Fighting Corruption to Improve Global Security: An Analysis of International Asset Recovery Systems (Volume 5, Issue 2)

By Mark V. Vlasic and Jenae N. Noell

Typically not counted among the battles to be waged in the fight for global security, Mark V. Vlasic and Jenae N. Noell argue that stemming corruption through stolen asset recovery programs has the ability to fortify the rule of law and reduce state impunity in the developing world.

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Globalizing Insecurity: The Convergence of Interdependent Ecological, Energy, and Economic Crises (Volume 5, Issue 2)

By Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, PhD

Increases in United States-led Western military expenditures ostensibly vindicate the fear of international terrorism as an escalating imminent threat to U.S. and Western national security. However, the most urgent dangers to security come not from terrorism per se, but from the converging impacts of global systemic crises, including climate change, hydrocarbon energy depletion, economic and financial breakdown, and plummeting food production.

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The Demographic Security Dilemma (Volume 5, Issue 2)

By Christian Leuprecht, PhD

Why do minority populations often grow faster than majorities? States in dyadic conflict with a minority whose population growth exceeds that of the majority are prone to protective measures to bolster the majority’s grip on power. Under conditions of ethnic control, however, such measures appear to precipitate higher fertility rates among the minority.

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Security Challenges in the 21st Century Global Commons (Volume 5, Issue 2)

By Tara Murphy

National defense is no longer ensured only through maintaining the sanctity of one’s borders, but is also highly dependent upon the ability to navigate safely through the global commons. These commons—sea, air, space, and cyberspace—enable militaries to protect national territory and interests, as well as facilitate the passage of goods, people, communication, and data upon which every member of the international community depends. Yet, a number of emerging trends are threatening this freedom of action.

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The Mexican Energy Sector’s Bumpy Road (Volume 5, Issue 2)

An Interview with Vicente Fox, Former President of Mexico

In March 2010, Yale postgraduate fellow Matthew Blomerth studying in Mexico sat down with former Mexican head-of-state, President Vicente Fox, at his presidential library to discuss challenges that Mexico faces due to its high reliance on oil sale revenues at a time of rapidly diminishing production.

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The Puzzle of Iraqi Mortality: Surges, Civilian Deaths and Alternative Meanings (Volume 5, Issue 1)

By Christian Davenport and Molly Inman

By the end of 2006, it had become clear to most observers that the U.S. strategy in Iraq was rapidly deteriorating. During that year, Iraqi civilian fatalities began to approach 4,000 per month, and sectarian violence and al-Qaeda activity was spreading and intensifying. What was the source of the physical threat?

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Smart Aid and the Unchaining of Africa (Volume 5, Issue 1)

An Interview with George Ayittey

Foreign aid has become an increasingly hot topic, particularly among students and in academia.  Aid arguments often fall into one of two camps: that the aid industry is inefficient and ineffective, and should therefore be drastically reformed and even reduced; or that aid can effectively fight poverty, especially if scaled-up. 

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Avoiding the Cardinal Sins of Foreign Aid (Volume 5, Issue 1)

An Interview with Nancy Birdsall

YJIA: Foreign aid has become an increasingly hot topic, particularly among students and in academia.  Aid arguments often fall into one of two camps: that the aid industry is inefficient and ineffective, and should therefore be drastically reformed and even reduced; or that aid can effectively fight poverty, especially if scaled-up.  

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