IRC Newsletter

AFGHANISTAN OPIUM SURVEY 2006: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). September 2006

[Note: This is a detailed summary of the survey report, which will be released in its entirety in October.]
The principal finding in this report is that opium cultivation in Afghanistan rose a steep 59 percent in 2006, largely due to a dramatic increase in the troubled southern provinces. The area under opium cultivation reached a record 165,000 hectares in 2006 compared with 104,000 in 2005. In the southern province of Helmand, where Taliban insurgents have scaled up their attacks on Afghan government and international forces, cultivation soared 162 percent, to 69,324 hectares

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
http://www.unodc.org/pdf/execsummaryafg.pdf [pdf format, 36 pages]

CHINA'S SOCIAL UNREST: THE STORY BEHIND THE STORIES
Albert Keidel. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). September 2006

This report explores the consequences of China's rapidly changing economy on its record of unrest. The author identifies root causes for this social unrest -- price reforms that disenfranchise subsidized urban groups, state enterprise layoffs, investment shifts away from traditional industrial centers in the interior towards coastal locations, rural-to-urban migration, urban growth's expropriation of farmland, and failures in compensation schemes

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/PB48.China.Social.Unrest.FINAL.pdf [pdf format, 8 pages]

DECLARATIONS OF WAR AND AUTHORIZATIONS FOR THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
Jennifer K. Elsea and Richard F. Grimmett, Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service (CRS). Updated August 11, 2006

Congress and the President have enacted 11 separate formal declarations of war against foreign nations in five different wars. Each declaration has been preceded by a presidential request either in writing or in person before a joint session of Congress. The reasons cited in justification for the requests have included armed attacks on United States territory or its citizens, and threats to United States rights or interests as a sovereign nation. On a number of occasions, Congress and the President have also enacted authorizations for the use of force instead of declarations of war

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL31133.pdf [pdf format, 115 pages]

FEDERAL AND STATE QUARANTINE AND ISOLATION AUTHORITY
Kathleen S. Swendiman and Jennifer K. Elsea, Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service (CRS). Updated August 16, 2006

The potential for avian flu outbreaks and even the possibility of biological terrorist attacks, have prompted increased attention to these matters. An effective response could include the quarantine of persons exposed to infectious biological agents that are naturally occurring or released during a terrorist attack; the isolation of infected persons; and the quarantine of certain cities or neighborhoods. This report provides an overview of federal and state public health laws as they relate to the quarantine and isolation of individuals; a discussion of constitutional issues that may be raised should individual liberties be restricted in a quarantine situation; and federalism questions that may arise where federal and state authorities overlap. In addition, the possible role of the armed forces in enforcing public health measures is discussed, specifically whether the Posse Comitatus Act would constrain any military role, and other statutory authorities that may be used for the military enforcement of health measures

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33201.pdf [pdf format, 24 pages]

FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1969-1976, VOLUME E-4. DOCUMENTS ON IRAN AND IRAQ, 1969-1972
United States Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs. Office of the Historian. Web-posted September 12, 2006

This volume documents the foreign policy of the Nixon administration towards Iran under the Shah. It also documents limited U.S. relations with a potential opponent, increasingly pro-Soviet Iraq. Because Iran and Iraq were rivals, the closer the Nixon administration's ties were to Tehran, the wider the gap became with Baghdad. The volume also tracks popular discontent at the Shah's rule for what his critics charged was a corrupt, extravagant, and dictatorial regime. Although U.S. Embassy officials reported that student protests and terrorist incidents had increased, the Nixon administration saw no immediate threat to the Shah's stability. The President and other officials believed that the Shah was a benign dictator whose rule best suited Iran's current stage of development

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/e4/index.htm [Table of Contents, sections in pdf format, various pagings]

INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT FOR 2006
United States Department of State (DOS). Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Web-posted September 15, 2006

The Department of State submits the International Religious Freedom report to Congress annually, in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This eighth annual report includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. Its 197 country and area reports survey the governmental and societal treatment of all known religious groups, and discuss U.S. Government efforts to promote religious freedom in each country

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/index.htm [Table of Contents, sections in html format, various pagings.]

COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE BY STUDENTS IN 2003
Matthew DeBell and Chris Chapman
United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). September 2006

This report examines the use of computers and the Internet by U.S. children enrolled in nursery school, and students in kindergarten through grade 12. It examines the overall rate of use (the percentage of individuals in the population who are users); the ways in which students use the technologies; where the use occurs (home, school, and other locations); and the relationships of computer and Internet use to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as students' age, race and ethnicity, and their parents' education and family income

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006065.pdf [pdf format, 72 pages]

[DETENTION OF TERRORISTS] FACT SHEET: THE ADMINISTRATION'S LEGISLATION TO CREATE MILITARY COMMISSIONS
Executive Office of the President. September 6, 2006

The Bush Administration, adhering to the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, [see: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-184.pdf#search=%22%20%22Hamdan%20v%20Rumsfeld%22%22 ] has altered the management of terrorist detainees. This fact sheet outlines the specific aspects of the transfer of detainees from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) facilities to the Department of Defense (DoD) detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The creation and function of the new Code of Military Commissions (CMC) is described at length. The fact sheet summarizes the draft legislation sent from the Office of the President to Congress

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060906-6.html [ html format, 4 printed pages]

ENDANGERED SPECIES: MANY FACTORS AFFECT THE LENGTH OF TIME TO RECOVER SELECT SPECIES
United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). September 6, 2006

Many factors are responsible for the varying length of time it will take for plant and animal species to recover after they have experienced severe reductions in population. In this report GAO reviewed 31 species that had been listed as endangered or threatened. Government biologists, led by the Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS), report that 19 of those 31 species are likely to be delisted within the next 25 years because (1) the primary threats faced by the species have been or are being mitigated; (2) the species are more prevalent than thought at the time they were listed and/or habitat has been secured for the species; or (3) they are the beneficiaries of extensive recovery efforts and are expected to respond relatively quickly to those efforts

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06730.pdf [pdf format, 77 pages]

FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE U.S., 1969-1976: CHINA, 1969-1972
Steven E. Phillips, editor. United States Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs. Office of the Historian. August 2006

This volume's principal focus is the effort of President Richard Nixon, working closely with his National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, to open a dialogue with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The volume shows that at each stage of rapprochement with the PRC in 1971 and 1972, Nixon or Kissinger either met with the Republic of China (ROC) diplomats in Washington or worked through Department of State officials to assure Chiang Kai-shek of continued U.S. support and adherence to treaty commitments

[Note: A supplement (Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, vol. E-13, Documents on China, 1969-1972) is scheduled for release in late September 2006. It will provide the complete text of many of the documents referenced in the footnotes of the printed volume that relate to high-level contact between the PRC and the United States.]

Full Report: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/70148.pdf [pdf format, 1230 pages, Note: For best results, cut and paste this URL]
Table of Contents: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xvii/index.htm [pdf format, various pagings]

THE FUTURE OF TRANSATLANTIC SECURITY RELATIONS: COLLOQUIUM REPORT
Richard A. Chilcoat, Joseph R. Cerami and Patrick B. Baetjer. , United States Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (SSI). Web-posted August 28, 2006

A March 2006 conference -- "The Future of the Transatlantic Relations" -- addressed changes in U.S. and European defense and foreign policy in the aftermath of the war in Iraq. Texas A&M University's Bush School of Government and Public Service, Bush Presidential Library Foundation, and European Union Center of Excellence, partnering with the Department of the Army's Eisenhower National Security Series and the Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute, convened the conference to examine key dimensions of the transatlantic relationship, which has major implications for global as well as regional security

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=725 [pdf format, 122 pages]

NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR COMBATING TERRORISM
Executive Office of the President. September 2006

The updated National Strategy For Combating Terrorism (NSCT) outlines the United States government's strategy to protect and defend American interests at home and abroad from terrorism. In order to win the war against terrorism, the United States will continue to lead an expansive international effort to: * Defeat violent extremism as a threat to the way of life in a free and open society. * Create a global environment inhospitable to violent extremists and their supporters

Full Report: http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nsct/2006/nsct2006.pdf [pdf format, 29 pages]
Table of Contents: http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nsct/2006/ [sections in html format, various pagings]

STATE OF WORLD POPULATION 2006. A PASSAGE TO HOPE: WOMEN AND INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Web-posted September 6, 2006

This year's State of World Population report examines the scope and breadth of female migration, the impact of the funds they send home to support families and communities, and their disproportionate vulnerability to trafficking, exploitation and abuse. The report notes that domestic work is one of the largest sectors driving international female labor migration. Millions of women migrate from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and increasingly from Africa, to Europe and North America, the Gulf States and the industrializing nations of Asia. But there are few labor laws to protect domestic workers

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2006/pdf/sowp06-en.pdf [English-language version, pdf format, 116 pages]

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