POLICY BRIEFS
AP Photo
April 7, 2008
"India's Key Foreign Policy Issues"
By Xenia Dormandy, Director of the Belfer Center's Project on India and the Subcontinent
In recent years, India's military, diplomatic and economic energies have expanded far beyond Nehru's Non-Aligned position. But what does that mean for India, its region, and the United States?
AP Photo
March 24, 2008
"India-Iran Relations: Key Security Implications"
By Xenia Dormandy, Director of the Belfer Center's Project on India and the Subcontinent and Ronak D. Desai
While India and the United States have embarked on a campaign to strengthen their bilateral relations, as symbolized by the proposed US-India civilian nuclear deal, it appears as though New Delhi has similarly begun to pursue a more robust relationship with another major power: Iran. The two states have recently expanded cooperation in a number of key areas, including counterterrorism, regional stability, and energy security. What are the implications of this "New Delhi-Tehran Axis" for the United States, and how should Washington respond to growing ties between India and Iran?
AP Photo
February 11, 2008
Pakistan Political Stability
By Xenia Dormandy, Director of the Belfer Center's Project on India and the Subcontinent
Since March 2007, tensions in Pakistan have been rising: the political instability surrounding both the presidential and parliamentary elections is commingling with the increase in militant activity within Pakistan proper, which led to around 60 suicide attacks in Pakistan in 2007. Following Benazir Bhutto's assassination on December 27, the extremists have upped the ante, perhaps hoping to disrupt the February 18 elections. Is Pakistan becoming the world's "most dangerous nation"?
January 2008
"Results Based Government in Arab States: Drivers, Barriers and Tensions"
By Nesrine Halima, Associate, Dubai Initiative and Innovations in Governance Project, Dubai School of Government
The transnational movement of goods, services and ideas-the
process known as globalization-has had profound impact on national
government structures and how their administrations are managed.
In many respects, globalization has dissolved both material and
immaterial economic, social and even cultural boundaries. The
interplay between both these factors has made globalization an area of
interest and concern within the area of public administration. This policy
brief examines the relationship between globalization and resultsbased
government, and how global processes and trends have affected
the public sector in Arab states. The brief concludes that the variance
between the levels of progress in adopting and applying these tools of
public administration across the Arab world cannot be attributed to lack of political commitment alone, but also resides within the specific institutional and sociocultural histories of Arab states.
parivartan111
December 6, 2007
"U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Deal"
By Xenia Dormandy, Director of the Belfer Center's Project on India and the Subcontinent
The United States and India have, in the words of U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, made the civil nuclear deal the “symbolic centerpiece” of the bilateral relationship. However, India’s coalition politics have created an obstacle to completing the deal. How important is this deal really and how should we move forward?
December 2007
"Speaking about the Unspeakable: U.S.-Israeli Dialogue on Iran's Nuclear Program"
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
Despite the longstanding and ever-evolving "special relationship" between the United States and Israel, the two allies do not appear to have engaged in substantive discussions on key facets of their most pressing mutual concern, the Iranian nuclear threat. Specifically, there has been little if any dialogue on the possibility of military action if the diplomatic route comes to a dead end, nor on the possible means of living with a nuclear Iran should both countries decide to refrain from military action.
November 2007
"Fixing the Department of Homeland Security"
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
In November 2002, Congress passed legislation creating the first new Cabinet department in more than a decade — the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Now in its fourth year, the department is plagued with problems and chronic mismanagement. If DHS is to fulfill its mission, the next president will have to take a hard look at the agency and make some major structural changes....This paper proposes a redirection and redefinition of DHS, with an aim toward helping it more effectively pursue its core mission: protecting the American people.
September 5, 2007
Frankel Proposal: Formulas for Quantitative Emission Targets
By Jeffrey Frankel, James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth
Jeffrey Frankel has proposed a climate policy architecture that builds on the quantitative targets and timetables infrastructure of the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol. He calls for a sequence of negotiations (one per decade) to determine the global greenhouse gas emissions cap and a formula for allocating this global cap among all participating countries.
September 5, 2007
Michaelowa Proposal: Graduation and Deepening
Axel Michaelowa proposed to build on the Kyoto framework by deepening and expanding quantitative emission targets. He advocates a global long-term atmospheric stabilization goal of 550 parts per million to be achieved through quantitative, legally-binding, country-specific targets.
September 5, 2007
Victor Proposal: Fragmented Carbon Markets and Reluctant Nations: Implications for the Design of Effective Architectures
David Victor proposed a climate policy architecture with a varying geometry of participation, limited initially to the few most pivotal countries in climate change. He recommends the development of an agreement in a smaller negotiating venue, such as former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s proposal for an L20 – a forum of the leaders of twenty key industrialized and developing countries. Countries participating in this effort would pledge a package of domestic climate policies and measures.
