The United States in a Global Economy: Risks and Challenges
Alan J. Stoga
Consensus on America’s economic status is growing. Continued dependence on foreign capital and foreign energy, argues Alan Stoga, will erode US influence. An aggressive government strategy, however, can avert economic disaster and ensure America’s international position.
The Conduct of International Economic Relations in the Bush Administration
Bruce J. Heiman
The United States adopted the “open door” policy one hundred years ago. Today, the appointment of James Baker as Secretary of State highlights this theme of diplomatic emphasis on trade negotiations. Bruce J. Heiman tells us what we might expect in the realm of international economic relations under the new administration, and why.
Managing the Media
Philip Geyelin
Does the spotlight of press attention sincerely illuminate a newsmaker or sensationally create a news event? Philip Geyelin suggests that government actions set the foreign policy agenda, placing journalists at the mercy of policymakers and the events themselves.
The Case for Private Diplomacy
Alan A. Rubin
The public conduct of intrastate relations often obscures the multitude of nongovernmental international contacts. These exchanges serve American national interest by fostering understanding at home and abroad. Alan Rubin suggests that greater coordination of private diplomacy, especially at the state level, will heighten American world performance. The new administration should seize the opportunity to improve private diplomatic efforts.
Matching US Security Interests and Capabilities in the 1990s: Challenges for President Bush
Nicholas Dujomovic
Caught between the economic costs of overstretch and the political perils of understretch, the Bush administration will attempt to manage the contest much like its predecessors. Nicholas Dujmovic explores the options for reconciliation, but finds few prospects for immediate success.
Diplomacy of Accommodation: Changes in the Middle East
Interview with Ibrahim Abd al-Karim
His Excellency Ibrahim Abd AI-Karim is Minister of Finance and the National Economy of Bahrain and has held various positions in the World Bank. He was interviewed at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy on 5 October 1988 by Glenn Grow, executive editor of the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs. The interview focused on change in political and economic diplomacy in the Middle East, and the two questions below are a summary of the round of questions in the interview. Involved in Middle East affairs for nearly two decades, H.E. Abd A1-Karim offers a first-hand look at the Arab-Israeli conflict, superpower diplomacy in the Persian/Arabian Gulf, and the effect of oil-based financing in an era of peace.
Going it Alone? The Course of American Diplomacy
Peter Galbraith, Captain William Spencer Johnson, Walter Manger, Alexis Rieffel
On 27 October 1988, the Fletcher Forum gathered a group of American policymakers to explore the future direction of US foreign policy. We asked: what strategic concepts should the United States espouse when conducting foreign relations with other nations? Our roundtable featured Walter Manger, currently the State Department’s desk officer for the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Tanzania, whose most recent tour was at the United Nations Political Office. Captain William Spencer Johnson, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy, and Operations; Alexis Rieffel, an assistant to the US executive director of the International Monetary Fund; and Peter Galbraith, staff member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As moderator, Fletcher’s Alan K. Henrikson lent his exhaustive knowledge of American foreign policy. Representing themselves rather than their institutions, the panelists unanimously rejected the idea of “going it alone.” But a belief in American leadership suffused their remarks. An ambivalence, it seems, natural to American diplomacy.
The Paradox of a Neutral Ally: A Historical Overview of Iceland’s Participation in NATO
Margret Bjorgulfsdottir
Nineteen eighty-nine is the fortieth anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and scholars worldwide are examining its evolution and success. Member states entering the alliance had differing national interests, but all held a common goal of collectively defending the West. Iceland is unique among NATO’s founding members. It has never had an army. While it supported, in principle, a defense of Europe, historically, it has avoided alliances. Neutrality, coupled with maintaining a delicate domestic political balance, has presented challenges for the Icelandic government. Ms. Bjorgulfsdottir examines how Iceland, despite these factors, has become NATO’s vital trans-Atlantic link, thus acquiring the paradoxical title of “neutral ally.”
Twentieth Century Conflict in the Fourteenth Century: Intervention in Yemen
Mark Robertson
Egyptian military intervention in North Yemen from 1962 to 1967 illustrates the selective and often creative application of codified international law (United Nations Charter, General Assembly Resolutions, Treaties, and Conventions) to justify political and military actions. Egypt initially justified its military intervention on the basis of bilateral defense agreements. Mark Robertson explains, however, how the Egyptians quickly abandoned this rationale in favor of inchoate principles of Arab unity, carefully legitimizing its “ethnic intervention” with explicit references to primary international legal norms. He concludes that Egyptian intervention in Yemen remains a precedent on the use and non-use of international law and on the legitimacy of ethnic intervention.
Controlling Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste: The Evolution of a Global Convention
Susanne Rublack
The disposal and management of hazardous waste is one of the world’s most problematic issues. Shipment of hazardous waste between OECD countries is extensive and has been going on for years. Until recently, however, little has been known about hazardous waste shipments from the industrialized North to the less developed South. Some Third World leaders point to the lack of binding international law, calling the issue “toxic terrorism” and “garbage imperialism.” In this article Ms. Susanne Rublack summarizes international regulatory efforts to control such movements and traces the evolution of an upcoming UN-sponsored international convention on trans-frontier shipment of hazardous waste.
Software Production and Development Policy Alternatives: Brazil and Singapore
Amy M. Rauenhorst
Accelerated growth in technology, particularly computer technology, has come to play a significant role in shaping national economic policy planning and development. As a part of this growth, the development of an indigenous software industry can provide a critical link between a country’s production needs and available computer hardware. Ms. Rauenhorst presents case studies of software development policy in Brazil and Singapore- two regional technology leaders- including the influences of government ideology and foreign investment and the problems of piracy and copyright infringement. She concludes that the divergent paths followed by Brazil and Singapore vividly illustrate options available to developing countries intending to nurture such indigenous industry.
The Shah’s Last Ride: The Fate of an Ally
by William Shawcross
Inside Development in Latin America: A Report from the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Brazil
by James Lang
Eastern Europe and Communist Rule
by J.F. Brown
The Legality of Non-forcible Counter-measures in International Law
by Omer Yousif Elagab
The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations
by James Bill
Communication, Development and the Third World: The Global Politics of Information
by Robert L. Stevenson
Human Rights in the People’s Republic of China
by Yuan-li Wu, Franz Michael, John F. Copper, Ta-ling Lee, Maria Hsia Chang, and A. James Gregor
Cold Warriors: Eisenhower’s Generation and American Foreign Policy
by H.W. Brands, Jr.
Power, Protection, and Free Trade: International Sources of US Commercial Strategy, 1887-1939
by David A. Lake
Iraq Since 1958: From Revolution to Dictatorship
by Marion Farouk-Sluglett and Peter Sluglett
Essays on a Half-Century: Ideas, Policies, and Action
by William W. Rostow
Rethinking Nuclear Strategy
by Stephen J. Cimbala
The Japanese Way of Politics
by Gerard L. Curtis
Sanctity Versus Sovereignty: The United States and the Nationalization of Natural Resource Investments
by Kenneth A. Rodman
Controlling East-West Trade and Technology Transfer: Power, Politics, and Policies
by Gary K. Bertsch
Decision Against War: Eisenhower and Dien Bien Phu, 1954
by Melanie Billings-Yun
Power and Prejudice: The Politics and Diplomacy of Racial Discrimination
by Paul Gordon Lauren
Innovation and The Arms Race: How the Soviet Union and The United States Develop New Technologies
by Matthew Evangelista
Contadora and the Diplomacy of Peace in Central America, Volume 1: The United States, Central America, and Contadora
by Bruce M. Bagley