REFERENCE UPDATE

Reference Update - July 2008

ECONOMIC AND TRADE

1. The Next Asian Miracle
Yasheng Huang. Foreign Policy, July/August 2008, 9 pages
The author examines the relationship between political liberalization and economic growth in developing nations, using China and India as examples. He challenges the notion that authoritarian states especially among Asian countries have an advantage in growing an economy compared with their democratic counterparts, who are forced to reckon with such pesky trappings as labor standards and political compromises.

2. Food Prices and Inflation in Developing Asia: Is Poverty Reduction Coming to an End?
William E. James, et al. Asian Development Bank, April 2008, 47 pages.
Food prices have increased sharply since mid-2007 and accelerated at an alarming rate in early 2008. This threatens to exacerbate poverty in developing Asia by reducing the real income of the already poor, while pushing many others below the poverty line. The report proposes appropriate policy responses to the challenge of food price inflation in order to avoid the reversal of gains made in poverty reduction in the region.

3. Assessing Globalization
Andrew Kohut and Richard Wike. Harvard International Review, Spring 2008, 5 pages.
Analyzing the results of the 47-country 2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey on the support for economic globalization, the authors point out that there is a broad support for key, general economic features of globalization, such as international trade, multinational corporations and free markets. However, the survey also finds growing signs of economic anxiety among wealthy nations in the West.

4. Making Trade Work for Developing Countries
OECD Policy Brief. May 2008, 8 pages.
Discussion of economic gains and costs from increased trade liberalization often focuses on developed countries, but developing countries have undertaken significant trade liberalization in the past 20 years as well. Some countries have benefited more than others from trade reforms; however, there are lessons to be learned from these experiences too. This paper explores how some developing countries have successfully used trade policy reform to support structural adjustments.

5. Vietnam: Country outlook
Economist Intelligence Unit - ViewsWire, July 2008, 3 pages
The article provides brief and updated information on Vietnam's development including economic growth, international relations, domestic politics and policy trends.

REGIONAL SECURITY

6. Asia—Shaping the Future
Douglas H. Paal. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Policy Brief No. 62, June 2008, 8 pages.
Although the United States is likely to remain an unequalled economic and security power in Asia-Pacific region for the next few decades, several Asian countries have shown promise as playing a key factor in the region’s balance of power politics in the future. The author examines how the next U.S. administration can catch up on the pace of change and shape relations that will inevitably be altered by shifting correlations of power in the Asia-Pacific region.

7. How Americans Feel about Asian Countries and Why
Benjamin I. Page, et al. Journal of East Asian Studies, January-April 2008, 31 pages.
According to the authors, Americans' feelings about foreign countries affect their political attitudes and behavior, as they are embedded in foreign policy belief systems. In order to see how world events or a countries' actions might affect feelings and policy preferences, which in turn may constrain or influence U.S. government policymaking, it is important to know why Americans have the feelings they do. The authors analyze data from national surveys on the U.S. general public conducted between 1978 and 2006 by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs to explore how Americans feel about ten countries in Asia. Policy implications are also discussed.

8. A Moral Core for U.S. Foreign Policy
Derek Chollet and Tod Lindberg. Policy Review, December 2007/January 2008, 21 pages.
After two successive presidents from different political parties - Bill Clinton and George W. Bush - have argued that spreading American values is of vital interest, there is growing skepticism in many quarters about whether trying to do so is worth the significant costs this action incurs. There is also doubt as to whether it should be a true interest of the United States at all. But what would American foreign policy look like if it were stripped of its values component? The authors examine American values of democracy, liberalism, human rights, and rule of law as they have historically been applied to U.S. foreign policy.

9. Rethinking the National Interest
Condoleezza Rice. Foreign Affairs, July/August 2008, 25 pages.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discusses the United States’ role in international relations following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the country’s relations with traditional and emerging great powers, including China and Russia, as well as other countries in Europe and Asia. She reflects on the lessons of the past eight years and offers her defining take on democracy promotion and American foreign policy in general.

10. The McCain Doctrines
Matt Bai. New York Times Magazine, May 18, 2008, 12 pages.
Among the many issues in his party’s platform, Senator John McCain has made Iraq the battle he has chosen to fight, despite criticism from members of the Republican Party that such a stand could hurt him and the party in the November elections. The author examines why McCain is determined to settle in for another long and costly counterinsurgency.

GLOBAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

11. Disaster Standards Needed in Asia
Roberta Cohen. Brookings Northeast Asia Commentary, June 2008, 5 pages.
The growing number and severity of natural disasters, especially in Asia, make it timely for governments to take a hard look at how to improve their national emergency response. Despite an increasing number of governments around the world having adopted laws and policies for dealing with disaster preparedness, they do not adequately cover some of the most serious problems that have arisen. The author offers a checklist of some of the main issues requiring attention for effective disaster management, both by affected governments and by international donors.

12. Politically Contrived Gasoline Shortage
Craig S. Marxsen. The Independent Review, Spring 2008, 15 pages.
The article examines the causes of the worldwide energy crisis, citing the book, The Limits to Growth, which has predicted that natural-resource depletion and increasing pollution will cause the decline of industrial and agricultural production. The author argues that the energy crisis is hardly the result of running out of materials, but instead is from political systems that discourage investment in the construction and operation of refineries and synthesizing plants.

13. Five Myths about Nuclear Energy
Kristin Shrader-Frechette. America, June 23–30, 2008, 5 pages.
To help government and the public understand the risks inherent in nuclear energy, the author evaluates several myths concerning nuclear energy as a source for electricity in the United States. She argues that renewable energy sources are cleaner, cheaper, better able to address climate change and proliferation risks, and, most importantly, safer than nuclear energy.

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

14. The Internet and the 2008 Election
Aaron Smith and Lee Rainie. Pew Internet & American Life Project, June 15, 2008, 27 pages.
The authors explore the impact of the Internet on the 2008 U.S. election and how Americans use the internet to get political news and share their thoughts about the campaign by surveying users' views about the Internet’s influence on politics. They also measure the intensity with which people engage in the online political debate by asking individuals how frequently they take part in the political process using the internet, email, and text messaging.

15. Off Target
Paul Farhi. American Journalism Review, April/May 2008, 6 pages.
According to the author, round-the-clock cable television coverage and newspaper journalists having to write for the Web, as well as work on print stories has resulted in a barrage of superficial reporting, analysis and forecasting, much of which has turned out to be inaccurate. He discusses campaign reporting in the United States during the 2008 campaign season, and looks at the worsening of the political media’s tendencies and what news organizations could do to tackle the problems.
 
16. Cybercrime in the Year 2025
Gene Stephens. The Futurist, July/August 2008, 5 pages.
Detailing the types of cybercrimes and cybercrime fighting that will occur in the United States by the year 2025, the author discusses his past forecasts on cybercrime and explains what he got right, what he got wrong, and why. He also offers some frightening speculation on what future cybercrime fighters will have to do to deal with the problem.

17. Maybe It Is Time to Panic
Carl Sessions Stepp. American Journalism Review, April/May 2008, 6 pages.
Nowadays anyone with a computer can become a publisher. Journalists no longer control content and format. According to the author, news organizations need to start thinking more imaginatively, turning duress into motivation, and thus make their content irresistible and their business operations unstoppable and fast. The author reflects on the status of news organizations and discusses the challenges news organizations are facing in their fight to preserve serious journalism.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE

18. Little League, Huge Effect
Scott Ganz and Kevin Hassett. The American, May/June 2008, 4 pages.
A growing body of research has shown that the social and economic benefits of youth’s participation in sports are surprisingly large and overwhelmingly positive. Other things being equal, if a kid plays sports, s/he will earn more money, stay in school longer, and be more engaged in civic life. The authors discuss how youth sports strengthen the economic, academic, and social prospects of Americans.

19. Technology for Learning
Bob Coulter. Connect Magazine, May 2008, 2 pages.
Reflecting on the usefulness of digital photography for outdoor education in the United States, the author discusses the benefits of digital cameras as a means for students to open a window into their thinking. The application of digital photography to enrich curriculum is needed to record change over time. Moreover, since young students’ attention span and memory can be elusive, having a record of events as they unfold can be a valuable teaching resource.

20. Bad Rap on the Schools
Jay Mathews. The Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2008, 6 pages.
Is the United States losing the economic race to India and China because American students do not study as long and hard as their counterparts in those countries? The author disagrees, arguing that the real problem is not the bad American school system, but instead that the bottom 30 percent of American schools in urban and rural communities are full of low-income children. The performance of American schools and root problems are discussed.

21. The Wisdom of the Masses
Gerald M. Pomper. Harvard International Review, Spring 2008, 5 pages.
Why does the modern world choose its leaders through popular elections? And why does the United States think that the tens of millions of citizens, who do not even know the name of their representatives in Congress, can intelligently select the most powerful person on the planet, i.e. the President of the United States? The author discusses a preference for electoral democracy and the use of elections as a mean of choosing leaders around the world.

22. High Noon for the Republican Party
Kevin Baker, et al. Harper's Magazine, July 2008, 8 pages.
A panel of political thinkers discusses the two-party system, how the Republicans can be beaten, the cost of failure for the U.S. Democrats, and the scenario most likely to appear after the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

23. The Voice of Ordinary People: A Drive for Change in Modern Society
Mito Kostov Mitov. Center for International Private Enterprise, May 2008, 5 pages.
Citizenship education, e-government, and blogs are mechanisms by which youth can participate actively in the governance process.

24. Global Corporate Citizenship: The New Era of Opportunity
Don Eberly. Center for International Private Enterprise, May 2008, 8 pages
The rise of global corporate citizenship presents unprecedented opportunities for business to make a positive difference and incorporate social responsibility into their business strategies.

TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS

The following articles are from “USA Economy in brief” – a publication of The Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. State Department, July 2007 (continue)

25.  The Times They Are A-Changing
From a developing country of mostly subsistence farmers little more than 200 years ago, the United States became the world's center of manufacturing in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the beginning of the 21st century, the United States remains the world's top manufacturing country and top provider of services.

26. Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind
The U.S. economy has not only fundamental strengths but also fundamental problems.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency summarizes economic conditions in nearly 200 countries. Here is what its 2007 World Fact book says about the home country: "Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups."

27. All That Energy
The U.S. economy uses a lot of energy—in 2005, 99.89 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). Nearly all of the energy produced in the United States is consumed within country, and then the United States imports a lot more.

28. Foreign Investment
Some economists identify as another serious challenge the dependence of the U.S. economy on inflows of foreign capital for investment in a situation of low U.S. savings rates.

29. On the Move
Economic expansions don't go on forever, of course. Since 1854, the U.S. economy has gone through 32 cycles of expansion and contraction. In modern times, the expansions have become longer and the contractions shorter on average: In the 10 cycles 1945-2001, expansions averaged 57 months, contractions 10 months; during all 32 cycles, by comparison, expansions averaged 38 months, contractions 17 months.

30. Outline of U.S. Legal System
Vietnamese version
Thanh Nien Publisher, 6/2008
246 pages