Foreign Policy in Focus articles from November 1999

Foreign Policy in Focus archives from November 1999

Use of Children as Soldiers.(Brief Article)
November 2, 1999... At the beginning of this century, wars were fought primarily on defined battlefields between men in governmental armed forces. Today, dozens of wars specifically target civilians--now 90% of all war casualties--and their communities' social...

Problems With Current U.S. Policy.
November 2, 1999... Although critical of the use of child soldiers in certain contexts, the U.S. government--particularly the Department of Defense--has consistently opposed widely popular international efforts to raise the minimum age for soldiering to 18. For...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
November 2, 1999... Strong international norms can provide a critical basis to prevent and stop the use and recruitment of children as soldiers. To this end, the U.S. should ratify all treaties relating to child soldiers: the Additional Protocols to the Geneva...

Iran: Time for Detente.(Brief Article)
November 4, 1999... The ongoing struggle in Iran between Islamic reformers and Islamic hard-liners, along with struggles within the U.S. foreign policy establishment between hawks and those seeking accommodation, has left U.S.-Iranian relations in a state of flux....

Problem With Current U.S. Policy.
November 4, 1999... Although the misdeeds of the Iranian regime are indeed numerous, the first major problem with U.S. policy is that most U.S. accusations against the Iranians seem to be grossly exaggerated. Iran's activities are not substantially worse than...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
November 4, 1999... During pro-reformist demonstrations in Iran that were savagely suppressed by rightist elements in July 1999, both the Clinton administration and its congressional critics remained largely silent, with the State Department only making a terse...

Cuba: Policy Agenda for the Future.
November 9, 1999... In recent years, U.S. policy toward Cuba has been guided by two primary objectives or "tracks": to isolate the Cuban government and to provide support to the Cuban population. The former has generally taken priority, precluding various measures...

Problems With Current U.S. Policy.(Brief Article)
November 9, 1999... U.S. policy toward Cuba suffers from two fundamental problems. First, it has proven an ineffective and even counterproductive instrument for achieving the U.S. goal, namely the isolation and removal of Fidel Castro in order to bring about a...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
November 9, 1999... Before specific proposals can be contemplated, fundamental changes must be made in Washington's policy framework. Without such changes, new measures are likely to be incoherent and ineffective. First, U.S. policy toward Cuba should focus on the...

Colombia's Role in International Drug Trafficking.
November 11, 1999... What is called "drug trafficking" in the U.S. is in fact a major, multifaceted, and global industry. Colombia's role in this industry has evolved over the past decades. In the 1970s, a boom in marijuana cultivation along Colombia's Atlantic...

Problems With Current U.S. Policy.
November 11, 1999... In 1989, President Bush declared that the "gravest domestic threat facing our nation today is drugs," and he announced the "Andean Strategy" to reduce the amount of illicit narcotics entering the United States. Over the last decade, this...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
November 11, 1999... The U.S. should recognize that its war on drugs against Colombia and other "source countries" has been a failure and that it must refocus on demand-reduction at home through education and treatment. Although overseas efforts will not solve our...

U.S. Drug Policy: Failure at Home.
November 16, 1999... Over a century ago, before the U.S. launched its war on drugs abroad, America commenced a domestic war on drugs. Both these wars rely upon coercion. Abroad, military force and violence are deployed against peasant farmers who grow opium, coca,...

Problems With Current U.S. Policy.
November 16, 1999... Washington's war on drugs has not achieved its stated goals of reducing either the quantity of drugs or the level of drug consumption in the U.S., as evidenced by the fact that addicts and more casual consumers spend between $40 and $50 billion...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
November 16, 1999... The public is losing faith that enforcement is the most effective strategy. In February 1995, 50% of the U.S. public gave the federal government a grade of F or D for its handling of the drug problem; only 10% gave the government an A or B. ...

Benefits of Capital Flows: New Role for Public Institutions.
November 18, 1999... After a worldwide removal of regulatory constraints, market forces have assumed a dominant role in the international financial system. The role of the public sector has been sharply curtailed, rendering it ineffectual in its efforts to handle...

Problems With Current U.S. Policy.
November 18, 1999... The major flaw in U.S. policy is its pursuit of objectives that cripple the primary instrument that national governments have used to moderate boom/bust cycles and ensure stable economic growth: countercyclical monetary operations. Instead, its...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
November 18, 1999... It is increasingly recognized that both development and debt repayment depend upon stable and long-term capital inflows. Reliability assures realistic cash-flow assumptions and repayment schedules. As crises in the 1980s and 1990s illustrated,...

Keys to Stability in the Balkans.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... In the aftermath of the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, instability has continued to plague the Balkan region. Inter-ethnic violence persists in Kosovo, and a prominent Yugoslav Army general has warned that Yugoslav troops could be...

Problems With Current U.S. Policy.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... In an August 1999 news conference held in Kosovo, Senator Joseph Biden (D-DL) and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke reiterated the U.S. policy of promoting a multiethnic society in Kosovo for all of Kosovo's citizens, no...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... The U.S. needs to pursue creative alternatives in order to minimize the potential for civil strife in Yugoslavia and the possible spread of the conflict to neighboring states. It is no easy task to satisfy the demands of the competing...