ue Leading carbon price proposals: A bipartisan dialogue By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 07 Jun 2019 15:47:37 +0000 Economists overwhelmingly recommend a price on carbon as a way to control the risk of climatic disruption. A fee on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions would shift the relative prices of different sources of energy and other goods by an amount that depends on how damaging they are to the earth’s climate. A… Full Article
ue 2020 trends to watch: Policy issues to watch in 2020 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:30:24 +0000 2019 was marked by massive protest movements in a number of different countries, impeachment, continued Brexit talks and upheaval in global trade, and much more. Already, 2020 is shaping up to be no less eventful as the U.S. gears up for presidential elections in November. Brookings experts are looking ahead to the issues they expect… Full Article
ue A homage to my Brookings colleague and former professor Hal Sonnenfeldt By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 17 Oct 2019 21:13:14 +0000 Hal Sonnenfeldt was a tough, direct, exceedingly knowledgeable professor whose classes students wanted to attend. But in 1961, it wasn’t easy to get into his Soviet foreign policy class at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Students were first expected to take his earlier course on the domestic Soviet Union, which I… Full Article
ue Are affluent Americans willing to pay a little for a fairer society? A test case in Chicago By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 09 Nov 2017 21:42:36 +0000 There are many reasons to be concerned about the wide and growing inequalities in U.S. society, not least between the upper middle class and the rest. There are fewer clear solutions. In Richard’s book Dream Hoarders, he argues that those at the top - the “favored fifth” – can and should take some personal responsibility… Full Article
ue Classifying Sustainable Development Goal trajectories: A country-level methodology for identifying which issues and people are getting left behind By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 23 Jul 2019 15:56:49 +0000 Full Article
ue 2020 trends to watch: Policy issues to watch in 2020 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:30:24 +0000 2019 was marked by massive protest movements in a number of different countries, impeachment, continued Brexit talks and upheaval in global trade, and much more. Already, 2020 is shaping up to be no less eventful as the U.S. gears up for presidential elections in November. Brookings experts are looking ahead to the issues they expect… Full Article
ue Congressional Testimony: Cross-Strait Economic and Political Issues By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Cross-Strait relations have marked a path of reduced tension and increasing cooperation after the election of President Ma Ying-jeou of the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 2008. Taiwan’s efforts to institutionalize its engagement with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), particularly in trade and investment activities, presents both opportunities and challenges on both sides… Full Article
ue COP 21 at Paris: The issues, the actors, and the road ahead on climate change By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 19:49:00 +0000 At the end of the month, governments from nearly 200 nations will convene in Paris, France for the 21st annual U.N. climate conference (COP21). Expectations are high for COP21 as leaders aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on limiting global temperature increases for the first time in over 20 years. Ahead of this… Full Article
ue The Iran deal and the Prague Agenda By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Sun, 12 Jul 2015 17:15:00 -0400 Editor's Note: : We’re hosting a conversation on Markaz on the Iranian nuclear talks, debating the merits of a deal, as well as the broader issues at stake for the United States and the region. This piece originally appeared in The Huffington Post. As we near what may be the endgame of the current negotiations with Iran, I am reminded of the place where President Obama announced the overarching strategy that helped produce this moment: Prague. After stating his readiness to speak to Iran in a Democratic primary debate in 2007, and following that up postelection in 2009 with a series of initial statements directed to the Iranians, the president chose the Czech capital to lay out his vision of dealing with the dangers of nuclear weapons in April 2009. That included emphasizing that Iran would not be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon on his watch: "Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons." As a result of that 2009 speech, the president's nuclear strategy became known as the Prague Agenda. I had the privilege to travel with President Obama back to Prague in April 2010 to witness the signing of a major accomplishment in another area under the Prague Agenda, namely the New START treaty. By the following year, April 2011, I was in Prague as U.S. ambassador. That year, and in the each year that followed, we held an annual Prague Agenda conference to assess the steps that had been taken and the challenges that lay ahead. In the years since, there has been steady progress in each of the four main areas the president laid out on that spring day in Prague in 2009. New START was a step forward on his first objective, to reduce the risks posed by existing nuclear weapons. Another goal, preventing nuclear terror by safeguarding materials and improving safety, has since been the subject of a series of successful Nuclear Security Summits in Washington, Seoul, and The Hague. I saw first-hand the president's personal commitment to a third objective articulated in Prague: to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. I was, for example, present in the Oval Office in October 2011 when the president and the Czech prime minister met. President Obama advocated for the use of civil nuclear power as a part of the Czech energy mix (and also to achieve energy independence from Russia). That approach has been replicated in administration policy supporting civil nuclear energy in the United States and around the world. Now, with the possible Iran deal, progress under the Prague Agenda's final prong is in reach: holding to account a state which had violated its nuclear obligations under international treaties. I am not of the school that believes the president needs to secure an Iran deal to build his legacy. That was never the case; having known him for almost a quarter of a century, since we were law students together, and having worked for him for six years, first in the White House and then as ambassador, I can attest that those kinds of considerations do not enter into critical decisions like this one. Even the president's strongest critics have to admit that legacy is, as a matter of logic, much less of a consideration after the recent breakthroughs on the Affordable Care Act and on Trade Promotion Authority. Instead, as the comprehensive nature of the Prague Agenda itself suggests, President Obama is pursuing a deal out of principle. He is acting from his conviction that a good agreement with Iran represents another step toward making the U.S., our allies, and the world safe from nuclear terror. It is that ambition that has driven the president's formulation and consistent pursuit of each of the four elements of the Prague Agenda, the obscure aspects just as much as the headline-making ones. Of course, as the president himself has repeatedly emphasized, the deal must be a good one. That is why I recently joined a bipartisan group of experts convened by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in signing a statement laying out criteria for what any deal with Iran must at a minimum contain in five core areas: monitoring and verification; possible military dimensions; advanced centrifuges; sanctions relief; and consequences of violations. We also agreed on the importance of complementing any agreement with a strong deterrence policy and a comprehensive regional strategy. I have been encouraged by the warm reception for our statement from all corners, and by the strong tone struck by the American negotiators in Vienna this week. They recognize that willingness to walk away is the surest path to securing a good deal. If such a deal can be struck that meets the criteria in our bipartisan statement, that will be another stride forward under the Prague Agenda — perhaps the biggest yet. Authors Norman Eisen Image Source: © Petr Josek Snr / Reuters Full Article
ue Five questions about the VW scandal By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 15 Oct 2015 10:30:00 -0400 Now that that the initial revelations regarding the VW scandal have sunk in it’s time to begin assessing the larger significance of those revelations. While the case and, we predict, VW, will continue for years (we are only at the end of the beginning, and far from the beginning of the end), we are far enough along to see five large questions emerging. These questions will tell us much about the economic, corporate and cultural future of VW and German enterprise. 1) VW was an integral component of Germany's industrial reputation in Europe, across the Atlantic in the United States, and around the world. Now, that hard-won reputation is at risk. How broad will the damage be to German businesses' reputation not just for quality, but for "premium quality?" 2) Turning from the German business sector to the German economy as a whole, the VW scandal has many ironies, not least of which is that the company was a key driver (so to speak) of the famous German Wirthschaftswunder. Economic health propelled a vanquished Germany to the forefront of Europe’s post-WWII recovery and then made post-Cold War reunification a success. Does the VW scandal have the potential to slow down the overall growth of the German economy, and what are the European and global implications of that at a time when the Chinese economy is also sputtering? 3) From a corporate governance perspective, the scandal represents some of the most boneheaded thinking ever. Following disclosure of the fraud, €14bn (£10bn; $15.6bn) was wiped off VW's stock market value. Whoever knew/orchestrated the scheme thought they would get away with it, but did they really not foresee the consequences or even the likelihood of getting caught? We will long be studying the abnormal “fraud psychology" of this case. 4) Germany ranks among the top ten countries for low corruption according to Transparency International. Yet VW is not alone among German companies in making major headlines with massive ethics failures in recent years, joining Siemens, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, and many others. What does this mean for the future of Germany’s role as a force for anti-corruption at home and internationally? 5) Former VW CEO Winterkorn resigned but claimed he knew nothing about the scandal. What does this say about the structure and management culture of Germany’s largest companies? How widespread is “plausible deniability” in German business culture--and in all business culture everywhere? If so, what are the dangers of this going forward, and what should be done to address them? Authors Norman EisenPeter Goldmann Image Source: © Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters Full Article
ue COP 21 at Paris: The issues, the actors, and the road ahead on climate change By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 19:49:00 +0000 At the end of the month, governments from nearly 200 nations will convene in Paris, France for the 21st annual U.N. climate conference (COP21). Expectations are high for COP21 as leaders aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on limiting global temperature increases for the first time in over 20 years. Ahead of this… Full Article
ue Has Common Core influenced instruction? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 24 Nov 2015 07:30:00 -0500 The release of 2015 NAEP scores showed national achievement stalling out or falling in reading and mathematics. The poor results triggered speculation about the effect of Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the controversial set of standards adopted by more than 40 states since 2010. Critics of Common Core tended to blame the standards for the disappointing scores. Its defenders said it was too early to assess CCSS’s impact and that implementation would take many years to unfold. William J. Bushaw, executive director of the National assessment Governing Board, cited “curricular uncertainty” as the culprit. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan argued that new standards typically experience an “implementation dip” in the early days of teachers actually trying to implement them in classrooms. In the rush to argue whether CCSS has positively or negatively affected American education, these speculations are vague as to how the standards boosted or depressed learning. They don’t provide a description of the mechanisms, the connective tissue, linking standards to learning. Bushaw and Duncan come the closest, arguing that the newness of CCSS has created curriculum confusion, but the explanation falls flat for a couple of reasons. Curriculum in the three states that adopted the standards, rescinded them, then adopted something else should be extremely confused. But the 2013-2015 NAEP changes for Indiana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina were a little bit better than the national figures, not worse.[i] In addition, surveys of math teachers conducted in the first year or two after the standards were adopted found that: a) most teachers liked them, and b) most teachers said they were already teaching in a manner consistent with CCSS.[ii] They didn’t mention uncertainty. Recent polls, however, show those positive sentiments eroding. Mr. Bushaw might be mistaking disenchantment for uncertainty.[iii] For teachers, the novelty of CCSS should be dissipating. Common Core’s advocates placed great faith in professional development to implement the standards. Well, there’s been a lot of it. Over the past few years, millions of teacher-hours have been devoted to CCSS training. Whether all that activity had a lasting impact is questionable. Randomized control trials have been conducted of two large-scale professional development programs. Interestingly, although they pre-date CCSS, both programs attempted to promote the kind of “instructional shifts” championed by CCSS advocates. The studies found that if teacher behaviors change from such training—and that’s not a certainty—the changes fade after a year or two. Indeed, that’s a pattern evident in many studies of educational change: a pop at the beginning, followed by fade out. My own work analyzing NAEP scores in 2011 and 2013 led me to conclude that the early implementation of CCSS was producing small, positive changes in NAEP.[iv] I warned that those gains “may be as good as it gets” for CCSS.[v] Advocates of the standards hope that CCSS will eventually produce long term positive effects as educators learn how to use them. That’s a reasonable hypothesis. But it should now be apparent that a counter-hypothesis has equal standing: any positive effect of adopting Common Core may have already occurred. To be precise, the proposition is this: any effects from adopting new standards and attempting to change curriculum and instruction to conform to those standards occur early and are small in magnitude. Policymakers still have a couple of arrows left in the implementation quiver, accountability being the most powerful. Accountability systems have essentially been put on hold as NCLB sputtered to an end and new CCSS tests appeared on the scene. So the CCSS story isn’t over. Both hypotheses remain plausible. Reading Instruction in 4th and 8th Grades Back to the mechanisms, the connective tissue binding standards to classrooms. The 2015 Brown Center Report introduced one possible classroom effect that is showing up in NAEP data: the relative emphasis teachers place on fiction and nonfiction in reading instruction. The ink was still drying on new Common Core textbooks when a heated debate broke out about CCSS’s recommendation that informational reading should receive greater attention in classrooms.[vi] Fiction has long dominated reading instruction. That dominance appears to be waning. After 2011, something seems to have happened. I am more persuaded that Common Core influenced the recent shift towards nonfiction than I am that Common Core has significantly affected student achievement—for either good or ill. But causality is difficult to confirm or to reject with NAEP data, and trustworthy efforts to do so require a more sophisticated analysis than presented here. Four lessons from previous education reforms Nevertheless, the figures above reinforce important lessons that have been learned from previous top-down reforms. Let’s conclude with four: 1. There seems to be evidence that CCSS is having an impact on the content of reading instruction, moving from the dominance of fiction over nonfiction to near parity in emphasis. Unfortunately, as Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky have pointed out, there is scant evidence that such a shift improves children’s reading.[vii] 2. Reading more nonfiction does not necessarily mean that students will be reading higher quality texts, even if the materials are aligned with CCSS. The Core Knowledge Foundation and the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, both supporters of Common Core, have very different ideas on the texts schools should use with the CCSS.[viii] The two organizations advocate for curricula having almost nothing in common. 3. When it comes to the study of implementing education reforms, analysts tend to focus on the formal channels of implementation and the standard tools of public administration—for example, intergovernmental hand-offs (federal to state to district to school), alignment of curriculum, assessment and other components of the reform, professional development, getting incentives right, and accountability mechanisms. Analysts often ignore informal channels, and some of those avenues funnel directly into schools and classrooms.[ix] Politics and the media are often overlooked. Principals and teachers are aware of the politics swirling around K-12 school reform. Many educators undoubtedly formed their own opinions on CCSS and the fiction vs. nonfiction debate before the standard managerial efforts touched them. 4. Local educators whose jobs are related to curriculum almost certainly have ideas about what constitutes good curriculum. It’s part of the profession. Major top-down reforms such as CCSS provide local proponents with political cover to pursue curricular and instructional changes that may be politically unpopular in the local jurisdiction. Anyone who believes nonfiction should have a more prominent role in the K-12 curriculum was handed a lever for promoting his or her beliefs by CCSS. I’ve previously called these the “dog whistles” of top-down curriculum reform, subtle signals that give local advocates license to promote unpopular positions on controversial issues. [i] In the four subject-grade combinations assessed by NAEP (reading and math at 4th and 8th grades), IN, SC, and OK all exceeded national gains on at least three out of four tests from 2013-2015. NAEP data can be analyzed using the NAEP Data Explorer: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/. [ii] In a Michigan State survey of teachers conducted in 2011, 77 percent of teachers, after being presented with selected CCSS standards for their grade, thought they were the same as their state’s former standards. http://education.msu.edu/epc/publications/documents/WP33ImplementingtheCommonCoreStandardsforMathematicsWhatWeknowaboutTeacherofMathematicsin41S.pdf [iii] In the Education Next surveys, 76 percent of teachers supported Common Core in 2013 and 12 percent opposed. In 2015, 40 percent supported and 50 percent opposed. http://educationnext.org/2015-ednext-poll-school-reform-opt-out-common-core-unions. [iv] I used variation in state implementation of CCSS to assign the states to three groups and analyzed differences of the groups’ NAEP gains [v] http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2015/03/bcr/2015-brown-center-report_final.pdf [vi] http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/11/14/12cc-nonfiction.h32.html?qs=common+core+fiction [vii] Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky (2012). “How Common Core’s ELA Standards Place College Readiness at Risk.” A Pioneer Institute White Paper. [viii] Compare the P21 Common Core Toolkit (http://www.p21.org/our-work/resources/for-educators/1005-p21-common-core-toolkit) with Core Knowledge ELA Sequence (http://www.coreknowledge.org/ccss). It is hard to believe that they are talking about the same standards in references to CCSS. [ix] I elaborate on this point in Chapter 8, “The Fate of Reform,” in The Tracking Wars: State Reform Meets School Policy (Brookings Institution Press, 1999). Authors Tom Loveless Image Source: © Patrick Fallon / Reuters Full Article
ue To fast or not to fast—that is the coronavirus question for Ramadan By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 09:00:59 +0000 Full Article
ue Paid leave will be a hot issue in the 2016 campaign By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 21 Dec 2015 13:08:00 -0500 The U.S. is the only advanced country without a paid leave policy, enabling workers to take time off to care for a new baby or other family member. At least two Presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio, have been talking about it, making it likely that it will get attention in 2016. The idea has broad appeal now that most two-parent families and almost all one-parent families struggle with balancing work and family. Polls show that it is favored by 81 percent of the public—94 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of Independents and 65 percent of Republicans. Three states, California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, have each enacted policies that could become models for other states or for the nation. Paid leave promotes inclusive growth Overall, paid leave is good for workers, good for children, and possibly even good for employers because of its role in helping to retain workers. It is also a policy that encourages inclusive growth. Studies of European systems suggest that paid leave increases female labor force participation and that the lack of it in the U.S. may be one reason for the decline in female labor force participation since 2000 and the growing female participation gap between the U.S. and other countries, adversely affecting our absolute and relative growth. The policy would make growth more inclusive because it would disproportionately benefit lower-wage workers. The devil is in the design The major issues in designing a paid leave policy are: Eligibility, and especially the extent of work experience required to qualify (often a year); the amount of leave allowed (Clinton suggests three months; Rubio four weeks); the wage replacement rate (often two-thirds of regular wages up to a cap), and financing. Legislation proposed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) calls for a 0.2 percent payroll tax on employers and employees. Most states have made paid leave a part of their temporary disability systems. Senator Rubio proposes to finance it through a new tax credit for employers. Getting it right on eligibility, length of leave, and size of benefit My own view is that a significant period of work experience should be required for eligibility to encourage stable employment before the birth of a child. This would not only encourage work but also insure that the subsidy was an earned benefit and not welfare by another name (but see below on financing). Leave periods need to be long enough to enable parents to bond with a child during the child’s first year of life but not so long that they lead to skill depreciation and to parents dropping out of the labor force. Three months seems like a good first step although it is far less generous than what many European countries provide (an average of 14 months across the OECD). That said, the Europeans may have gone too far. While there is little evidence that a leave as long as 6 months would have adverse effects on employment, when Canada extended their leave from six months to a year, the proportion of women returning to work declined. A replacement rate of two-thirds up to a cap also seems reasonable although a higher replacement rate is one way to encourage more parents to take the leave. Among other things, more generous policies would have positive effects on the health and well-being of children. They might also encourage more fathers to take leave. How to pay for it On financing, social insurance is the appropriate way to share the putative burden between employers and employees and avoid the stigma and unpopularity of social welfare. It would, in essence, change the default for employees (who are otherwise unlikely to save for purposes of taking leave). Some may worry that imposing any new costs on employers will lead to fewer employment opportunities. However, many economists believe that the employer portion of the tax is largely borne by workers in the form of lower wages. Moreover, in a study of 253 employers in California, over 90 percent reported either positive or no negative effects on profitability, turnover, and employee morale. Reductions in turnover, in particular, are noteworthy since turnover is a major expense for most employers. Will paid leave cause discrimination against women? Another worry is discrimination against women. Here there is some cause for concern unless efforts are made to insure that leave is equally available to, and also used by, both men and women. This concern has led some countries to establish a use-it-or-lose-it set aside for fathers. In the province of Quebec, the proportion of fathers taking leave after implementation of such a policy increased from 21 to 75 percent and even after the leave period was over, men continued to share more equally in the care of their children. Will Congress enact a national paid leave policy in the next few years? That’s doubtful in our current political environment but states may continue to take the lead. In the meantime, it can’t hurt if the major candidates are talking about the issue on the campaign trail. Authors Isabel V. Sawhill Full Article
ue Creating jobs: Bill Clinton to the rescue? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 25 May 2016 10:55:00 -0400 At an event this past week, Hillary Clinton announced that, if elected, she planned to put Bill Clinton in charge of creating jobs. If he becomes the “First Gentlemen” -- or as she prefers to call him, the “First Dude,” – he just might have some success in this role. The country’s very strong record of job creation during the first Clinton administration is a hopeful sign. (Full disclosure: I served in his Administration.) But assuming he's given the role of jobs czar, what would Bill Clinton do? The uncomfortable fact is that no one knows how to create enough jobs. Although about 50 percent of the public, according to Pew, worries that there are not enough jobs available, and virtually every presidential candidate is promising to produce more, economists are not sure how to achieve this goal. The debate centers around why we think people are jobless. Unless we can agree on the diagnosis, we will not be able to fashion an appropriate policy response. Some economists think that an unemployment rate hovering around 5 percent constitutes “full employment.” Those still looking for jobs, in this view, are either simply transitioning voluntarily from one job to another or they are “structurally unemployed.” The latter term refers to a mismatch, either between a worker’s skills and the skills that employers are seeking, or between where the workers live and where the jobs are geographically. (The decline in housing values or tighter zoning restrictions, for example, may have made it more difficult for people to move to states or cities where jobs are more available.) Another view is that despite the recovery from the Great Recession, there is still a residue of “cyclical” unemployment. If the Federal Reserve or Congress were to boost demand by keeping interest rates low, reducing taxes, or increasing spending on, say, infrastructure, this would create more jobs – or so goes the argument. But the Fed can’t reduce interest rates significantly because they are already near rock-bottom levels and tax and spending policies are hamstrung by political disagreements. In my view, the U.S. currently suffers from both structural and cyclical unemployment. The reason I believe there is still some room to stimulate the economy is because we have not yet seen a significant increase in labor costs and inflation. Political problems aside, we should be adding more fuel to the economy in the form of lower taxes or higher public spending. High levels of structural unemployment are also a problem. The share of working-age men who are employed has been dropping for decades at least in part because of outsourcing and automation. The share of the unemployed who have been out of work for more than six months is also relatively high for an economy at this stage of the business cycle. One possibility is that the recession caused many workers to drop out of the labor force and that after a long period of joblessness, they have seen their skills atrophy and employers stigmatize them as unemployable. The depressing fact is that none of these problems is easy to solve. Manufacturing jobs that employ a lot of people are not coming back. Retraining the work force for a high-tech economy will take a long time. Political disagreements won’t disappear unless there is a landslide election that sweeps one party into control of all three branches of government. So what can Bill Clinton or anyone else do? We may need to debate some more radical solutions such as subsidized jobs or a basic income for the structurally unemployed or a shorter work week to spread the available work around. These may not be politically feasible for some time to come, but former President Clinton is the right person to engage communities and employers in some targeted job creation projects now and to involve the country in a serious debate about what to do about jobs over the longer haul. Editor's note: This piece originally appeared in Inside Sources. Authors Isabel V. Sawhill Publication: Inside Sources Image Source: Paul Morigi Full Article
ue While Egypt Struggles, Ethiopia Builds over the Blue Nile: Controversies and the Way Forward By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 15:02:00 -0400 On April 2, 2011, Ethiopia embarked upon the construction of what is expected to be the biggest hydroelectric power plant in Africa. Called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), it will be located on the Blue Nile, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with the Republic of Sudan and will have the capacity to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity. The GERD, once completed and made operational, is expected to ameliorate chronic domestic energy shortages, help the country’s households (especially those located in the rural areas) switch to cleaner forms of energy and allow the government to earn foreign exchange through the exportation of electricity to other countries in the region. Although authorities in Addis Ababa believe that the dam will contribute significantly to economic growth and development—not just in Ethiopia, but also in neighboring countries, such as Sudan—its construction has been very controversial. The major controversies revolve around Ethiopia’s decision to fund the building of the dam from its own sources and the potential impacts of the dam on downstream countries, especially Egypt. Ethiopia opted to source funds for the construction of the GERD through selling bonds to citizens at home and abroad. Government employees have been encouraged to devote as much as one or two months of their salaries to the purchasing of the GERD bonds. Most public workers in Ethiopia earn relatively low wages and face a significantly high cost of living. Hence, they are not likely to be able to sacrifice that much of their salaries to invest in this national project. Nevertheless, many of them have been observed purchasing the GERD bonds, primarily because of pressure from the government and the belief that participation in this national project is a show of one’s patriotism. The government of Ethiopia has also encouraged the private sector to invest in the GERD project. Specifically, private domestic banks and other business enterprises are expected to purchase millions of Birr worth of these bonds. The government also hopes that Ethiopians in the diaspora will contribute significantly to this massive effort to develop the country’s hydroelectric power resources. However, many Ethiopians in the diaspora have not been willing to invest in the GERD project, citing pervasive corruption in the public sector and dictatorial government policies as reasons why they would not commit the resources necessary to move the project forward. Additionally, Ethiopians living outside the country have argued that the present government in Addis Ababa continues to impede the country’s transition to democracy by making it virtually impossible for opposition parties to operate, using draconian laws (e.g., anti-terrorism laws) to silence legitimate protests and generally denying citizens the right to express themselves. For these reasons, many of them have refused to invest in the GERD project. Finally, Ethiopia’s traditional development partners, including such international organizations as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, appear to be unwilling to lend the country the necessary funds for the construction of the dam given the controversies surrounding the dam and their policies on the building of megadams. Egypt has registered its opposition to the construction of the GERD. In fact, before he was ousted, former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi made it known to authorities in Addis Ababa that Egypt would not support the project. The Egyptians, as they have done before, have invoked the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1929, which granted Egypt veto power over all construction projects on the Nile River and its tributaries. According to Cairo, then, Ethiopia was supposed to obtain permission from Egypt before embarking on the GERD project. In May 2010, five upstream riparian states (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania) signed the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), which, they argue, would provide the mechanism for the equitable and fair use of Nile River waters. On June 13, 2013, the Ethiopian Parliament ratified the CFA and incorporated it into domestic law. The other four signatories have not yet ratified the treaty but plan to do so eventually. Egypt and Sudan, however, have refused to sign the CFA and continue to argue that the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, as well as the 1959 bilateral agreement between Egypt and Sudan, represent the only legal mechanisms for Nile River governance. Recently, however, the government of Sudan has indicated its support for the GERD, and South Sudan, which gained its independence from Khartoum on July 9, 2011, does not oppose the project either. Significant increases in population in Egypt, the need for the country to expand its irrigated agricultural base, as well as other industrial needs have significantly increased the country’s demand for water. Unfortunately for Egyptians, the only viable source of water in the country is the Nile River. Thus, Egyptians, as made clear by their leaders, are not willing to relinquish even one drop of water. The country’s bitter opposition to the GERD stems from the fact that it will reduce the flow of water into the Nile River and force Egyptians to live with less water than now. Egyptian leaders are not willing to accept the assertion made by the Ethiopian government that the construction of the dam will not significantly reduce the flow of water from the Blue Nile into Egypt. Thus, Cairo has hinted that it would employ all means available to stop the construction of the GERD. The site of the GERD was identified during geological surveys conducted between 1956 and 1964 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Although studies determining the feasibility of a dam on the Blue Nile were completed almost half a century ago, previous Ethiopian governments did not make any attempt to build such a structure on the Blue Nile. This inaction may have been due to Egypt’s ability to lobby the international donor community and prevent it from providing Addis Ababa with the necessary financial resources to complete the project, Ethiopia’s chronic internal political instability, or Egypt’s military strength and its strong ties with neighboring Sudan (the latter shares the same interests as Egypt regarding the waters of the Nile River). In fact, the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty and the 1959 bilateral agreement between Sudan and Egypt granted both countries complete control of all the waters of the Nile River. Since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has been weakened significantly, politically, economically and militarily. The struggle between the military and civil society for control of the government has been a major distraction to the Egyptian military, and it is unlikely that it can effectively face a relatively strong and more assertive Ethiopian military. Hence, it appears that this might be the most opportune time for Ethiopia to initiate such a construction project. Perhaps more important is the fact that virtually all of the upstream riparian states are no longer willing to allow both Egypt and Sudan to continue to monopolize the waters of the Nile River. In addition, Ethiopia is relatively at peace and maintains good relations with its neighbors, particularly the Republic of Sudan, which would be critical in any successful attack on Ethiopia by Egypt. Of course, Addis Ababa has also invoked and relied on the Cooperative Framework Agreement which, besides Ethiopia, has been signed by four other upstream riparian States—the CFA favors the equitable and fair use of the waters of the Nile River. Authorities in Addis Ababa believe that the GERD will contribute to such fair and equitable use; after all, the Blue Nile (which is located in Ethiopia) provides 86 percent of the water that flows into the Nile River. Up to this point, Ethiopia has made virtually no use of that water, allowing Egypt and Sudan alone to dictate its usage. Critics of the GERD, including some Ethiopians within and outside the country, argue that Addis Ababa initiated the building of the dam just to divert public attention away from internal political tensions associated with lack of religious freedom, human rights violations, suppression of the press, and the economic and political polarization that has become pervasive throughout the country during the last several decades. Given the economic significance of the Blue Nile for the source country (Ethiopia) and downstream countries (Egypt and Sudan), it is critical that these countries engage in constructive dialogue to find a mutually beneficial solution for the project. Such negotiations should take into consideration the fact that the status quo, characterized by Egyptian monopolization of the waters of the Nile River and the exclusion of Ethiopia from exploiting its own water resources for its development, cannot be maintained. Thus, the construction of the GERD should be taken as a given and the three countries—Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia—should find ways to maximize the benefits of the dam and minimize its negative impacts on the downstream countries. As part of that negotiation, both Egypt and Sudan should abandon their opposition to the CFA, sign it and encourage their legislatures to ratify it. The Nile River and its tributaries should be considered common property belonging to all Nile River Basin communities and should be managed from that perspective. Authors Temesgen T. DeressaJohn Mukum Mbaku Image Source: © Amr Dalsh / Reuters Full Article
ue To talk or not to talk to Trump: A question that divides Iran By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 12:30:23 +0000 Earlier this month, Iran further expanded its nuclear enrichment program, taking another step away from the nuclear accord it had signed with world powers in July 2015. Since President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord, on May 2018, and re-imposed U.S. sanctions, Iran’s economy has lost nearly 10 percent of its output. Although the… Full Article
ue Aspirational Power : Brazil on the Long Road to Global Influence By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 28 Jun 2016 00:00:00 -0400 Brookings Institution Press 2016 240pp. Brazil’s soft power path to major power status The largest country in South America by land mass and population, Brazil has been marked since its independence by a belief that it has the potential to play a major role on the global stage. Set apart from the rest of the hemisphere by culture, language, and history, Brazil has also been viewed by its neighbors as a potential great power and, at times, a threat. But even though domestic aspirations and foreign perceptions have held out the prospect for Brazil becoming a major power, the country has lacked the capabilities—particularly on the military and economic dimensions—to pursue a traditional path to greatness. Aspirational Power examines Brazil as an emerging power. It explains Brazil’s present emphasis on using soft power through a historical analysis of Brazil’s three past attempts to achieve major power status. Though these efforts have fallen short, this book suggests that Brazil will continue to try to emerge, but that it will only succeed when its domestic institutions provide a solid and attractive foundation for the deployment of its soft power abroad. Aspirational Power concludes with concrete recommendations for how Brazil might improve its strategy, and why the great powers, including the United States, should respond positively to Brazil’s emergence. David Mares holds the Institute of the Americas Chair for Inter-American Affairs at the University of California, San Diego, and is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of Latin America and the Illusion of Peace and co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Latin American Security Studies. Harold Trinkunas is the Charles W. Robinson Chair and senior fellow and director of the Latin America Initiative in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. His research focuses on Latin American politics, particularly on issues related to foreign policy, governance, and security. He is currently studying Brazil’s emergence as a major power and Latin American contributions to global governance on issues including energy policy, drug policy reform, and Internet governance. Trinkunas has also written on terrorism financing, borders, and ungoverned spaces. ABOUT THE AUTHORS David R. Mares Harold Trinkunas Downloads Table of ContentsChapter One Ordering Information: {CD2E3D28-0096-4D03-B2DE-6567EB62AD1E}, 9780815727958, $32.00 Add to Cart Full Article
ue Italy: “the workers are not cannon fodder” – after the 30 March assembly, the fight for lockdown continues... By www.marxist.com Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 10:41:35 +0100 Since the beginning of the healthcare crisis, the decrees issued by the Conte government have, one after the other, increased the number of restrictions. This is on top of the ordinances from the different regions. A campaign has developed and has promoted social distancing through calls to stay at home, hashtags and appeals. But all this fervour did not affect the millions of workers forced to continue going to work in non-essential companies and services. Full Article Italy
ue NY Fashion Week: Miguel Adrover Unveils hessnatur Eco-Tee at Whole Foods (Video) By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:30:52 -0400 Fashion icon and hessnatur Creative Director Miguel Adrover at Whole Foods Market. Credit Emma Grady Hessnatur kicked off New York Fashion Week Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at Whole Foods Market Tribeca with the launch of their "World in your hand" Full Article Living
ue 10 ways to fight the winter blues By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Fri, 30 Nov 2018 11:21:00 -0500 You have to create your own warmth and sunshine during these long dark months. Full Article Living
ue Venezuela: mais mercenários presos, incluindo dois veteranos das forças especiais dos EUA By www.marxist.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 10:47:41 +0100 Vários mercenários foram mortos e outros presos em La Guaira, em 3 de maio, enquanto tentavam desembarcar na Venezuela como parte de uma conspiração contra o governo Maduro. Em 4 de maio, outros oito mercenários foram presos na cidade costeira de Chuao, no estado de Aragua, entre eles dois ex-veteranos das forças especiais dos EUA. Full Article Portuguese
ue Venezuela foils mercenary incursion: Guaidó and Washington responsible By www.marxist.com Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 08:14:47 +0100 In the early hours of Sunday 3 May, Venezuelan police and armed forces foiled an attempt by armed men to disembark in Macuto, La Guaira, 35km from the capital Caracas. In the ensuing clashes eight mercenaries were killed and weapons were seized, both from speedboats and stored on land. According to the authorities, the attack had the aim of kidnapping Venezuelan officials and sparking a military coup. Full Article Venezuela
ue Venezuela: more mercenaries arrested including two US special forces veterans By www.marxist.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 14:55:45 +0100 A number of mercenaries had been killed and others arrested in La Guaira on 3 May while trying to disembark in Venezuela as part of a plot against the Maduro government. On 4 May, another eight mercenaries were arrested in the coastal town of Chuao in Aragua state, amongst them two former US special forces veterans. Full Article Venezuela
ue Mercenary incursions against Venezuela: jail the coup plotters! By www.marxist.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 11:45:26 +0100 In this article, our Venezuelan comrades in Lucha de Clases analyse the foiled mercenary incursions into the country, and their links to opposition coup plotters and their imperialist masters. Jail for the those responsible! No more impunity! Full Article Venezuela
ue More details emerge of the mercenary military coup plot in Venezuela By www.marxist.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 17:32:01 +0100 We said from the very beginning that the Venezuelan opposition and the US administration were responsible for the attempted mercenary coup foiled in Venezuela on 3 May. As days go by, more details emerge which confirm that assessment. Full Article Venezuela
ue US Capitol gets duckling ramps, brouhaha ensues By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Wed, 17 May 2017 09:07:45 -0400 As baby ducks get a boost at the Capitol Reflecting Pool, at least one politician’s Grinchesque response has duckling defenders up in arms. Full Article Business
ue Jacques Tati's film Playtime was released 50 years ago, but has lessons for us today By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Tue, 19 Dec 2017 13:37:14 -0500 We are still befuddled by technology but bumble along. Full Article Design
ue Photo: Red fox shows its true colors By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Wed, 04 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0500 Our photo of the day comes from the vibrant hills of California. Full Article Science
ue Photo: American pika delivers a spring bouquet By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 06:00:00 -0400 Our photo of the day comes from Kananaskis, Canada. Full Article Science
ue Caltech's Energy Retrofit: From Fuel Cells to a Daylighting Celeostat By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Sat, 21 May 2011 21:31:03 -0400 On Caltech's campus, student engineers and scientists are busy in labs day and night working on hairy solar panels, termite Full Article Design
ue "Fish Chopper" Animation Shows the Gruesome, Deadly Side of Power Plant Cooling Towers (Video) By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:46:00 -0400 The Sierra Club is pointing attention to the once-through cooling systems used by many power plants. Power plants suck up over 200 billion gallons of water a day, and with that water comes millions of fish that don't exactly Full Article Technology
ue Viral Video Calls for Mass Exodus from Fossil Fuels By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:38:35 -0500 Popular anger at profiteering energy utilities is high. One wind-power pioneer is hoping to harness that sentiment with a funny viral video. Full Article Energy
ue 8 unique green alternatives to cut flowers By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Feb 2017 09:33:11 -0500 Say I love you with these lovely living gifts that go easy on the planet. Full Article Living
ue Another look at the question: Bidet or toilet paper, or yes, adult wipes? By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 14:10:47 -0500 Apparently adult wipes are a huge growth industry. Another good reason to switch to a bidet equipped toilet. Full Article Design
ue 7 questions to ask yourself when planning a wedding By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Fri, 09 Feb 2018 13:36:00 -0500 Challenge the notion that you have to blow the bank account just to throw a good party. There are smarter ways of doing it. Full Article Living
ue Avocado mania continues to suck Chile dry By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Thu, 24 May 2018 11:25:00 -0400 Residents of the main avocado-producing area say they're forced to drink contaminated water delivered by truck because rivers and aquifers are being drained by avocado agribusiness. Full Article Living
ue Over 200 Animals Rescued From Wildlife Traffickers in Thailand By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:15:56 -0500 Among the hundreds of animals seized were 5 tigers, 13 white lions, three pumas, three kangaroos, four flamingos, two crowned cranes, 66 marmosets, two orangutans, and two red pandas. Full Article Science
ue A Not To Be Missed Plastic Ocean Themed Green Drinks NYC Holiday Party This Tuesday By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:40:20 -0500 Planning your holiday party schedule in New York City can be calendar jujitsu, what with work parties, friends parties, family parties, but there are also a few green themed parties that the sustainably minded New Yorker Full Article Living
ue Sydney micro-apartment designed with Japanese organizational technique in mind By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Thu, 11 May 2017 14:59:48 -0400 Decluttering techniques are a big trend now. This small apartment is designed with organizational principles right from the start. Full Article Design
ue Are raccoons "Urban anarchists" or "lovable rogues?" By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Fri, 25 Aug 2017 10:11:59 -0400 Some would pick a third option: vermin. Full Article Science
ue Rogue NASA Satellite Will Crash Into Earth Sometime Soon, Somewhere By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Sat, 17 Sep 2011 08:42:32 -0400 In late September, NASA's Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite will crash into Earth. Weighing more than 1,300 pounds and roughly the size of a school bus, the satellite will likely land somewhere between Canada and South Full Article Technology
ue Is Sunlight Unfairly Competing With Fossil Fuels? By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:33:00 -0400 We can and should go back and forth about the merits, demerits, risks and potential rewards of the spectrum of geoengineering techniques, from the simple but slow and effective (like afforestation) to the well, more fraught with potential catastrophic Full Article Technology
ue Geoengineering by Increasing Aerosols Could Make Blue Skies a Thing of the Past By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:40:00 -0400 Some new research looks at the unintended consequences of injecting aerosols into the atmosphere to block solar radiation and cool the planet, finding that doing so could turn skies everywhere into a brighter, whiter, hazier, ugly mess. Full Article Science
ue Fossil fuels may ruin your retirement By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 06:26:59 -0400 Ever heard of a 'stranded asset'? They are well known in the world of sustainability, and they can put a dent in your retirement savings. Full Article Living
ue Maybe There's No Eco-Fur So How About Green Suede By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:45:20 -0400 TreeHuggers, being a discerning lot, when recently polled came down in a clear majority against the concept of "eco-fur" when we wrote first about a chinchilla/polyester jacket from designer Chie Imai, and then about an expensive line of pillows and Full Article Living
ue Queen's Crown Estate Identifies 180GW of Potential Marine Power By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Fri, 12 Oct 2012 06:20:04 -0400 The Crown Estate is Britain's largest landowner, and it owns an awful lot of coastline. It is also very interested in the potential for marine power. Full Article Energy
ue Fairmount Avenue Townhomes are "high-end, low income, sustainable housing." By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 09:39:57 -0400 Affordable housing doesn't have to look cheap, and LEED Platinum doesn't mean it has to cost a fortune. Full Article Design
ue Nashville 185 sq. ft. tiny home is a modern guesthouse By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 14:59:43 -0400 To make an extra bit of income and to have a smaller home to live in for the future, this Nashville couple decided to build a modernist micro-home. Full Article Design
ue An urbanist's question: Where is the best place to have a parade? By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 09:07:49 -0400 Do you plan it where there is lots of room, or do you put it where there is good transit accessibility? Full Article Design