REFERENCE UPDATE

June/July 2007

ECONOMIC AND TRADE

1. "East Asian Economic Growth and its Implications for Regional Security"
Dwight H. Perkins. Asia-Pacific Review, May 2007, 10 pages.
The author discusses how rapid economic growth in East Asia impacts the region and U.S. security and economic policies.  He examines the economic relations within the region and between the region and the rest of the world, the changing military balance of power, and the political changes induced by economic development in the region.

2. "United States’ Trade Remedy Laws and Non-Market Economies: A Legal Overview"
Todd B. Tatelman. Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report for Congress, April 23, 2007, 18 pages.
The United States has two major forms of trade remedy laws: Antidumping law (AD), which prohibits the sale of goods at less than their fair market value, and countervailing duty law (CVD), which allows the government to assess and impose duties on imported goods to offset government or public subsidization.  Both of these remedies are mostly used on imported goods from competitor countries.  This report provides background and an overview on AD and CVD including an analysis of the pending legislative activity on CVD laws for non-market economies.

3. "The W.T.O. in Crisis"
Robert A. Senser. America, January 1-8, 2007, 4 pages.
For most, the Doha round of trade negotiations may be “somewhere between intensive care and the crematorium,” but for the author, the crisis can be a blessing.  He argues that the grandiose vision of a single global economy should yield to a more down-to-earth vision of a diverse global economy based on rights and corresponding obligations, and that equity, social justice and human rights should be placed at the heart of the international trading system.

4. "When the Buck Stops"
Clive Crook. The Atlantic, May 2007, 2 pages.
Americans and the economy of the United States have long enjoyed the benefits of having the U.S. dollar act as a universal currency, but the dollar is losing its competitive advantage to another currency, the Euro.  The author states that seigniorage, the net revenue derived from the issuing of currency, is an important source of revenue for national banks.  The European Union, he says, clearly wants a share of the international seigniorage business for its currency, and has issued 500-euro notes (worth around $660 each) to secure its competitive advantage in the sector.

5. "Global Imbalances: Time for Action"
Alan Ahearne, et al. Peterson Institute, March 2007, 8 pages.
One of the principal dangers currently facing the world economy arises from the large and unsustainable imbalances in current account positions, which increase the risk of a sudden change of sentiment in financial markets that could result in a world recession and disruptions to the global trading system. To reduce the risk of such crisis, the global economy requires official sponsorship of a credible, comprehensive adjustment program.  This policy brief outlines such a program.

6. "Understanding Plagiarism and How It Differs from Copyright Infringement"
K. Matthew Dames. Computers in Libraries, June 2007, 4 pages.
One of the biggest misconceptions about plagiarism is that it is synonymous with copyright infringement. This article explains the difference and identifies some of the surrounding concerns. The author also examines the role of information professionals in raising the collective level of citation knowledge and management.

7. "E-Law's Bright Future"
Alex Kingsbury. U.S. News & World Report, April 9, 2007, 2 pages.
“The digital world is changing nearly every rule we have about commerce and privacy, so the need for lawyers is acute,” says a third-year law student at the University of Washington.  The intersection of technology, commerce, and the law, E-law is an emerging field of study developed in response to commerce and privacy infringements by the digital sector.  The article examines this fast-growing field and offers some tips on how to be one of its pioneers.

REGIONAL SECURITY

8. "Pax Asia-Pacifica? East Asian Integration and Its Implications for the United States"
Joshua Kurlantzick. The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2007, 11 pages.
By undervaluing East Asian integration, Washington has created the impression that it views East Asian regionalism as a threat to U.S. power. Yet, Asia's new identity and institutions need not be a challenge to the United States.  The author suggests the United States revamp its East Asia policy to capitalize on the benefits of pan-Asian institutions so that it can remain positively engaged in the region.

9. "The Triangular Dynamic in Asia: The U.S., India, and China"
Lisa Curtis. Heritage Lectures #1017, April 26, 2007, 4 pages.
It is likely that the world will see a triangular future evolve among the United States, China and India as they each pursue each other on a bilateral basis. She points out that each of the three bilateral relationships is mutually reinforcing in that an expansion or improvement in one relationship will likely lead the third country to pursue better relations with the other two.  The author advises that the United States will need to begin factoring India into its broader Asian policies and seek multiple forms of engagement in the region that include India’s participation.

10. "Dark Power"
Charles S. Maier. Harvard International Review, Spring 2007, 6 pages.
The author contends that the notion of a balance of power will come to make much less sense for mid-21st century international politics.  With current developments in the global political and economic arena, the issue will be whether states, or associations of states, will be effective international actors in the face of such forces as religious militancy, mass migration, nuclear proliferation, global warming, and the new economic inequalities emerging from market-driven globalization.

11. "Strategy for a Long Struggle"
Bruce Berkowitz. Policy Review, February/March 2007, 14 pages.
In this article, the author examines the emergence of a new factor critical to designing a national security strategy: sustainability.  In order to achieve its goals of ensuring peace, creating wealth, and promoting human rights and rule of law, the United States must make carefully calculated assessments of how to expend its military, economic, and diplomatic resources in such a way as to preserve its predominance for a long time.  Sustainability, he concludes, will be a central problem for national security for many years to come.

12. “Vietnam: Vietnam, US Willing To Break With The Past And Look To The Future”
9 July 2007, 3 pages
Thai News Service
2007 Thai News Service

Section: Regional News - During an interview granted to the Cable News Network on the results of his visit to the US from June 18-23, State President Nguyen Minh Triet said Vietnam-US relations have overcome difficult times and are developing well. Both nations wish to break with the past and look to the future.

GLOBAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

13. "The Climate Engineers"
James R. Fleming. The Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2007, 15 pages.
For more than a century, scientists, soldiers, and charlatans have hatched schemes to manipulate the weather and climate. Like them, today's aspiring climate engineers try to use science and technology to manage the world's climate with little consideration of political, military, and ethical implications that can bring about potential unintended consequences far greater than what their predecessors were likely to face.

14. "By the End of the Century Half of All Species will be Gone. Who will Survive?"
Julia Whitty. Mother Jones, May/June 2007, 14 pages.
Many scientists believe that mass extinction poses an even greater threat to human existence than global warming. International policy steps are being taken to preserve biodiversity. The author shows how interconnected species are, and how diminishing biodiversity will have great impact on people in the future.

15. "How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor"
C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer. Foreign Affairs, May/Jun2007, 13 pages.
The effect on food supply that an increase in ethanol production could create can be catastrophic, the author contends.  The increased demand for ethanol means less corn will be available as a food source, and food prices will rise. The rise in corn prices could have a deleterious effect on poor and developing nations.  Moreover, increased corn growing will greatly impact the environment.

16. "The World Goes to Town: A Special Report on Cities"
The Economist, May 5, 2007, 15 pages.
Nearly half the people in the world now live in cities, which continue to grow. Over the centuries, cities have been notable for their religious role, as the hub of empires, and as centers of government and politics, education, commerce and manufacturing.  In short, the development of cities is synonymous with human development.   This special series delves into the history of cities, and the economic and social forces that are drawing unprecedented numbers of people to cities around the world today, creating growing infrastructure and environmental challenges.

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

17. "Working with the Media in Times of Crisis"
James D. Sewell. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, March 2007, 6 pages.
The government and its law enforcement agencies often become the focus of media attention.  Each word they utter reflects their level of professionalism and the character of their agency.  How can they learn to better weather a media invasion? What principles can reduce the negative impact of such events and allow the agency and its personnel to come through this time most successfully?  In this article, several key principles and tips on media relations are offered.

18. "Google Book Search Libraries and their Digital Copies"
Jill E. Grogg and Beth Ashmore. Searcher, April 2007, 10 pages.
The authors ask representatives from Google Book Search Library Project how libraries can fully utilize their copies of the project's digitized books, and how the fair use issue, with lawsuits in litigation, might impact both the partners and Google itself.

19. "Spring Cleaning for Storage Clutter"
John Moore. Federal Computer Week, May 14, 2007, 4 pages.
As online data continues to accumulate at alarming rate, people may be tempted to keep buying more storage devices.  The author argues that adding new capacity to servers to meet the storage demand won't necessarily solve the problem.  He offers some steps that experts recommend to make a consolidation project go smoothly.

U.S. SOCIETY AND CULTURE

20. "An Education Strategy to Promote Opportunity, Prosperity, and Growth"
Joshua Bendor, et al. The Hamilton Project Strategy Paper, February 2007, 25 pages.
Evidence shows that education is critical to economic growth and an investment in education returns benefits to society and individuals.  This paper offers a framework for educational policy from early childhood to post-secondary education.  It outlines a strategy for new investments in early education and suggests some structural reforms such as a teacher tenure system.

21. "Violent Television Programming and Its Impact on Children"
U.S. Federal Communications Commission, April 25, 2007, 39 pages.
There is a deep concern among many American parents and health professionals about the adverse effects on children of excessive violence on television.  To address this concern, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has investigated the negative effects of excessively violent programs and the government’s ability to restrict broadcasts of these programs. 

22. "Human Rights and Intellectual Property Protection in the TRIPS Era"
Philippe Cullet. Human Rights Quarterly, May 2007, 28 pages.
Human rights and intellectual property protection are two distinct fields that have largely evolved separately although they are very much related. This article examines the different aspects of the relationship between intellectual property rights, human rights, and provisions relating to science and technology in human rights treaties. It also examines some of the impacts of existing intellectual property rights regimes on the realization of human rights.

23. "Understanding Political Corruption in Low Income Countries"
Rohini Pande. John F. Kennedy School of Government Faculty Research Working Papers Series RWP07-020, April 2007, 46 pages.
This article seeks to understand corruption through the lens of political economy - particularly in terms of the political and economic differences between rich and poor countries. The author focuses on the political behaviors of individuals exposed to democratic political institutions and its implications for corruption.

24. “Judicial Independences"
Pamela S. Karlan. Georgetown Law Journal, April 2007, 19 pages.
The author discusses what constraints judges ought to be free from, and what constraints judges ought to be bound by. The author concludes that judges should be independent, not so much so that they can conceive goals and policies of their own and realize them, but so that they can enforce the goals and policies embodied in the Constitution and the laws enacted by the democratic branches.

25. "Polling the Populace"
Jonathan Walters. Governing, April 2007, 3 pages.
Attempting to make local government more responsive to citizen needs, local officials in the United States are surveying their citizens to learn of preferences in services, priorities in new programs, and indicators of performance.  The surveys are done by mail or phone, or face-to-face in a focus group.  Information gathered from these selected respondents is considered more reliable than that obtained from comments at public hearings or on web sites.  One survey administrator commented that the information “helps frame the debate, and it helps you stay vigilant about doing the right thing and being responsive.”

26. "Moving Left?"
Ruy Teixeira. Dissent, Spring 2007, 5 pages.
In the November 2006 election, Democrats gained thirty House seats and six Senate seats, giving them control over both chambers. Such shifts in political fortune towards the Democrats have been attributed to the increased support among demographic groups that are laying the basis for a new Democratic majority.  The article focuses on the issue of voters' shifts in terms of policy preferences in the United States and its impact on American liberalism.

TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS

The following articles from “College and University Education in the United States”, an Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, November 2005

27. Public Universities in the United States
Robert H. Bruininks, President of the University of Minnesota
A typical state university enrolls tens of thousands of students and offers hundreds of courses of study.

28. What is a Large, Private Research University
James W. Wagner, President of Emory University
The availability of private funding enables private universities to step off in bold new directions of inquiry.

29. U.S. Community Colleges: A Gateway to Higher Education for Many
George R. Boggs, President of the American Association of Community Colleges
Two-year colleges are an attractive alternative for students seeking a hometown environment and lower costs.

30. Strength Out of Diversity: The Independent Sector of U.S. Higher Education
Richard Ekman, President of the Council of Independent Colleges
Small private colleges focus on teaching and on interaction between students and faculty.