June, 2008

The debate over biofuels has seriously heated up, with a number of different groups trumpeting the devastating effects biofuels have had on food prices and poor populations.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) discusses the emerging crisis in U.S.-Pakistan relations, which threatens stability in South Asia, progress in Afghanistan, and broader gains made in the War on Terror.

According to MEMRI, the opposition parties that defeated General Pervez Musharraf in the elections of February 18 succeeded largely because they renounced Pakistan’s cooperation in the War on Terror and pledged to eliminate the United States’ role in Pakistani affairs. A majority of Pakistanis see the United States as a meddlesome hegemon. Now that they’ve had the chance to vote, U.S. relations with Pakistan are in a dangerous state of limbo. Hanging in the balance are the United States’ long-term strategic goals in the region, as well as the tenuous gains of the long slog in Afghanistan.

In recent years, the United States hasn’t done the best job of making reliable friends in Pakistan. Scorned by the international community after assuming power in a military coup, Musharraf became one of Washington’s favorite dictators following September 11. The autocrat

This morning, the CSIS Energy and National Security Program hosted a presentation by Guy Caruso of the U.S.

Yesterday, the CSIS Commission on Smart Power held one of its highly anticipated Smart Power Speaker Series events, this time featuring Ut

Outsights, an independent consultancy based in London, released a new report detailing four possible scenarios for the global econom

Goldman Sachs has recently published a report on India entitled “Ten Things for Indi

The Internet could undergo one of the biggest transformations in decades if regulators agree to proposals to relax the rules governing the address system, the Nanotechnology in Agriculture

Yesterday, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) hosted a policy seminar on “Nanotechnology, Food, Agriculture and Development” that considered the evolution of the nanotechnology field and the future role of nanotechnology in the areas of agriculture and development. The seminar featured three presenters: Mihail Roco of the National Science Foundation; Hongda Chen of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CREES) branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); and Guillaume Gruere, a research fellow at IFPRI.

Progressing through the ranks of international conflict resolution before resorting to aggressive action is of strategic importance to the United States, especially if we hope to maintain trust and es

Scientists have created genetically altered bugs that eat agricultural waste and excrete crude oil, the T

In many parts of the developing world, election rigging, vote fraud, and political thuggery are serious impediments to the free and fair functioning of democracy. Such is the case in Bangladesh, a young nation that has seen a century’s share of upheaval since its establishment in 1971. Bangladesh has been in a state of emergency under a caretaker government since January 2007. As per the constitution, the caretaker government assumed power in order to prepare for national elections following the end of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s five-year term in October 2006. Subsequent boycotts, riots, and an extensive anti-corruption campaign led by the caretaker government have left this small, sea-level country in the lurch for months.

Doubts about the likelihood of upcoming elections, suspended indefinitely for a time, have gradually been replaced with hope that political change is drawing near. While some Bangladeshis have waited patiently for elections, viewing the harsh measures of the anti-corruption campaign as part of an unpleasant but necessary clean-up, others have complained that military officials are claiming too much power for themselves, or that the

The recent tiff between the Associated Press (AP) and the Drudge Report has highlighted Accountability and Enforcement: The Keys to Freeing Modern-Day Slaves

The U.S.

Solazyme has produced the first algal-based renewable diesel fuel to pass the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ATSM) D-975 Specifications.

For some time, car makers have at

On June 4, we blogged about au

A report recently published by McKinsey and Company presents an extensive study of opportu

With

In last night’s MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa urged England to cancel the Zim

Legal empowerment, the process through which the poor and excluded can gain access to the law, will be key to ending poverty, says a recent report issued by the UN. Nearly 2/3 of the earth’s population, 4 billion people, are living outside of the rule of law and the security and opportunities it provides. Without access to the legal system, these individuals cannot stand up for their personal or economic rights or interests.

For example, the Economist points out that exclusion from the rule of law “begins with the lack of official recognition of… birth: around 40% of the developing world's five-year-old children are not registered as even existing.” A Foreign Policy blog about the Worst Places to Be a Woman gives the examples of Haiti, where rape (though widely believed to only be applicable for victims who were virgins) was only recently criminalized, and of Sierra Leone, where laws allowing women to inherit property and laws criminalizing wife-beating were created (with questionable intent to enforce) only a year ago. Finally, the report gives the example of India, where “99 percent of the country’s 10 million street vendors are forced to work illegally. Instead of being

EBay’s restrictions on ivory sales may not be enough, Scientific American reports.

Though water-cooling computer chips is nothing new, IBM’s June 5 World Economic Forum on Africa: Strategic Leadership is Key

At the World Economic Forum on Africa, leaders discussed both the challenges and

In the wake of the earthquake in China that has killed tens of thousands of people, attention has again turned to the significant lack of prediction technology that persists, in spite of years of rese

Earlier this week, the State Department released its most recent report to Congress describing the U.S. strategy and progress in meeting the requirements and achieving the goals of the Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005. The Act seeks “to provide affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries” while adhering to sound water resource management techniques. According to the report, in the 2007 fiscal year (FY), the United States committed more than $2.4 billion to worldwide water sector efforts, more than $900 million of which helped fund water- and sanitation-related efforts in developing countries (not including Iraq). However, USAID’s funding for drinking water supply, sanitation, and hygiene activities decreased in FY 2007 (from approximately $265 million in 2006 to $212.7 million in 2007, excluding supplemental appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, and disasters), “due to competing priorities and the completion of Middle East infrastructure projects.”

Governance is one of the most important issues of our time. Without accountable, reliable, farsighted governance, the global challenges and the needs of the population cannot be adequately addressed. Also, poor leadership can severely cripple a state’s economy and social welfare.

Take, for example, the case of Zimbabwe, where incumbent president Robert Mugabe is cracking down on threats to his power using any means possible. Not only has he been behind violence and detentions directed against his political opposition, he has also struck out against the people of his country, who are already suffering gravely.

Articles in both the New York Times and the Economist detail the violence against the Movement for a Democratic Change (MDC), whose leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, emerged as the front-runner in the March election. Now, as the June 27 runoff election between Tsvangirai and Mugabe approaches, the violence is escalating against the MDC. Amnesty International publicly condemned the arrest yesterday of Tsvangirai, who was detained, supposedly, for drawing a large crowd (on his campaign trail).

On top of having already pumped billions of dollars into markets for commodities like wheat, corn, and soybeans, some private investors are now making longer-term bets that the global demand for food will continue to grow, the New York Times reports. The investors are buying farmland, fertilizer, and other agricultural equipment with plans to combine small pieces of land to make larger more productive ones. On the one hand, these activities could boost food production at a time when it is desperately needed throughout the world. On the other hand, the article states, “by owning land and other parts of the agricultural business, these new investors are freed from rules aimed at curbing the number of speculative bets that they and other financial investors can make in commodity markets,” which creates the potential for prices to rise even further.

While investors claim their investments are to the advantage of the farming industry and consumers, some policymakers think otherwise. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, Senator Joe Lieberman is considering legislation "limiting large institutional investors in commodities markets... [that] would aim at speculators and other investors who use commodities to hedge against swings in investment instruments such as stocks and the dollar."

Last night marked the 19th anniversary of the 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Today, Beijing is again a hot topic of conversation; as host of the 2008 Olympic Games, the world is looking closely at both China’s economic successes and its human rights failures.

Just in the past week, CSIS has held events concerned with China’s urbanization and China- Europe relations. The Carnegie Endowments for International Peace’s China Program has also embarked on a series of debates on topics ranging from human rights to the environment to the Chinese economy. As China sits in the world’s spotlight with the Olympics only two months away, global leaders need to decide if they will use this opportunity strategically to press for lasting change.

Providing a perspective that often is silenced, Wang Dan, a prominent organizer of the 1989 Chinese democracy movement (and the Tiananmen Square protests), wrote yesterday about his experiences as a political prisoner in China and his thoughts about what China needs to do in the wake of the Chengdu tragedy to correct its wrongs:

Last month's earthquake and the coming Olympic Games in Beijing should be seen as the most important events in modern China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the subsequent crackdown whose anniversary we mark today.

General Motors, Ford Motor, and Chrysler were outsold for the first time by Asian automakers in May, the New York Times reports. Ten Asian manufacturers, including Toyota Motor and Honda, achieved a market share of 48.1 percent, while the 3 Detroit automakers combined for only 44.4 percent, a record low.

In addition, the Honda Civic, a compact car of which there are both gasoline and hybrid models, was the month’s top-selling vehicle, marking the first time a sedan has had higher sales than a truck in the United States since December 1992. Sales of the Ford F-Series pickup truck, previously the top seller, declined sharply, dropping 33 percent.

We can anticipate policy implications from this expansion of small car sales as well. According to the Hypermiler blog of the Daily Green,

The new 35 MPG by 2020 CAFE standards are going to be much more attainable with the economy driving fuel-efficient vehicles sales. Not only will fuel efficiency standards be easier to implement, but with automakers trying to capitalize on high-MPG subcompacts, they are likely to cut back on some of the fervent opposition they have shown to fuel economy regulation.

In the months and years following a crisis, long-term strategies are needed to support the affected areas. Different organizational bodies face these challenges in different ways, but many have reached the consensus that long-range, sustainable strategy is imperative in the recovery process.

The Hunger Project makes the case that mere aid distribution is not enough, claiming that: “Top-down, service-delivery approaches are not only too inefficient and inflexible to make a dent in world hunger, they actually undermine the most important resource — the creativity and self-reliance of hungry people themselves.”

Heifer International, likewise, promotes grassroots, long-term solutions: “After immediate needs… have been met, Heifer works within communities to empower disaster survivors with the economic means - such as livestock, training and other resources - to rebuild their families, their neighborhoods and their hope for sustainable futures.”

Beyond these two, other organizations including Action Against Hunger, CARE, and the UN Millennium Project, take a bottom-up approach, hoping to provide “long-term solutions for sustainable futures.” Relying on principles such as accountability, education and training, self-reliance, and gender equality, these organizations use context-specific solutions and training to build communities capable of feeding and sustaining themselves.