Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The global financial crisis was a result of failures in both the market and state—markets created financial turmoil and regulatory agencies failed to detect risks and correct imbalances. As Latin American countries emerge from the crisis, both the market and state are needed to ensure sustainable growth.
The implementation of a likely agreement of the Doha Round would improve Kenya’s competitive position in processed food and agriculture, but would harm manufacturing and mining. Depending on the content of negotiations, the liberalization of trade in goods would boost the country’s GDP by 0.2 percent annually, placing Kenya on the winning side of Doha. However, the benefits would be small.
U.S. offshore oil reserves are too small to significantly impact world oil prices or America’s reliance on foreign oil. However, five alternatives to offshore drilling could effectively maximize long-term environmental, economic, and security gains.
Although important, development assistance aimed at reforming the security sectors in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen has achieved only limited results. The bulk of such aid has consisted of military training and equipment, which does nothing to ensure that security forces answer to legitimate civilian leaders.
On the eve of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s first state visit to Washington since Barack Obama took office, the United States and India must agree on three vital security issues to ensure that their relations continue to deepen: terrorism, Kashmir, and the balance of power in Asia.
Tackling longstanding problems with the basic structures of U.S. democracy aid would boost President Obama’s effort to formulate an approach to democracy promotion. As the largest source of such assistance, USAID is an obvious starting point for deep-reaching reforms.
Talks last week between Iran and world powers in Geneva—and the first public, bilateral negotiations between the United States and Iran in 30 years—yielded unexpected progress. Iran has been forced onto the defensive by its loss of legitimacy, exacerbated by the gains President Obama made by demonstrating resolve to negotiate a peaceful accommodation with the Islamic Republic.
Representing 40 non-government organizations at today’s UN conference, Jessica Mathews, president of the Carnegie Endowment, urged key governments to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Afghanistan’s weak central government and limited resources make the informal networks employed by local warlords a viable option for governance. The country’s former warlords, made powerful governors by President Hamid Karzai, use both formal and informal powers to achieve security objectives and deliver development in their provinces.
Critics of President Obama’s move to reconfigure the proposed missile shield in Europe have accused the administration of kowtowing to Russia in the naïve hope of increased pressure from Moscow on Iran. Kimberly Misher contends that the president’s decision was the right one based on technical, financial, political, and security considerations.
The languishing Doha Round of global trade talks elicits questions about the limitations of the World Trade Organization, just as economic crisis and burgeoning protectionist pressures demonstrate the urgency of strengthening trade rules.
Lahcen Achy, a noted economist on the Middle East and North Africa, has joined the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon. His work will focus on socioeconomic issues and development policies in the region, with a particular emphasis on labor markets and regional integration.
The imbalance of power in Arab countries allows regimes to stay in control virtually unchallenged by non-violent opposition groups. Without a break in the stalemate between the key players—ruling establishments, moderate Islamist movements, and secular parties—democratization is impossible.
A confluence of looming challenges—economic ruin, an emerging water shortage, violent extremism, and a growing secessionist movement—threaten to overwhelm the Yemeni government, provide a breeding ground for terrorists, and destabilize the region.
The international community’s inability to respond quickly and effectively to safeguards violations is the principal weakness of the nonproliferation regime today. At the upcoming Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in May 2010, member states should address this problem by recognizing that safeguards non-compliance constitutes a violation of the NPT.
The widening division between Fatah and Hamas threatens any chance for a diplomatic breakthrough on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Neither Palestinian faction is moving closer to reconciliation with or capitulation to the other side.
Taiya Smith, former deputy chief of staff and lead negotiator for the U.S.–China Strategic Economic Dialogue for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, has joined the Carnegie Endowment.
Alejandro Foxley, formerly Foreign Minister, and earlier, Finance Minister of Chile, has joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a member of the Endowment’s International Economics Program.
There is no single solution to the effects of the financial crisis on middle-income countries, but, introducing fundamental labor markets reforms to create high-paying jobs will be the key to restarting economic growth.
Kuwait must enact further electoral and constitutional reform to break the country’s political paralysis. Continued gridlock could lead the emir to override the constitution and dissolve the parliament, dealing a major setback to democracy in Kuwait and the region.