REFERENCE UPDATE

Reference Update December 2007

ECONOMIC AND TRADE

1. Global Imbalances: A Source of Strength or Weakness?
Kristin J. Forbes
Cato Journal, Spring/Summer 2007, 10 pages
Why are countries with low levels of investment willing to send relatively scarce resources to capital-abundant economies like the United States instead of investing in their own countries’ economies, despite earning lower returns than the United States earns on its foreign investments? Understanding the motivation behind the millions of individual decisions that drive these capital inflows is critically important to understanding if this massive net transfer of capital into the United States reflects a strength or weakness of the global economy.

2. Inequality Matters
Nancy Birdsall
Boston Review, March/April 2007, 14 pages.
The author posits that while inequality may be constructive in the rich countries, in developing countries it is likely to be destructive. Evidence over the last decade and a half suggests that inequality can be associated with unequal mobility, thus limiting economic growth. Why would this be the case?

3. Vietnam: Country outlook
Economist Intelligence Unit - ViewsWire, October1, 2007, 3 pages
The article provides brief and updated information on Vietnam's development including economic growth, international relations, domestic politics and policy trends.

4. Capitalism & Democracy in 2040
Robert W. Fogel
Daedalus, Summer 2007, 9 pages.
What can economic and demographic forecasts tell us about the prospects for capitalism and democracy around the world? To help answer this question, the author divides the world into groups based on economic output, tabulates population and gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000, and then forecasts population and GDP for 2040.

5. The Bubble Economy
Robert Kuttner
The American Prospect, October 2007, 6 pages.
The article explores the link between deregulation and the subprime mortgage problem in the United States. The author argues that during the past decade, the financial economy has repeated the excesses of the 1920s, involving too much borrowing to underwrite too many speculative bets with other people's money.

REGIONAL SECURITY

6. Assessing American Asia Policy
Lowell Dittmer
Asian Survey, July/August 2007, 15 pages.
The author argues that U.S. policy in Asia has been overshadowed by the advent of terrorist acts allegedly perpetrated by terrorist elements in the Middle East. Asia, he opines, should still be one of the top priorities in U.S. foreign policy despite the Middle East threat. What is more important is how the United States fares in the ongoing contest for Asian leadership.

7. ASEAN and Its Security Offspring: Facing New Challenges
Sheldon W. Simon
Strategic Studies Institute, August 2007, 45 pages.
The author argues that ASEAN is pursuing an engagement strategy in the 21st century, bringing into discussions Southeast Asia’s great political and economic powers. For the United States, ASEAN-dominated organizations have taken second place to Washington’s bilateral ties to Southeast Asia. This article offers views to understanding the key role that Southeast Asia-centered organizations are playing in Asian security.

8. Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges
Mitt Romney
Foreign Affairs, July/August 2007, 16 pages.
Less than six years after 9/11, Washington is as divided and conflicted over foreign policy as it has been at any point in the last 50 years. The author argues that we need new thinking on foreign policy and an overarching strategy that can unite the United States and its allies -- not around a particular political camp or foreign policy school, but around a shared understanding of how to meet a new generation of challenges. The author offers four key pillars of action to meet such challenges.

9. Are Sanctions Effective?
Paula DeSutter,
Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference, June 26, 2007, 24 pages.
Sanction is a legitimate tool of international relations and the United States is applying this more and more in contemporary international politics. However, there is limited evidence that sanctions can work. Three panelists, Paula DeSutter, Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation; Shen Dingli from Fudan University; and Skip Fischer from the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, discuss the effectiveness of sanctions.

10. The Big Ten: The Case for Pragmatic Idealism
James A. Baker
The National Interest, September/October 2007, 6 pages.
The author outlines ten maxims to guide policymakers in advancing both U.S. interests and values, while at the same time avoiding strategic overreach. He calls his proposal pragmatic idealism, which means a foreign policy firmly grounded in values while it also appreciates the complexity of the real world.

GLOBAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

11. The Physical Science behind Climate Change
William Collins
Scientific American, August 2007, 8 pages.
Why are climatologists so highly confident that human activities are dangerously warming the earth? The authors examine the arguments and discuss a few uncertainties that still remain.

12. Grass Is Greener
Tom Yulsman
Audubon, September/October 2007, 7 pages.
With demand soaring for alternative fuels, the market for corn-derived ethanol is hotter than ever. Meanwhile, another promising source of energy is now growing on the prairies of America. The article discusses the possible use of grass as a source of ethanol or alternative fuel.

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

13. Transforming the Architecture
Carl Sessions Stepp
American Journalism Review, October/November 2007, 8 pages.
As newspapers struggle to survive with heavy emphasis on the Web, they are dramatically revamping the way newsrooms operate. This article describes how newspapers are being forced to change their internal structure to meet the demands of the 21st century.

14. Who Are We?
William Powers
National Journal, July 7, 2007, 1 page.
According to the author, journalism should not be about the journalists, but instead about the stories they write. However, changes in both the culture and technology of news are undermining this conventional wisdom. The changing state of journalism practices in the United States is discussed.

15. Phish Pharming
Paul S. Piper
 Searcher, October 2007, 8 pages.
According to the article, phishing -- an attempt to obtain sensitive personal information using e-mail or Internet social spaces -- cost the U.S. economy US$ 929 million in 2005. The cost is expected to rise dramatically. Phishing exploits the trust people have in their financial institutions and reputable businesses, as well as the underlying sense of security a person experiences in the safety of their own home or office. The use of the Internet in phishing is explored.

16. Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World
Evan Ratliff
Wired, July 2007, 5 pages.
What if you could walk down an unfamiliar street, use your camera phone to take a picture of a building, and instantly know everything about it -- from its architecture to the list of tenants. In the past two years, map providers like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have created tools that let anyone with an Internet connection layer their own geographic obsessions on top of ever-more-detailed road maps and satellite images. How have digital maps become so much a part of people's lives?

U.S. SOCIETY AND CULTURE

17. A Woman's World
Sara Sklaroff
The Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2007, 4 pages.
This article forecasts what American life will look like in an increasingly female society. College campuses, medical schools, and most traditionally male dominated professions all reflect gender shifts, and this article looks to history for possible precedents of matriarchy.

18. 'Best Colleges,’ Poor Report
Jim McDermott
America, September 24, 2007, 1 page.
The article discusses the credibility issue of the school ranking system employed by the U.S. News & World Report’s in its annual America's Best Colleges. The author argues that the survey has serious flaws both in its method and philosophy.

19. Clickers in the Classroom: An Active Learning Approach
Margie Martyn
Educause Quarterly, Number 2, 2007, 4 pages.
Clickers, or student response systems, are a technology used to promote active learning. Most research has shown that students who use clickers in the classroom become more engaged and enjoy using them. Although learning outcomes are higher when using clickers, the question is whether the clickers or the active learning pedagogies are the cause. The author conducts a study that compares learning outcomes resulting from the use of clickers versus another active learning method -- class discussion.

20. The Lost Art of Cooperation
Benjamin R. Barber
The Wilson Quarterly, Autumn 2007, 6 pages.
The article discusses the devaluing of cooperation in the face of increased pervasiveness of competitive attitudes in American life. Cooperation, the author says, has been as much an aspect of the heritage of the United States as has competition, but Americans have lost an appreciation of and ability to engage in cooperative enterprises with the ascendancy of competitive, market capitalism.

21. Democracy Without America
Michael Mandelbaum
Foreign Affairs, September-October 2007, 12 pages.
The ineffectiveness of the United States to establish democracy in nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and China is examined in comparison to the rise of democracy as the most popular political system since the early 1900s. To answer why and how democracy has enjoyed such extraordinary worldwide success despite the failure of U.S. efforts, the author discusses the concepts behind democracy and the influence of free markets on its establishment.

22. Heir Unapparent
Carl M. Cannon
National Journal, September 29, 2007, 4 pages.
The 2008 presidential campaign is the first in more than half a century without a sitting president or vice president in the running. The author discusses the advantages of lacking an heir apparent and how it has shaped the campaign in significant ways.

23. Youth Vote 2008
Kristen Oshyn and Tova Andrea Wang
The Century Foundation Issue Brief, September 4, 2007, 14 pages.
This brief explores the evolution of the youth vote and its potential impact on the 2008 election. It looks at how campaigns and other organizations are appealing to young voters, capitalizing on new tools, and reexamining old methods.

24. The Link between Economic Freedom and Human Rights
Anthony B. Kim
The Heritage Foundation WebMemo #1650, September 28, 2007, 3 pages.
The author examines economic freedom as a foundation of open societies and human rights. He explains how economic freedom can empower people and pave a path to political liberty.

TRANSLATED DOCOMENT

25. Ambassador Michael W. Michalak Webchat - VietnamNet
November 20, 2007

26. Sustainable Education in the United States: How Private Interests Can Serve the Public Good
Caroline McDermott, ECONOMICREFORM
The Following articles from “The Long Campaign: U.S. Elections 2008” - an electronic journal from The Bureau of International Information Programs.

27. How the Internet Is Changing the Playing Field
Andy Carvin
Political candidates and private citizens use online technology to influence voters in innovative ways.

28. New Voting Technology: Problem or Solution?
Paul S. DeGregorio
As electronic voting systems move into the mainstream of election administration, democracies must ensure that all citizens can vote freely, easily, and securely.

29. Voting for the First Time
Rebecca Zeifman
Two young Americans talk about casting their ballots for the first time and what voting means to them.