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- Obama, Barack.
How Should We Respond to These Trends? 
Delivered at the 70the Session of the United Nations.
The White House, September 28, 2015. 10 pages.
“We see the collapse of strongmen and fragile states breeding conflict,
and driving innocent men, women and children across borders on an epic
scale. Brutal networks of terror have
stepped into the vacuum. Technologies
that empower individuals are now also exploited by those who spread
disinformation, or suppress dissent, or radicalize our youth. Global capital flows have powered growth and
investment, but also increased risk of contagion, weakened the bargaining power
of workers, and accelerated inequality.” (From the White House)
- Russel, Daniel R.
U.S.-Asia Policy Update.
U.S. Department of State, November 4, 2015, 5 pages.
“The result is a “new normal” of relations with the region where big
accomplishments have become a regular occurrence: We’ve strengthened our
alliances through state-of-the-art, long-term security agreements. Far-sighted
environmental cooperation is lighting the path to a low-carbon future. Our engagement with ASEAN, the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, has promoted a trend towards reform that has helped these
ten countries towards economic integration, just as re-energizing APEC has
helped us bring economies together around the Pacific. One of the benefits has
been the revitalization of rules-based open forums--like APEC, and more
recently the East Asia Summit--that are establishing the institutional
frameworks to promote peace and prosperity for all in the region.” (from U.S.
Department of State)
- Kim, Sung.
Assessing
the North Korea Threat and U.S. Policy.
U.S. Department of State, October 20, 2015, 2 pages.
“The D.P.R.K. continues to violate its
commitments and international obligations, and continues to pursue nuclear
weapons and their means of delivery as a strategic national priority – all at
the cost of the well-being of its own people and while perpetrating horrific
human rights abuses against them.” (from U.S. Department of State)
- Goldenberg, Ilan
and Melissa G. Dalton.
“Bridging the
Gulf: How to Fix U.S. Relations With the GCC.”
Foreign Affairs, November/December
2015, page 59-66.
"The events of the past five years
have put an intense strain on the relationship between the United States and
its traditional partners in the Arab world, particularly the countries that
belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. As popular revolts have flared up across
the Middle East, civil wars have broken out, and the regional order has become
increasingly vulnerable, leaders in Washington and in Arab capitals have often
had starkly different reactions. Meanwhile, most of the GCC countries have
watched nervously—and sometimes angrily—as the United States has negotiated
with their bitter rival, Iran, over an agreement to limit the Iranian nuclear
program.” (From Foreign Affairs)
- Pilger, Michael.
China’s
New YJ-18 Antiship Cruise Missile: Capabilities and Implications for U.S.
Forces in the Western Pacific.
U.S.-China
Economic and Security Review Commission, October 28, 2015, 7 pages.
"The YJ-18 probably will be widely deployed on China’s indigenously
built ASCM-capable submarines and newest surface ships by 2020, and China could
develop a variant of the YJ-18 to replace older missiles in its shore-based
ASCM arsenal. This paper assesses the capabilities of the YJ-18 and describes
the implications of its wide deployment for U.S. forces operating in the
Western Pacific." (From the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review
Commission)
- Rollins, John W.
and Heidi M. Peters.
The Islamic State—Frequently Asked Questions: Threats,
Global Implications, and U.S. Policy Response.
Washington,
D.C. : Congressional Research Service, November 19, 2015, 20 pages.
“When addressing threats emanating from the Islamic State
(IS), numerous strategy and operational considerations arise that might be of
interest to U.S. policymakers, especially in the wake of the deadly November
13, 2015, terrorist attacks in Paris. IS activities and U.S. and coalition
party policy and operational responses are an amalgam of complex, and at times
competing, challenges. Since the establishment of IS, its strategic objectives
and tactical activities have evolved, gaining strength in some areas and having
its capability degraded in others. U.S. and other nations’ responses continue
to evolve as the threat posed by IS changes.” (From CRS Report).
- Sharp, Jeremy M.
and Carla E. Humud.
U.S. Foreign
Assistance to the Middle East: Historical Background, Recent Trends, and the
FY2016 Request.
Washington, D.C. : Congressional Research
Service, October 1, 2015, 31 pages.
“This report is an overview of U.S. foreign assistance to the Middle East
and North Africa. It includes a review of the President’s FY2016 request for
the region, a description of selected country programs, and an analysis of
current foreign aid issues.” (From CRS Report).
- Southerland,
Matthew.
U.S. Freedom of Navigation Patrol in the South China Sea:
What Happened, What it Means, and What’s Next.
U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission,
November 5, 2015, 5 pages.
“The U.S. response to China’s land reclamation
and construction activities on seven land features it controls in the Spratly
Islands continues to evolve. Heretofore, Washington’s response included
statements by senior officials, a call for all claimants in the South China Sea
disputes to freeze land reclamation, and the publicizing of U.S. surveillance
flights near, but not within 12 nautical miles (nm) of, the land features. In
May, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama Administration was
becoming more concerned about China’s activities and was considering sending
U.S. Navy ships and aircraft within 12 nm of China’s land reclamation projects.
U.S. military ships and aircraft had not sailed or flown within 12 nm of
Chinese-occupied features in the Spratly Islands since 2012.” (From the U.S.-China
Economic and Security Review Commission)
- Barfield, Claude.
When Trade and Tech Collide: Digital Policy
Challenges and Solutions for 2016 and Beyond.
American Enterprise Institute, October 29,
2015, 46 pages.
“This paper is intended
to provide detailed background analysis and policy recommendations for the area
of economics and trade. It will be bound, however, by the broad objectives that
underpin the other GIS program goals, such as protecting and promoting freedom
of expression and combating fragmentation of the Internet, safeguarding
national security interests, and defending a multistakeholder model of Internet
governance.” (From American Enterprise Institute)
- Fefer, Rachel F.
U.S. Trade in Services: Trends and Policy
Issues.
Washington, D.C. : Congressional Research Service, November 3, 2015, 34 pages.
“The United States is
currently negotiating three trade agreements that include trade in services: the
Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), a plurilateral agreement outside of the WTO
with 22 other countries; The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade
agreement with 11 other countries; and The Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (T-TIP) free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), which
would cover the world’s two largest providers of and traders in services.” (From CRS Report).
- Nelson, Rebecca M.
The G-20 and International Economic Cooperation: Background and
Implications for Congress.
Washington,
D.C. : Congressional Research Service, November 5, 2015, 17 pages.
“Some analysts say that while the G-20 was
instrumental in coordinating the response to the global financial crisis of
2008-2009, its effectiveness has diminished as the urgency of the crisis has waned.
They argue that the G-20 has failed to provide adequate international
leadership in key policy areas, such as responding to the Eurozone crisis or
forging a conclusion to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of trade
negotiations. They also maintain that the G-20 as a group is too heterogeneous
and its agenda is too ambitious. Others argue that the G-20 is a critical forum
for discussing major policy initiatives across major countries and encouraging
greater cooperation, even if agreement on policies is not always reached. They
also argue that it serves as a useful steering committee the
international economy and that having the G-20 policy-making infrastructure in
place is important for timely international responses to future crises.” (From CRS Report).
- Hokanson, Drake and Elliot Ofsowitz.
“On the Road Again: The Lincoln Highway
Persists in Spirit if not intact.”
Natural History, November 2015, Page 12-19.
“For almost two hundred years, Americans have
been fascinated by the notion of tying one coast to the other. Whether through national land acquisition,
the building of transcontinental institutions that made travel or communication
easier, or through individual journeys, we have been fixed on the idea of
spanning the continent." (From Natural History)
- Betts, Alexander Betts and Paul Collier.
“Help Refugees Help Themselves: Let Displaced
Syrians Join the Labor Market.”
Foreign Affairs, November/December 2015, page 84-92.
"The Syrian crisis alone, which has created the largest
refugee shock of the era, has displaced some ten million people, around four
million of them across international borders. In recent months, Western
attention has focused almost exclusively on the flood of these refugees to
Europe. Yet most of the Syrian refugees have been taken in not by Western
countries but by Syria’s neighboring states: Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, whose
capacity has been overwhelmed. Lebanon, with a population of around four
million and a territory smaller than Maryland, is hosting over a million Syrian
refugees. Young people are overrepresented in the refugee population, so that
more than half of the school-aged children in Lebanon are now Syrian." (From Foreign Affairs)
- Cass, Oren.
Reality
Check: Fracking, Not Solar Power, Is Reducing U.S. Carbon-Dioxide Emissions.
Manhattan Institute, November 4, 2015, 5
pages.
“The technology that has
done most to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions is fracking. In the past
seven years, the fracking-led natural gas boom has cut U.S. emissions more than
ten times as fast as solar power has. And while renewable technologies are making
significant progress, growth in their investment and deployment
is slowing dramatically. Anyone serious about reducing carbon-dioxide emissions
should be celebrating fracking both in the U.S. and around the world.” (From Manhattan Institute)
- Hanson, Fergus.
Critical
Threats to the Internet.
Center for
Strategic and International Studies, November 3, 2015, 2 Pages.
“What’s the most valuable piece of global real estate? The
internet is a contender. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the United
States last month, his government’s rapacious online theft of intellectual
property topped the agenda. The latest Worldwide Threat Assessment, the US
intelligence community’s analysis of global treats, put cyber threats first,
ahead of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.” (From the CSIS)
- Welch, Craig.
A
Blueprint for a Carbon-Free America.
National Geographic, November 2015, 9 Pages.
“In just a few decades the United States could eliminate
fossil fuels and rely 100 percent on clean, renewable energy. That’s the bold
vision of Mark Jacobson, a Stanford engineering professor who has produced a
state-by-state road map of how the country could wean itself from coal, oil,
natural gas, and nuclear power.” (From National Geographic)
- A Strategy for American Innovation: Executive
Summary.
The White
House, October 15, 9 pages.
"The Strategy being
released today has three core components that focus on: The importance of
investing in research and development (R&D) and the other building blocks
of long-term economic growth, instead of locking in harmful sequestration cuts;
Strategic areas from advanced vehicles to precision medicine where focused
effort can advance national priorities and help create shared prosperity.; New
efforts to make the Federal government more innovative to improve performance
and create a better environment for innovation by the private sector and civil
society." (From the White House)
- Keeping the Edge: U.S. Innovation.
Council on Foreign Relations. October 2015, 28 pages.
“Although the United States leads the world in
technology innovation, it may fall behind if the government does not address
emerging gaps in innovation policy and invest more in scientific research, argues
a new progress report and scorecard from the Council on Foreign Relations'
(CFR) Renewing America initiative. “ (from Council on Foreign Relations)
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