Reference Update

April 2007

ECONOMIC AND TRADE

1. "Trade Agreements as the New Copyright Law"
K. Matthew Dames
Online, March/April 2007, 5 pages.
The author examines the increasing role of the United States Trade of Representative (USTR) in global intellectual property law issues, including the enforcement of domestic copyright law. He argues that this trend portends a serious danger: the establishment of copyright policy in private, without notification to the American public, and often in a way that circumvents Congress' authority as this country's sole legislative body.

2. "Rich Countries, Poor People?"
Joseph Stiglitz
New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2007, 3 pages.
In an interview with the NPQ editor, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz challenges the U.S. model for globalization, which he says drives down wages in industrialized countries and imposes unfair trade practices on developing countries.  He says globalization can only work if the winners share with the losers and warns about a potential protectionist backlash if the current trend continues.

3. "Why the World Isn't Flat"
Pankaj Ghemawat
Foreign Policy, March/April 2007, 7 pages.
The article discusses what the author sees as a misperception that globalization has made national boundaries nearly obsolete. The author contends that global interconnectedness and integration have barely occurred, and globalization's future is fragile. Cross-border mergers are running up against protectionism, and local economic stagnation may lead to a reversal of globalization that may persist for decades.

4. "Uses and Abuses of Governance Indicators"
Christiane Arndt & Charles Oman
OECD Development Centre , April 30, 2007, 126 pages
A growing interest in good economic and political governance has prompted the development of numerous governance indicators. These indicators are used by potential investors, development agencies, and analysts to assess the environment for growth and cooperation in countries around the world. The problem is that many of these indicators are misused in an attempt to compare the quality of governance across countries and over time. Based on perceptions, interpretations, and changing underlying data, these indicators pose many pitfalls for those who would use them as a scientific basis for decision-making and strategic planning, or to determine the progress of reform over time. While there will probably never be a perfect governance indicator, the production and use of more transparent indicators would better serve both developing countries and external groups seeking to improve the quality of local governance.

5. China and Economic Integration in East Asia: Implications for the United States"
C. Fred Bergsten
Policy Briefs in International Economics Number PB07-3, March 2007, 10 pages.
The author notes that the effect of the evolution of economic integration in East Asia on the role of China is a key question for the United States. He suggests that the United States should seek to nest any new Pacific-Asia trade arrangements in a broader Asia-Pacific framework: Creation of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) would embed Pacific Asia in the Asia Pacific.

REGIONAL SECURITY

6. "Chasing the East Asian Sun"
Stephen W. Bosworth
The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Winter 2007, 10 pages.
The author presents a compelling vision of a dynamic region, and explains why China is perhaps "the most daunting challenge" facing American foreign policymakers today.

7. "The Clash of Civilizations Revisited"
Samuel P. Huntington
New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2007, 7 pages.
In this interview, Samuel P. Huntington, a Harvard professor, points out that relations between countries in the coming decades are most likely to reflect their cultural commitments, cultural ties, and antagonism towards other countries rather than other factors.

8. "Last Alliance Standing? NATO After 9/11"
John R. Schmidt
The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2006-2007, 14 pages.
NATO's military role is changing as the world's security landscape transforms. Schmidt describes an uncertain road ahead for NATO, wondering if it will hold together, or gradually dissolve because of friction with the European Union.

9. “Foreign Friends - China Expands Relations with India and Pakistan”
Richard D. Fisher Jr. Jane's
Intelligence Review, February 2, 2007, 3 pages.
Recent Sino-Pakistan counter-terrorism exercises reflected Beijing's desire to reassure Islamabad while China's relationship with India continues to grow.

GLOBAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

10. "Can Congress Govern the Climate?"
Barry Rabe
NYU John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress Research Brief #1, March 2007, 13 pages.
This paper examines some of the stumbling blocks to prior Congressional engagement as well as highlights particular policy and governance challenges for any future Congressional attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

11. "Unprepared for a Pandemic"
Michael T. Osterholm
Foreign Affairs, March-April 2007, 11 pages.
Sooner or later an influenza pandemic will strike the world, but the world will likely not be prepared for it, the author cautions.  Even the spread of avian flu has failed to generate a commitment from national policymakers who are overwhelmed by the uncertainties and faced with competing demands for resources.  He urges governments to devise national strategies to prepare for pandemics and spend a lot more on research to develop universal influenza vaccines. 

12. "Down Go the Dams"
Jane C. Marks
Scientific American, March 2007, 6 pages.
Numerous dams around the world have been removed in recent years as they became more costly to maintain, contributed less to electrical power generation or conflicted with communities that want free-flowing rivers.  Although dam removal returns a river to a more natural state, often with native species reestablishing populations as water quality improves, unanticipated effects may offset these benefits. 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

13. "The Race"
Robert Kuttner
Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 2007, 9 pages.
This article discusses the future of traditional newspapers as they compete with the increasingly popular and widely used Internet.  A scenario is presented where the mainstream press makes money from the Internet while adhering to traditional journalistic integrity and maintaining professionalism.

14. "Are Journalists the 21st Century’s Buggy Whip Makers?"
William Dietrich
Nieman Reports, Winter 2006, 4 pages.
The author notes that emerging amateur web-based journalists today rarely purport to maintain the balance and objectivity that has always been a point of professional pride.  He wonders whether the technological earthquake has devalued the role that the journalist has played in a democracy -- to not merely disseminate information, but help the public understand its importance.

15. "Mashups, Blogs, Wikis Go Federal"
Laura Gordon-Murnane
Searcher, March 2007, 7 pages.
Even though government transparency has become more difficult and challenging, the author notes that many individuals, advocacy groups, libraries, nonprofits, and even government agencies across the country are using technology tools to make all branches of U.S. government more transparent, open, and responsible to the American public. The author gives tips on how to use new tools — blogs, wikis, mashups, and the like — to keep an eye on the government.

U.S. SOCIETY AND CULTURE

16. "Classroom Transparency"
James M. Lang
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 6, 2007, 4 pages.
The author argues that the best teachers are the ones who take the time to explain to students why they are learning what they are learning. He notes that the most effective teaching is transparent teaching: Both student and teacher know the reasons for the major decisions about a course, from the choice of texts and classroom activities to the weighting of the grades and the design of the exams.

17. "Responsive Workplaces"
Jodie Levin-Epstein
The American Prospect, March 2007, 3 pages
This article describes leave policies and other working conditions faced by American workers, and the impact of the lack of paid leave or long work schedules that make it difficult for parents to deal with family issues. The author notes that workplace practices that are more supportive of family needs lead to greater worker productivity, satisfaction and retention, and can have a positive impact on profitability.

18. "Rehabilitation and Community Integration of Trafficking Survivors in the United States"
Rachel Shigekane
Human Rights Quarterly, February 2007, 25 pages.
Little has been reported on how survivors of trafficking integrate into new communities and what types of rehabilitation services and programs they may need to live independently and self-sufficiently. This article explores the needs of survivors of trafficking, the variety of services and advocacy programs that are developing to assist them, and the complex reactions of immigrant communities to incidents of trafficking.

19. "How Democracies Emerge: The "Sequencing" Fallacy"
Thomas Carothers
Journal of Democracy, January 2007, 16 pages.
Many critics of democracy promotion assert that the rule of law and a well-functioning state should be in place before a society democratizes, but, the author asserts, this strategy of “sequencing” is based on a set of mistaken premises. 

20. "The Treaty of the Democratic Peace"
Tod Lindberg
The Weekly Standard, February 12, 2007, 6 pages.
The author argues that mature, liberal democracies never enter into war with each other and always settle disputes peacefully. Mature democracies, he says, have common values and advocate liberal values such as respect for human rights and free and fair elections.  He proposes the creation of a new international organization, based on the adoption of a “Treaty of the Democratic Peace” to help new democracies, many of them young and fragile, achieve this ideal.

21. "Information Wars"
Heather Greenfield
National Journal, February 24, 2007, 2 pages.
The author examines the effectiveness of using Internet search engines as a new campaign tool, such as search-engine ads tied to key words or phrases, and "Googlebombing" -- a way to push news articles up to the top of Google search results.  Both liberal and conservative consultants said this was one of the most effective campaign tools in the final weeks of the 2006 campaigns, and they will be used again in 2008.

TRANSLATED DOCUMENT

22. Ambassador Marine's OpEd on Protecting Intellectual Property Rights
26/4/2007, 3 pages

23. U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Marine’s op-ed on Vietnam Human Rights
5/4/2007, 2 pages

24. Ambassador Marine's Speech to the Chicago Club: "From Foe to Friend: Furthering U.S. Engagement in Vietnam"
27/3/207, 5 pages

25. Why Liberalize Trade?
Christina Sevilla, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative
5 pages
Opening trade fuels growth and raises millions of people out of poverty.

26. Protectionism and Politics
Bruce Stokes, International Economics Columnist, National Journal
6 pages
Responding to political pressure, governments have protected their producers from imports. As the problem of protectionism is political, so must the solution be.

27. Developing Countries Need to Open Markets to Each Other
David Dollar, Country Director for China and Mongolia, World Bank
4 pages
Fully half of the benefits to developing countries from stalled multilateral trade negotiations would come from getting better access to each other's markets.

28. Calming Workers' Fears About Trade
David H. Feldman, Professor of Economics, College of William and Mary
4 pages
Most changes in the workplace leading to job displacement can be attributed to advances in technology, but it is increasing imports that attract more blame.

29. Learning the Correct Lesson About Protectionism
Gary Hufbauer, Senior Fellow, and Costantino Pischedda, Research Assistant, Peterson Institute for International Economics
4 pages
War-ravaged East Asian economies briefly used protectionist policies to revive their economies, but only when they opened their markets to imports did they realize enduring rapid expansion. 
 
30. A Clear Model for Reform
Jonathan Kimball, Director for Central and Southeastern Europe, U.S. Department of Commerce
3 pages
The difference in economic development between the many former Soviet bloc countries that have opened their markets and the few that have not done so is sharp and revealing.

31. How the WTO Fights Protectionism
Carla A. Hills, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hills & Company
4 pages
The WTO is the world's greatest bulwark against protection.