed the existence of a previously unknown network of Austrian communists in pre-war England. The group of young well-educated Viennese used unsuspecting social contacts and marriages of convenience to establish itself. Analysis of this network reveals some previously overlooked similarities between the 'Cambridge' spies Kim Philby and Alan Nunn May, as well as the emergence of a new nuclear spy, Engelbert Broda. Their wartime espionage as individuals took place at a time when non-communist British scientists were promoting the international sharing of atomic knowledge through unofficial channels. The newly released files reflect a characteristic preference of the British secret services for intelligence gathering rather than intervention and illustrate how vital leads follow from apparently trivial observations.
