Faculty Publications
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Danny Breznitz, Assistant Professor; Mollie Taylor, INTA PhD Student
"The Communal Roots of Entrepreneurial-Technological Growth? Social Fragmentation and the Economic Stagnation of Atlanta's IT Cluster"; Danny Breznitz, Mollie Taylor; May 2009.
Abstract:
Why do some entrepreneurial high technology industry clusters grow and prosper, while others stagnate? Even after several decades of research, we have yet to have a definitive answer. One of the main debates in the literature revolves around the importance of societal variables, such as the growth of a cohesive community, versus the importance of factor availability, such as the suppl yof highly-educated labor. Emplying a critical case study design utilizing a multi-method research strategy to analyze the IT industry in the Atlanta metropolitan area, this paper shows that while the availability of certain factors might be necessary, without the crystallization of a cohesive social structure, they are not sufficient. More specifically we argue that unless a local high technology industry develops rich multiplex locally-centered social networks, which embed companies in the region, cluster development will stagnate. This is true even if the region is extremely rich in all the factors identified as growth inducing in the literature.
"Engine for growth has run out of Fuel"; Danny Breznitz [interviewed]; Atlanta Journal & Constitution (AJC); Oct 26, 2009.
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Margaret E. Kosal, Assistant Professor
"Bionanotechnology and Iran"; Margaret E. Kosal and Nikita Basandra; October 2009.
Abstract:
This paper explores institutional factors in order to understand potential international security implications of Iran's bionanotechnology research and development programs, infrastruture, and capabilities emphasizing the biomedical engineerig applications. The work seeks to enable the development of models of strategic interation to assess the prospective implications of nanotechnology for international conflict and cooperation. This project contributes to the development of a theoretical framework to assess motivation to pursue offensive versus defensive (or civilian) applications of bionanotechnology. Technically robust scenarios may illustrate the potenital malfeasant cooption of technology.
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Margaret E. Kosal, Assistant Professor
"Bioterrorism Deterrence: the Role of Public Health in Security"; Margaret E. Kosal, Ana Terron, and Katherine Lange; October 2009.
Abstract:
This paper explores the relationships between and impacts of re-emerging infectious disease on international security and the role of international and domestic public health infrastructure of reducing the threat of biological terrorism. What does the reemergence of polio say about the affect of a potential bioterrorist attack on the developed and the developing world? Re-emerging infectious disease and the lack of public health infrastructure is a novel model for indirect deterrence and dis-motivation to commit acts of biological terrorism by foreign bioterrorists. A bioterrorist attack, especially one with a contagious agent like smallpox or pneumonic plague, will impact the developing world substantially more than the U.S. or other nations with robust public health sectors. One only has to look as far as polio’s reemergence in 2003 to see the very real repercussions, in terms of lives affected and cost, of a contagious virus on the developing world. This paper intent is to examine polio’s reemergence in 2003, its subsequent spread, assess the implications for biological terrorism deterrence, and make recommendations with respect to international public health and security policy.
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Justin Hastings, Assistant Professor
"Illicit Flows in the Hong Kong-China-Taiwan Triangle"; Issues & Studies 45, no. 2, pp. 185-220; (June 2009)
Abstract:
The exhaustive focus on conventional military confrontation in the China-Taiwan relationship has obscured a number of other security issues. Despite the lack of extensive formal communication and legal travel, there is in fact a great deal of illicit movement, particularly smuggling, across the Taiwan Strait, and more generally within the Hong Kong-China-Taiwan triangle. How does the internal geography of the triangle affect the non-traditional security problems associated with illicit movement of people and goods that Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan face? Do the conditions in the triangle have any effect on the non-traditional security problems of other countries? In this article, expert and practitioner interviews conducted in Taiwan and Hong Kong are used, as well as the occasional police document from Hong Kong, the Philippines, and China, to argue that the geographic characteristics of the triangle encourage illicit flows of people and goods, and exacerbate the security problems of the entities within the triangle, particularly Taiwan. Perhaps more significantly, the "export flows" of transnational organized crime from the triangle, in the form of smuggling and triads, cause security headaches for other countries, near and far, without a shot being fired. In the first two sections, where the argument is layed out, the empirical evidence chiefly consists of pirated goods and the illicit movement of criminals and migrants, in part to show that the geographic factors at work affect all types of illicit flows in similar ways. In the third section, drug trafficking is taken as a case study.
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Katja Weber, Associate Professor
"Is the Grass Always Greener in Europe? The Triumph of Reason over Emotion"; Katja Weber; EUSA Review Forum (European Echoes in Asian Regionalism), Volume 22, No. 2, Spring 2009.
Abstract:
During a recent research trip to East Asia, it became readily apparent in numerous conversations with scholars, policy-makers and journalists that many East Asians greatly overestimate the importance of shared values in accounting for Europe’s success in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the aftermath of World War II. A high degree of homogeneity and a common European identity, I was told time and again, largely explain why it was possible for the Europeans to transcend their historical legacies and bring about institutions that would safeguard peace and promote wealth. This tendency on the part of Japanese, Koreans and Chinese to view Europe as much more homogeneous in the post-1945 period than it actually was (and to this day is) is unfortunate in that it leads to undesirable (sub-optimal) policy prescriptions for the region. This misperception leads many East Asians to zero in on their heterogeneity—to stress their differences rather than common ground—and becomes an excuse for not tackling historical legacies and actively promoting greater cooperation aside from the economic realm.
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Seymour Goodman, Professor
"Global Initiatives to Secure Cyberspace: An Emerging Landscape"; Seymour Goodman, Michael Portnoy; Advances in Information Security Series; Springer Science & Business Media, LLC; 2009.
Abstract:
The ease of access, relative anonymity, and borderless nature of the Internet has allowed widespread computer-based crime – or cybercrime – to proliferate rapidly. Law enforcement and international security organizations, along with governments and the private sector, have only recently begun to appreciate the scope, severity and transnational nature of this problem. In recent years, organizations have begun to emerge and evolve in a progressively collaborative ecosystem of vested international bodies seeking to address these challenges in unique, innovative ways.
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Fei-Ling Wang, Professor
"To Assess the Rise of China"; Fei-Ling Wang; Asia Policy, Number 8, 151-59; July 2009.
Abstract:
This volume is a collaborative effort in applying international relations theories to the dynamics brought on by the rise of China and the resulting U.S.-China power transition. Past examples of great-power transitions help explain the changes being brought about by China’s ascent. Though conflicts of interest between the U.S. and China will continue, the intensity and direction of the transition will be determined by four main factors: (1) structural variables that influence the transition, with specific importance on the polarity of the modern-day international system, the geographical characteristics of great-power placement, and weapon technologies, (2) China’s participation in international politics and ability to create and influence international institutions, (3) Chinese state-level variables that operate within the context of international and regional structures, and within the context of international institutions, and (4) the influence of Chinese decisionmaking on the behavior of other countries and vice versa.
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Justin Hastings, Assistant Professor
"Geographies of State Failure and Sophistication in Maritime Piracy Hijackings"; Political Geography; July 2009.
Abstract:
Many analysts are concerned about territories subject to state failure becoming safe havens for terrorists. In this article, I apply this logic to maritime piracy syndicates and their ship hijacking operations, and argue that a focus on the geographies of state failure can help us explain why pirates’ behavior varies between failed and weak states. Analysis of a dataset of hijacking incidents suggests that state failure is associated with less sophisticated attacks, while state weakness encourages more sophisticated attacks. Through case studies of the process by which pirates carry out their attacks in East Africa and Southeast Asia, I argue that it is the differences in political and economic landscapes that influence how pirates embed their operations across territory, and thus how they carry out their operations. Notably, because they do not have to worry about enforcement, pirates in failed states can engage in time-intensive kidnappings for ransom, while only weak states provide the markets and transportation infrastructure necessary for operations where ships and cargo are seized and sold for profit. These findings suggest that weak states might actually be more problematic for international security in some respects than failed states.
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Margaret E. Kosal, Assistant Professor
"Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense"; Margaret E. Kosal; Springer; 19 June 2009.
Abstract:
The pursuit of the minutely small – nanotechnology – is thriving in academia, in the private sector, and in global state science and technology programs. This work aims to better enable an informed national debate and to affect international dialogue on the role and impact of nanotechnology and emerging science on national defense and homeland security. Combining original research with the findings of an interdisciplinary, defense-oriented workshop, the book explores the current realities and potential for transformational breakthroughs in nanotechnology-based chemical and biological countermeasures, as well as identifies research directions in basic and applied science. Security implications, both for traditional nonproliferation regimes and for misuse by non-state actors are also considered.
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Fei-Ling Wang, Professor
"Household Registration"; Fei-Ling Wang; Encyclopedia of Modern China, Volume 2, Page 246; 8 June 2009.
Abstract:
The household registration (hukou) systemcovers all residents in China. It is a major component of the Chinese sociopolitical structure and a key feature of Chinese social and cultural life. The hukou system performs crucial functions affecting China’s political stability, governance, economic growth, social stratification and equality, demography, internal migration, and interregional relations.
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Molly Cochran, Associate Professor
"Charting the Ethics of the English School: What 'Good' is There in a Middle-Ground Ethics?"; International Studies Quarterly (2009) 53, 203–225; March 2009.
Abstract:
This article aims to advance our understanding of the development of English School thinking on international ethics by outlining three phases of ethical inquiry within the British Committee. The article argues that, throughout the life of the Committee, its outlook was conditioned by a pervading moral skepticism, which was reflected in the School’s commitment to a ‘‘middle-ground ethics’’; however, at various times the Committee members’ views changed about how maximalist the ‘‘good’’ could be that oriented this ethical position. Awareness of this ebb and flow helps us better understand Hedley Bull’s characterization of the ethics of pluralism and solidarism within the School as well as the precise challenge contemporary English School theorists face if they are to move beyond the normative cul-de-sac that British Committee members encountered in each phase of their ethical discussions.
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Vicki Birchfield, Associate Professor
"Income Inequality in Capitalist Democracies: The Interplay of Values and Institutions"; Vicki L. Birchfield; Pennsylvania State University Press; March 2009.
Abstract:
There has been much concern about rising levels of income inequality in the societies of advanced industrial democracies. Commentators have attributed this increase to the impact of globalization, the decline of the welfare state, or the erosion of the power of labor unions and their allies among left-wing political parties. But little attention has been paid to variations among these countries in the degree of inequality. This is the subject that Vicki Birchfield tackles in this ambitious book.
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Mark Zachary Taylor, Assistant Professor
"International Linkages and National Innovation Rates: An Exploratory Probe"; Mark Zachary Taylor; Review of Policy Research 26(1-2):127-149; Jan/Mar 2009.
Abstract:
The conventional wisdom among political economists holds that domestic institutions determine national innovation rates. However, after decades of research, there is still no agreement on precisely which domestic institutions matter or exactly how they affect innovation rates. Anecdotal observations within the research on institutions suggest that international linkages may be the missing piece to the national innovation rate puzzle. An exploratory probe is therefore performed here using regression analysis of various measures of innovation, domestic institutions, and international linkages. The results suggest that countries’ relationships with the lead innovator strongly affect their innovation rates. The probe further suggests that research should move beyond institutions and linkages, and should focus instead on their political origins. That is, the current focus on institutions or linkages studies effects, not causes. It fails to get at the politics of technological change: the fundamental choices which nations must make in order to innovate successfully in the long run.
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Katja Weber, Associate Professor
Op-Ed in Korea Times, "Time for East Asians to Move On"; 26 November 2008.
Abstract:
Hardly a day goes by without Japan's wartime past being in the news. Most recently, ousted Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff General Toshio Tamogami caused controversy by justifying Japan's wartime aggression in China and colonial rule of Korea. Other issues related to Japan's wartime past that make the headlines with great regularity center around territorial disputes, forced labor, "comfort women", textbook revisions and visits by Japanese prime ministers to the Yakusuni Shrine. Similar to what happened in Europe, there is still a need for remembrance and reconciliation in East Asia. History clearly matters, and anyone who has spent any time in the region can attest that, to this day, there are a lot of emotions tied to the remaining disputes.
And yet the time has come, not to forget, but to move on. Rather than to make the settling of historical scores a prerequisite for further cooperation, it is in China, Japan, Taiwan, North and South Korea's interests to bring about greater cooperation in areas where they do see common ground (non-traditional security threats, environment, etc.). Instead of being "stuck" in history, East Asians need to think about lost opportunities and, while trying to sort out historical differences, simultaneously push for greater integration.
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Molly Cochran, Associate Professor
Chapter "Conceptualizing the Power of Transnational Agents: Pragmatism and International Public Spheres" in the book "Does Truth Matter?"; Ronald Tennvelt (editor); Springer Publications; November 2008.
Abstract:
On the political level many seem to agree that democracy doesn’t need foundations, nor are its citizens expected to discuss the worth or truth of their comprehensive conceptions of the good life. And yet we still call upon ‘truth’ when we participate in defining the basic structure of our society and argue why our opinions, beliefs and preferences need to be taken seriously. We do not think that our views need to be taken into account by others because they are our views, but because we think they are true. If in a democratic society citizens have to deal with the challenge of affirming their claims as true, the precise relationship between truth and democracy needs to be analyzed. Does truth matter to democracy and if so, what is the place of truth in democratic politics? How can citizens affirm the truth of their claims and accept - at the same time - that their truth is just one amongst many? In Does Truth Matter?, leading academics in the fields of philosophy, sociology and political science focus on the role the public sphere plays in answering these pressing questions. They try to give a comprehensive answer to these questions from the perspective of the main approaches of contemporary democratic theory: deliberative democracy, political pragmatism and liberalism.
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Michelle Dion, Assistant Professor
"All-Knowing or All-Nurturing? Student Expectations, Gender Roles, and Practical Suggestions for Women in the Classroom"; October 2008.
Abstract:
For better or worse, women find themselves in an academic culture that gives some weight to SETs, and until women are sufficiently represented in the tenured and administrative positions that determine the rules of the game, women must ensure that their SETs will not hurt their professional advancement. Female instructors, especially among junior faculty, can make strategic adjustments that may improve their SETs. Drawing upon the central insight of the literature on instructor gender and SETs—that students’ gender expectations particularly shape their evaluations of female faculty—the remainder of the article suggests ways that female, and especially junior, faculty can use this insight to reflect upon their own teaching experiences and to achieve this balance between authority and nurturing roles. Since the challenges facing female faculty will vary by individual professor, prevalent institutional norms, and even course, the general advice for women would be to review their own SETs in light of these variations and of student expectations that women convey both authority and caring. Upon review of their own SETs and current practices, some women may find they should convey more authority, and others may need to appear more caring. Often, authority is more important early in the semester, while demonstrating concern for students becomes important when evaluating students and later in the semester. The specific suggestions are grouped into four areas: the syllabus and course management, the first day of class, grading, and classroom dynamics.
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Fei-Ling Wang, Professor
"After the Beijing Games: What We Learned" International Herald Tribune (The Global Edition of the New York Times); 18 September 2008.
Abstract:
The spectacular and successful 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have given the world a lot to think about. It may be still early to fully assess the impact of the event on China and its future, nonetheless, three messages have emerged.
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Molly Cochran, Associate Professor
"The Ethics of the English School" in the book "The Oxford Handbook of International Relations"; C. Reus-Smit and D. Snidal (eds.; Oxford University Press; pp. 286-297; 15 Sept 2008.
Abstract:
The English School understands ethics to be central to the study of world politics. However, the English School never aimed to evaluate the moral appropriateness of the choices made by statesmen. The evaluative conclusions drawn by the English School were few. For much of its history, any judgments made by these writers were limited to what they believed necessary to responsible international society management. Throughout the life of the British Committee on the Theory of International Politics, the English School's classical period from 1959 to 1985, the 'good' of international society was a presumption they were unwilling and ill equipped to pursue in any sustained fashion because of their moral skepticism.
In what Timothy Dunne calls its 'post-classical phase', or second-generation English School scholarship, one sees a notable shift in the willingness of those working within this tradition to engage in moral-philosophical arguments, a willingness not seen since the British Committee's formative days. Today, English School scholars are asking whether international society is viable as a moral concern. However, in doing so, both the long shadow of moral skepticism and the School's recourse to empiricism remain. It is the argument of this chapter that the extent to which the English School tradition can demonstrate promise as an approach to international ethics will rest on whether it develops criteria for moral-philosophical judgment that are workable within the themes and concerns of English School thought.
This chapter will address the following questions: What horizon of ethical possibility exists within international society according to the English School; have these notions changed over time within the tradition; and, of the concepts of ethics employed within this tradition, one more minimal and one more maximal, which best defines the English School? In the course of this discussion, reference will also be made to the relationship of the English School to other approaches such as realism and critical theory, and their conceptions of international ethics.
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Margaret E. Kosal, Assistant Professor
"Chemical Terrorism: US Policies to Reduce the Chemical Terror Threat" in Support of PSA’s REPORT CARD ON WMD TERROR PREVENTION; September 2008.
Abstract:
The assessment, which examines current US government policies and programs to prevent chemical terrorism, is part of a larger effort to assess US government progress in implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The assessments underlines the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission that the intersection of international terrorism and WMD proliferation poses an unparalleled and unacceptable threat our national security. This chemical terrorism study recognizes significant US government progress in detecting and mitigating chemical terror threats, including enhancements in interagency coordination. It finds similarly note-worthy progress in elimination of military chemical stockpiles, though the pace could be faster and much remains to be done. Challenges remain, however, in the need for stronger multilateral cooperation to prevent proliferation, and for a more serious and comprehensive effort to secure chemical facilities and transportation infrastructure against theft or attack. Future progress will depend first and foremost on recognition by government and industry of the full range of chemical terror threats, so that policy responses may be effectively prioritized.
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Mark Zachary Taylor, Assistant Professor
"Economic Security: Expanding Women's Participation in US Science" Mark Zachary Taylor with Sue V. Rosser; Harvard International Review 30(3): 20-24; Fall 2008.
Abstract:
As US competitiveness is increasingly challenged on all sides, the forced attrition of women from the science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) workforce represents an annual cost of billions of dollars. This loss comes at a time when the United States is facing an absolute decline in entry-level engineers and growing rivalry from foreign innovators. Most discussions hold that gender equality is the primary benefit of, and reason for, getting more women into science. But this is not the primary benefit. Instead, the failure to expand women’s participation in science is not simply an issue of “feminism” or civil rights but increasingly a problem for US economic security.
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Michelle Dion, Assistant Professor
"Eradication Efforts, the State,Displacement and Poverty: Explaining Coca Cultivation in Colombia during Plan Colombia" by Michelle Dion and Catherine Russler; Journal of Latin American Studies, 40, pp. 399-411; August 2008.
Abstract:
This study models the sub-national pattern of coca cultivation in Colombia following the implementation of Plan Colombia (2001-2005). The results suggest that aerial eradication reduces coca cultivation primarily through creation of significant displacement and that coca cultivation is less intense in areas with a significant state presence. Further, coca cultivation appears to be more common in less developed, agricultural regions where access to legal markets precludes other forms of agriculture. Poverty has a significant, non-linear effect on coca cultivation; cultivation is most intense in regions of moderate poverty. Based on the findings, efforts to reduce coca cultivation should emphasise developing local public infrastructure and market access in conjunction with poverty reduction efforts and investment in alternative development.
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Fei-Ling Wang, Professor
"Sino-American Relations: Dynamic Stability Facing New Factors" East Asian Institute (EAI) Background Brief No. 396; 6 August 2008.
Abstract:
[Executive Summary ~ Point #1 of 10] China-United States relations have remained dynamically stable as both sides have learned to observe each other’s bottom lines. The rise of China, so far, has yet to turn Sino-American relations into a typical zero-sum game between great powers, as symbolized by President Bush’s consistent promise to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.
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Michelle Dion, Assistant Professor
"Retrenchment, Expansion and the Transformation of Mexican Social Protection Policies" in Social Policy & Administration - Volume 42, No. 4, pp. 434-450; August 2008.
Abstract:
Social protection policies in Mexico have been transformed since 1988 through partial retrenchment of social insurance and significant expansion of targeted or means-tested social assistance. These changes reflect a substantial redefinition of social protection through incremental changes in policy. The changes reflect the abandonment of the goal of developing an employment-based, universal welfare regime, which had been pursued by Mexican governments as late as the 1970s. Instead, recent administrations have moved towards the redefinition of Mexico's welfare regime into a residual, means-tested model with significant private provision of benefits and services. This shift in social protection is consistent with the change in Mexico's overall economic development strategy and increasing political competition in the process of democratization.
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Robert Kennedy, Professor
"Of Knowledge and Power: The Complexities of National Intelligence"; Praeger Security International; 30 August 2008.
Abstract:
This work examines the labyrinth of complexities that confronts the Intelligence Community in its efforts to provide accurate and timely intelligence in support of American foreign policy and national security interests. Kennedy begins with an analysis of the collection processes and the obstacles that must be overcome if accurate and meaningful information is to be obtained. He addresses such issues as the need for strategic vision and clarity in setting priorities, as well as constraints imposed by the executive branch and the complexities associated with translating priorities into collection programs. The focus then shifts to the obstacles that confront those tasked to analyze collected information, examining such issues as the impact of people, technology, and budgets on the overall analytical effort. The third area of emphasis for Kennedy centers on the "quality control" of collection and analysis, addressing both Executive Branch and Congressional Oversight of the intelligence processes. Finally, he examines issues associated with the distribution and use of the intelligence products - the so-called "end game" obstacles. Issues addressed include the lack of presidential support for and confidence in the Intelligence Community, the impact of "worst-case planning," and the "coloring" of intelligence to suit policy preferences. Ultimately, the component parts provide the reader with a broad understanding of the Intelligence Community and the difficulties it faces as it strives to keep the United States safe and informed. In the wake of recent intelligence failures, the Intelligence Community has come under increasing attack. Yet few people outside of government, and all too frequently many inside of government, do not understand just how difficult and complex are the processes of collecting, analyzing, disseminating, and effectively using gathered intelligence. The purpose of this undertaking is to illustrate the many road blocks the Intelligence Community confronts as it attempts to meet the needs of policymakers and to provide the average American, students of foreign and security policy, and many inside of government with a more comprehensive understanding of the overall intelligence effort. The complex processes for identifying, prioritizing, and communicating requirements to the intelligence community are further complicated by a lack of strategic vision on the part of American policy makers. Kennedy contends that those problems are compounded by Executive department oversight of the Intelligence Community, which has contributed significantly to past failures of intelligence. Moreover, the lack of effective oversight by Congress of the Intelligence Community in terms of the quality of its product upon which Congress has often been required to make life and death decisions too often has been either seriously deficient or non-existent. All too frequently, Kennedy notes, what could be called "political coloring" adversely affects the intelligence product. Intelligence findings are often "colored" to suit the preferred policies of decision-makers. As a result, actions are taken based on assumptions and opinions that are not supported by existing intelligence.
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Dan Breznitz, Assistant Professor
"The State as Strategic Manager?" along with Carsten Zimmermann; Challenge, vol. 51, no. 4, M. E. Sharpe; pp. 70-88; July/Aug 2008.
What kind of guidelines can be established for a government policy to promote economic growth? Many now believe there should be almost none. However, these authors think very differently. They argue that the management literature contains a framework that supports constructive government policies. Government can act much like a strategic manager in a conglomerate, not picking industrial winners but creating general capabilities and incentives.
Abstract:
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Dan Breznitz, Assistant Professor
"The Dynamics of an Emerging Entrepreneurial Region in Ireland" along with Frank Roche, Rory O'Shea, Thomas J. Allen in the book "Entrepreneurship in Emerging Regions Around the World: Theory, Evidence and Implications" by Phillip H. Phan, Sankaran Venkataraman, and S. Ramakrishna Velamuri (eds.), Edward Elgar; pp. 9-46; July 2008.
Abstract:
There is growing recognition among policy makers of the need to place more emphasis on knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation, and specifically on technology-based entrepreneurship, which converts new scientific discoveries into new opportunities (Phan and Foo, 2004). An important feature of these clusters is that knowledge-intensive production and urban places provide the central focal point for entrepreneurship activity to emerge (Feldman, 2005). Economic development is increasingly linked to a nation's ability to acquire and apply technical and socio-economic knowledge and the process of globalization is accelerating this trend.
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Vicki Birchfield, Associate Professor
"Dueling Imperialism or Principled Policies? A Comparative Analysis of EU and US Approaches to Trade and Development" pgs. 293-312 in book "North and South in the World Political Economy"; Rafael Reuveny and William R. Thompson (editors); Wiley-Blackwell Publications; 28 July 2008.
Abstract:
In the second half of the twentieth century, a good proportion of international relations was colored significantly by the East-West cleavage. Yet there is a good chance that the first half of the twenty-first century will be equally shaped by a North-South cleavage, where despite increased development and globalization, the political, social and economic distances between the North and South are becoming ever greater.
This path-breaking volume is the first dedicated to the problems of the North-South divide. The first two groups of essays focus on problems that especially afflict the global South in trade and development and that help maintain the North-South gap (such as poverty, disease, energy, financial crises, structural adjustment and human rights). The third cluster isolates particular points of conflict between North and South (such as political Islam, terrorism, weak states and nuclear weapon proliferation). A final group of articles then introduces a variety of factors that seek to ameliorate the North-South gap.
North and South in the World Political Economy will be essential reading for scholars and advanced students of international relations, international political economy and development studies.
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Justin V. Hastings, Assistant Professor
"Geography, Globalization, and Terrorism: The Plots of Jemaah Islamiyah"; Security Studies, 17: 505–530; 01 July 2008.
Abstract:
Globalization and terrorism have become connected in many people’s minds. I argue that the technologies of globalization, such as cheap transportation and telecommunications, do not in many circumstances liberate terrorist groups to attack throughout the world or necessarily grant them more power vis-`a-vis states. In politically open environments, terrorist networks can behave much like legitimate jet-setting transnational organizations. When terrorist groups face state hostility, many of the tools of globalization become unavailable to them, and their activities become dependent on routes over any advantageous topographical features along states’ boundaries, such as thick jungle, treacherous mountains, and tiny, isolated islands. This not only limits the territorial scope of the group’s activities, but also means that the lack of these advantages can lead to failure. To illustrate this argument, I trace how the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) planned two plots in 2000 and 2001: the Christmas Eve 2000 bombings in Indonesia, which succeeded, and the Singapore plots in 2001, which failed. The technologies of globalization were a great deal of help to JI during periods of political openness, but when it came under political pressure, the importance of geography and borders returned, particularly with regard to logistics.
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Margaret E. Kosal, Assistant Professor
with Jonathan Huang "The security impact of the neurosciences"; Bulletin of Atomic Scientists; 20 June 2008.
Excerpt:
The potential of neurologically interactive technologies to change or to enhance human capability, to invade the privacy of human thought, and to infringe on the independence of human minds raises fundamental ethical questions regarding the definition and meaning of being human, as well as possible contributions to the development of new defensive and offensive weapons. Like the much discussed dual-use conundrum of advanced biotechnology, almost all the equipment and materials needed to develop dangerous applications of cognitive science have legitimate uses in a range of scientific and industrial settings.
Further research into how states across the globe are addressing the potential military use of neuroscience would provide interesting comparisons and a more complete assessment of the implications. Judging from the current literature on neuroethics, a norm concerning the ethical and social boundaries on the use of these technologies is slowly developing for non-security related applications. If scientists expand this discussion, the development of an international security regime based on developing norms is likely.
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Seymour (Sy) Goodman, Professor
"Information Security: Policy, Processes, and Practices"; along with Detmar W. Straub and Richard L. Baskerville; M. E. Sharpe, Inc.; April 2008.
Excerpt:
[The parts of this book] emerged from an organic conception of organizations struggling to determine what their information security needs were and how to create viable security policies. Organizational issues exist within the context of both national and international developments in InfoSec and the final part deals with these critical arenas. Technological trends will dictate responses to the possibilities of security violations, and there are clear directions for such circumstances in the case of ubiquitous computing. The final chapter summarizes and reformulates the new directions that researchers should take in InfoSec.
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Michelle Dion, Assistant Professor
"International Organizations and Social Insurance in Mexico"; Global Social Policy, Vol. 8, No. 1, 25-44; 2008.
Abstract:
How do international organizations (IOs) influence domestic social policy? This article answers this question using a comparison of IO participation in the social insurance policy making process in Mexico in the 1940s and 1990s. There are similarities and differences between the periods. During both periods, IOs contributed technical expertise to the policy design process. The principal IO participating in policy discussions and the means of influence differed in the 1990s from the 1940s. The comparison suggests that IOs use both hard and soft power resources to influence domestic social policy.
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Margaret E. Kosal, Assistant Professor
"Scenarios for Anticipating Emerging Technology: Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense 2030 Workshop and Study," in The Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society - Volume 1: Presenting Futures, Fisher, E.; Selin, C.; Wetmore, J. eds., Springer Academic Publishers; 2008.
Excerpt:
The military is historically a prime mover in developing new technologies. Examples range from the Internet, to drugs, weapons, and agriculture. Given their role in pursuing new technologies, how do military decision makers think about the future? Kosal's chapter describes a scenario workshop held in January 2007 that took seriously futures of nanotechnology and other converging technologies by considering what kinds of national security threats may materialize. While scenario planning has its roots in military industrial planning, it has taken on its most lively position in corporate discussions of strategy. Seldom are we allowed a peak into the ways and means of anticipation in the Department of Defense. However, Kosal offers a look into a project that employed scenarios to think about future challenges the nanotechnology poses for national defense. Of note is the impetus for the project: what if intelligence communities came together twenty-five years ago to think strategically about the revolutionary developments in biotechnology? In this way, the Chemical and Biological Defense Program situates discussions of nanotechnology in the future tense and works to ask 'what if.'
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Michelle Dion, Assistant Professor
"Pension Reform and Gender Inequality," in Stephen J. Kay and Tapen Sinha (Eds.) Lessons from Pension Reform in the Americas, Oxford University Press; pp. 134-163; December 2007.
Excerpt:
This chapter examines an effect of pension reform that was largely unanticipated, or at least seldom explicitly considered, when many pension reforms were being adopted throughout Latin America: the effects of privatization on women’s welfare. Though this issue was largely absent in early reform debates, academic researchers and international organizations––including the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and even the World Bank––began to consider it in the early 2000s. Although the literature is increasingly recognizing that pension policy design produces different distributional outcomes according to gender, it often disagrees in its evaluation on whether these outcomes are generally negative, positive, or neutral for the welfare of some. These disagreements have come about because some analysts view publicly mandated pension systems as serving an insurance function, though often not explicitly, while others view them as serving a redistributive function. From these different perspectives derive different criteria to evaluate gendered outcomes of pension privatization, which explains why assessments of the gender effects of pension privatization differ.
This chapter has three objectives regarding the gendered outcomes of structural pension reform in Latin America. First, it provides a brief overview of the sources of gender inequalities and discusses elements of pension policy affecting gendered welfare. Second, it explains and critiques the insurance-based criteria for evaluating the gender effects of pension reform. These criteria, often employed by economists, emphasize lifetime benefits, actuarial fairness, or consumption outcomes. Third, it offers an alternative set of criteria for evaluating gender outcomes based on three dimensions: women’s ability to claim social citizenship rights, gender stratification, and the distribution of welfare responsibility among the market, state, and family. These criteria are consistent with a sociological understanding of public pension systems as welfare or redistributive state policy. Finally, it compares interpretation of the gendered effects of pension reform in Latin America based on insurance and distributive assumptions to illustrate why disagreements in the literature persist.
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Adam Stulberg, Associate Professor
"Russia's Nonproliferation Tightrope"; Russian Analytical Digest (Issue 30: Nuclear Proliferation); 06 November 2007.
Excerpt:
This issue of the Russian Analytical Digest examines nuclear proliferation in Russia. The author examines Putin’s diplomacy in the commercial nuclear and non-proliferation spheres in particular, its dimensions and how it strives to reconcile competing impulses as well as cooperative engagement with other countries. The issue features opinion surveys on nuclear proliferation in several countries and includes the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
More Information >
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Dan Breznitz, Assistant Professor
"Le miracle high-tech: Retour sur une politique industrielle exemplaire" La Vie des Idées; No. 21, pp. 57 - 70; April 2007.
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Kirk Bowman, Associate Professor (with Scott Baker)
"Noisy Regimes, Causal Process, and Democratic Consolidation: The Case of Costa Rica" The Latin Americanist Vol. 50, Spring 2007, pp. 23-57
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Edward Keene, Associate Professor
"A Case Study of the Construction of International Hierarchy: British Treaty-Making Against the Slave Trade in the Early Nineteenth Century" International Organization Vol. 61, Num. 2, Spring 2007, pp. 311-339
Abstract:
This article evaluates different theories of heirarchy in international relations through a case study of the treaty system that the British constructed in the early nineteenth century in an effort to abolish the slave trade. The treaty system was extraordinarily wide-ranging: it embraced European maritime powers, new republics in the Americas, Muslim rulers in northern and eastern Africa, and "Native Chiefs" on the western coast of Africa. It therefore allows for a comparative analysis of the various types of treaty that the British made, depending on the identity of their contracting partners. The article argues that a broadly constructivist approach provides the best explanation of why these variations emerged. Although British treaty-making was influenced by the relative strength or weakness of the states with which they were dealing, the decisive factor that shaped the treaty system was a new legal doctring that had emerged in the late eighteenth century, which combined a positivist theory of the importance of treaties as a source of international law with a distinction between the "family of civilized nations" and "barbarous peoples."
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Dan Breznitz, Assistant Professor
"Innovation and the State: Political Choice and Strategies for Growth in Israel, Taiwan and Ireland"; Yale University Press; 22 August 2007.
Abstract:
This new work provides comparative insight into the growth of technology industries and the remarkable post-war emergence of Israel, Taiwan and Ireland during the 1990s by analyzing different business models and the influence of the state in nurturing advancements in Information Technologies (IT). Dr. Breznitz offers detailed research and conclusions on how to nurture the growth of IT industries, promote industrial development, foster relationships with foreign firms and investors and globalized research and development. Both the Kauffman Foundation and the Brookings Institution gave favorable reviews of this important work.
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Adam N. Stulberg, Associate Professor & Michael Salamone, Professor
"Managing Defense Transformations: Agency, Culture and Service Change"; Ashgate Publishing Company; 23 July 2007.
Abstract:
This book analyzes why some military organizations readily reinvent themselves while others become sidetracked or subverted by change. The authors studied four classic cases - U.S. Naval aviation during the interwar period, German and British armor development during this same period and the U.S. Army's counter-insurgency experience during the Vietnam War. Showing how managers and reform strategies play a vital role in military innovation, this book is a must read for students of military affairs, scholars interested in organizational theory and those generally interested in military and security studies.
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Adam N. Stulberg, Associate Professor
"Well-Oiled Diplomacy: Strategic Manipulation and Russia's Energy Statecraft in Eurasia"; State University of New York Press; 26 April 2007.
Abstract:
Dr. Stulberg examines Russia's energy policy with rival Eurasian suppliers from 1992 to 2002. His research provides a window into understanding the relationship between national security and globalization. According to Doug Blum of Providence College, "This superb new study goes beyond explanations of statecraft that rely exclusively on market position, domestic institutional structure, and/or coercive manipulation of hard power... it strengthens our knowledge of the relationship between domestic structure and international politics. Scholars will be deeply indebted to Stulberg for all of these reasons."
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Adam N. Stulberg, Associate Professor
"Managing the Unmanned Revolution in the U.S. Air Force"; Orbis; Spring 2007, pp. 251 - 265.
Abstract:
The success of unmanned aerial systems in Iraq and Afganistan has engendered an expanding set of new missions for them. The main issue surrounding UAS today is not whether, but to what effect, these assets will be nurtured. The UAS' operational requirements and technology have grown, but there remains no clear responsibility for overseeing development, and the service's manned and unmanned communities disagree on the legitimacy and effectiveness of UAS. If existing managerial challenges are not addressed, institutionalizing UAS will become mired in intense international, industrial, and inter-service competition; more complex operational requirements; less qualified volunteers; and greater morale problems and career uncertainty.
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Fei-Ling Wang, Professor
"Stratification and Institutional Exclusion in China and India: Administrative Means versus Social Barriers" Chapter in the book "Grass-roots Democracy in India and China - The Right to Participate"; Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd.; 12 January 2007.
Excerpt:
This chapter, utilising an analytical framework of institutional exclusion, will attempt to examine one aspect of the Chinese and Indian political economy and propose one more factor that may have accounted for the different record of economic growth in China and India: how the two peoples are divided and organised internally. I will describe that, in addition to the 'universal' division between the haves and the have-nots, based on money, the Chines and the Indians are also divided, excluded and organised along their own peculiar but profound fault lines respectively. Whereas the 1.3 billion Chinese are divided into exclusive segments by the administratively maintained PRC hukou (household or residential registration) system, the one billion Indians appear to be largely segmented and stratified by the societally-enforced caste system.
