Foreign Policy in Focus articles from May 2001

Foreign Policy in Focus archives from May 2001

HIV/AIDS in Africa: Time to Stop the Killing Fields--.
May 1, 2001... Key Points * Africa accounts for 70% of all HIV/AIDS cases in the world although it represents only 10% of the global population. More than 25 million Africans live with HIV/AIDS, and 17 million have already died. * The response of the...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
May 1, 2001... Key Problems * The U.S. has not provided global leadership on access to AIDS drugs for Africa and has not supported Africa's demand to purchase or produce generic drugs. * The U.S. 2001 budget for fighting AIDS in Africa is about $460...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
May 1, 2001... Key Recommendations * The U.S should lead other rich nations in supplying essential medicines to Africans living with AIDS, and devote significantly more resources to fighting AIDS in Africa. * The U.S should lead the fight for debt...

Statistical Background.
May 1, 2001... Statistical Background Disproportionate Impact of HIV/AIDS Indicator Africa Outside Africa %...

Drug Policy: Failure at Home.
May 8, 2001... Over a century ago, before the U.S. launched its war on drugs abroad, America commenced a domestic war on drugs. Both of these wars rely upon coercion. Abroad, military force and violence in Colombia and elsewhere are being unleashed largely...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
May 8, 2001... The problems of the U.S. drug war at home and abroad are inextricably linked. Washingtons war on drugs has not achieved its goals of reducing either the quantity of drugs or the level of drug consumption in the United States. Despite decades of...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
May 8, 2001... A more enlightened U.S. foreign policy on drug control will necessarily mean major changes in U.S. domestic drug policy. Current consideration of alternative drug strategies is dominated by political cowardice and hot-button rhetoric. When Gov....

Militarization of the U.S. Drug Control Program.
May 15, 2001... At a time when fledgling civilian governments in Latin America are struggling to keep security forces in check, the U.S. has enlisted the region's militaries as its pivotal partners in international drug control. This militarization, which...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
May 15, 2001... Drug trafficking poses a serious threat to regional security and has a corrosive impact throughout the hemisphere, corrupting democratic institutions, skewing local economies, and increasing political violence. However, the U.S. should increase...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
May 15, 2001... The Bush administration should be developing a broad, clearly defined strategy for strengthening civilian governments and reducing the role of the armed forces in the region, but the opposite seems to be happening. The U.S. is interacting with...

Drug Trafficking & Money Laundering.
May 22, 2001... The trade in illicit drugs is estimated to be worth $400 billion a year, or 8% of all international trade. In order to invest the profits of their illicit activities and avoid having their assets seized by the government, drug traffickers must...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
May 22, 2001... Law enforcement, national security, and military agencies have lobbied vociferously and successfully for antinarcotics enforcement appropriations to offset reduced, post-cold war budgets. In May 1998, President Clinton announced "a...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
May 22, 2001... Although various international standards have been written to guide governments in adopting anti-money laundering policies, not all jurisdictions have implemented regulations. "Soft law" standards, in the form of recommendations, should be...

Holding the Line: U.S. Defense Strategy.
May 29, 2001... Key Points * The U.S. can keep a powerful military and protect important security interests without a rise in defense spending over the coming decade. * Holding defense spending to today's levels will require reducing conventional...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
May 29, 2001... Key Problems * U.S. military strategy has not come to terms with the end of the cold war. The inconsistency between declared priorities and actual demands puts strain on the armed forces that is not warranted, given the vastly reduced...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
May 29, 2001... Key Recommendations * Drop the "two major theater war" standard in favor of a military strategy that matches realistic threats, interests, and missions. * Break with the annual tradition of dividing the defense budget into rigid...

Militarizing Latin America Policy.
May 30, 2001... Deep within the Defense Department's civilian bureaucracy, the Clinton administration made a quiet shift in 1999 that speaks volumes about the current U.S. relationship with Latin America. The Pentagon's office for Inter-American Affairs was...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
May 30, 2001... The Pentagon's role in policy design is increasing. Military engagement activities have been growing, while State Department and foreign aid budgets have fallen or stagnated. Although civilian officials and Congress still generally play the...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
May 30, 2001... The militarization of U.S. policy toward Latin America is not the result of some sinister hidden strategy. More than anything else, it is a symptom of Washington's tendency to turn to the Pentagon because the money is there. Increases in...

Colombia in Crisis.
May 31, 2001... Key Points * Violence and warfare in Colombia are often blamed on the drug trade, but their roots run much deeper and go back well over five decades. * The overwhelming majority of victims are noncombatant civilians. In the last 10...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
May 31, 2001... According to the State Department, "the fight against drugs remains the principal U.S. national interest in Colombia." Yet for the Colombian army, the principal fight is against leftist guerrillas. In recent years, the misleading but...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
May 31, 2001... In April 2001, over 100 Latin Americans--former heads of state, cabinet ministers, legislators, prominent authors, intellectuals, and civic leaders--called on President Bush to go back to the drawing board with his military-oriented support for...

Colombia & Drugs.
May 31, 2001... Briefs: Militarization of the U.S. Drug Control Program, by Gina Amatangelo (May 2001) U.S. Drug Policy: Failure at Home, by Eric Sterling (May 2001) "Free Trade" and Medicines in the Americas, by Robert Weissman (April 2001) ...