POLICY MEMOS
January 1, 1998
Natural Resource Extraction in the Latin American Tropics: A Recent Wave of Investment Poses New Challenges for Biodiversity Conservation
AP Photo
August 2009
"Improving U.S.-China Relations: The Next Steps"
By Richard N. Rosecrance, Adjunct Professor; Senior Fellow, International Security Program; Director, Project on U.S.-China Relations
A higher Renminbi will have two advantages: for the United States, it will help to equilibrate the past trade imbalance; for China, it will stimulate consumption (and enhance imports). It will therefore help China switch from a purely exporting strategy to one that maintains domestic growth through internal consumption. The goods that were to be sent abroad can now be consumed by an increasingly middle class nation at home. These steps will bring China and the United States closer economically and increase international stability. However, unless the military-security relations of the two countries improve, this will not be a sufficient remedy for the two nations' long term problems.
AP Photo
June 2009
"Improving Russia-U.S. Relations: The Next Steps"
By Thomas M. Nichols, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
There is no endemic reason for Russian-U.S. relations to be as tense as they have become over the past several years. Th is situation is largely due, on one side, to mishandling of Russian affairs by both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and on the other by the obvious manipulation of anti-Americanism for domestic gain by the Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev administrations in Russia. Unfortunately, this means that only unilateral U.S. action can undermine the cynical policies of the Russian leadership and restore dynamism to the Russian-U.S. relationship.
Belfer Center
January 22, 2009
"The Origins of Global Jihad: Explaining the Arab Mobilization to 1980s Afghanistan"
By Thomas Hegghammer, Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
The Arab involvement in Afghanistan was the result of two main factors: the entrepreneurship of the Palestinian preacher Abdallah Azzam, and the rise of a "soft pan-Islamism" promoted since the mid-1970s by non-violent international Islamic organizations such as the Muslim World League.
This policy memo is based on Thomas Hegghammer's ISP brownbag seminar presentation.
AP Photo
January 2009
"Slow but Steady on Kashmir"
By Paul Staniland, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Intrastate Conflict Program, 2008–2009
Instead of special envoys and summits, the U.S. should adopt a "quiet diplomacy" approach that offers incentives to India and Pakistan for making tangible, if small, progress on the ground in Kashmir. The U.S. should offer to help fund sustained local policy initiatives in both Indian and Pakistani-administered Kashmir aimed at improving governance and encouraging economic exchange and the movement of people across the Line of Control. An initiative focused on local government and civil society lacks the drama of shuttle diplomacy and grand bargains, but can actually improve the daily lives of Kashmiris while giving them more say over their own governance.
AP Photo
January 2009
"Re-Plan Colombia"
By Sarah Zukerman Daly, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Intrastate Conflict Program
"The financial crisis will require a reevaluation of U.S. aid. Critics of Plan Colombia argue that, in Colombia, union leaders remain at risk, human rights abusers are not brought to justice, the military commits "false positives," and drug eradication has failed. Based on this record, they conclude that the U.S. should reduce or withhold aid from Colombia. This is unsound advice. Colombia has made great advances against the guerrillas and paramilitaries because of U.S. aid. Some 340 politicians who conspired with paramilitaries, 3,000 paramilitaries who committed crimes against humanity, and 14 perpetrators of abuses against union leaders face prosecution because of U.S. aid. These advances in security, justice and democracy would not have occurred without U.S. assistance. However, the critics are not wrong; there is much work left to be done."
AP Photo
October 27, 2008
Reducing Terrorism over the Long Term
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
The UK will be at the center of an increase in extremism caused by geostrategic and population trends over the next few decades, Azeem Ibrahim said during a powerful keynote speech to the Leaders' Summit on Security and Cohesion at Portcullis House, Westminster, London, on October 7, 2008. He added that radicals should be re-educated by reformed jihadi fighters and that the key to preventing violent extremism is minimizing the motivation to radicalize.
This policy memo is based on Mr. Ibrahim's speech.
AP Photo
May 5, 2008
Preventing Terrorist Attacks: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom
By Erik J. Dahl, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2006-2008
Why do terrorist attacks frequently succeed, even though later investigations almost always show that warnings had been available but were either misunderstood or ignored? Conventional wisdom, as seen in the 9/11 Commission Report, holds that disasters such as the 9/11 attacks have been caused by failures of analytical imagination, a lack of long-term strategic intelligence on the threat, and organizational limitations that prevent the U.S. intelligence community from being able to “connect the dots” of the existing intelligence.
AP Photo
March 3, 2008
Homeland Security: How to Improve Interoperability for State and Local Responders
By Erica Chenoweth, Associate, International Security Program and Susan Clarke
One of the most important lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is that, in order to respond successfully, local agencies must be able to exchange information in real time. In the past seven years, the federal government has given millions of dollars to state and local governments with the goal of improving interoperability programs. However, state and local politics often get in the way of effective use of the money. Our research provides insight and recommendations into how state and local governments can improve the effectiveness of these programs.
