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In the Issue |
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Features |
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Rethinking the War on Terror. With reports of the Taliban preparing for a spring offensive, allegations of Al Qaeda reconstituting its command and control structure, and the ongoing war in Iraq fueling terrorist recruitment, it's time for the United States to reassess its strategy and approach to the war on terrorism, writes Stanley Foundation program officer Michael Schiffer in a recent commentary published by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Failure to turn a corner in our efforts to combat Al Qaeda, compounded by a failure in Iraq, could severely limit our ability and willingness to meet the challenges of a globalized world—and could well prove to be the Bush administration's biggest strategic blunder yet," Schiffer writes.
Give Women a Chance at Peace. Women play an important role in preventing conflict, encouraging reconciliation, and helping to rebuild conflict-ridden societies. But the "other gender" is underutilized, says Nancy Soderberg, a former ambassador to the United Nations, a distinguished visiting scholar at the University of North Florida, and a member of the Stanley Foundation's Advisory Council. In a commentary for The Des Moines Register titled "Give Women a Chance at Peace," Soderberg draws from a new policy report on the role of women in peace operations by the Stanley Foundation and the Georgetown University-based group Women in International Security. "By failing to make maximum use of women to promote peace and security throughout the world," she writes, "we are by definition only making a 50 percent effort."
Violence Prevention: A Global Health Issue. "Violence affects nearly everyone at some point in their lives," writes Frances Henry, coordinator of Global Violence Prevention Advocacy, a coalition of researchers and practitioners working to prevent violence worldwide. She believes that organizations and governments are now better equipped than ever to eradicate violence from individuals' lives globally. Learn more of what Ms. Henry shared with think. on how to make violence prevention a priority in global health.
Spring 2007 Courier Now Available. Read all about the Stanley Foundation's first Conference on National and Global Security in the newest issue of Courier, "Finding Our Way in a New World." Also in this issue: A recent poll showing that large majorities of Americans see a vital need to earn international goodwill, recommendations for how US policy should engage Asia, and a look at Bridging the Foreign Policy Divide—a new foundation project that brings together conservatives and progressives looking for ways to strengthen multilateral engagement. Read the full issue in HTML or PDF.
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Beyond the Headlines |
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Prosecuting Terrorists in the Courts. The Supreme Court recently declined to rule on whether a group of Guantanamo detainees can challenge their detention in US federal courts, a decision that is by default against the detainees. The US approach to prosecuting terrorists outside the traditional court system remains at odds with the antiterror policies of other countries and has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups. Countries such as Great Britain have policies in place that allow them to address the problem through policing measures and the established court systems.
The Latin American View of Bush. President Bush's five-country visit to Latin America in March sparked both a great deal of conversation and controversy. The Bush administration cited an interest in maintaining and strengthening relationships as the main reason for the trip, while many others speculated that the trip was meant largely to advance other US interests. In Latin America, the visit was met with mixed sentiments. While protests were prevalent at every stop along the way, some Brazilians greeted the ethanol alliance brokered by the two countries' leaders as a positive step, while Colombian president and US ally Alvaro Uribe greeted Bush as a strategic partner. Still, the general feeling among the people of the countries visited was one of discontent. While symbolically interesting, the visits seemed to accomplish very little as many felt the issues important to them were ignored.
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What We're Reading |
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In his new book The Best Intentions, New York Times Magazine writer James Traub tours the recent history of the United Nations with a scrupulously reasonable set of expectations. In each episode, the author is ever mindful of practical, and political, constraints, writes Stanley Foundation program officer David Shorr in a review of the book published in Policy Review. What emerges in the book is an organization caught in the middle, Shorr writes. "Traub shows the UN pushed and pulled between rigid principles and power realities, ground-level facts and diplomatic detachment and, most of all, history's greatest superpower and, well, everyone else."
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| Listen & Learn |
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Audio is now available from a jointly held Stanley Foundation and Center for Strategic and International Studies event that launched a new Policy Dialogue Brief on Building an Open and Inclusive Regional Architecture for Asia. The brief presents an overview of the history of Asia-Pacific regionalism, explores the frameworks and contested issues that will shape the future of Asian regional architecture, and concludes with several specific policy recommendations for Washington.
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| Coming Soon |
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The latest in a series of radio documentaries from the Stanley Foundation and KQED Public Radio, "Beyond Fear: America's Role in Our Uncertain World" will explore new scenarios for US global leadership built on common action, trust, and hope. Learn more about the content of the documentary and when it will air.
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| New Resource |
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The Bush administration's policies toward detainees have been among the most controversial in its global war on terror. Indeed, many of the questions that have arisen in the detainee treatment debate are so fundamental to counterterrorism policy that the next administration will be compelled to provide its own answers as a basis for whatever approach it adopts. In their new paper, The Cost of Confusion: Resolving Ambiguities in Detainee Treatment, coauthors Kenneth Anderson of the Washington College of Law at American University and Elisa Massimino, Washington director of Human Rights First, have identified some general principles—ones that can be shared across progressive and conservative lines—on which national counterterrorism policy should be grounded.
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| Tip of the Month |
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Before you do interviews or speak publicly, determine your 3 or 4 most important messages that can draw in listeners and serve as "gateways" for making more complicated points. Word them in ways that invoke big concepts familiar to Americans.
This tip is from the U.S. in the World guide. It draws on the latest communications research and the insights of experts to outline convincing facts and arguments, and offers effective ways to put them across to nonexpert American audiences. The guide is for anyone who wants to talk with other Americans directly or through the media about US foreign policy.
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| Events Calendar |
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A new feature of the Stanley Foundation's Web site is an events calendar. Check out events happening this month in the United States and abroad.
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Contact Us |
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The Stanley Foundation, 209 Iowa Avenue, Muscatine, IA 52761
The Web links in this e-mail contain the opinion of their respective Web sites and/or authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Stanley Foundation. Please do not reprint or host the articles contained within this e-mail without explicit permission from the authors.
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