IRC Newsletter

EXPLOITATION OF TRAFFICKED WOMEN
Graeme R. Newman, U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. February 2006

This document provides on-the-ground assistance for police to assist them in enforcing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000. The guide begins by describing the problem of exploiting women who have been trafficked into the United States, and the aspects of human trafficking that contribute to it. The guide's focus is on the final period in the process of trafficking at which women are further exploited by those into whose hands they are passed. This is the point at which human trafficking becomes a problem for local police and so the guide identifies a series of questions that can help analyze local problems related to trafficking. Finally, it reviews responses to the exploitation of trafficked women and examines what is known about the effectiveness of these responses from research and police practice.

http://www.popcenter.org/Problems/PDFs/ExploitTraffickedWomen.pdf [pdf format, 98 pages]

TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS
Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Remarks at the National Conference of Editorial Writers, Washington, DC. May 2, 2006

Unilateralism is out. Effective multilateralism is in. We are working to make NATO the centerpiece alliance through which the transatlantic democratic community deals with security challenges around the world. This is not a global NATO, but it is a NATO capable and actually, in fact, dealing with global challenges. NATO is taking over security responsibility in Afghanistan. Ten years ago, this would have been considered too ludicrous a concept even to write an academic paper on. Now, it’s reality.

http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rm/65816.htm

ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL
Martin A. Weiss,Analyst in International Trade and Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division. CRS Report for Congress, April 19, 2006

The Arab League has maintained an official boycott of Israeli companies and Israeli-made goods since the founding of Israel in 1948. The United States actively opposes the boycott and works on both bilateral and multilateral fronts to end it. The U.S. government also enforces laws that prohibit U.S. firms from participating in the boycott. This report will be updated as events warrant.

http://italy.usembassy.gov/pdf/other/RS22424.pdf [pdf format]

TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME: PRINCIPAL THREATS AND U.S. RESPONSES
By 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 rapid technological developments.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33335.pdf [pdf format, 24 pages]

U.S. OCCUPATION ASSISTANCE: IRAQ, GERMANY AND JAPAN COMPARED
By 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 provided to Japan -- from 1946-1952.

[This report will not be updated.]
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33331.pdf [pdf format, 16 pages]

IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Sharon Squassoni. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Updated April 12, 2006.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections since 2003 have revealed almost two decades' worth of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran, including uranium enrichment and plutonium separation efforts. Iran agreed in 2003 to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities in exchange for promises of assistance from Germany, France, and the UK (EU-3), but negotiations broke down in August 2005. On September 24, 2005, the IAEA Board of Governors found Iran to be in noncompliance with its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) safeguards agreement (GOV/2005/77) and voted (GOV/2006/14) on February 4 to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. The Security Council issued a presidential statement on March 29 that called upon Iran to reinstitute its voluntary suspension of enrichment and reprocessing and asked the IAEA to report on Iran's compliance by April 28. On April 11, Iranian officials announced that they had enriched some uranium to 3.5% enrichment (fuel-grade). Uranium enrichment can be used for both peaceful (nuclear fuel) and military (nuclear weapons) uses. At the heart of the debate lie two issues: doubt about Iran's intentions, magnified by revelations of almost two decades of clandestine activities, and whether the international community can adequately verify the absence of enrichment for nuclear weapons or should further restrict access to sensitive nuclear technologies.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rs21592.pdf [pdf format, 6 pages]

THE NUCLEAR CHALLENGE FROM IRAN
Philip H. Gordon, Director, Center on the United States and Europe. Published in the Foresight Magazine, May 2006

Iran's decision last month to resume nuclear enrichment activities-a key step in the process of making nuclear weapons-is a direct challenge to the United States, Europe, and the world. For more than two years, Europe-with Washington's support-had been offering Tehran a reasonable deal: End the nuclear enrichment work it had been doing in secret for nearly two decades, and Europe would provide Iran with technical support for a civilian nuclear energy program as well as expanded economic and diplomatic ties.

http://www.brook.edu/views/articles/gordon/20060501.htm

WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: GLOBALIZATION AND INFLATION.
International Monetary Fund (IMF). April 2006

This World Economic Outlook (WEO) report paints an overall rosy picture of the world economy, with what looks like a third year of significantly above-trend growth. Growth is also becoming more balanced, with Japan picking up strongly, and the Euro area showing advance signs of steadier growth. Perhaps the best reflection of the world economic growth is that sub-Saharan Africa is headed for its best growth performance in over 30 years. In the Middle East and many Central Asian countries, a key challenge will be to channel the high oil export receipts into productive investment. High commodity prices also support many economies in Latin America, permitting very welcome reductions in external debt levels and accumulation of foreign currency reserves. The WEO notes that an important reason for this good performance has been greater flows of goods, services, and capital across the world, otherwise known as, globalization. There is, however, concern that policy reform may be slipping in some countries.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
Full Report: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2006/01/pdf/weo0406.pdf [pdf format, 283 pages]
Table of Contents: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2006/01/index.htm [text in pdf format, charts in csv format]

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION: LIMITED PROGRESS AT HONG KONG MINISTERIAL CLOUDS PROSPECTS FOR DOHA AGREEMENT (GAO-06-535)
United States General Accounting Office (GAO). April 26, 2006

Given the importance of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round to the United States, GAO was asked to provide an update on the status of the negotiations. In this report, the latest in a series on the negotiations, GAO (1) provides the status of the Doha negotiations on the eve of the Hong Kong ministerial, (2) reviews the outcome of the Hong Kong ministerial, and (3) discusses the prospects for concluding the Doha Round before TPA expires in July 2007. GAO found that WTO members made little progress in 2005 toward their goal of completing the steps needed to set the stage for finalizing the Doha Round of global trade talks. The key milestones for progress through July were missed. Despite new proposals on agricultural subsidy and tariff cuts submitted in October 2005, it was clear by November that key players were too far apart to achieve the major decisions planned for the December ministerial. To avoid a failure, members agreed to lower expectations for the meeting.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06596.pdf [pdf format, 47 pages]

CIVILIAN PATROLS ALONG THE BORDER: LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES
Stephen R. Vina, Blas Nunez-Neto, Alyssa Bartlett Weir. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. April 7, 2006

Civilian patrols along the international border have existed in a wide variety of forms for at least 150 years. Over the past 15 years, civilian border patrol groups appear to have proliferated along the U.S.-Mexico border, partly due to the increasing numbers of aliens entering the country illegally. In the spring of 2005, attention focused on these civilian patrols, when the "Minuteman Project" mobilized hundreds of volunteers along the Arizona-Mexico border to observe and report the movement of illegal aliens to the U.S. Border Patrol. Although some participants were armed, Minutemen volunteers were instructed not to engage in hostile confrontations with any illegal alien. Organizers of the Minuteman Project have expanded the Project to the other southwestern border states and Canada and have split the mission into a border defense corps and an internal vigilance operation that monitors businesses and government. A new nationwide Minuteman Project began in April 2006

http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/news/2006,0421-crs.pdf [pdf format, 27 pages]

THE USE OF THE INTERNET BY ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS
Testimony presented to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on May 4, 2006. By: Bruce Hoffman

For bin Laden and his followers the weapons of terrorism are no longer simply the guns and bombs that they always have been, but now include the mini-cam and videotape, editing suite and attendant production facilities; professionally produced and mass-marketed CD-Roms and DVDs; and, most critically, the lap-top and desk-top computers, CD burners and e-mail accounts, and Internet and worldwide web access that have defined the information revolution today.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2006/RAND_CT262.pdf

PREVENTIVE WAR AND ITS ALTERNATIVES: THE LESSONS OF HISTORY
By Dr. Dan Reiter. United States Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (SSI). April 21, 2006

The 2002 National Security Strategy suggested preventive attacks, diplomacy, deterrence, and other policies as means of curtailing threats presented by the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons to terrorists and rogue states. The author analyzes which mix of these policies might best and most cost effectively address the NBC threat, with special focus on preventive attacks. The past performances of preventive attacks, diplomacy, deterrence, and other policies as means of curtailing the NBC threat are analyzed. The central findings are that preventive attacks are generally unsuccessful at delaying the spread of NBC weapons; that deterrence, especially nuclear deterrence, is highly successful at preventing the use of NBC weapons by states; and that diplomacy has had moderate and perhaps unappreciated success at curtailing the spread of NBC weapons.

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=651 [pdf format]

WHAT MAKES ZARQAWI TICK?
By Hind Haider. USIPeace Briefing, April 2006

As Iraq teeters on the precipice of a civil war, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, continues to search for ways to push the country over the edge.1 Yet questions linger about Zarqawi’s ultimate motivation: Is it his loathing of foreign occupation forces that make him tick? Or is his hatred of Iraq’s Shia the essential and irreducible sentiment that sustains his violent jihad? This distinction between Zarqawi’s quest to promote a Sunni–Shia civil war and al Qaeda’s broader goal of waging a universal battle that unites all Muslims against Western “infidels” has many implications, not merely for the future of Iraq, but also for the Middle East and the war on terror itself.

http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2006/0424_zarqawi.html

Would you like to subscribe / unsubscribe to our Newsletter
and our other publications? Email us at info@americanembassy.org.cy

Please note that some of the above links contain copyrighted material

Disclaimer: Links from this web site to web sites outside the U.S. Federal Government are for the convenience of the user. Such links do not constitute an official endorsement or approval of any private sector web site, product, or service. For more information please see the Department of State Foreign Affairs Network Disclaimers.