Issue 16 - November 2006

• FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: A GLOBAL SURVEY OF MEDIA INDEPENDENCE. [2006 and previous years]
  Freedom House. Web-posted October 11, 2006.
  
  This new resource provides an interactive database of information on press freedom around the world. The website includes global and regional pages highlighting the main trends for each year, as well as detailed historical data since 1980 from the Freedom House's annual Freedom of the Press survey. Other features of the new web pages include: annual overview essays summarizing the state of global press freedom; interactive maps showing the state of press freedom for each year since 2002; and reports and ratings for every country in the world. The website also contain links to press freedom resources, including Freedom House press releases, special reports, programmatic activities, and other press freedom and media support groups.
  
  http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=16 [Table of Contents, sections in various formats and various sizes]

• ALTERNATIVES FOR FUTURE U.S. SPACE-LAUNCH CAPABILITIES .
  United States Congress, Congressional Budget Office (CBO). October 2006.
  
  Currently available launch vehicles have the capacity to lift payloads of up to about 25 metric tons into low earth. This capacity is the requirement for almost all of the commercial and governmental payloads expected to be launched into orbit over the next 10 to 15 years. However, the launch vehicles needed to support the return of humans to the moon, which has been called for under the Bush Administration's Vision for Space Exploration, may be required to lift payloads into orbit that weigh in excess of 100 metric tons and, as a result, may constitute a unique demand for launch services.
  
  http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdoc.cfm?index=7635&type=1 [pdf format, 73 pages]

• IN-DEPTH STUDY ON ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL .
  United Nations General Assembly. July 2006; Web-posted October 10, 2006.
  
  The report asserts that women are subjected to violence in a wide range of settings, including the family, the community, state custody, and armed conflict and its aftermath. Violence constitutes a continuum across the lifespan of women, from before birth to old age. Furthermore, it occurs in both public and private spheres. The study notes that the most common form of violence experienced by women globally is intimate partner violence, sometimes leading to death. Harmful traditional practices, including early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting, are also widespread.
  
  [Note: UN reports are often difficult to access. If you get a "No authorization" message via the links below, go to: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/ and select the preferred language version from there]
  http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/61/122/ADD.1&Lang=E [English-language version, pdf format, 139 pages]

• NATIONAL SECURITY CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. OIL DEPENDENCY .
  Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). October 12, 2006.
  
  The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) established an Independent Task Force to examine the consequences of dependence on imported energy for U.S. foreign policy. Since the United States both consumes and imports more oil than any other country, the Task Force concentrated its deliberations on matters of petroleum. The lack of sustained attention to energy issues is undercutting U.S. foreign policy and national security, conclude the members of the task force. The report focuses on the foreign policy issues that arise from dependence on energy that is traded in world markets.
  
  [Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
  http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/EnergyTFR.pdf [pdf format, 77 pages]

• STRIKING FIRST: PREEMPTIVE AND PREVENTIVE ATTACK IN U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY .
  Karl P. Mueller, Jasen J. Castillo, Forrest E. Morgan, Negeen Pegahi, and Brian Rosen.
  RAND. October 13, 2006.
  
  Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. national security policymakers announced that in the future the United States would take advantage of opportunities to strike at potential adversaries before they attack. This doctrine of "preemption" has two facets. True preemptive attack occurs when a country strikes an enemy to foil or mitigate the effects of an imminent attack against it (such as when Israel struck Egyptian airfields at the beginning of the Six Day War in 1967). Preventive attack, which is historically more common, involves striking an enemy to avert an apparently inevitable threat from materializing in the longer term (such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq).
  
  Full Report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG403.pdf [pdf format, 345 pages]
  Summary: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG403.sum.pdf [pdf format, 19 pages]

• TOOLKIT TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.
  United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). October 6, 2006.
  
  This document was written to help governments, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) more effectively deal with issues related to human trafficking. It contains practical tools for police and other law enforcement officers such as a checklist to help identify trafficking victims, as well as guidance on interviewing victims and victim protection. The toolkit also outlines key aspects of a comprehensive response to human trafficking, such as the need to bring national legislation into line with international standards and to strengthen international cooperation in criminal justice, including the extradition of criminals, seizure of assets and confiscation of the proceeds of crime.
  
  http://www.unodc.org/pdf/Trafficking_toolkit_Oct06.pdf [pdf format, 250 pages]

• RESTRUCTURING U.S. FOREIGN AID: THE ROLE OF THE DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE .
  Larry Nowels and Connie Veillette. Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service. Updated September 8, 2006.
  
  The creation of a new State Department position - Director of Foreign Assistance - has renewed congressional interest regarding the management and possible future reform of U.S. foreign aid programs. The Director of Foreign Assistance (DFA), charged with coordinating U.S. assistance programs, will have authority over most State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, although major foreign aid programs, such as the Millennium Challenge Account and the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator will remain outside of the scope of the DFA. The DFA is also tasked with providing "guidance" to other agencies that manage foreign aid activities. Some assistance programs are scattered throughout numerous domestic policy agencies and the Department of Defense.
  
  http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL33491.pdf [pdf format, 15 pages]

• GETTING AHEAD OF THE CURVE: CORPORATE STRATEGIES THAT ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE
  Andrew J. Hoffman. Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Web-posted October 18, 2006.
  
  This report lays out a step-by-step approach for companies to reshape their business strategies in order to succeed in a future marketplace where greenhouse gases are regulated and carbon-efficient production is in demand. Many of the companies highlighted in the report are shifting their focus from managing the financial risks of climate change to exploiting new business opportunities for energy efficient and low-carbon products and services.
  
  http://www.pewclimate.org/document.cfm?documentID=639 [pdf format, 150 pages]]

• U.S. NATIONAL SPACE POLICY .
  Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). August 31, 2006; Web-posted October 6, 2006.
  
  ["The President authorized a new national space policy on August 31, 2006, that establishes overarching national policy that governs the conduct of U.S. space activities. This policy supersedes Presidential Decision Directive/NSC-49/NSTC-8, National Space Policy, dated September 14, 1996."] From the policy: "The conduct of U.S. space programs and activities shall be a top priority, guided by the following principles: *The United States is committed to the exploration and use of outer space by all nations for peaceful purposes, and for the benefit of all humanity. Consistent with this principle, 'peaceful purposes' allow U.S. defense and intelligence-related activities in pursuit of national interests; *The United States rejects any claims to sovereignty by any nation over outer space or celestial bodies, or any portion thereof, and rejects any limitations on the fundamental right of the United States to operate in and acquire data from space; *The United States will seek to cooperate with other nations in the peaceful use of outer space to extend the benefits of space, enhance space exploration, and to protect and promote freedom around the world;
  
  http://ostp.gov/html/US%20National%20Space%20Policy.pdf [pdf format, 10 pages]

• WIKIS, WEBS, AND NETWORKS: CREATING CONNECTIONS FOR CONFLICT-PRONE SETTINGS .
  Rebecca Linder. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Web-posted October 15, 2006.
  
  Despite the importance of international interventions in conflict-prone settings, the record of success is mixed, and international actors struggle to establish minimum security and to reconstruct state institutions in conflict-prone settings. The ultimate goal of enhanced connectivity is to enable local populations to prevent and mitigate conflict and help rebuild their country. Technological innovations have fundamentally altered the information landscape just as developments in social network theory have changed how people connect and socialize. Taken together, these advancements have the potential to transform work in conflict-prone settings; however, according to the author, they have not yet been fully incorporated into policy and practice.
  
  [Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
  http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/061018_pcr_creatingconnections.pdf [pdf format, 61 pages]

• INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AS A KEY OBSTACLE TO RUSSIA'S WTO ACCESSION.
  Sherman Katz and Matthew Ocheltree. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). Web-posted October 12, 2006.
  
  Russia has been seeking membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) since June 1993. Currently, the United States is the only major economic power that has not finalized a bilateral market access agreement with the Russian Federation. Enforcement of intellectual property rights laws remains, along with agriculture, one of the two major hurdles to Russian accession to the World Trade Organization. Russia is home to some of the most notorious and widely used pirate web sites in the world, notably mp3search.ru and allofmp3.com, which the USTR's 2006 Special 301 Report labeled "the world's largest server-based pirate music web site. [See the document here] Optical disc piracy is another huge problem in Russia.
  
  [Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
  http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp73_katz_final.pdf [pdf format, 40 pages]

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