REFERENCE UPDATE
October/November 2008
1. Time to Dump the Dollar Standard
Richard Duncan
Far Eastern Economic Review, October 2008, 5 pages
The torrent of dollars unleashed by the U.S. trade deficit fueled ever larger bubbles around the world as credit expanded without limit. The author examines the role Asia plays in sustaining the dollar standard and the global credit bubble it has allowed to develop. He goes on to explain why the global experiment with fiat money has crashed and predicts how Asia will be impacted by the U.S. financial crisis, positing on how it can emerge even stronger.
2. Born-Again Democracy
William Greider
The Nation, October 20, 2008, 4 pages
What must the United States do to tackle the current financial crisis? The author compares the conditions of the 2008 U.S. financial crisis with those of the 1929 stock market crash that produced the Great Depression. He argues that a total collapse like the one in the 1930s may still be avoided if policies change direction. He proposes five concepts for recovery and reconstruction, which will redefine the next presidency.
3. How Economics Can Defeat Corruption
Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel
Foreign Policy, September/October 2008, 9 pages
The general public has very little idea about how corruption works or how pervasive it is. Economists have not even resolved if and when corruption is really a problem, state the authors. A discussion on how to truly understand corruption, how to measure actual corruption, and how to test different methods of preventing it are included.
4. Mo' Money, Mo' Problems
Daniel Altman
The National Interest, July/August 2008, 5 pages
The rising prices in the commodity markets were caused by higher demand from the world's emerging economies and from the growth in mature markets. The author offers solutions to global inflation, including expanding the world's crops, improving farming techniques, and the subsidization of farmers by wealthy countries.
5. A Strategic Economic Engagement
Henry M. Paulson
Foreign Affairs, September/October 2008, 19 pages
One of the largest challenges facing the next U.S. president is the response to China’s emergence as a global power. According to the author, the United States should engage with China in order to bolster the U.S. economy and maintain good international relations. The U.S.-Chinese trade relations, the economic growth of China and the integration of China into the global economy are examined in this piece.
6. American Asia Policy and the U.S. Election
Lowell Dittmer
Orbis, September 2008, 19 pages
The author examines the United States’ post-Cold War policy toward Asia and its potential impact on the electoral process as the United States selects its future foreign policy leadership and respective course of direction. Among issues discussed are U.S. security architecture in the Asian region, the relevance of recent changes in regional political economy, and attempts to determine how this emerging economic-security model might dovetail with perceived American political interests at a time of national resolution.
7. Keeping Up With Asia
Yoichi Funabashi
Foreign Affairs, September/October 2008, 16 pages
Funabashi explores the U.S.-Asian political alliance systems and the stabilizing effect that the United States has in Asia, which prevent nations such as China or Japan from gaining prominence. He argues that the U.S. involvement with the Middle East has taken its focus off of issues that matter to Asia, including poverty, trade, and the environment. He also looks at how the next U.S. administration might go about restoring its tarnished image and its use of soft power in Asia.
8. Preventing Terrorism: A Case for Soft Power
Michael Chertoff
Harvard International Review, Summer 2008, 4 pages
The author argues that the United States must increase emphasis on soft power methods for combating terrorism worldwide and to win nations and peoples to its side. He discusses soft power solutions and how to strike a balance between hard power and soft power, in order to help the United States and its allies reduce the appeal of terrorist organizations, as well as deter individuals from joining them.
9. The Defense Inheritance: Challenges and Choices for the Next Pentagon Team
Michèle A. Flournoy and Shawn Brimley
The Washington Quarterly, Autumn 2008, 18 pages
The next U.S. President and Secretary of Defense will inherit a military that has been at war almost continuously since September 11, 2001. The U.S. Department of Defense will be under intense budgetary pressures due to its large scope of operations and the ongoing U.S. budget deficit. The authors examine U.S. military and security policy and the challenges in the next presidential administration.
10. Of Milk, Health and Trade Security
David Bell
Far Eastern Economic Review, October 2008, 4 pages
The author argues that the recent tainted milk scandal in China shows how public health and trade security are intricately linked. He examines the need for improved global cooperation to prevent, detect and control public health threats that may rapidly spread beyond national borders. He also discusses the major challenges to promote global health security.
11. The Seven Myths of Energy Independence
Paul Roberts
Mother Jones, May/June 2008, 8 pages
How much do we really know about energy independence? The author examines whether energy independence is good, looking at why the future depends on oil from foreign sources, whether an energy or carbon tax would keep the cost of oil high and thus discourage demand, and whether change will come just because U.S. President George W. Bush will be leaving office.
12. Food Security: Achieving the Potential
Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Anna Herforth
Environment, September/October 2008, 13 pages
The authors discuss the need for eliminating worldwide hunger and improving food security, arguing that rhetoric and short-term actions will not fix the problem and that the way food security is defined adds to the difficulty in finding a solution. Statistics related to food security and problems facing global food shortages are presented.
13. A Global Framework: International Aspects of Climate Change
John Marburger
Harvard International Review, Summer 2008, 4 pages
According to the author, the current climate crisis is mainly focused around energy resource questions. Viable solutions to climate problems, therefore, should focus on smart management of such resources. He suggests an ethical approach to the problems of international responses to climate change.
14. Just another Forum?
Thomas E. Patterson
Harvard International Review, Summer 2008, 2 pages
The author discusses citizen politics that was on display in the 2008 presidential primaries in the United States, as well as citizen-based communication that is rising up to challenge the influence of the traditional media. He argues that press coverage during the primaries had a decisive impact on voters' opinions and that the press has a habit of directing voters' attention toward things that have little to do with the greater issues. The emerging Internet-based communication system, on the other hand, the author argues offers the promise of something more substantial.
15. Bridging the Abyss
Charles Layton
American Journalism Review, June/July 2008, 6 pages
What is the future of newspapers as more people rely on the Internet for their news? Traditional print advertising revenue is declining, but online revenue has not grown enough to make up the difference. Although one prediction says that online ad revenue will begin to compensate for the loss of print advertisements by 2017, how many newspapers will still survive until then? The author explains why the future is bleak for a lot of newspapers.
16. Lost Media, Found Media
Alissa Quart
Columbia Journalism Review, May/June2008, 7 pages
The author examines the state of journalistic writing in the age of digital media and internet journalism. At present, journalism is more or less divided in to two camps: Lost Media -- traditional, long-form reportage involving in-depth investigation and research --and Found Media -- the new media innovations of blogging, news aggregation web sites, and real-time reporting. The author discusses how the forces of creating this new division of Lost and Found media are affecting and afflicting the world.
17. Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States
November 11, 2008, www.america.gov, 10 pages
Barack Obama, elected the 44th President of the United States, has lived a truly American life, and has opened a new chapter in American politics. This publication tells the story of Obama’s life, describes how he captured the presidency, and portrays his vision for the future. It also introduces readers to the Obama family and to the new Vice President, Joseph Biden.
Full text is available at http://www.america.gov/publications/books/obama.html
18. ASEAN's Reluctant Liberal Turn and the Thorny Road to Democracy Promotion
Jorn Dosch
The Pacific Review, December 2008, 19 pages
Does the democratization of foreign policy-making in individual ASEAN policies translate into the promotion of democratic norms and values at the regional level? The author argues that ASEAN’s careful deliberations on democracy are not necessarily the result of active interactions with pro-democracy movements but the inevitable indirect consequence of democratic norms and values diffusing from domestic to regional political spheres. He discusses why ASEAN’s democratic turn is still a reluctant one.
19. Problem: Foreign Students. Solution: Corporate Partner
Karin Fischer
Chronicle of Higher Education, September 5, 2008, 3 pages
With increased competition and a widespread perception that the U.S. visa process is onerous, more colleges are recruiting and educating overseas applicants with the help of private companies. The author discusses the problems that face U.S. universities, including those caused by a strategy to get foreign enrollment numbers up by partnering with private companies to recruit and educate foreign students in college-preparatory programs.
20. YouTube Professors: Scholars as Online Video Stars
Jeffrey R. Young
Education Digest, May 2008, 3 pages
Colleges and universities previously featured video clips on their web sites, but with the rise of YouTube, these institutions are now able to reach even more people. The author discusses how video-sharing on the Internet can be incorporated into the classroom and examines the efforts being made by YouTube to enter into academia.
21. Entertainment-Education for Social Change
Scoff Connolly, et al.
World Watch, September/October 2008, 2 pages
Entertainment education programs across the country have been popular and are credited with having a large impact on children’s learning and promoting positive parenting techniques. The authors examine the significance of entertainment and education for social change in the United States, particularly the contribution of Miguel Sabido, a Mexican television (TV) producer who developed the methodology for the pro-social communication model called telenovelas, to promote literacy, family planning, and other social development goals.
The following articles are from “Freedom of Faith” – an electronic journal from The Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. State Department, August 2008
22. Keeping the Promise of Religious Freedom
As the United States has become the world’s most religiously diverse society, people of different faiths adjust to a different georeligious reality.
23. Religious Diversity in Early America
The religious diversity of the United States dates back to the colonial era, and traditions of tolerance have a long history.
24. The Demographics of Faith
About 80 percent of the U.S. population is Christian, but other world religions are gaining increasing numbers of U.S. followers.
25. The Freedom to Worship and the Courts
Hypothetical disputes between individuals and local governments demonstrate how courts decide whether laws violate religious freedom.
26. The Free Exercise Clause: Significant Supreme Court Rulings
A summary of more than a century of judicial decisions that have resolved disputes over the meaning of freedom of religion.
27. Protecting International Religious Freedom: A Global Consensus
The United States encourages governments of the world to protect religious freedoms and monitors the status of religious minorities.
28. Balancing Work and Religion
Increasing religious diversity in the United States has become a controversial issue in many workplaces.
29. The Interfaith Movement
Religious groups in communities across the United States are reaching out to each other to bridge differences and build understanding.
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