Foreign Policy: The Latest From New America

How Not to Lose Afghanistan (and Pakistan)

American Strategy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:24:00 -0400

In late May, some 40 Pakistani journalists received a summons to an unusual press conference held by Baitullah Mehsud, the rarely photographed leader of the Pakistani Taliban, who is accused of orchestrating the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, sending suicide bombers to Spain earlier this year, and dispatching an army of fighters into Afghanistan to attack U.S. and NATO forces in recent months. Surrounded by a posse of heavily armed Taliban guards, Mehsud boasted that he had hundreds of trained suicide bombers ready for martyrdom.

It was an extraordinarily brazen public performance for a man who is supposedly in hiding.[1] The press conference was held in… more

Time for a U.S.-Iranian 'Grand Bargain'

adminn — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:46:00 -0400

Deadly Traffic: China's Arms Trade With The Sudan

adminn — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:40:00 -0400

As a result of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China will be exposed to a greater global audience -- and greater global scrutiny -- than ever before. In order to put its best foot forward, the Chinese government has spent record amounts on everything from increased security to environmental cleanup.

But there are some Chinese policies that are too controversial to be "cleaned up" at the last minute. This is certainly the case with respect to China's role in arming Sudan's government. Chinese weapons transfers to the… more

Sovereign Wealth Funds: Foreign Policy Consequences In an Era Of New Money

Ron Tang — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:44:00 -0400

Over the past several months, few issues in international finance have generated as much discussion and comment as have Sovereign Wealth Funds (“SWF”s). This Committee deserves enormous credit for recognizing the potentially significant foreign policy consequences of the rapid accumulation by foreign governments of enormous, growing pools of capital. These large concentrations of government controlled wealth raise complex issues that transcend traditional boundaries between foreign policy, financial markets, international economics and national security.

It is my belief, however, that too much focus on SWFs may, in fact, divert attention from the more fundamental foreign policy issue that these funds have come… more

Public Comments on the Proposed Regulations On Foreign Investment Into the U.S.

Ron Tang — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:38:00 -0400

The Honorable Nova Daly Deputy Assistant Secretary U.S. Department of the Treasury

Dear Mr. Daly:

We are pleased to submit these comments with respect to the recently proposed regulations regarding the implementation of the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 (“FINSA”) amendments to Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (“Exon-Florio”).

Background

As a general matter, we believe that U.S. and global economic health are strengthened by the free flow of investment capital and by the increased liquidity that open markets provide. As significant providers of capital, foreign investors have thus far been a positive influence on U.S. markets and… more

Financing America’s Infrastructure

Ron Tang — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:41:00 -0400

America’s basic infrastructure is outdated, worn, and in some cases, failing. Most experts agree that it is inadequate for meeting the demands of the 21st-century global economy. If we are to remain competitive, we must invest in capital assets like roads, ports, bridges, mass transit, water systems, and broadband infrastructure. Many other countries -- both rich and poor -- see investing in infrastructure as imperative for economic survival and success in an increasingly competitive economic environment. But the United States has lagged in infrastructure investment, in both relative and absolute terms. We are spending less than 2 percent of GDP… more

Iraq War Spurs Growth in Vehicle Manufacturing and Fuel Supply Contracts

adminn — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:59:00 -0400

The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have spurred strong growth in Pentagon prime contract awards to companies involved in armored vehicle production and fuel supply. In the mean time, major arms makers like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have experienced much more modest growth rates.

Armored Vehicle Makers Benefit Most

A New America Foundation analysis of the Department of Defense's top ten contractors for FY 2007 found that the greatest increase by far from the prior year was posted by BAE Systems, which purchased Armor Holdings Inc., producer of the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP), in July of 2007. BAE's… more

Uprooted And Unstable

Ron Tang — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:44:00 -0400

Five years after the US -led invasion, Iraq remains a deeply violent and divided society. Faced with one of the largest displacement and humanitarian crises in the world, Iraqi civilians are in urgent need of assistance. Particularly vulnerable are the 2.7 million internally displaced Iraqis who have fled their homes for safer locations inside Iraq. Unable to access their food rations and often unemployed, they live in squalid conditions, have run out of resources and find it extremely difficult to access essential services. The US, the government of Iraq and the international community must begin to address the consequences of… more

Nuclear Bailout

Ron Tang — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:10:00 -0400

The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to undertake an extensive, multi-billion dollar investment in new nuclear weapons facilities and new nuclear warhead designs. The initiative, known as “Complex Transformation,” is unnecessary on strategic and technical grounds, not to mention exorbitantly expensive. The various plans being considered by the DOE have more to do with bailing out the nuclear weapons industry than they do with determining what size complex makes sense in an era of nuclear arms reductions. At a minimum, current proposals should be put on hold until the new president taking office in January 2009 has a chance to… more

Do Sovereign Wealth Funds Make the U.S. Economy Stronger or Pose National Security Risks?

Economic Growth — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:00:00 -0500

By way of introduction, I spent most of the last seventeen years working as an investment banker and private equity investor based primarily in London, England. This experience, I believe, gives me a somewhat different perspective on Sovereign Wealth Funds and the role that they play in today’s international capital markets. Currently, I co-direct the Global Strategic Finance Initiative at the New America Foundation. The New America Foundation is a non-profit, post-partisan public policy institute in Washington D.C.

Over the past several months, few issues in international finance have generated as much discussion and comment as have Sovereign Wealth Funds. I commend you and your colleagues for the informed and balanced views… more

Egypt: Respond to the Needs of Iraqi Refugees

Ron Tang — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:54:00 -0400

Over two million Iraqi refugees have fled their country’s borders since the American-led invasion that overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein. Although the largest concentrations are in Syria and Jordan, up to 150,000 Iraqis have settled in Egypt. Wary of the massive influx experienced in Syria and Jordan, the Egyptian authorities have reportedly closed their door to new Iraqis and have not granted those Iraqis who have made it to Egypt any official status or access to social services. While the international community has recently begun to emerge from its own denial of the Iraqi refugee crisis, it too offers… more

Iraq: Fix the Public Distribution System To Meet Needs Of the Displaced

Ron Tang — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:51:00 -0400

Iraq’s internally displaced are in desperate need of assistance as the Public Distribution System (PDS) that they and other Iraqis depend on for food and fuel is broken. Poor management is to blame for its shortcomings, as well as terrible security and a general lack of political will on the part of the Government of Iraq to acknowledge the scope of the crisis. With the central government unable or at times unwilling to protect and assist Iraqi civilians, donor governments must step in to fill the gaps. Reform of the PDS should be a priority, and agencies such as the… more

Is The United States Losing Turkey?

adminn — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 02:05:00 -0400

On February 5th and 6th, 2007, the Hudson Institute, with support from the Smith Richardson Foundation, convened a small workshop of noted specialists on Turkey, Europe, and international security to assess the state of America’s alliance with Turkey and, more specifically, to ascertain whether the United States risks “losing” Turkey as a long-time and critical ally. The workshop was part of a project directed by Rajan Menon, Professor of International Relations at Lehigh University and Fellow at the New America Foundation. S. Enders Wimbush, Director of… more

Terrorism: A Brief for Americans

American Strategy — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:19:00 -0500

Introduction

On November 7, 2006 Americans went to the polls and registered a deep concern on the course of the war in Iraq. For months ahead of the mid-term elections, they understood what leaders in the White House refused to acknowledge: A region spiraling downward in violence and bloodshed. American troops with no exit strategy. Most horrific of all, U.S. soldiers—America’s finest—tortured, killed and mutilated in a war making no observable progress in achieving the promised reduction in terrorism. more

Dealing with Tehran

American Strategy — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:36:00 -0500

This report by Flynt Leverett, director of New America's Geopolitics of Energy Initiative within the American Strategy Program, was commissioned by The Century Foundation.

The complete document is available via The Century Foundation website at http://www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=PB&pubid=595.

Beyond Dominance

American Strategy — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0500

The central idea underlying American grand strategy since the end of the Cold War has been dominance -- the notion that the United States is so powerful and virtuous that it can pretty much remake the world on its own terms. For most of its two terms in office, the Clinton administration pursued a form of soft dominance, in that it sought to legitimize its policies through America's traditional alliances and through the use of international bodies like the International Monetary Fund. The Bush administration has opted for a more explicit form of dominance, arguing that the United States… more

The Population Implosion

American Strategy — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0500

A NEW CHALLENGE FACES THE WORLD. It is not a problem that can be photographed, reduced to a sound bite, or rendered into the conventional formulations of Left and Right. It has everything to do with sex, death, money, and power, yet is rarely the subject of a headline. Rather, its reality dwells beneath the surface of everyday events, in the realm of what historian Arnold Toynbee once called the "deeper, slower movements that, in the end, make history." The trend, if properly managed, presents many positive opportunities for mankind, but also poses deep risks to… more

Opportunity Missed

American Strategy — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0500

FROM THE MOMENT the Berlin Wall came down, a succession of U.S. presidents used American economic, military, and cultural primacy as leverage to build a new global system incorporating both the former communist countries and the developing nations of the global South. Over the course of the next decade, America's leaders phased out the Pax Americana alliance system in Europe and East Asia -- a Temporary Cold War measure -- and replaced it with a global great-power concert.

In Europe, the U.S. administrations that came to power after the end of the Cold War transformed NATO by adding post-Soviet… more

Democracy in the Islamic World

American Strategy — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0500

IN A REMARKABLE SPEECH at the National Endowment for Democracy in November 2003, President Bush acknowledged 60 years of American error and announced a policy of encouraging democracy, not dictatorship, in the Muslim world. Whether this long overdue message is followed by an actual policy change or simply results from the short-term need to explain the Iraq war in the absence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) remains to be seen. But in any event, Bush neglected to mention a crucial fact that looms over every discussion of democratization in the Muslim world: if freed to make their own… more

American Strategy Project -- Grand Strategy No.2

American Strategy — Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Dear Colleagues:

Yesterday, Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed a ground-breaking idea for the reform of Iraq put forth by my colleague Steve Clemons, Executive Vice President of the New America Foundation and Co-Director of the American Strategy Project.

In the April 9th edition of the New York Times, Steve suggested that the Alaska Permanent Fund, which provides a share of state oil revenues directly to Alaskan citizens, could be a model for a similar program adopted by a new Iraqi government chosen by the Iraqi people. As Iraq's society recovers from decades of dictatorship and… more