NewsNotes - October 2005
War and Famine
Peace and Milk
- Somali Proverb
EPS is looking forward to the ASSA/AEA meetings in January. We will be hosting three sessions again this year:
- Saturday, January 7, 10:15am. A roundtable on Grand Strategies against Global Poverty, chaired by James Galbraith, with Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, Sir Richard Jolly.
- Sunday, January 8, 1:00pm. A joint session with the AEA on Economics and National Security, a roundtable chaired by Michael Intriligator, with Peter Galbraith, Carl Kaysen, Richard Kaufman, Lawrence Korb, Gareth Porter and Robert Solow.
- Sunday, January 8, 8:00am. A session organized for the AEA on The
Costs of War, chaired by James Galbraith, with Joseph Stiglitz,
William Nordhaus, Steve Kosiak, Allen Sinai, and Bassam Yousif.
Other EPS events include:
- Saturday, January 7th, 5:30 - 6:30pm. Annual Membership Meeting
- Saturday, January 7th, 6:30pm, we will hold our Annual Dinner, this year will be in honor of Amartya Sen.
- Sunday, January 8th, 10:00am - 12:30pm. Annual Fellows Meeting, and Quarterly Board of Directors meeting
We hope you will make plans to join us at these events. We will have a booth in the exhibit hall again this year. Please stop by and say hello.
November 10 - 12, 2005. European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE) presents its annual conference in Bremen, Germany. The theme of the conference is A New Deal for the New Economy? Global and Local Developments, and New Institutional Arrangements. For further information please visit the EAEPE website (http://www.eaepe.org/) or http://www.iiso.uni-bremen.de/elsner or contact the local organizers: Wolfram Elsner at welsner@uni-bremen.de and Rebecca Schmitt at rschmitt@uni-bremen.de
The conference will include two special sessions jointly organized by the EAEPE and EPS:
Session 1, Friday, November 11, 11:15am - 1:15pm
The Political Economy of Peace, War and Arms Industries 1
- Chair: C. Serfati, L. Mampaey
- S. Guillou / N. Lazaric / C. Longhi / S. Ngo Mai / S. Rochhia. Emergence, Experimentation and Use of Knowledge Management in the Defense-Related Sector
- L. Mampaey / C. Serfati. The Alliance Between the Arms Industries and the Financial Markets: Issues at Stake for European Arms Industry and Defense Policy
- R. Hofer. Interactions Between Organizational and Technological Changes and Security-Agendas
- R. de Penanros / M. Quéré. What About Military Shipbuilding
in Europe?
Session 2, Friday, November 11, 12:30 - 4:30 pm
The Political Economy of Peace, War and Arms Industries 2
- Chair: C. Serfati, L. Mampaey
- P. A. O'Hara. US Hegemony, the War on Terrorism and the Long Wave: A Viable 'Hegemony-Terrorism' Social Structure of Accumulation?
- A. Franghiadis. The Cold War and Economic Growth in Greece, 1953-1973
- P. Sklias / S. Roukanas. The Need to Create Effective Institutions
to Confront the Peace and War Matters. The Case of Kosovo and the Environment
of the Balkans
James K. Galbraith will be the keynote speaker on Saturday evening, November 12.
Call for Papers: Tenth Annual Conference on Economics and Security. Thessaloniki, Greece, June 22 - 24, 2006.
Offers of papers are invited for a conference sponsored by Economists for Peace and Security (EPS), the Arms Production and Trade Group, the University of the West of England, CITY Liberal Studies - Affiliated Institution of the University of Sheffield, and SEERC (South East European Research Center), Thessaloniki, Greece. The conference will have plenary sessions with keynote speakers plus specialist workshop streams.
Proposed topics include:
- Security in the Balkan Region
- European Security
- Globalization and the Restructuring of the MIC
- Militarism and Development
- Economics of Conflict and Post-conflict Reconstruction
- Economics of the Arms Trade
- Procurement and Offsets
- Arms Races, Offsets and Alliances
- Peace Science
- Conversion and Demilitarization
- Terrorism
Offers of papers on other related topics are welcome.
Please send a title and abstract as soon as possible and before March
15, 2006 to:
Dr. Eftychia Nikolaidou, Business Administration & Economics Department,
CITY College, Affiliated College of the University of Sheffield, 2 Kalapothaki
St., 546 24, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Tel. (+30) 2310 224026; Fax. (+30) 2310 22406; email: enikolaidou@city.academic.gr
To keep up with developments see: http://carecon.org.uk/EPS/index.htm or http://www.city.academic.gr
EADI (the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes) has launched Insecurityforum - a new online platform on issues of insecurity and development. Insecurityforum with the help of a weblog will create a space for substantive discussion on the internet by attracting new ideas, views, research findings and information on international development issues and trends.
The Institute for Conflict Management (http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/icm/index.html) conducts research on terrorism, low intensity warfare, sectarian and other conflict, developmental and economic policies in areas of widespread disorder and the effective civil administration of areas under threat of terrorism or other patterns of widespread strife; and works to create greater awareness of the patterns of strife and initiatives for resolution experienced in South Asia, and to correct prevailing distortions in international perceptions, including academia, regarding these.
Among the resources the Institute provides are the South Asia Terrorism Portal (http://www.satp.org/) and the weekly email South Asia Intelligence Review (http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/sair/index.htm). In a recent article in the Intelligence Review, Amir Mir takes a look at the relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and the possibility of Saudi-Pakistani nuclear cooperation. http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/sair/Archives/3_51.htm
The August edition of id21 insights focuses on Educating young people in emergencies. Armed conflict and natural disasters tear communities apart. Lives are lost, families are displaced and separated, and support systems break down. Opportunities for education often diminish or disappear in environments where they may have already been scarce - over half of the more than 200 million children and young people who have not completed primary school live in regions devastated by armed conflict. The impact on adolescents and youth is uniquely devastating.
This newsletter features several articles on this topic. http://www.id21.org/insights/insights-ed04/index.html
Despite the promises made by globalization, in the last twenty years the world’s poorest countries have fallen further behind the rich. In a new Carnegie Paper, Branko Milanovic debunks current development theories that explain why poorer countries have not reaped the rewards of global economic integration. Using statistical analysis, Milanovic finds that the higher likelihood of poor countries to be involved in wars and civil conflicts is the most important determinant for their lack of growth while, surprisingly, the effects of domestic reforms or international lending were minimal.
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm
?fa=view&id=17557&prog=zgp&proj=zted
"The Bush administration will have to try to build an incentive structure so that, at every step of the way, North Korea is better off continuing the process instead of bailing out of it," said Robert J. Einhorn, a former assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, on the ongoing six party talks. The challenge of creating such an incentive structure will be great. The next round is set to begin next month, and participants anticipate it will be even harder going than reaching the initial agreement.
More at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/04/AR2005100401527.html
or http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2005_10_5.html#89A7FB97
For all these reasons, they said, a gradual withdrawal of US troops was
imperative. "This has been hinted at before, but it's a big shift
for them to be saying that publicly," said Michael O'Hanlon of the
Brookings Institution in Washington. "It means they recognize that
there is a cost to staying just as there is a benefit to staying. And
this has not really been factored in as a central part of the strategy
before."
While the generals are increasingly vocal about difficulties in Iraq, the American public is less and less supportive of the war and the policies behind it. A CNN poll released September 22 shows that fewer than half of those surveyed think that American will or can win the war and 55 percent believe plans to withdraw should be speeded up.
Missile Defense Capability Could Improve Next Year Global Security Newswire reports. Lt. Gen. Larry Dodgen, who commands the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command, reiterated previous official statements that the multibillion-dollar Ground-based Midcourse Defense system that launches interceptors into space is believed now to have only a “thin line” of capability.
He said, though, that the capability could be improved with the planned fielding of more powerful X-band radars “in the next four or five months”
In a related debate, Dodgen said Defense Department discussion continues over whether and when the military services might take ownership of the growing ballistic missile defense infrastructure that is being purchased annually by the Missile Defense Agency.The White House’s Office of Management and Budget over the past
two years has criticized the Pentagon for not transferring future costly
missile defense procurement plans to the services. It warned that increasing
costs for purchasing interceptor missiles, radar and other equipment threatened
Missile Defense Agency technology investment and deployments.
http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2005_10_4.html#3C91F0F5
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and more recently Hurricane Katrina in the United States and the earthquake in Pakistan and India demonstrated once again that the poor usually suffer most from disasters occurring from natural disasters, as they often live and work in highly vulnerable locations. Microcredit is a useful tool for poverty reduction, but its potential to reduce the impact of disasters needs to be further explored.
UN/ISDR asked experts and colleagues from various backgrounds to share their points of view on the issue. These are summarized in 10 Conclusions (http://www.unisdr.org/eng/public_aware/world_camp/2005/Conclusions-invest-prevent-disaster.pdf), and discussed in detail in the document Invest to Prevent Disaster (http://www.unisdr.org/eng/public_aware/world_camp/2005/press-kit-english.pdf).
A new report from the International Crisis Group, Unmaking Iraq: A Constitutional Process Gone Awry, concludes that, "[i]nstead of healing the growing divisions between Iraq's three principal communities – Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs -- a rushed constitutional process has deepened rifts and hardened feelings. Without a strong US-led initiative to assuage Sunni Arab concerns, the constitution is likely to fuel rather than dampen the insurgency, encourage ethnic and sectarian violence, and hasten the country's violent break-up."
When Andy Rooney sees that military bloat is dragging the US down, we must be getting somewhere. In his opinion piece, Ike Was Right About War Machine, Mr. Rooney states, "[One] way the government is planning to pay for the war and the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like Medicare prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments, AMTRAK, National Public Radio and loans to graduate students. Do these sound like the things you'd like to cut back on to pay for Iraq?
"I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our bloated military establishment. We're paying for weapons we'll never use. No other Country spends the kind of money we spend on our military. Last year Japan spent $42 billion. Italy spent $28 billion, Russia spent only $19 billion. The United States spent $455 billion...
"We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said this: 'We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. …' Well, Ike was right. That's just what’s happened." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/30/60minutes/main892398.shtml
As US officials continue to cite a nuclear or radiological incident as
the worst-case terror scenario, ABC News broadcast a series of exclusive
investigative reports on the threat, the federal government's efforts
to counter it and what Americans can do to protect themselves in case
of an attack.
On Sunday's "World News Tonight," Bill Redeker went inside Sandia Labs, which is developing and testing new technology and software to detect the most dangerous nuclear material as it comes into the country. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/LooseNukes/story?id=1193564&page=1
Monday, on "World News Tonight," Brian Ross investigated the security of nuclear materials in the US, including nuclear weapons facilities, power reactors and research reactors. See what he discovered. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/LooseNukes/story?id=1200705&page=1
Throughout the day Tuesday, Cynthia McFadden gained rare access inside the top-secret government security teams responsible for detecting smuggled nuclear weapons that are the last line of defense against nuclear terrorism. Her report aired on "Good Morning America," "World News Tonight" and "Nightline." Learn more about the NEST teams by going to http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/LooseNukes/story?id=1200558&page=1.
On Wednesday's "World News Tonight," (6:30 p.m. ET) Pierre Thomas reported on the worldwide nuclear black market, and the attempts by al Qaeda to obtain material used in a dirty bomb or for a nuclear weapon.
On "Nightline" (11:35 p.m. ET), an exclusive report from Cynthia McFadden on how the US government is securing nuclear material at former Soviet Union reactors around the world. ABC News' Law and Justice Unit documented how this is done — from safeguarding weapons-grade uranium to shipping it in the middle of the night with a SWAT team to the airport in Latvia for transport to a secure facility in Russia.
On Thursday, Brian Ross previewed his "Primetime" special (10 p.m. ET) on both "Good Morning America" and "World News Tonight." Ross reported on the findings of an important undercover investigation into security lapses at sensitive locations across the country, most in densely populated areas.
The report was prepared in conjunction with Carnegie Corporation, and prepared with collaboration from the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) among others.
Matt Ryan, an adjunct fellow with the Independent Institute, urges us to Take the Politics Out of Disaster Relief
In times of natural disaster, people often look to government for solutions. Sadly, it seems that politicians use disasters to further their political careers.
A prophetic article published in Economic Inquiry two years ago, by Thomas
Garrett of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Russell Sobel of
West Virginia University, shows how alarmingly political disaster relief
really is. Garrett and Sobel found that from 1991 to 1999 states that
were more politically important to the president had a higher rate of
natural-disaster declarations. Further, the average number of disasters
declared in election years was 66 percent higher than the number in non-election
years, yet there is little reason to believe that bad weather mimics political
cycles.
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1579
This article is available in Spanish at http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1579
The past few months have seen important developments in relations between the United States and India. Much of the commentary has focused resolutely and rightly on the wisdom and possible consequences of the new agreements on military and nuclear policy and programs. But these recent agreements need also to be seen in the light of the more than 50 years of US efforts to have India become a part of American political, strategic, and economic plans for Asia. What becomes clear is how difficult this proved to be over the years. It begs the question why Indian leaders have finally started to fall in step so easily in the past few years. In her article, The United States, China and India: A Story of Leaders, Partners and Clients, Zia Mian looks at the relationship between India and the US, and its strategic and economic importance.
Frida Berrigan, senior research associate at the World Policy Institute, gives these thoughts on America's Third World in an article published on tompaine.com September 21. Ms. Berrigan notes that "[a]s aid flowed into the [US Gulf Coast] from around the country and the world - even from countries that are far poorer than the United States - presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and gracious leaders for life gathered in New York to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals, a set of benchmarks aimed at freeing 'fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty.'
"The goals are both sweeping and precise. In 2000, the nations of the world committed to increase their contributions to development assistance, pledging to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, achieve universal primary education, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental stability, promote gender equality, empower women, reduce child mortality and improve maternal health while developing a global partnership for development.
"Sound like a tall order? It is. But it is also key to human security and international stability, and it is fairly affordable."
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050921/americas_third_world.php
First prize includes $5000. The deadline for the 2006 Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics Essay Contest is Friday, December 9, 2005. More information and application forms are at http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/EthicsPrize/information.html
The Ford Foundation is seeking a Program Officer, to create the Global Economic Governance, Peace and Social Justice, Governance and Civil Society program. The new Program Officer will be responsible for developing and overseeing the Foundation’s work designed to strengthen Global Economic Governance in the interests of all members of the world community. Building on prior Foundation-funded work to reform international markets and institutions in trade and finance, this portfolio will support new thinking and action designed to bring about a global institutional architecture that promotes economic security while addressing poverty in the developing world. The portfolio will also support work on global economic circuits as a cause of conflict, and how to govern them more effectively. Strengthening capacity in the Global South will be a priority throughout.
More information about the job and application process can be found at http://www.fordfound.org/employment/jobdetail.cfm?id=72
The ECAAR Review 2003: Conflict or Development? This edition has a regional focus on Africa, the site of most of the world's current armed conflicts. In its pages some of the leading economists of the day analyze and reflect on the relationships among military spending, domestic and foreign policy, security, and human welfare. Features include country studies, sections on business and conflict, and "Trends in World Military Expenditure." Written in clear English, with informative maps, tables, and graphs, the series is designed to inform the debate among policymakers, activists, journalists, academics, students, and citizens worldwide.
You can order the Review by emailing theaharvey@epsusa.org.
We believe the Review can be a valuable teaching tool in economics, political science, and international relations courses. If you are interested in teaching this book, please contact Thea Harvey (theaharvey@epsusa.org) for a copy to review.
Data Resource webpage offers links to data sources for
- International military expenditure and conflict indicators
- US military expenditure and capabilities
- Western Europe
- Russia
http://www.epsusa.org/network/data.htm. If you know of a data source that you feel should be added to our list, please contact our webmaster, Kate Cell, at katecell@epsusa.org
The Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the Dept. of Defense Appropriations bill, put forth by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) spelling out that the United States and its soldiers will not subject prisoners to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment." Senator McCain, who was himself subjected to torture as a prisoner during the Vietnam War, is not alone. No fewer than twenty-five retired generals and admirals signed a letter supporting his stand.
In his remarks made when submitting the amendment, Senator McCain said he received a letter from "Captain Ian Fishback, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, and a veteran of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq...[who] pleads with Congress, asking us to take action, to establish standards, to clear up the confusion [of standards for treatment of prisoners] – not for the good of the terrorists, but for the good of our soldiers and our country.
"What should also be obvious is that the intelligence we collect must be reliable and acquired humanely, under clear standards understood by all our fighting men and women. To do differently would not only offend our values as Americans, but undermine our war effort, because abuse of prisoners harms – not helps – us in the war on terror.
"Let us not forget that al-Qaeda sought not just to destroy American lives on September 11, but American values – our way of life and all we cherish. We fight not just to preserve our lives and liberties but also American values, and we will never allow the terrorists to take those away. In this war that we must win - that we will win - we must never simply fight evil with evil."
To read the complete text of Senator McCain's statement go to: http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsCenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=1611.
President Bush has threatened to veto the entire Defense Appropriations Bill in order to not allow this anti-torture amendment to go through. The stated policy of the Bush Administration, and all other US governments has been not to allow torture. Senator McCain's amendment simply spells out for the soldiers in the field what that means and how to accomplish it.
To sign a petition to be sent to President Bush, asking him not to veto the bill, go to http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/torture_c4?
On October 23, 2005, Brazilians will vote in a radical referendum to decide whether the sale of guns and ammunition should be prohibited. The referendum is one of the most significant developments ever in the field of small arms control. It will be the first time any country in the world has put its national gun laws to a popular vote. Brazil suffers the largest number of gun homicides in the world and is the largest producer of guns in Latin America.
In Brazil:
- someone dies from a gunshot wound every 15 minutes.
- more people have been killed by guns in the last decade than in any other country in the world, including those at war.
- guns kill more people than motor-vehicle injuries.
- gun injuries are the primary cause of death for young males 15-24.
Tighter gun laws in Brazil have already shown promising results. In December 2003, new gun laws were introduced which banned the carrying of guns and drastically restricted their sale. From July 2004, a disarmament campaign removed many thousands of guns from circulation. Gun deaths fell by 8% in 2004, resulting in 3234 lives saved compared to the previous year. This is the first decline in gun deaths in Brazil in thirteen years.
If the referendum is successful, it will provide irrefutable proof that civilian populations do not want their guns in their houses, streets, schools and public spaces. It will reinforce the movement in favor of gun control in other Latin American countries plagued by armed violence, and support the efforts to control private gun ownership at the international level. For these reasons the Brazilian referendum offers a key strategic opportunity for advancing the international campaign against small arms.
People in countries with particularly close ties to Brazil due to language, geographic proximity, or large Brazilian expatriate populations can help efforts to urge Brazilian voters to vote YES in the National Referendum.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Stand in front of the Brazilian embassy in your country at 1200 on Sunday, 16 October. This day has been designated International Day of Support for the Brazilian Disarmament Referendum. Hold up signs asking for Brazilians to "Vote YES in the National Referendum to Ban Guns." Mobilize as many people as you can!
- Contact the media. Send a press release to the Brazilian correspondent in your country explaining that you will be taking part in this International Day of Support for the Brazilian Disarmament Referendum. Explain that the Brazilian Referendum must pass to put an end to gun violence in Brazil and that the Brazilian referendum is of international concern.
- Organize an event in support of the referendum. For example, in London, UK, a group of Brazilian expatriates in cooperation with IANSA, Amnesty International and Oxfam are organizing a day of activities on October 16 which will include a debate on gun violence in Brazil, a performance by a Brazilian theatre group, and a screening of a documentary on violence in Rio de Janeiro. In South Africa, a coalition of several IANSA members is organizing a press conference of high profile speakers. They have already organized the recording of a statement of support by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
For more information, you can contact the IANSA (International Action Network on Small Arms) Secretariat in the UK: Laura Cheeseman (laura.cheeseman@iansa.org) or Susanna Kalitowski (susanna@iansa.org), +44 20 7065 0870. In Brazil: Josephine Bourgois (josephine@vivario.org.br), + 55 21 2555 3794 or Heather Sutton, Instituto Sou da Paz (Heather@soudapaz.org), + 55 11 3812 1333
Anyone who would be willing to put an EPS flyer up on a departmental bulletin board or similar venue, please contact Thea Harvey at theaharvey@epsusa.org.
November 2, 2005. Iran and the Nuclear Question, a discussion presented by MIT's Center for International Studies, from 12 noon - 2:30pm, at the Millennium U.N. Plaza Hotel, 44th Street at First Avenue, New York, NY. The panel will present the insights of a group of leading scholars convened last spring to consider the issues governing Iran's nuclear development program, its rationales and capabilities, and the world's response. The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required as seating is limited. Please RSVP to Casey Johnson, caseyj@mit.edu, or 617-258-8552
November 7 - 8, 2005. Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) hosts the XIX Regular Session of the General Conference of OPANAL which will be held in Santiago, Republic of Chile at the Chamber of Deputies (formerly the National Congress Building). For more information contact
OPANAL's General Secretariat
Schiller 326 - 5 floor
Col. Chapultepec Morales
Mexico City, 11570, Mexico
Tel: (5255) 5255-2914, 5255-4198 and 5545-9251
Fax: (5255) 5255-3748
http://www.opanal.org
email: informes@opanal.org and/or
info@opanal.org
December 9 - 10, 2005. Guns and Butter - The Economic Causes and Consequences of Conflict conference in Munich, Germany presented by The CESifo Group, consisting of the Center for Economic Studies (CES), the Ifo Institute for Economic Research.
Call for Papers at: http://www.cesifo-group.de/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/IFOCONTENT/BISHERIGESEITEN/
CESIFO_INHALTE/EVENTS/CONFERENCES/ECC05/ECC05-CFP.PDF
More conference information at: http://www.cesifo-group.de/portal/page?_pageid=36,34737&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL To see the information for this conference, scroll down through the page's listings.
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