March/April 2007

The Rule of Law

1. CAUGHT BETWEEN RIGHT AND LEFT, TOWN AND COUNTRY
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Economist, Vol. 382, No. 8519, March 10, 2007, pp. 23-25

A proposed law guaranteeing certain private property rights is proving controversial, and has inspired "unusually fierce and open debate" in the officially socialist People's Republic of China. The law will be considered at the 12-day National People's Congress meeting this month. The growing urban middle class, "anxious to protect their new assets from the whims of the state," favors the law, while a vocal body of intellectuals and retired officials oppose it as a betrayal of the nation's founding principles. The government of President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has tried to mollify opponents of the law by stressing measures to alleviate poverty and improve health care. By some measures, the private sector now accounts for a majority of fixed-asset investments in China.

2. CHINESE NATIONAL OIL COMPANIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Chen, Matthew
ORBIS, vol. 51, no. 1, Winter 2007, pp. 41-54

China, in its race to meet its growing energy demand, is contributing to massive human rights abuses in Sudan and Burma, is entering into dangerous alliances with Iran and Venezuela, straining Sino-American relations, and is undermining international security by blocking multilateral crisis management efforts. The author calls on the international community to develop a comprehensive strategy to encourage "corporate social responsibility" in China's state-owned energy companies to engage with international producers' groups and human-rights oriented NGOs. By doing so, the international community can avoid a race to the bottom when it comes to turning a blind eye to dangerous and abusive regimes and help work toward reducing instability in energy-rich states.

3. GENERATION "WE" -- THE AWAKENED GIANT
Cannon, Carl
National Journal, vol. 39, no. 10, March 10, 2007, pp. 20-27

The author examines the role young people play in American politics. "Today's youth are an underrated force in American civic life -- difficult to stereotype, with attitudes markedly different from those of their predecessors," Cannon writes. Additionally, there are surveys showing that youth are voting more -- in the 2004 elections, voting among 18-24 year-olds increased 10 percentage points compared to 3 percentage points among all voters. A study of youth founded that the September 11 attacks gave them new meaning to the concept of public service, and increased their interest in political issues. The author provides evidence arguing that youth were influential in two tight Senate races in 2006 in Virginia and Montana, the outcomes of which gave Democrats control of Congress.

4. INTERNATIONAL: MANY RIGHTS, SOME WRONG; AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
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Economist, Vol. 382, Iss. 8521, March 24, 2007; p. 76

The venerable human-rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has gradually expanded its mission from protecting individual political dissidents and prisoners of conscience to demanding broadly defined economic rights. This expansion "chimes well with the visceral opposition to American foreign policy, and to globalization, that exists in many parts of the world" but arguably reduces AI's overall effectiveness. Autonomous regional AI chapters seemingly play to the political preferences of their members; in Columbia, AI opposes a proposed law reducing sentences imposed on right-wing paramilitaries but remains silent on similar proposals regarding left-wing guerillas. The organization's annual report devotes more pages to alleged human-rights abuses in Britain and America than in Belarus and Saudi Arabia.

5. IRAQ: A LOOK BACK
King-Irani, Laurie
ORBIS, vol. 51, no. 1, Winter 2007, pp. 91-106

The author, a specialist in local governance and conflict resolution at Washington DC's Catholic University, evaluates the prospects for postwar rehabilitation of Iraqi society. Historically, Iraq's diversity has complicated efforts to develop a unified national vision, but today a common desire for stability unifies communities -- particularly for the Ba'athist regime's victims, the internally displaced, and those who have lost family members to ongoing sectarian violence. The new Iraqi government and the United States must lean from the mistakes of recent years and rededicate themselves establishing and upholding the rule of law if they are truly dedicated to building democracy. Without it, the author warns that the chaos will continue, and will likely spread throughout the region.

6. LESSONS FROM EUROPE
Berman, Sheri
Journal of Democracy, vol. 18, no. 1, January 2007, pp. 28-41

The author, associate professor of political science in Barnard College, Columbia University, believes that during the 1950s and 1960s, the debate over democracy as the best form of modern political governance, was dominated by the preconditionists, who stressed the importance of various national prerequisites and deep structural factors such as levels of socioeconomic development, degrees of socioeconomic equality and group polarization, patterns of land ownership or agricultural production, or the prevalence of certain beliefs or cultural traits. In contrast, universalists contended that democracy could emerge through diverse paths and flourish in diverse circumstances. The "third wave" of global democratization that began in 1974 gave a strong push to the universalist view, as the shift from authoritarian to democratic rule was made in dozens of countries -- including many that preconditionists would not have considered ripe for such a move. As a result, scholarship began to focus less on the structures supposedly associated with successful democracy and more on the process of democratic transitions. However, the best way to understand how stable, well-functioning democracies develop is to analyze the political backstories of most democracies, which include struggle, conflict, and even violence. Understanding past cases is a crucial step toward putting today's democratization and democracy promotion discussions into the proper intellectual and historical context.

7. SLEIGH BELLS RING, ARE YOU VOTING?
Barnes, James A.
National Journal, vol. 39, no. 12, March 24, 2007, pp. 62-63

The 2008 election is looking like front-runners will have a leg up over their lesser-known rivals, due to primary votes being cast earlier than ever, the author writes. Some absentee ballots may be cast as early as Christmas. In California, early-voting stations will be opening on January 7. New Hampshire, which prides itself as being the first state to hold a primary, is scheduled for January 22, but is considering moving the date earlier. With big states such as California and Texas that have early voting laws allowing their citizens to vote before the traditional first states, New Hampshire and Iowa, means that candidates may be inclined to spend their money campaigning in the big states instead. The article examines whether early-voting will impact how candidates campaign.

8. THE TREATY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PEACE
Lindberg, Tod
Weekly Standard, Vol. 12, No. 21, February 12, 2007, pp 19-24

The author, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and editor of Policy Review, argues that mature, liberal democracies never enter into war with each other and always settle disputes peacefully. He notes that mature democracies have common values, and advocate liberal values such as respect for human rights and free and fair elections; this ideal inspired the rise of many new democracies in the twentieth century, though many are young and fragile. Lindberg praises the "attractive power" of NATO and the European Union as bastions of liberal democracy; however, he says this attraction is regional, and not suitable for a global organization. He also finds fault with the U.N., since it has many authoritarian and dictatorial governments, and failed to act either in Kosovo in 1997 or now in Darfur. He proposes the creation of a new international organization, based on the adoption of a "Treaty of the Democratic Peace." The treaty would create a council that would implement its provisions, and a secretariat to advise the council on relevant matters. Lindberg says the treaty offers a forum in which the United States "is most likely to be influenced: among like-minded democratic states seeking a basis for cooperative action."

Economics and Trade

9. CHINA AND GLOBAL ENERGY MARKETS
Cornelius, Peter; Story, John
ORBIS, vol. 51, no. 1, Winter 2007, pp. 5-20

A rising China's struggle to meet its ever-increasing demand for oil is shaping global energy markets as well as the international security agenda. The authors assess oil's role in China's energy mix (22 percent and growing), as demand for automobiles increases as its domestic oil reserves dwindle. While China has raised eyebrows with its global push to seek out new resources, the authors argue that the key to China's energy future hinges on the maze of conflicting domestic actors driving its energy policy. They note that China is facing a major turning point: will the Communist Party follow its WTO accession commitment to open its financial markets to international competition and stop shielding its domestic market from rising oil prices? Their decision will have major ramifications for the future of Sino-American relations, but the authors conclude that as long as they open their markets and global price mechanisms continue operating efficiently, conflict between Washington and Beijing will be far from inevitable.

10. HAS GLOBALIZATION PASSED ITS PEAK?
Abdelal, Rawi; Segal, Adam
Foreign Affairs, vol. 86, no. 1, January/February 2007, pp. 103-114

Not long ago, most governments embraced the benefits of the global free flow of capital, goods and labor. Recently, however, barriers to free trade have begun to rise and institutional foundations of globalization to weaken, argue Abdelal, of Harvard University, and Segal, of the Council on Foreign Relations. Public skepticism about globalization is evident everywhere, but it is most striking in the two countries that seem to have benefited most from free trade and cross-border investment: the United States and China. The reasons are many, from the financial crises of the 1990s to current account imbalances, to tensions over free movement of labor, worries about energy markets, and dissatisfaction with the uneven distribution of globalization benefits. All of them can be overcome through deft, internationally coordinated policies, say the authors. But globalization is likely to slow down considerably and require more effort on the part of the United States and other major free-trade stakeholders.

11. INTERNATIONAL GIVING AND THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM: A CLASH OF POLICIES BEGETS NEW RULES
Carman, Paul; Bender, Kelley
Journal of Taxation, vol. 106, no. 2, February 2007, pp. 100-109

Carman and Bender, both financial attorneys, examine the latest release of the Anti-Terrorism Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for US-Based Charities. The Guidelines, designed to guard charities against terrorist abuses, provide recommendations for charities involved in international philanthropy. The authors cover the Guideline's five primary focus areas: fundamental principles of good charitable practice, governance accountability and transparency, financial accountability and transparency, programmatic verification, and anti-terrorist financing best practices. Which rules any one charitable organization will need to implement depends on circumstances such as size and risk exposure, they note. The authors recommend planning ahead, assessing the risks and making decisions in advance to reduce the stress of continuing to operate in the increasingly risky world of international philanthropy.

12. THE MONEY SQUEEZE ON IRAN
Kitfield, James
National Journal, March 3, 2007, Vol. 39, No. 9, pp. 79-80

The author, an award-winning defense and foreign affairs correspondent for National Journal, describes the Bush administration's aggressive strategy to deal with an increasingly bellicose and provocative regime in Tehran. The military aspect of this strategy has garnered most of the publicity, but key is a "quiet campaign to slowly constrict the lifeblood of the Iranian economy." Using powers granted by the USA Patriot Act to cut off foreign banks that engage in money laundering using the U.S. financial system, the administration has prohibited several Iranian banks from doing business in dollars or working with American financial institutions, causing growing nervousness in the international banking community about doing business with Iran. U.S. officials have been surprised to see that private institutions have "often acted more proactively than foreign governments in cutting off terrorist funding," a phenomenon evident in recent dealings with the Palestinian Authority after the election of Hamas and with North Korea. International cooperation in this approach of using "gradual economic coercion combined with patient diplomacy" gives rise to hopes that Iran will decide that it is in its interest to return to the negotiating table.

13. RICH COUNTRIES, POOR PEOPLE?
Stiglitz, Joseph
New Perspectives Quarterly, Vol. 24 No. 1, Winter 2007, pp. 7-9

In an interview with the NPQ editor, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz challenges the U.S. model for globalization, which he says drives down wages in industrialized countries and imposes unfair trade practices on developing countries. He says globalization can only work if the winners share with the losers and warns about a potential protectionist backlash if the current trend continues. He prefers the "Scandinavian model" for economic development which invests heavily in education, research, technology and a social safety net, thereby giving entrepreneurs the tools and protection they need to take risks. He cautions developing countries against opening up to short-term speculative capital flows and says they should seek long-term foreign direct investment with technology transfers. He says the IMF has lost all legitimacy and needs a more democratic structure.

14. WHY THE WORLD ISN'T FLAT
Ghemawat, Pankaj
Foreign Policy, no. 159, March/April 2007, pp. 54-60

Globalization has bound people, countries and markets closer than ever; even so, more than 90 percent of all phone calls, Internet traffic and investment is local, writes Ghemawat, professor of global strategy at IESE Business School and professor at Harvard Business School. "Just a fraction of what we consider globalization actually exists," he writes, "and globalization's future is more fragile than you know." Levels of internationalization associated with cross-border migration, telephone calls, management research and education, private charitable giving, patenting, stock investment hover at 10 percent of gross domestic product; the only exception is trade, which stands at 20 percent. Even in cyberspace, there is more Web traffic within countries and regions that there is between them, he says. The globalization of trade, too, may be self-limiting. Ghemawat writes: "Specifically, we have to entertain the possibility that deep international economic integration my be inherently incompatible with nations' sovereignty -- especially given the tendency of voters in many countries, including advanced ones, to support more protectionism, rather than less."

15. THE WTO IN CRISIS
Senser, Robert A.
America, January 1-8, 2007, pp. 10-13

The World Trade Organization is in crisis because it tried to do both too much and too little, writes the author, a former labor attaché in the U.S. Foreign Service. It has burdened its agenda with too many contentious issues, while it has done too little to address developing countries' concerns about fairness and equity in the global economy. The author denounces what he sees as a "taboo" among most American economists and trade policymakers against connecting trade and fairness. He argues that equity, social justice and human rights should be placed at the heart of the international trading system and expressed hope that the 110th Congress will move U.S. trade policy in that direction. According to Senser, the grandiose vision of a single global economy should yield to a more down-to-earth vision of a diverse global economy based on rights and corresponding obligations.

Global Issues

16. ARE JOURNALISTS THE 21ST CENTURY'S BUGGY WHIP MAKERS?
Dietrich, William
Nieman Reports, vol. 60, no. 4, Winter 2006 pp. 31-34

Many U.S. newspapers are cutting their editorial staffs and closing their international bureaus. Most major metropolitan areas are dominated by only one newspaper, where there was once a competitive market. Dietrich, with the Seattle Times and a 1988 Nieman Fellow, speculates that journalism as a profession is becoming obsolete. The journalist's advantage in the past was the capability to gain access to information not readily available to the public, but that advantage is diminishing in an era when the Internet and simplified recording and video technologies allow any amateur to become a reporter. Dietrich notes that emerging amateur journalists today rarely purport to maintain the balance and objectivity that has always been a point of professional pride. He also wonders whether this evolution of technology has devalued the role that the journalist has played in a democracy -- to not merely disseminate information, but help the public understand its importance. Dietrich raises the possibility that newspapers may yet reinvent themselves to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace if they draw on their vast informational and archival resources. This article is in a special issue of Neiman Reports, entitled "Goodbye Gutenberg", examining the changing media landscape.

17. COAL RUSH!
Moran, Susan, Et Al.
World Watch, Vol. 20, No. 1, January/February 2007, pp 8-23

In the first of three articles on coal, energy and climate change, Susan Moran reports on the push by U.S. electrical utilities to build 150 new coal-fired power plants in the next decade. Most of the plants will use conventional technologies, and only 3 plants will use clean-coal technology -- the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) process. The power companies' decision to move ahead with old technology has been widely criticized -- the author notes that carbon caps and carbon trading will eventually be legislated, forcing difficult retrofits. In "China and Her Coal", Hou Yanli and Hu Min of the China Sustainable Energy Program, an NGO, describe China's massive increase in coal-fired power generation. They note that production prices and electricity costs does not reflect the true environmental and social costs of using coal -- the the poor safety record of mines, the high death rate among coal miners, and the high rates of respiratory disease and mortality due to pollution. In "Portraits in Carbon", science writer Todd Neff looks at carbon as the basis for life on earth, how it became coal, the debate on carbon sequestration methods and current efforts to create carbon offsets. He concludes with the state of research on new uses for carbon, including carbon fiber and nanotubes. A short photo essay of coal miners accompanies the articles.

18. GLOBAL WARMING: WHO LOSES - AND WHO WINS?
Easterbrook, Gregg
Atlantic Monthly, vol. 299, no. 3, April 2007, pp. 52-64

Long-time environmental writer Gregg Easterbrook discusses potential economic and geopolitical consequences of climate change in the 21st century. Rising sea levels could spell doom for low-lying countries, but warming temperatures could uncover heretofore untouched natural resources in now frozen climes. He notes that a shift in location of crucial natural resources could lead to a new balance of power in which "Russia and America are once again the world's paired superpowers -- only this time during a Warming War instead of a Cold War." An increase in wealth of the already rich northern countries could set back the "quest for world equity." Easterbrook argues that today's globalized economics "have been a positive force for increased equity ... but if climate change increases the value of northern land and resources, while leaving nations nearer the equator hotter and wracked by storms or droughts" there will be less incentive to help build the economies of poorer nations. Worsening situations in already poor equatorial countries could cause major migrations of refugees to the wealthier north. "If the very Earth itself turns against poor nations, punishing them with heat and storms, how could the U.S. morally deny the refugees succor?" He argues that nations should act now to control greenhouse gases because the "cost of controls is likely to be much lower than the cost of rebuilding the world."

19. GOOGLE'S MOON SHOT
Toobin, Jeffrey
New Yorker, vol. 82, no. 48, February 5, 2007

The author describes the efforts of the search engine Google to create a database of all published books. Google ran into trouble with authors and publishers over copyright issues, but Toobin believes that the parties will settle out of court for royalty payments. Many of the world's leading libraries, including Harvard, Oxford and the New York Public Library, are partners to this project; Google describes it as creating the universal digital library. There are other efforts to digitize book collections, but everyone is waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit against Google and wondering whether Google's search engine will be up to the task of searching the vast universal digital library.

Regional Security

20. AERIAL INTERDICTION OF WMD SHIPMENTS
Moore, Wesley J.
Joint Forces Quarterly, no. 44, First Quarter 2007, pp. 34-38

The author says that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is one the gravest threat facing the United States and its allies. Existing and effective maritime interdiction tools, he says, may force potential proliferators into the skies where there is little room for error in trying to divert or force the landing of aircraft. Air Force Lieutenant Moore writes that the policymakers and lawyers must work together to develop the necessary doctrine to support successful future interdictions. The United States has the opportunity to show leadership in building capabilities and international consensus. "By developing aerial interdiction doctrine in the open and in dialogue with allies," Moore says, "America will improve its readiness and stimulate international thought by emphasizing that when Washington speaks of aerial interdiction of WMD, it is generally not talking about shooting down aircraft." This process will also pave the way to develop public diplomacy themes and messages for future operations.

21. BIG IDEAS, BIG PROBLEMS
Halper, Stefan
National Interest, no. 88, March/April 2007, pp. 92-96

Adding to the debate about why neither U.S. military might nor America's "story" is winning overseas, Halper, a senior fellow at the Centre of International Studies at the University of Cambridge and a member of the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, finds that the U.S. has exhibited a recurrent syndrome in mishandling global threats, from Communism during the McCarthy years to Iraq today. Once "irrational impulse prevails over rational policy," a flawed approach to the challenge ensues. He fingers America's penchant for "Big Ideas" -- "slogans that compress complex issues into simple nostrums" such as "Stay the Course" and "Domino Theory" -- and the 24/7 media cacophony as the culprits. The combination of these two forces stifles honest debate and leads to failed policy, shutting out institutions like Congress that should provide pragmatic, informed analysis. Halper provides short analyses of how dissent was suppressed during the McCarthy years, the war in Vietnam, and the run-up to the ongoing Iraq war, in each case leading to detrimental results for the United States. Realism and balanced policies eventually reassert themselves, but only after the "big ideas" have failed. He warns that this syndrome must be avoided in the future, most immediately in our dealings with China.

22. CONTAINING PAKISTAN: ENGAGING THE RAJA-MANDALA IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ASIA
Cappelli, Vanni
ORBIS, vol. 51, no. 1, Winter 2007, pp. 55-70

The author argues that Pakistan, riven by both external tensions with its neighbors and internal ethnic, political and religious conflicts, is at best a questionable ally in the war on terrorism. Through a case study of post-partition Pakistani politics, the author suggests that the U.S. could to mitigate the new "Pakistan Question" by practicing the region's historical tradition of "raja-mandala": balancing opposing spheres of power and exploiting the rivalries between them. By building up an alliance with India and Afghanistan and taking aggressive action to cut off aid to Pakistan, the author says that the U.S. can use the principle to pressure Islamabad to reconcile its inner contradictions to contain and eventually eliminate the terrorists in its midst.

23. FEAR NOT: NOTES FROM A NAYSAYER
Mueller, John
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 63, No. 2, March/April 2007, pp. 30-37

The author, a professor of National Security Studies at Ohio State University, criticizes what he calls the "terrorism industry" for overstating the threat of terrorism. He says politicians, bureaucrats, entrepreneurs and the media all have a vested interest in playing up the threat of terrorism without any regard to the larger context including the statistical scarcity of terrorist attacks outside war zones or their limited consequences. He says stoking fear of terrorism is costly, enervating, counterproductive and unjustifiable. He says the current counterterrorism policy is focused on preventing terrorism and protecting potential targets, a task he calls hopelessly ambitious, while the policy should focus on international policing, confronting irrational fears and controlling overreactions in case of an attack.

24. HOW TO DEAL WITH SOUTH KOREA
Kim, Sunhyuk; Lim, Wonhyuk
Washington Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 2, Spring 2007, pp. 71-82

Kim, associate professor at Korea University, and Wonhyuk Lim, a fellow at the Korea Development Institute and a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, note that the U.S. "has been coping with a new phenomenon since 2002: a South Korea that can say 'no' to America." Acknowledging the important U.S. contributions to both the economic and political development of South Korea, they also describe the perception of young South Koreans of "the ambiguous U.S. role in the checkered history of South Korean democratization." The remarkable economic development of South Korea, the rise to importance of a younger generation unfamiliar with the extreme poverty of the 1950s, inter-Korean rapprochement, the "China factor," and the increasing independence of Seoul are cited as influencing the bilateral relationship. The authors argue that "rather than being bewildered by a 'rebellious' South Korea, viewing its newfound strength as a puzzle and a threat, Washington should feel proud of the contributions it made to South Korea's economic and political development and respect South Korea as a grown-up ally to consult while evaluating its policies toward North Korea, Northeast Asia, and beyond."

25. NOT TOO LATE TO CURB DEAR LEADER: THE ROAD TO PYONGYANG RUNS THROUGH BEIJING
Blumenthal, Dan; Friedberg, Aaron

Weekly Standard, Vol. 12, No. 21, February 12, 2007, pp 12-14
The authors, both of whom worked for the current Bush administration, believe the president should press China now "to use its very considerable leverage to bring Kim Jong Il to heel." They assert that the Six-Party Talks, including China, Japan, Russia, the U.S. and both Koreas, could have worked if the five seeking to curb Pyongyang had been willing to "squeeze" the DPRK while talking. Though Japan and the U.S. did that, they say, China and South Korea did not. China gains by a continuation of the status quo, they assert, and so persuading Beijing to change course requires convincing it that "continued passivity is riskier than action." The authors recommend three steps: impose further financial sanctions on the DPRK; tell Beijing clearly that with a Democratic majority in Congress, failure to resolve the North Korean issue satisfactorily will hurt U.S.-China relations; and a clear U.S. statement that it will do whatever is necessary to defend its interests and those of its Asian allies. A nuclear North Korea could result in a nuclear Japan, among several other possibilities.

26. PROBLEMS OF ENFORCEMENT: IRAN, NORTH KOREA, AND THE NPT
Choe, Julia
Harvard International Review, vol. 28, no. 2, Summer 2006, pp. 38-41

The author, associate editor of the Harvard International Review, focuses upon the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a solution to the problem created by nuclear weaponry. The major weakness of the NPT is in the enforcement of its policies -- Iran and North Korea illustrate the NPT's ineffectiveness in the current world order. Iran's non-compliance and North Korea's withdrawal should be addressed in future revisions of the NPT. However, the difficulties in NPT enforcement are not necessarily the fault of the treaty, but may be intrinsic to the very nature of arms control.

27. A TREACHEROUS TRIANGLE? CHINA AND THE TRANSATLANTIC ALLIANCE
Griffin, Christopher; Pantucci, Raffaello
SAIS Review, Vol. 27, No. 1, Winter-Spring 2007, pp. 161-170

The embargo on arms sales to China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has caused a split between the U.S. and the European Union. While EU leaders themselves are divided over the issue, many of them view China as a potential buyer for European components and subsystems for use in a whole range of military, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications. U.S. leaders, meanwhile, are concerned that their armed forces in Asia might some day face technology or weaponry, possibly even U.S.-made, that the EU exported to China. The U.S. and EU avoided a showdown in 2006 when the EU backed down from a move to lift its embargo after China passed legislation directed at Taiwan. Another pretext to avoid such a showdown may not emerge next time.

28. THE UNDERFUNDED PENTAGON
Feldstein, Martin
Foreign Affairs, vol. 86, no. 2, March/April 2007, pp. 134-140

Even with current U.S. defense expenditures totaling more than the combined military budgets of the next 40 nations, a significant increase in American military spending is needed, argues Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University and CEO of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Deterring other great powers, such as Russia and China, requires the U.S. to maintain its current spending level, while three new threats -- small regional powers with weapons of mass destruction like North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan; global non-state terrorist networks like al-Qaida; and independent terrorists and extremist groups -- require expansion of intelligence capabilities, increased manpower in the Army and Marine Corps (reserving the National Guard solely for homeland security), and new rapid-deployment weapon systems for conducting urban warfare. Feldstein says today's defense budget, even with the inclusion of Iraq and Afghanistan operations, is just 4 percent of the gross domestic product and believes it should be 6 percent, as it was under President Reagan. He makes the case that this increase can be met through the rise in personal tax revenues that happens naturally during economic growth, by holding spending on non-defense discretionary programs to current levels, and closing tax loopholes. Political leadership, he says, is needed to make the financial commitment necessary for effective national security.

U.S. Society and Values

29. HOW AMERICA DOES ART
Dimaggio, Paul
American Prospect, Vol. 18, No. 3, March 2007, pp. 41-43

DiMaggio reviews two recent books devoted to the relationship between the arts community and government in the U.S. In VISUAL SHOCK: A HISTORY OF CONTROVERSIES IN AMERICAN CULTURE, Michael Kammen illustrates, through specific cases, the kinds of debates and tensions that have arisen over the past two centuries, including both artistic and commercial issues. In GOOD AND PLENTY: THE CREATIVE SUCCESSES OF AMERICAN ARTS FUNDING, Tyler Cowen presents a positive view of the current system which he believes "encourages artistic creativity" and "keeps politicization to a minimum." DiMaggio provides a good overview of the different ways governments directly and indirectly support the arts (tax credits, support for education, etc.), how museums balance artistic and budgetary/attendance concerns, and the ways that public mores guide, clash with and are challenged by art.

30. LITTLE START-UP ON THE PRAIRIE
Kotkin, Joel
American Interest, vol. 2, no. 4, March/April 2007, pp. 74-82

The negative media stereotype of a depopulated, decaying rural America is out of date, notes the author, a fellow at the New America Foundation. Kotkin sees a resurgence in the heartland, thanks to the telecommunications revolution, which allows rural areas to compete for high-value-added jobs, the expansion of the energy industry, and Americans' cultural affinity for heartland values. He cites figures showing a shift in net migration from an outflow in the 1980s to a significant influx beginning in the 1990s. He acknowledges that growth is concentrated in such "nodes" as the Rapid City/Black Hills region of South Dakota, which offer appealing amenities, or Midland, Texas, where high energy prices have revived the oil sector. Twice as many Americans say they prefer to live in a small town or rural area rather than a city, and Kotkin concludes by quoting approvingly those who believe that the Heartland's sensibility, which is focused on family, religious and civic values, will turn this "nascent Heartland resurgence" into a durable trend.

31. THE MEASURE OF LEARNING
Kingsbury, Alex
U.S. News & World Report, March 12, 2007

The author notes that there is growing concern about the quality of education and the vagueness of stated educational goals at most U.S. universities and colleges. Kingsbury writes that the federal government is proposing to test U.S. higher educational programs, noting that Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling has plans to develop one or more standardized tests that would assess the success or failure of the colleges. The article delineates the concerns expressed by colleges about any plan to try to quantify educational outcomes, goes into further detail about the reasons for the concerns on each side (colleges versus government and other critics) and how this effort relates to more federal government standards for elementary and secondary education, and discusses various existing and proposed evaluation measures.

32. THE RANKINGS REVOLT
Rawe, Julie
Time Magazine, vol. 169, no. 14, April 2, 2007, p. 49

The practice of ranking colleges and universities has long rankled some educators and administrators who believe an education is hard to quantify in the ranking formats of the most influential sources (such as U.S. News and World Report). But any single school that chose not to participate or complete the survey or that otherwise tried to alter the practice, found itself saddled with a ranking based on non-answers, rather than no ranking. This article describes a new group effort of colleges banding together and trying to change the ranking system with less risk to individual institutions.

33. RESPONSIVE WORKPLACES
Levin-Epstein, Jodie
American Prospect, Vol. 18, no. 3, March 2007, pp. A16-18

The article describes leave policies and other working conditions faced by American workers, and the impact of the lack of paid leave or long work schedules that make it difficult for parents to deal with family issues. The author provides examples of companies that offer family-friendly work environments, contrasts the pattern in the United States with that of the European Union, and discusses the role local and federal government can and should take to improve the situation. Levin-Epstein notes that workplace practices that are more supportive of family needs lead to greater worker productivity, satisfaction and retention, and can have a positive impact on profitability.

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