May 31st, 2012

New study exposes teenagers' easy access to cigarettes in China

May 31 was the WHO World No Tobacco Day. The Pioneers for Health Consultancy Center, a China-based non-governmental organization with close collaborative ties to AHPP's Matthew Kohrman, recently conducted an extensive study of stores in Kunming, a city in the heart of China’s tobacco-growing region, that sell cigarettes to teenagers.

• » China Daily article

Jones, Esberg say Obama foreign policy will continue even with a Republican win

In a Campaign 2012 policy brief for the Brookings Institution, CISAC affiliate Bruce Jones, Thomas Wright, and former research assistant and honors student Jane Esberg, say the next president's foreign policy should pick up Obama's lead. Due to an interdependent global economy, the U.S. has become vulnerable and dependent on the actions of regional powers such as Brazil, China, and India -- leaving the president with a delicate balancing act. Read more »

Former Fellow Macfarlane nominated head of nuclear watchdog

The Obama Administration has nominated Allison Macfarlane to lead America’s top nuclear safety watchdog, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). White House Spokesman Clark Stevens hailed her as a “highly regarded expert” and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada called her “eminently qualified” to lead the Commission. Read more »

May 30th, 2012

Symantec's Nachenberg dissects malicious Stuxnet computer worm

The Stuxnet computer worm is perhaps the most malicious piece of software ever built. Symantec Chief Architect Carey Nachenberg explains how the Stuxnet worm spread, evaded detection and ultimately accomplished its mission. Read more »

May 29th, 2012

Stanford's Eikenberry discusses the future of China's national security strategy

On May 18, 2012, the Pentagon released its annual report about the People's Republic of China's recent military developments. During Stanford's annual Oksenberg lecture, Karl Eikenberry discussed China's military modernization and its overall national security strategy. Read more »

What the Greek elections mean for Europe’s future

Greek voters return to the polls this month after failing in May to elect a parliamentary majority. Ruby Gropas, a CDDRL visiting scholar, talks about what the elections mean for the economically battered country and its worried eurozone neighbors. Read more »

Textbooks offer differing accounts of wartime events

Japanese textbooks, long a subject of controversy, tend to actually present a dry, unpatriotic account of World War Two, says Daniel Sneider in a recent Nippon.com article. A comparative understanding of different textbook descriptions of the war, a focus of the Center's Divided Memories project, is one way to move toward lasting reconciliation in East Asia.

• » English-language version
• » Japanese-language version
• » Chinese-language version (simplified)
• » Chinese-language version (traditional)
• » French-language version

Richard Lyman, Stanford's seventh president and founder of institute, dead at 88

Lyman founded and directed the Institute for International Studies, which in 2005 was named the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Read more »

May 25th, 2012

Ethics & War series concludes looking at future security threats

Stanford's two-year debate on Ethics & War concluded May 16 with the final event in the series, "WAR: Ethical Challenges on the Horizon." The final event was hosted by the Rev. Scotty McLennan, Dean for Religious Life at Stanford with debate by Debra Satz of the Center for Ethics in Society, CISAC's Scott Sagan and Charles Dunlap of Duke University's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security.

May 24th, 2012

Authors, NGOs, and scientists to talk population

Roz Naylor, director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment, will join authors, activists, and scientists for a daylong symposium on population at the Moving Mountains Symposium in Telluride, Colorado May 25. Read more »

New Stanford Asia Health Policy research fellows selected

AHPP looks forward to welcoming its incoming 2012-13 research fellows from Mongolian Medical University, the University of Hawai'i, and Harvard. AHPP's new fellows specialize in research topics including cervical cancer prevention, migrant remittances, and the political economy of support for the elderly. Read more »

Shorenstein APARC to welcome eight emerging scholars

As the current year winds down, Shorenstein APARC looks forward to welcoming eight talented emerging scholars in the autumn: four Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellows, three Asia Health Policy Program research fellows, and one Takahashi Pre-doctoral Fellow.

• » Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellows
• » Asia Health Policy Fellows
• » Takahashi Pre-doctoral Fellow

May 23rd, 2012

Inaugural recipient of John and Jackie Lewis Fund: Xiaojun Li

FSI Fellow Xiaojun Li, a Stanford predoctoral candidate in political science, travels to Beijing and Hong Kong with John and Jackie Lewis funding. Read more »

Stanford economics student named 2012-13 Takahashi Pre-Doctoral Fellow

Shorenstein APARC is pleased to announce Huiyu Li, a doctoral student in Stanford's Department of Economics, as its 2012–13 Takahashi Pre-doctoral Fellow. Her current research focuses on quantifying the cost of resolving insolvent firms and its impact on aggregate output in China and Japan. Read more »

Stanford conference to analyze democratic attitudes and values in Asia

On May 25-26, the Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law (CDDRL) will hold its seventh annual conference for the Taiwan Democracy Project on, "How the Public Views Democracy and its Competitors in East Asia: Taiwan in Comparative Perspective” at Stanford University. The conference will bring together leading social scientists from Taiwan and other Asian countries to present and discuss papers analyzing the third wave of data from the Asian Barometer Survey. Read more »

May 22nd, 2012

Fukuyama on the challenges of building a political movement after Tahrir

As the Egyptian public prepares to vote in the first post-revolutionary presidential elections this week, Francis Fukuyama takes stock of the political playing field in an article for The Daily Beast. With no genuine liberal candidate in the running, Fukuyama notes the failure of the Tahrir Square activists to translate protest into a structured political movement. Read more »

May 21st, 2012

Eikenberry makes the case for invigorating Taiwan-U.S. relations

In an article for Foreign Policy, Karl Eikenberry argues that the drifting Taiwan-U.S. relationship puts the stability of the Asia-Pacific region at risk. He observes that other regional allies are hedging their bets against a rising military power in China because of skepticism that the United States can keep its commitments, and outlines key weaknesses that Washington must overcome with Taipei.

• » Stop Ignoring Taiwan

May 18th, 2012

Tony Blair addresses Stanford audience on strengthening governance in Africa

On May 17, the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies co-sponsored a special event at Stanford University with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Addressing an audience of over 500, Blair emphasized the important role governance and effective leadership plays in achieving strong economic and political development in Africa.

• » Stanford Report: "Tony Blair urges Stanford students to help out in Africa"
• » Read the transcript of Tony Blair's speech "A New Approach to a New Africa"
• » Peninsula Press: "Blair calls for effective governance in Africa during Stanford visit"

May 16th, 2012

Regional conflicts are no simple matter

In trying to understand the source of a regional conflict we should avoid focusing too narrowly on a single issue of identity, said Lee Kong Chian Fellow Graham Brown during a May 15 seminar at Stanford. Brown gave examples from Southeast Asia to illustrate the complex nature of conflicts.

• » Stanford Daily article about event
• » Event podcast

CDDRL director advises D.C. policy community that economic and political freedom must go hand-in-hand

On May 15, CDDRL Director Larry Diamond participated in a panel discussion on the economic implications of the Arab Spring at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) in Washington, DC. Diamond was joined on the panel by CIPE Executive Director John Sullivan; Michele Dunne, director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East; and moderator Steve Clemons from The Atlantic. Read more about the event on CIPE's blog. Read more »

May 15th, 2012

Global AIDS relief program reduces mortality, research shows

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief “may be considered the clearest demonstration of aid’s effectiveness in recent years,” according to Stanford researchers who analyze the program in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read more »

Stanford conference to explore governance and the provision of public goods

The CDDRL Program on Poverty and Governance together with the Center for Latin American Studies will host a conference on May 18-19 to explore how governance impacts the provision of public goods and services throughout the world. Read more »

Wolak presents at Energy Risk USA Conference

PESD director Frank Wolak spoke on role of congestion revenue rights (CRRs) and financial transmission rights (FTRs) in improving energy market efficiency at the Energy Risk magazine’s 16th annual 2-day conference. Read more »

May 14th, 2012

Foiled Yemen plot a success thanks to paradigm shifts in intelligence

Recent counterterrorism triumphs such as the foiled Yemen bombing plot and last year's raid on the Osama Bin Laden compound in Pakistan are the result of better analytical and organizational operations, according to intelligence expert Amy Zegart.

• » CNN: Yemen plot exposes new world of U.S. spying

Stanford experts discuss Obama administration's Asia policy

The recent South China Sea standoff between China and the Philippines calls into question the U.S. role and commitment in the Asia-Pacific region. Stanford experts Donald Emmerson and Thomas Fingar speak about the nuances of the Obama administration's Asia policy.

• » Donald K. Emmerson Q&A
• » Thomas Fingar Q&A

Can Latin America's democratic transitions serve as an example for Burma?

Michael Albertus, a post-doctoral scholar at CDDRL, co-authored a piece for Foreign Policy's Democracy Lab on the prospects of a democratic transition in Burma. Borrowing historic examples from Chile and Colombia, the authors offer concrete approaches Burma can use to ensure a smoother path towards democracy. Read more »

Stanford researchers question whether biofuel is the answer to U.S. energy independence

For the last four years, the costs of corn and crude oil have been intimately linked, and it was this relationship that Stanford’s Center on Food Security and the Environment addressed in a panel discussion last month.

• » Biofuels: The changing nature of agricultural demand
  
• » Peninsula Press article

May 12th, 2012

An optimistic Indian future depends on a strong rural economy

Despite accelerating economic growth in India over the last thirty years, India’s structural transformation remains stunted, said economist Hans Binswanger-Mkhize at a May 10 FSE symposium on global food policy and food security. Improving rural incomes and supporting agricultural growth is essential to decreasing poverty and unemployment in India now and in the future. Read more »

May 11th, 2012

Eikenberry looks to future of American military, calls for more accountability

The former military commander and ambassador says Congress and the media must hold the military more accountable. He also cited the economy as the No. 1 threat to U.S. security during while delivering his second Payne Lecture. Read more »

Hecker praises Senator Richard Lugar for nuclear threat reduction efforts

Co-Director Siegfried Hecker praised Senator Richard Lugar for his lifetime of work as a public servant, particularly in securing nuclear materials worldwide: Lugar realized "we were threatened more by Russia's weakness than its strength."

• » NPR: A Senate Legend, Undone By His Greatest Strength

May 10th, 2012

Fingar on contemporary U.S.-China relations

Thomas Fingar, who has observed developments in U.S.-China relations since "ping-pong diplomacy" in the early 1970s, spoke with China-based Leaders Magazine about the significance of -- and hype surrounding -- the Obama administration's "Asia pivot." Read more »

May 8th, 2012

Stanford study shows no evidence that international health aid is wasted

In June 2012, Stanford researchers Rajaie Batniji and Eran Bendavid retracted the research findings explained in the following article. Read more »

Bo Xilai affair a turning point for China's top leadership

A revelatory story emerged in China this spring: Bo Xilai, Chongqing’s Communist Party head, had fallen out with the party and was accused of shocking abuses of power. On May 2, the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center held a special seminar to make sense of what this unusual high-level scandal could mean for the future of China’s current political system. Read more »

May 7th, 2012

The challenge for French president-elect Hollande

The French elected Socialist party candidate François Hollande as their next president. The Europe Center's Roland Hsu weighs in on what the new leader means for France, the euro and a viable Europe. Read more »

Comment by Karl Eikenberry on "Keeping NATO Relevant"

Jamie Shea's essay “Keeping NATO Relevant” appearing in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace April 2012 edition of Policy Outlook offers a comprehensive, thoughtful, and - given the 20-21 May NATO Summit in Chicago - timely discussion of the Alliance's future. Read more »

May 4th, 2012

Former Summer Fellow faces persecution by Egyptian military regime for advocating democracy

Nancy Okail, the head of U.S.-based Freedom House's office in Cairo and a 2005 Draper Hills Summer Fellow waits to stand trial under accusation of working illegally and undermining the Egyptian regime. Read more »

Hachigian tells AFP row over Chinese dissident "a significant source of tension"

Former Visiting Scholar Nina Hachigian, now at the Center for American Progress, tells AFP that China has "taken baby steps" on issues important to the U.S. such as Iran and intellectual property rights enforcement, but the row over dissident Chen Guangcheng could affect progress on those issues. The dispute will be a source of tension until a mutually agreeable solution is found.

• » AFP: Row over dissident threatens broader China-US ties

NSC Director of European Affairs says next French president should maintain commitment to NATO

Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, former CISAC Senior Research Scholar and current National Security Council director of European affairs, says that the White House understands that France will maintain its full commitment to NATO after its presidential elections in June 2012, despite differing opinons from the candidates on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.

• » AFP: US confident of France's commitment to NATO

May 3rd, 2012

Twenty years of inter-Korean relations and the North Korean nuclear issue

Lim Dong-won, former South Korea unification minister and architect of Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine policy, spoke at Stanford on May 18 in conjunction with the English-language release of his memoir Peacemaker.

• » Peacemaker
  
• » Yonhap News interview

Despite questions over US-Afghan pact, Stanford professor remains optimistic

President Barack Obama's trip to Afghanistan this week to sign the Strategic Partnership Agreement reaffirmed America’s commitment to secure and rebuild the country beyond the 2014 troop withdrawal. Stanford Law Professor Erik Jensen argues that staying the course will have positive outcomes for generations of Afghans to come. Read more »

May 2nd, 2012

China provides universal health insurance at a fraction of the cost

Chinese officials are developing a social security network to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing demographic landscape. Karen Eggleston discusses the success of China’s health care reforms and the long road ahead. Read more »

Stanford conference to explore indigenous rights in Latin America

The Program on Human Rights (PHR) at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) together with the Center for Latin American Studies is hosting a one-day conference on Tuesday, May 8 2012 at Stanford University to shed light on the important human rights issues indigenous populations face in Latin America. Read more »

May 1st, 2012

Kapur warns weak Indian counterterrorism efforts could spark international conflict

Affiliate Paul Kapur stressed the need for reform of India's counterterrorism measures in the Washington Post: "The next big terror attack may be even more provocative than the ones in Mumbai and may lead to international conflict."

• » India's counter-terror measures remain in disarray