REFERENCE UPDATE

August 2007

ECONOMIC AND TRADE

1. Patent Power
F. Scott Kieff. Hoover Digest No. 3, 2007, 4 pages.
The author argues that strong and clear patents do not keep others from accessing patented technologies or cause monopolies. To the contrary, the credible threat of an injunction behind a patent is essential to fostering the coordination among complementary users of a technology that can bring it to market.

2. Has Globalization Passed Its Peak?
Rawi Abdelal and Adam Segal. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2007, 11 pages.
In this article, the contemporary conception of globalization is compared to the ones from the previous era, lasting from about 1870 to 1914.  The authors predict that globalization will continue based on the technological revolution that has carried it thus far, but that certain obstacles will appear, such as increasing resource nationalism, where a government asserts greater control over its domestic resources.

3. Public Procurement: Spotting the Bribe
OECD Observer, March 2007, 2 pages.
Summarizing the report titled “Bribery in Public Procurement: Methods, Actors and Counter-Measures,” sponsored by the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention, this article examines the problem of corruption in public procurement.  It concludes that there are three primary actions to reduce bribery and corruption which are clear rules backed by enforcement; development of judicial and technical expertise within procurement offices; and, buy-in and understanding of the consequences of bribery from all personnel involved in the procurement process.

4. Do Markets Care Who Chairs the Central Bank?
Kenneth N. Kuttner and Adam S. Posen. Peterson Institute for International Economics Working Paper Series WP07-3, May 2007, 37 pages.
This paper assesses the effects of central bank governor appointments on financial market expectations of monetary policy. To measure these effects, the authors assembled a dataset of appointment announcements from 15 countries; and then conducted an event study analysis on exchange rates, bond yields, and stock prices. The results show a significant reaction of exchange rates and bond yields to unexpected appointments.

5. Microfinance: The Newest Financial Technology of the Washington Consensus
Patrice Flynn. Challenge, March-April 2007, 12 pages.
The leading global financial institutions have announced their newest model to govern global capitalism, known as microfinance.  This article compares the new model to the previous one that had been used during the 1990s, and discusses some of the implications for potential users of microfinance technologies.  The advantages and disadvantages of microfinance is also examined.

REGIONAL SECURITY

6. Crafting a U.S. Policy on Asia
Carin Zissis. Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder, April 10, 2007, 5 pages.
U.S. policy in the East Asian region has been focused on long-running conflicts such as the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan Strait; after 9/11, however, U.S. attentions shifted to the Middle East and counterterrorism efforts. A consensus of experts believes that “American’s standing in the Asia-Pacific region has suffered over the past decade”; and to recoup the prestige in the region, American policies need to concentrate on strengthening multilateral organizations such as ASEAN and APEC.

7. Empire and Its Alternatives
Harold James. Orbis, Summer 2007, 16 pages.
Whereas debates about whether the United States should be described as imperial is ferocious, in practice other countries also try to influence other countries’ domestic policies, to propagate their visions, to exert power and to stabilize areas beyond their borders that are perceived as a source of threats. The author argues that empire and a traditional notion of sovereignty are often closely tied together, so that any sovereign state is imperial.  He examines the alternatives to empire and the neo-imperial vision, in particular the importance of elaboration of common or shared values in helping to build a safer and more peaceful international order.

8. Strictly Confidential
Jacob Shapiro. Foreign Policy, July/August 2007, 2 pages.
It makes no sense for the government to cut itself off from the expertise of scientists, engineers, security experts and others who know more than most governmental agency employees in the name of national security, the author says.  He explores the disparity of openness versus security in United States governmental business and suggests that information should be shared so that analysts can find solutions before terrorists identify weaknesses.

9. Statecraft and Stagecraft
David Samuels. The Atlantic Online, April 18, 2007, 20 pages.
The author interviews three former Secretaries of State to see how they understand America’s current place in the world and the possibilities for diplomatic engagement with American’s friends and enemies.  Also discussed are the relative advantages of using “soft power” and “hard power” in spreading American’s influence and ideas, the Cold War, and the global spread of market capitalism.

10. Defeating Terrorism: Is It Possible? Is It Probable?
Marvin J. Cetron. The Futurist, May-June 2007, 8 pages.
Forecasting International (FI) is in the business of predicting future developments and it has made a few grim predictions related to terrorism.  This article cites a few of them, explains the rationale of the forecasts, and examining the prospects for changing them.

GLOBAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

11. “The Truth about Recycling”
The Economist, June 9, 2007, 4 pages.
This article offers a global survey of the state of materials recycling, weighing the economics, the techniques and momentum of the practice. It reports that in some cases, products headed for recycling are disassembled in ways that release harmful gases into the environment, or expose workers to toxins. The most promising trend in the field is adoption of the “closed loop cycle” where materials and packaging are designed from the outset to create no waste, using materials that can be either recycled indefinitely or completely biodegradable.

12. Making Other Arrangements: A Wake-Up Call to a Citizenry in the Shadow of Oil Scarcity
James Howard Kunstler. Orion, January/February 2007, 6 pages.
According to the author, America is sleepwalking into a permanent energy crisis.  To avoid that, Americans have to make other arrangements for the basic activities of everyday life, including rehabilitation of the nationwide passenger rail network, electrifying local mass transit, localizing food production and manufacturing, changing commuting and work patterns, moving back to small towns, and rethinking the health-care and educational systems.

13. Achievements in Stratospheric Ozone Protection: Progress Report
Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, April 2007, 40 pages.
Countries around the world are phasing out the production and use of chemicals that destroy ozone in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. With many partners, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed and implemented effective approaches to ensure stratospheric ozone protection. This report covers the substantial achievements of people, programs, and organizations that are working to protect the Earth’s ozone layer.

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

14. Blogger Behave: Blogger Code of Conduct Proposed
Ron Miller. EContent, June 2007, 2 pages. 
The article offers information on a blogger code of conduct proposed by publisher Tim O'Reilly to address issues of incivility, misogyny and racism in blogs. O'Reilly first published the idea of a blogger code of conduct in his O'Reilly Radar blog on March 31, 2007 followed by a first draft on April 8, 2007. In the draft, O'Reilly made a call for civility and decency, and for site owners to take control of content. The proposed code represents O'Reilly's effort to counter the idea that “anything goes” on the Internet.

15. Working Without Wires
Christopher Swope, Governing, May 2007, 5 pages.
A number of cities in the United States are installing wireless broadband networks to provide free public access to the Internet. While these projects usually have to do with public access rather than municipal uses, the city of Corpus Christi, Texas took a different approach. This city installed its own WiFi network, which provides high-speed data exchange between field employees, such as police, firefighters and building inspectors, and their offices, and allows real-time monitoring of public parks, city vehicles, even water and gas meters. 

16. MySpace and YouTube Meet the Copyright Cops
Stephanie C. Ardito. Searcher, May 2007, 11 pages.
Just when the world thinks that there cannot possibly be any more innovation in Internet sites, along came social networking and video-sharing sites such as MySpace, YouTube and hundreds of their imitators.  As these companies take off and continue to soar, the copyright infringement lawsuits began, often initiated by the traditional media powerhouses which feel threatened by the newcomers' popularity.  The article discusses the copyright issues that need to be settled between these sites and the film and music industries.

U.S. SOCIETY AND CULTURE

17. Diversity in the United States and Abroad: What Does It Mean When American Studies Is Transnational?
Emory Elliott. American Quarterly, March 2007, 22 pages.
Students who study abroad today learn not only about cultural differences; they also discover how much they have in common with other students around the world.  The author argues for the formation of transnational American studies, saying that a genuine inclusiveness and broad international collaboration are especially crucial.  She concludes that more dialogue between U.S. scholars and those who studies American history, foreign policy, society and culture outside the U.S. will broaden the field and effectively generate developments that will lead to thoughtful citizenship and a more humane future.

18. Million Dollar Babies: Why Infants Can’t Be Hardwired for Success
Sara Mead. Education Sector, April 2007, 8 pages.
Over the past ten years, conventional wisdom in education has been that if a child has sufficient stimulation in the first three years of his/her life, the brain will be hardwired for success. This paper argues that the basis of this belief is on misinterpretation and misapplications of brain research.  Research shows that the strongest evidence of positive long-term impacts of childhood success comes from high-quality preschool programs.

19. Are Reference Desks Dying Out?
Scott Carlson. The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 20, 2007, 3 pages.
New technological tools have replaced many librarians' face-to-face encounters, but the reference desks and the persons behind them are needed still.  The future of reference desks and reference librarians is discussed.

20. It Is Time for Americanization
John Fonte. Hearing on “Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Becoming Americans-U.S. Immigrant Integration,” May 16, 2007, 9 pages.
Today, as in the past, patriotic assimilation is a necessary component of any successful immigration policy.  It is time to promote the patriotic assimilation of immigrants into the mainstream of American life, the author says.  He proposes that the United States should develop an Americanization policy that will be complied with American principles and effective in today's world.

21. Realism: Why Democracy Promotion Matters
Barry F. Lowenkron. American Foreign Policy Interests, May 2007, 6 pages.
The author explores democracy in all of its limitations. He provides a telling definition of the best of all possible ideologies, explains why the quest to attain it is crucial to achieving peace and stability in the world, and offers guidelines for attaining it.

22. On Improving Nation-State Governance
Robert I. Rotberg. Daedalus, Winter 2007, 4 pages.
The author argues for the creation of a universal system of ranking states with respect to their results in good-governance.  According to the author, a transparent and objective ranking system would provide a stronger incentive to improvement and would have a more positive effect on the developing world than pressure from Washington or London.

23. Back to the Future
John B. Judis and Ruy Teixeira. The American Prospect, July/August 2007, 7 pages.
The authors argue that the 2006 election signifies the return to political and demographic trends that are leading to a Democratic and center-left majority in the United States.  September 11 attacks had a peculiar impact on what had been an emerging Democratic majority in American politics, he states, but once the impact of that event dissipated, the earlier trends reasserted themselves.  Today, he points out, a new Democratic coalition—including women, minorities, professionals, the young, and independents—has attained majority status, and is likely to retain it for a good long time.

24. Two Parties, Two Types of Nominees, Two Paths to Winning a Presidential Nomination, 1972-2004
D. Jason Berggren. Presidential Studies Quarterly, June 2007, 25 pages.
The U.S. presidential primary poll data over the last three decades are examined to determine patterns in how candidates are selected by the Republicans and Democrats.

TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS

The following articles from “The Movie Business Today”, an Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, June 2007

25. What's American About American Movies?
Thomas Doherty, Professor of Film Studies Brandeis University
The American film industry, despite its critics, continues to dominate the world market for movies. The author discusses why this is and relates the impact of several recent movies in the United States and abroad.

26. Fields of Dreams: American Sports Movies
David J. Firestein, Bureau of East Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State
What recent sports movies (Remember the Titans, Friday Night Lights, Coach Carter, and others) tell us about American values.

27. Coming to America
Timothy Corrigan, Director of Cinema Studies, University of Pennsylvania
The author traces the development of the international movie scene in the United States.

28. Film Festivals in the United States
Carolee Walker, Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State
New interest in films supports film festivals and filmmakers.

29. The Digital Revolution
Steven Ascher, Documentary Director and Author
Filmmakers first used digital technology in the 1980s to create fantastic new images. Since then, increasingly sophisticated tools have made it possible to produce, market, and distribute motion pictures digitally.

30. Hollywood Goes Green
Robin L. Yeager, Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State
Hollywood's environmentally friendly efforts are described.