Issue 10 - April 2006

• AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION QUANDARY: NO CONSENSUS ON IMMIGRATION PROBLEM OR PROPOSED FIXES.
  Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Hispanic Center. March 2006.
  
  This report provides detailed analysis and discussion of findings from a national poll and five U.S. metropolitan-area surveys. It describes how immigration ranks as a problem nationally and in the respondents' communities, and addresses the public's distinction between legal and illegal immigration. It reviews concerns about immigration's impact on America's culture and economy. The report looks at the broad range of immigration policy proposals being considered and the public's opinion of them. It examines trends in views regarding immigrants from Asian and Latin American nations and their willingness to assimilate. Public perceptions about the size of the legal and illegal immigrant populations are also described.
  
  [Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
  http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/63.pdf [pdf format, 84 pages]

• HURRICANE KATRINA: COMPREHENSIVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE NEEDED TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE USE OF AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE
  United States General Accounting Office (GAO). April 2006.
  
  In response to Hurricane Katrina, countries and organizations donated cash and in-kind donations, including foreign military assistance, to the United States government. In accord with the U.S. National Response Plan, the Department of State (DOS) is the coordinator of all offers of international assistance, and the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for accepting the assistance and coordinating its distribution. This report examines: 1) The amount and use of internationally donated cash. 2) The extent to which federal agencies have adequate policies and procedures to ensure proper accountability for the acceptance and distribution of that assista nce.
  
  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06460.pdf [pdf format, 47 pages]

• IRAQI PERSPECTIVES PROJECT: A VIEW OF OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM FROM SADDAM'S SENIOR LEADERSHIP.
  Kevin M. Woods, et. al. United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM), Joint Center for Operational Analysis and Lessons Learned (JCOA). Web-posted March 2006.
  
  This unclassified historical study of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) incorporates the Iraqi civilian and military leadership's perspective of events. In the foreword, Brigadier General Anthony Cucolo III writes that the project team utilized dozens of interviews with senior Iraqi leaders and thousands of official Iraqi documents to craft a "substantive examination of Saddam Hussein's leadership and its effect on the Iraqi military decision-making process." He calls this project "an important first step," and while acknowledging that the history of OIF is far from complete, says that this study seeks to "contribute to a more fully developed history of the war, and allow all concerned to get closer to ground truth." The document includes an annex describing the project's methodology and information sources, and its references.
  
  http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2006/ipp.pdf [pdf format, 230 pages]

• MEASURING PROGRESS IN STABILIZATION AND RECONSTRUCTION.
  Craig Cohen. United States Institute of Peace (USIP). March 2006.
  
  This report is based on a series of consultations under the auspices of USIP's Working Group on Measuring Progress in Stabilization and Reconstruction. Nearly seventy decision makers, practitioners, and scholars met during 2004 and 2005 to define the major requirements and make recommendations for those who strive to measure progress in war-torn, weak, and failed states. The findings are also based on supplementary interviews; an analysis of existing models to measure progress; and research into more than fifty books, reports, and articles.
  
  http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/srs/srs1.pdf [pdf format, 16 pages]

• THE NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
  United States National Security Council. March 2006.
  
  The President's National Security Strategy (NSS) explains the strategic underpinning of the administration's foreign policy. In remarks about the President's second-term NSS, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said: "America's policy -- and its purpose -- is to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060316-8.html). The NSS, he said, lays out the President's vision of how to achieve the latter goal.
  
  http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss/2006/nss2006.pdf [pdf format, 54 pages]

• PREVENTING CATASTROPHIC NUCLEAR TERRORISM.
  Charles D. Ferguson. Council On Foreign Relations (CFR). March 2006.
  
  According to CFR President Richard N. Haass, this report makes clear what is needed to reduce the possibility of nuclear terrorism. It identifies where efforts have fallen short in securing and eliminating nuclear weapons and weapons-usable nuclear materials, and it offers realistic recommendations to plug these gaps in the U.S. and international response. In particular, the report argues that the United States should pursue unilateral initiatives such as a clear declaration of retaliation against regimes aiding nuclear terrorists, multilateral initiatives that include increasing funding to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and bilateral initiatives and dialogue, particularly with Pakistan and Russia. The report, Haass concludes, "is a clear primer on a critical subject and a set of practical proposals that policymakers would be wise to consider carefully."
  
  [Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
  http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/NucTerrCSR.pdf [pdf format, 44 pages]

• PROGRESS ON GLOBAL ACCESS TO HIV ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY: A REPORT ON "3 BY 5" AND BEYOND.
  World Health Organization (WHO) and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). March 2006.
  
  WHO and UNAIDS jointly launched the "3 by 5" strategy in December 2003, with the objective of helping low- and middle-income countries provide treatment to 3 million people living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2005. The "3 by 5" target challenged governments, foundations, corporations and the United Nations system to scale up access to antiretroviral therapy as quickly and effectively as possible. While the "3 by 5" target was not met on time, the ongoing effort to expand access to antiretroviral therapy has brought about positive change. This report describes the areas in which important progress has been made and lessons learned, and outlines the remaining challenges and roadblocks to treatment access. According to the authors, the experiences described in this report demonstrate that large-scale HIV treatment access is achievable, effective and increasingly affordable, even in the most resource-constrained and challenging settings. The report lists key actions that must be urgently undertaken to increase momentum in scaling up treatment .
  
  [Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
  http://www.who.int/hiv/fullreport_en_highres.pdf [pdf format, 84 pages]

• TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME: PRINCIPAL THREATS AND U.S. RESPONSES.
  John R. Wagley. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. March 20, 2006.
  
  This report examines the growing threat of transnational organized crime to U.S. national security and global stability. The end of the Cold War and increasing globalization has helped criminal organizations expand their activities and gain global reach. Criminal networks are believed to have benefited from the weakening of certain government institutions, more open borders, and the resurgence of ethnic and regional conflicts across the former Soviet Union and many other regions. Transnational criminal organizations have also exploited expanding financial markets and rap id technological developments. The report will not be updated.
  
  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33335.pdf [pdf format, 24 pages]

• U.S. OCCUPATION ASSISTANCE: IRAQ, GERMANY AND JAPAN COMPARED.
  Nina Serafino, Curt Tarnoff, and Dick K. Nanto. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. March 23, 2006.
  
  This report provides aggregate data on U.S. assistance to Iraq and compares it with U.S. assistance to Germany and Japan during the seven years following World War II. U.S. aid allocations -- all grant assistance -- for Iraq appropriated from 2003 to 2006 total $28.9 billion. About $17.6 billion (62%) went for economic and political reconstruction assistance. The remaining $10.9 billion (38%) was targeted at bolstering Iraqi security. A higher proportion of Iraqi aid has been provided for economic reconstruction of critical infrastructure than was the case for Germany and Japan. Total U.S. assistance to Iraq thus far is roughly equivalent to total assistance (adjusted for inflation) provided to Germany -- and almost double that provi ded to Japan -- from 1946-1952. This report will not be updated.
  
  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33331.pdf [pdf format, 16 pages]
  
  
  

• WHO ARE IRAQ'S NEW LEADERS? WHAT DO THEY WANT?
  Phebe Marr. United States Institute of Peace (USIP). March 2006.
  
  USIP's ongoing examination of Iraq's emerging leadership finds a revolutionary change in the forces shaping the new leaders and their political orientation since the end of the Ba'th regime. This report by Iraq expert Phebe Marr examines the backgrounds of the new leaders and their views on the future of Iraq, via interviews and their published works. The author looks at three groups of leaders to see what they may reveal about change and continuity in the new Iraq: 1) Those who were in power at the close of Saddam Hussein's long dictatorship. 2) A cohort of ninety-seven new leaders who have held cabinet-level or other top offices in the state since 2003. 3) Iraqi leaders appointed by the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) in 2003 and those elected to office in 2005.
  
  http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr160.pdf [pdf format, 20 pages]

• WINNERS AND LOSERS: IMPACT OF THE DOHA ROUND ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
  Sandra Polaski. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). Web-posted March 2006.
  
  This report by CEIP's Trade, Equity, and Development Project presents a new model of global trade to analyze the potential impacts of the WTO Doha Round negotiations and the underlying economic interests of the WTO's diverse members. The model makes several critical innovations --notably, modeling unemployment in developing countries, and separating agricultural labor markets from urban unskilled labor markets. The result is a detailed analysis of the impact of trade policies on both developing and developed countries. The author concludes that it is important not to overstate the possible gains from the Doha Round. The model suggests that "trade is one factor among many that can contribute to economic growth and rising incomes, but its contribution is likely to be very modest."
  
  [Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
  http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/BWfinal.pdf -- Black & White
  http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/Winners.Losers.final2.pdf -- Color [pdf format, 117 pages]

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