REFERENCE UPDATE

September 2008

ECONOMIC SECURITY AND TRADE

1. Balancing the Risks of Inflation in Asia
Jonathan Anderson
Far Eastern Economic Review, July/August 2008, 6 pages
Inflation is the single biggest threat to Asian economic stability today. Meanwhile, upstream indices of raw material or producer prices are uniformly rising at 10% or more. The trend continues to be up, in all cases, with no sign of slowdown in sight. The author analyzes inflation trends and examines if inflationary pressures prove to be the death knell for Asia's recent long stretch of record growth and stability.

2. Slow-Motion Recession: What Congress can do to Help
Eileen Appelbaum, et al
Center for Economic and Policy Research, July 2008, 14 pages
The authors outline several proposals that U.S. Congress can take to provide economic stimuli to help address the turmoil in financial markets and the United States’ ongoing economic problems. Some of these proposals are in the form of stimulus measures intended to provide a short-term boost to the economy, while others are designed primarily to ameliorate the impact of what may become the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression.

3. Challenges for Food Sovereignty
Steve Suppan
The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Winter 2008, 13 pages
The author argues that food sovereignty -- an agricultural, environmental, and rural development policy framework that made its first public appearance at the 1996 World Food Summit -- is hostile to import and can lead to technological dependency. The piece examines some challenges of food sovereignty, including trade rules balanced against developing countries, cooption and loss of local technologies and resources, and the failure of trade-based models to account appropriately for depletion of natural capital.

REGIONAL SECURITY

4. Managing Foreign Policy and National Security Challenges in Presidential Transitions
Kurt M. Campbell and James B. Steinberg
The Washington Quarterly, Autumn 2008, 14 pages
According to Campbell and Steinberg, this presidential transition is different from all the others and poses even greater national security challenges than the past. Although each transition is unique, the next president and his team need to understand the lessons of the past if he is to take advantage of the great opportunities for new U.S. leadership and avoid the landmines that lie ahead. The authors suggest ten keys to help the candidates, even before either is president-elect, to traverse this course.

5. The September 12 Paradigm
Robert Kagan
Foreign Affairs, September/October 2008, 15 pages
The author examines the changes in the political and economic world sphere since the end of the Cold War and describes the development of the United States as world superpower, as well as the world's response to this development. The role of U.S. President George W. Bush in the changing of the United States' global identity and global policy is discussed, in addition to the impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on U.S. foreign policy and the subsequent role of the United States in world politics.

6. Nuclear Abolition: A Dangerous Illusion
Elbridge Colby
Orbis, Summer 2008, 10 pages
The author argues that a world without nuclear weapons -- particularly American nuclear weapons -- is not desirable, but a real and effective nuclear disarmament possible. He discusses why the United States should not abandon or move substantially towards the abandonment of its arsenal in pursuit of nuclear abolition. The United States, he suggests, should seek the worthy goal of preventing and retarding the spread of nuclear, while maintaining a strong nuclear deterrent -- a policy that can be followed by de-linking non-proliferation from disarmament.

7. Educational and Cultural Exchanges to Restore America's Image
Carol Bellamy and Adam Weinberg
The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2008, 14 pages
Today’s so-called public diplomacy consists of economic and cultural exchanges to restore U.S. foreign relations with other countries. The authors explore the history of public diplomacy efforts like the Fulbright Program and discuss efforts by the current administration to expand such public diplomacy programs. Four core principles that drive cultural and educational exchanges to be effective public diplomacy tools are put forward.

GLOBAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

8. Biofuels, Neither Savior Nor Scam: The Case for a Selective Strategy
Suzanne Hunt
World Policy Journal, Spring 2008, 9 pages
Biofuels, which are made from plants such as corn or sugar, offer the potential for energy independence, as well as less emissions. Positing that biofuels can be a viable alternative fuel source to petroleum, the author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of biofuels in a debate about their potential role in addressing energy needs and climate change.

9. Global Trends in Culture, Infrastructure, and Values
Andy Hines
The Futurist, September/October 2008, 6 pages
The second part of this special report on Consumer Trends in Three Different Worlds examines the global consumer trends that affect the changes of culture, public infrastructure and values. The primary challenges of those trends and their business implications are discussed. This report of consumer trends is intended to provide a primer on the global trends in play today and how they might develop and evolve into the next decade. (The first part of the report is listed in Article Alert August 2008#15)

10. Pandemic Pandemonium
Josh N. Ruxin
The National Interest, July/August 2008, 7 pages
The author examines the threats that could cause a global pandemic including AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and influenza. A discussion on how to prevent a global health pandemic and how one could push people living on the edge into poverty and starvation is presented. Rich nations, the author proposes, should strengthen health systems for the poor because new diseases and the resurgence of old ones are likely to emerge where people are sickest or have inconsistent treatment.

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

11. Murky Boundaries
Kevin Rector
American Journalism Review, June/July 2008, 8 pages
What are the guidelines for personal blogs of journalists who work for mainstream news organizations? Some news outlets such as The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times have specific policies addressing blogs, but many organizations have not incorporated the new forum into their respective corporate policies. The author examines the potential conflict with journalists who also maintain blogs, as well as the problem in approaching the guidelines.

12. Closing the Gap
Janette Kenner Muir
Harvard International Review, Spring 2008, 4 pages
Every campaign season generates discussion about the ways media can influence the political process and shape public debate. This year, citizen engagement is another strong source of influence, manifested through Internet social networks and blogging sites. Media now faces perhaps its greatest identity crisis as it redefines its role in media-saturated society. The author discusses the impact of shifting influences in the media and increased citizen involvement.

13. Improving Technology Utilization in Electronic Government around the World, 2008
Darrell M. West
The Brookings Institution, 2008, 32 pages
The author reviews the current condition of electronic government and makes practical suggestions for improving the delivery of information and services over the Internet. Using a detailed analysis of 1,667 national government websites in 198 nations around the world, the report studies the types of features available online, the variation that exists across countries, and how current e-government trends compare to previous years.

14. Malevolence: The World of Web Trolling
Mattathias Schwartz
The New York Times Magazine, August 3, 2008, 6 pages
The author explores one of the unfortunate side effects of the Internet -- a growing subculture of trolls who intentionally disrupt online communities. Incidents of Web trolling increasingly involve harassing strangers and hacking into web sites of nonprofit organizations. The author warns that prosecuting the trolls can be problematic and questions if we are ready for an Internet where law enforcement keeps watch over every vituperative blog and back-biting comments section, ready to spring at the first hint of violence.

U.S. SOCIETY AND CULTURE

15. Happy Campers
Jim Rasenberger
The Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2008, 6 pages
Summer camp, which first took root in America, is a fundamental rite of childhood that arguably makes kids better human beings. Today, however, children spend less time than ever in nature and more time in front of computer screens, televisions, and video games. They are also attached to cell phones. As the number of children who attend summer camps declines, the author is compelled to explore the U.S. tradition of summer camps, traces its origin, and presents the benefits for children from time spent in nature.

16. The Impact of Employment during School on College Student Academic Performance
Jeffrey S. DeSimone
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 14006, May 2008, 40 pages
Many high school and college students work part-time. Does this affect their school performance? The author analyzes the effect of paid employment on grades of full-time, four-year students from four nationally representative cross sections of the Harvard College Alcohol Study administered during 1993–2001.

17. Case Study Instruction in Teacher Education: Opportunity to Develop Students' Critical Thinking, School Smarts and Decision Making
Ray Heitzmann
Education, Summer 2008, 20 pages
Arguing that case study instruction should be a central component to teacher preparation programs, the author describes the significance and research findings that support case study methodology and its advantages for future educators. Strategies to incorporate this teaching method into university/college classrooms are offered, as well as a detailed example of an effective program developed at Villanova University.

18. America’s Other Immigration Crisis
Vivek Wadhwa
The American, July/August 2008, 6 pages
The author discusses the impact of U.S. visa restrictions on the increasing number of skilled immigrants who are abandoning America and moving to other countries, where economies are booming and their skills are in greater demand. The author argues that the government should focus more on attracting and keeping skilled immigrants, who contribute to U.S. economic growth and global competitiveness, rather than bringing them to America temporarily, training them and then sending them back home.

19. Making Intervention Work
Morton Abramowitz and Thomas Pickering
Foreign Affairs, September/October 2008, 9 pages
The authors discuss the United Nations’ need to re-evaluate its foreign intervention policy in order to better serve oppressed citizens. The case of Cyclone Nargis in Burma is listed as an example of the international community’s inability to help a society in need, despite promises from democratic governments that they would not tolerate human rights abuses. The idea of a League of Democracies, which could become a vehicle for more robust intervention in failed and abusive states, is also explored.

20. Grand Obama Party
Bruce Falconer
Mother Jones, September/October 2008, 3 pages
Why have some U.S. Republicans decided to vote for and/or support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama? The author examines the factors, including Obama's charisma, personality and policies, which have led to the gradual increase of political support for the Democrat Presidential candidate.

21. A New Look at Ethnicity and Democratization
Mark R. Beissinger
Journal of Democracy, July 2008, 13 pages
The author examines several countries in Asia, Latin America, the former Soviet Bloc, and Africa that developed democratic systems between 1974 and 2008 in which ethnic diversity played a positive role in political development. He suggests that the health of the democratic process depends on how well political institutions incorporate the positions of minorities.

22. Call It Slavery
John R. Miller
The Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2008, 5 pages
The largest group of modern-day slaves consists of women and children who are enslaved and trafficked out of their own countries into a new world of unfamiliar languages and customs. The article focuses on 21st century slavery, as well as both local and international efforts to abolish it. Drawing from his experience while working for the U.S. State Department, the author discusses his encounters with former slaves he met and the role of organized crime in modern slavery.

TRANSLATED ARTICLES

The following articles are from “The Electoral College” – an electronic journal from The Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. State Department, September 2008

23. Broad Appeal, National Stature
 The U.S. presidential election system was established by the country’s Founding Fathers more than 220 years ago. This system has not only withstood the test of time, but has also shaped U.S. politics throughout history.

24. How the Electoral College Functions
How the Electoral College works is rooted in the Constitution. Here are some facts about how the Constitution's words have been interpreted through history.

25. Winning an Electoral College Majority
The Electoral College system makes electing the president of the United States much more complicated than simply counting all of the popular votes. The major political parties have to craft strategies for winning the few “swing states” that can determine the election.

26. A Day in the Life of an Elector
Timothy Willard, one of the 538 presidential electors from 2004, recounts his experience. His candidate lost. Bruce Odessey is the managing editor of this edition of eJournal USA.

27. When the Electoral Vote and the Popular Vote Differ
Four times in U.S. history, the Electoral College system resulted in election of a candidate for president who had received fewer popular votes nationwide than another candidate.

28. Electoral College Reform? Not So Easy
Reforming the Electoral College system for electing the U.S. president would require enormous effort and a consensus that does not now exist.

29. Electoral Systems in International Perspective
The U.S. Electoral College has features common to other election systems around the world but combined in a unique way.

30. The Electoral College: A French View
The U.S. system for electing the president remains mysterious to the French, but some elements of the two countries’ political systems actually seem to be converging.

31. Across the Atlantic, Some Surprising Similarities
The U.S. and British election systems are quite different, but they sometimes produce oddly similar outcomes.