PUBLICATIONS
THE CENTER FOR WAR, PEACE & THE NEWS MEDIA AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

 

 
 

 

 

 

Issue Briefs

Issue Brief No. 66
The U.S. and South Asia: New Priorities, Familiar Interests
The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon turned U.S. South Asia policy temporarily upside down, bringing Pakistan to center stage and putting parts of the U.S.-India agenda on hold. In the medium term - after the military operation most observers expect to take place in Afghanistan - the U.S. agenda will become more complicated. Besides pursuing its long term geopolitical interests, the United States will be trying to promote stability in the countries at the epicenter of the terrorism campaign. It will also need to deal with the incompatible agendas of its coalition partners. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 66, South Asia Monitor, Oct. 9, 2001

 
Issue Brief No. 65
The United States needs to rethink how best to prepare for threats that do not exist today and that may or may not exist 15, 20, or more years in the future. An alternative to the present approach might emphasize force experimentation and organizational adaptiveness. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 65, Project on Defense Alternatives, May 21, 2001

What has most shaped the American way of war over the past decade is the decline in America's manifest stake in distant conflicts -- a consequence of the end of global superpower contention. This makes it more difficult to build and sustain an elite consensus, domestic or international, in support of intervention. Contrary to convention wisdom, however, these factors have not produced in the general public an extreme or undiscerning aversion to casualties. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 64, Project on Defense Alternatives, May 21, 2001

Issue Brief No. 63
The Philippines: Another Indonesia?
Months of murmuring against President Estrada have erupted into chaos that threatens to turn the Philippines into another Indonesia, adding to political instability in Southeast Asia and hampering an already lagging regional recovery from the Asian financial crisis that began in 1997. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 63, Richard Halloran, October 22, 2000
 
Issue Brief No. 62
A searching review of the American strategy of stationing ground forces in Japan and South Korea is underway to see whether those forces can be reduced or withdrawn. The United States would rely instead on warships, air power, and rapidly deployable ground forces to maintain a military presence in Asia. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 62, Richard Halloran, October 8, 2000
 
Issue Brief No. 61
Has the U.S. Lost the Will to Fight?
Rumbling through Asia and the United States with increasing intensity is a perception that Americans are no longer willing to spill blood to defend their national interests. That notion, which is erroneous and for which Americans themselves are partly to blame, is dangerous because it could provoke a potential adversary to miscalculate, ever the greatest cause of war. Richard Halloran, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 61, September 11, 2000
 
Issue Brief No. 60
The new president of the Republic of China on Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, has devised a comprehensive strategy intended to maintain his island's separation from the Peoples Republic of China while averting a war with Beijing. The main element in this walk on a razor's edge is a vigorous effort to enhance a sense of identity among the people of Taiwan, especially in revising education to emphasize Taiwanese history and culture. Richard Halloran, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 60, June 1, 2000
 
Issue Brief No. 59
On the eve of President Clinton's June 4-5 summit meeting with Russian President Putin, the Center for War, Peace, and the News Media at New York University presented a press briefing featuring leading pro- and anti- National Missile Defense analysts. The hour-long briefing took place by telephone conference call on June 1 and featured William HARTUNG of the World Policy Institute and Frank GAFFNEY, Director of the Center for Security Policy and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the "Coalition to Protect Americans Now!". Click here for an edited transcript and a list of participants. (Full audio coming soon...)
 
Issue Brief No. 58
The Implications of the March 18th Election in Taiwan
The former American ambassador to Taiwan and later to China, James Lilley, said that President-elect Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan faces enormous problems in putting together a coalition government before he takes office on May 20, not the least of which is what he called "coercive diplomacy" from China. Lilley, who just returned to Washington from observing the March 18 vote that Chen won by a small margin, said he saw Chen and Vice President-elect Annette Lu on election day and "they were very sober" about the prospect of taking office. "The whole thing hit them like a ton of bricks," Lilley said. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 58 By Richard Halloran, March 22, 2000
 
Issue Brief No. 57
The Clinton Visit to South Asia: A Primer
Not since President Carter traveled to India 22 years ago has a U.S. President set foot in South Asia. What we are likely to see during President Clinton's March 20-26 visit to the region are a carefully choreographed set of meetings and events which will make visible the direction the U.S. wants to be headed in the subcontinent. That direction is one of engagement. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 57, Alyssa Ayres and Marshall Bouton, Asia Society, March 15, 2000
 
Issue Brief No. 56
Destroyer of Worlds: The Proliferation of WMD in Asia
Paul Bracken asserts that many Asian nations, which had relied on peasant infantry armies until recently, have gradually procured modern arms and weapons made with high technology. But many more are surging past that usual stage of military evolution into weapons of mass destruction that are far ahead of defenses among their neighbors or those of the West. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 56, Richard Halloran, March 6, 2000
 
Issue Brief No. 55
Alexei G. Arbatov, Deputy Chair of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma, briefed journalists on the latest trends in Russian defense policy Wednesday, February 2. Click here for a write-up of the event, including a list of participants and related resources.
 
Issue Brief No. 54
Not since the Korean War, when Americans and Chinese fought each other from 1950 to 1953, have Sino-U.S. relations been so turbulent. This could pose a great challenge to Joseph W. Prueher, the retired admiral who is the prospective American ambassador to China.
Richard Halloran, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 54, June 7, 1999
 
Issue Brief No. 53
A Chinese dissident and a young pro-democracy movement leader in Tiananmen Square in 1989 shares his views at a time in which the Chinese people appear again to be testing the limits of public discourse. Although conditions in China have improved in recent years, he remains pessimistic about the prospects for China's democracy. Sen Lee, Global Beat Issue Brief, June 1, 1999
 
Issue Brief No. 52
Kosovo Albanians: Closing Ranks A Global Beat Backgrounder. Tihomir Loza, with Anthony Borden, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 52, March 26, 1999
 
Issue Brief No. 51
The US, China and Asian Security: An Interview With Outgoing CINCPAC Admiral Prueher
When Admiral Prueher relinquishes command of U.S. military forces in the Pacific and Asia, he'll leave behind a lasting imprint on the way in which the Pacific Command engages China. Richard Halloran, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 51, February 15, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 50
Not unlike a mouse that roared, the tiny Republic of the Marshall Islands has sent Washington a wakeup call, saying it would seek "a much better deal" for continued U.S. access to its Kwajalein Atoll, vital to Washington's drive to build a ballistic missile defense. Jim Wolf, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 50, February 1, 1999
 
Issue Brief No. 49
Japan and Asia: What Happened?
As the 21st century approaches, Japan confronts the widespread perception-at least in the United States-that it is a nation in decline. Chris Johnstone, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 49, February 8, 1999
 
Issue Brief No. 48
The administration's use of military force introduced a new unpredictability into what in many respects had been a "spin loudly and carry a wet noodle" foreign policy. Robert A Manning, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 48, January 11, 1999
 
Issue Brief No. 47
The Global Reporting Network hosted a telephone briefing on December 15th with Ambassador Hugo Paemen, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Washington, D.C, two weeks before launching of the Euro and only three days before the next EU/US summit. Full briefing report by Paul Tooher, Providence Journal, December 16, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 46
The outcome of the elections in Taiwan on December 5 seems certain to intensify the already dangerous confrontation between that island nation and mainland China, and to complicate United States relations with both. By Richard Halloran, Global Beat Issue Brief No.46, December 11, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 45
Global Beat Issue Brief No. 45, December 5, 1998, includes:
Preempting a Russian Nuclear MeltdownSix years of steady improvement in the security of Russia's nuclear stockpile threatens to unravel under the crushing blow of that county's current economic crisis. Not since the collapse of the old Soviet Union has the situation been so dire. Four short-term actions by the U.S. are suggested. By Kenneth N. Luongo and Matthew Bunn.
Loose Nukes Fears: Anecdotes of the Current CrisisA compilation of nuclear incidents from the past several months as evidence of Russia's nuclear collapse. By Matthew Bunn.
 
Issue Brief No. 44
Hon. James T. Laney, Former Ambassador to South Korea and co-chair, Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Korea, briefed journalists on the politics surrounding US policy towards North Korea on the eve of President Clinton's Nov. 19-22 visit to Korea and Japan. Global Beat Issue Brief No. 44, November 10, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 43
On November 3, the Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies in Moscow unveiled an unprecedented detailed examination of Russia's nuclear forces in their new book Strategic Nuclear Armaments of Russia. Mikhail Pogorely outlines the contents of this limited production, Russian-language volume. Mikhael Pogoreli, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 43, November 6, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 42
The nuclear accord between the United States and North Korea that has been the cornerstone of negotiations for four years is in danger of crumbling despite a recent congressional approval, with unpredictable consequences that could include an outbreak of war. By Richard Halloran, Global Beat Issue Brief No. 42, October 19, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 41
KEDO Executive Director Desaix Anderson briefs journalists on
difficulties obtaining funds for oil deliveries to North Korea and
finalizing a burden sharing agreement for the $4.6 billion DPRK nuclear reactor project. Full transcript. July 21, 1998.
 
Issue Brief No. 40
President Clinton's China trip produced few new agreements, but altered the longstanding U.S. position on Taiwan from benign support for Taiwanese political autonomy to reinforcing Beijing's nationalistic reunification policy. By Richard Halloran, July 14, 1998.
 
Issue Brief No. 39
The detargeting agreement signed by both China and the US last week is almost secondary; missiles can quickly be retargeted and U.S. missiles have not been 'targeted' on China since 1994. The adoption of the Prevention of Incidents on the High Seas (INCSEA) agreement is much more important. By Charles Meconis, July 13, 1998.
 
Issue Brief No. 38
Whether the United States can ever come to terms with China and forge the "strategic partnership" the Clinton administration envisions rests on one crucial issue: China's record on human rights. By Mike Jendrzejczyk, Human Rights Watch, June 22, 1998.
 
Issue Brief No. 37
A citizens group lobbies to halt logging in endangered species habitat. Farmers organize to close a factory whose polluted wastes are damaging crops. The government invites communities near giant panda habitat to co-manage nature reserves. Does this sound like the China you know? By Daniel Viederman, June 22, 1998.
 
Issue Brief No. 36
As Summit Approaches, Clinton Follows China's Lead In preparing to receive President Clinton later this month, Chinese authorities have out-maneuvered the White House on several points that, taken together, indicate the Chinese will have the upper hand when the critical issues of Tienanmen, Taiwan, and trade are discussed. By Richard Halloran, June 10, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 35
Despite claims by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that there has been no decision on a Pakistani test, Foreign Minister Gohar A. Khan's statement this Sunday that it was not a question of "if, but when" has been supported by US satellite intelligence showing great activity in the Chagai hills, Pakistan's alleged test site. By Farah Zahra, May 19, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 34
After beginnings that held great promise, the prominent women who have been political leaders across Southeast and South Asia have been shunted aside or paralyzed over the past year. Richard Halloran, Global Beat Issue Brief 34, May 6, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 33
Jeffrey Frankel, Council of Economic Advisors; John Richardson, European Commission; Randall Henning, Institute of International Economics; and John Downe, IBM discussed EMU's impact on U.S. politics, economics, business, and trade. April 29, 1998.
 
Issue Brief No. 32
Covering the EMU: A Primer
A brief overview of some key issues and implications raised by the euro and EMU on the eve of their planned start in May 1998, when EMU participants will be announced and their exchange rates with each other permanently fixed. By Louis R. Golino, March 28, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 31:
While Americans tend to worry about the potential theft or diversion of nuclear-ready materials to Iran, Russian institute staff repeatedly raised the concern that Chechen rebels would attempt to steal materials in order to commit acts of nuclear or radiological terrorism. The national security imperative of materials protection is therefore clear for both sides. By Todd Perry, March 26, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 30:
Heeding Sun or Mao? Assessing China's Military Thinking
Today, American defense officials are debating whether their Chinese counterparts will, in effect, heed Sun or Mao. Underlying the deliberations is a fear that the Chinese might miscalculate in thinking they could prevail over the armed forces of the United States in a regional conflict in Asia. By Richard Halloran Global Beat Issue Brief No. 30, March 16, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 29:
Unanswered Questions on NATO Expansion
Despite assertions by the Clinton administration that all issues have been settled, the plan to expand the Atlantic Alliance to include Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic involves five major issues that neither the administration nor, thus far, the Congress, has addressed seriously, let alone thoroughly. By Michael Mandelbaum, February 28, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 28:
The Russian Reaction to NATO Expansion
During a press conference on February 24, Vladimir Lukin, chairman of the Russian Duma's Committee on International Affairs, contradicted the assertion of U.S. officials, the Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Senators from both parties that expanding membership in NATO will benefit Russia and that Russian officials have little objection to it. February 24, 1998
 
Issue Brief No. 27:
The success or failure of incoming South Korean president Kim Dae Jung will determine not only the future of South Korea, but the U.S. security posture in Northeast Asia and the chances of Seoul's Asian neighbors to right their capsized economies, sort out issues of governance, and enhance regional security. By Richard Halloran, February 20, 1998
 
Neither the President's new budget proposal nor recent reviews of the defense establishment have envisioned the bold changes necessary to make the top-heavy, bureaucratic Pentagon a leaner, more responsive headquarters in an era of uncertainty. Richard Halloran proposes structural changes to free up $30 billion in savings, in Global Reporting Network
 
Amid the sex scandal in Washington and the crisis with Iraq, President Clinton asserted in his January 27 State of the Union address that Senate ratification of NATO expansion was his first foreign policy priority in 1998.
 
Issue Brief No. 24:
China's Decisive Role in Asia
With Asia's financial crisis rumbling on, it has become evident that China, not the United States or Japan, holds the high cards as Asian nations try to rebuild their once-vibrant economies.
 
Issue Brief No. 23:
Former U.S. Ambassador compares victory of new South Korean president to election of Nelson Mandela
In a December 18 telephone news briefing sponsored by the Center for War, Peace, and the News Media, Donald Gregg, U.S. ambassador to South Korea from 1989-93 and a CIA specialist in Asia for 30 years, compared the "surprising" election of Kim Dae Jung to the election of South African president Nelson Mandela.
 
China has been a nuclear weapon state since 1964, but is a latecomer to arms control. It rejected the concept of nonproliferation for several decades, and supplied materials, technology, and expertise to clandestine nuclear weapons programs in countries including Pakistan, Argentina, and South Africa.
 
Delegates from North Korea, South Korea, the United States and China sat down on August 5 in New York to iron out details for the formal initiation of Four-Party Korean Peace Talks.
 
Issue Brief No. 20:
In style, none in the top echelon of the Second Clinton Administration has had much experience in negotiating with Asians. Those senior officials appear unaware that the manner with which one deals effectively with leaders across the Pacific differs greatly from that across the Atlantic. By Richard Halloran
 
Issue Brief No. 19:
The tension from the aftermath of the September 1996 North Korean submarine incursion into South Korea has subsided, only to be replaced by a more recent threat of large-scale famine and political gamesmanship over food aid. By Robert A. Manning
 
Issue Brief No. 18:
Richard Butler, Australian Ambassador to the United Nations and Convenor of the Commission, addressed the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, which is comprised of 17 of America's largest and most active arms control groups, to outline the Commission's plan.
 
Issue Brief No. 17:
North Korea today is generally portrayed in the news media as a Stalinist rogue state, implacably hostile to the outside world and hellbent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction. This Issue Brief is drawn from presentations made at the Center's Roundtable on North Korea and Regional Security, October 24, 1996.
 
Issue Brief No. 16:
By Leon V. Sigal
 
Issue Brief No. 15:
India's recent national elections have given impetus to a harder-line nuclear policy in New Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which gained the largest block of votes, has openly declared that India "must be nuclear." The country's nuclear policy is likely to continue in this direction, even though the Hindu nationalist government quickly resigned and a new coalition government is taking shape without the BJP. By David Cortright and Amitabh Mattoo.
 
Issue Brief No. 14:
By Stephen Noerper
 
Issue Brief No. 13:
By Richard Halloran and other contributors, includes:
Issue Brief No. 12:
By Mark Hibbs
Issue Brief No. 11:
By Richard Halloran
Issue Brief No. 10:
By Zoran Pajic
Issue Brief No. 9:
The NATO Expansion Debate (November 1995)
By Jane Sharp & Jonathan Dean
Issue Brief No. 8:
U.S.- Asia Relations: A History of Neglect (November 1995)
By Richard Halloran
Issue Brief No. 7:
The Battle for the NPT (October 1994)
By Marc Hibbs
Issue Brief No. 6:
Visegrad Security Policy at an Impasse (October 1994)
By Carl Conetta
Issue Brief No. 5:
Hungary's Swing Left (September 1994)
By Andras Loke
Issue Brief No. 4:
Partnership for Peace? (September 1994)
By Dr. Andrea Nativi
Issue Brief No. 3:
The New German Export Control System: Briedging Europe's Troubled Waters? (February 1994)
By Dr. Bernd Kubbig
Issue Brief No. 2:
The European Community and European Integration: an Introduction (February 1993)
By Dr. Alberta Sbragia
Issue Brief No. 1:
The Yugoslav Conflict
By Anthony Borden
 
Working Papers
 
Working Paper No. 38:
 
 
Working Paper No. 37:
 
Working Paper No. 36:
 
Working Paper No. 35:
 
Working Paper No. 34:
 
 
 
The United States enters the new millennium as the preeminent political, economic, and military power in the world. Today we are in a relatively secure interlude following an era of intense international confrontation. But we must anticipate that future adversaries will learn from the past and confront us in very different ways. From the Executive Summary of National Defense Panel Report, December 1997
 
Working Paper No. 31:
 
Working Papers No. 30:
 
Working Papers No. 29:
Regional Security and Cooperation in Northeast Asia (December 1996)
 
Working Papers No. 28:
Nuclear Dilemmas: Energy, Proliferation, and Security in Northeast Asia (November 1996)
 
Working Papers No. 27:
Dealing with North Korea (September 1996)
 
Working Papers No. 26:
U.S.-Russian Nuclear Cooperation: Nuclear Weapons Security and the Future of Disarmament" (April 1996)
 
Working Papers No. 25:
"In Search of Stability: U.S. Security Policy in Northeast Asia (November 1995)
 
Working Papers No. 24:
The Struggle for Integration: Central and Eastern Europe in Transition (September 1995)
 
Working Papers No. 23:
Chinese Power: Military and Security Policies (September 1995)
 
Working Papers No. 22:
The Future of European Integration (May 1995)
 
Working Papers No. 21:
Peacekeeping Under Fire (March 1995)
 
Working Papers No. 20:
Nuclear Proliferation and Regional Security in Northeast Asia (April 1995)
 
 
Protecting America: Build your own Defense Budget
A unique interactive web site hosted by the Global Beat Syndicate where you can make your own defense-policy decisions and see the impact your choices would have on the military budget. By choosing between three options in a series of eight issues, you can build your own defense budget and compare your choices to those of the major presidential candidates. Global Beat Syndicate and Project on Defense Alternatives, October 25, 2000 ... try it now!
Speeches
On April 28, 1999, the Carnegie Commission on the Prevention of Deadly Conflict and the Center for War, Peace, and the News Media co-sponsored a symposium that drew 18 media specialists to discuss ethical issues in conflict coverage.
Off the Air: Are NATO air strikes against Yugoslav media outlets justified? Robert Leavitt, Associate Director of the CWPNM, discussed NATO's bombing of Serbian media outlets on May 4, 1999, on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Click here for the transcript and access to an audio file.
Milica Pesic, Director of the European Center for War, Peace, and the News Media, discussed Serbian propaganda on April 12 on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. You read the transcript here or listen to the report at ATC's Website.
Testimony of Robert Karl Manoff, Director, Center for War, Peace, and the News Media, New York University, before the House Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Washington D.C., March 4, 1999
The hard rule of journalism has always been objectivity at all cost, but the media has the opportunity to aid in conflict resolution. In today's violent world, objectivity no longer has the moral high-ground. Speech by Robert Karl Manoff, Center for War, Peace, and the News Media, at the Hirondelle Foundation, July 3-4, 1998.
Tip Sheets
Global Beat Tip Sheet outlining questions and issues in three categories: the immediate crisis, the view from South Asia, and global nonproliferation policy. Includes list of experts with contact information. May 29, 1998
Handbooks
President Clinton's visit to China highlights a host of controversial security, political, and economic issues between the two nations. A new Global Beat handbook for journalists provides extensive background on the security issues at stake, including a primer on Security and the Summit by Patrick M. Cronin, background on China's military forces, technology transfer, and nuclear weapons, and opinion pieces by Madeleine Albright, Joseph Nye, Chinese Ambassador Li Zhaoxing and others.
On May 2, European heads of state confirmed the launch of the euro in eleven countries next January. This Global Beat handbook provides an overview of EMU and resources to support coverage of the political, business, trade and social implications of the change. May, 1998
Opinion pieces from US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; former ambassador to the USSR Jack F. Matlock; deputy chair of Defense Committee of the Russian Duma Alexi Arbatov; International Editor of MSNBC Michael Moran; advisor on international security to the Union for Concerned Scientists Jonathan Dean; editor James Hill. Also, a survey of European conflicts by Congressional Research Service Specialist Louis Golino. All pieces were written for the Global Beat and MSNBC.com joint project. April,1998
A Multi-Ethnic Team Reporting Project brings together journalists from different ethnic and racial backgrounds to collaborate on feature reporting projects. This hands-on training manual provides a constructive way for the mass media to promote understanding across ethnic and racial lines. The handbook also contains firsthand accounts of the inaugural project undertaken in 1995 in Macedonia. By Denise Hamilton, February 1997.