Topics

Economics

Snapshot,
Barbara Elias

Beyond the current debate about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan lie more fundamental questions of who the Taliban are, how they are organized, what they want, and whether they can be separated from al Qaeda.

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Comment, Nov/Dec 2009
Mitchel B. Wallerstein

Strict export restrictions are making U.S. businesses less competitive and the country less secure. Policymakers must craft new regulations to help, rather than harm, U.S. interests.

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Essay, Nov/Dec 2009
Andrei Lankov

By exposing them to the truth about their impoverishment and about the prosperity of their South Korean cousins, the United States can encourage North Koreans to change the regime in Pyongyang.

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Environment

Postscript,
Steven Sanderson

As the International Year of Biodiversity approaches in 2010, the loss of wildlife, genetic material, ecosystems, and evolutionary processes is as marked as ever. Climate change, meanwhile, is becoming an even greater threat to the biosphere.

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Author Interview,
Edward L. Morse

Next week, Edward Morse will answer reader questions about the price of oil and what it means for oil-producing states and U.S. foreign policy. Submit a question

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Essay, Sep/Oct 2009
Joel Kurtzman

The free market has eliminated environmental hazards in the past, from leaded gas to acid rain, and it can solve the problem of climate change today. A cap-and-trade system offers the best hope for reducing pollution and encouraging green growth.

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Security

Snapshot,
Mark Moyar

In Afghanistan, legitimacy comes more from the just use of power than it does from transparent elections. With that in mind, the United States should move beyond the country's disputed election and send the soldiers and resources that the war's U.S. generals are asking for.

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Snapshot,
James Dobbins

With the cancellation of Afghanistan's runoff election, Washington is left with Hamid Karzai as its partner in Kabul. How did Karzai come to power in the first place, and what might that say about his ability to rule?

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Snapshot,
Barbara Elias

Beyond the current debate about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan lie more fundamental questions of who the Taliban are, how they are organized, what they want, and whether they can be separated from al Qaeda.

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Law & Institutions

Essay, Nov/Dec 2009
Dmitri Trenin

Today, Russia has more to gain by cooperating with the world's major powers than by opposing them. It should craft a foreign policy that turns relations with the European Union, the United States, and others, into domestic economic and political transformation.

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Collection,
The Editors

A collection of Foreign Affairs articles on 1989.

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Postscript,
Michael O'Hanlon

The Obama administration's cancellation of a missile-defense network in Europe is not a sign of misguided weakness, but rather the result of a prudent reexamination of U.S. priorities. But what will come in its place?

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Politics & Society

Postscript,
Richard H. Kohn

Senior officers who resign over policy disagreements with civilian leaders undermine the principle of civilian control over the military and damage the professionalism of the U.S. armed forces.

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Comment, Nov/Dec 2009
Mitchel B. Wallerstein

Strict export restrictions are making U.S. businesses less competitive and the country less secure. Policymakers must craft new regulations to help, rather than harm, U.S. interests.

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Comment, Nov/Dec 2009
Wesley K. Clark and Peter L. Levin

Cyberwarfare is not an abstract future threat. The United States’ electronic defenses are vulnerable and Washington must act quickly to secure computer networks, software, and hardware before it is too late.

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U.S. Policy

Comment, Nov/Dec 2009
Mitchel B. Wallerstein

Strict export restrictions are making U.S. businesses less competitive and the country less secure. Policymakers must craft new regulations to help, rather than harm, U.S. interests.

Read
Comment, Nov/Dec 2009
Wesley K. Clark and Peter L. Levin

Cyberwarfare is not an abstract future threat. The United States’ electronic defenses are vulnerable and Washington must act quickly to secure computer networks, software, and hardware before it is too late.

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Essay, Nov/Dec 2009
Christopher S. Bond and Lewis M. Simons

U.S. policymakers can no longer afford to ignore Southeast Asia. The United States should use trade, aid, and education to alleviate poverty and prevent terrorism in the region.

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