April 23rd, 2008

Naylor discusses rising food prices on NPR, KQED Forum

Rosamond Naylor, director of the Program on Food Security and the Environment, discusses the global food crisis on NPR's Morning Edition and KQED Forum. She also was interviewed by ABC7, while program director Marshall Burke talked to NBC11.

• » NPR: Rising demand for meat takes toll environment
• » KQED Forum: Food prices and biofuels

April 22nd, 2008

Moscow Times discusses, quotes McFaul as Obama Russian strategist

The Russian newspaper quotes CDDRL director Michael McFaul as "Obama's top Russia strategist," quoting McFaul on Obama's tendency to engage--rather than isolate--in foreign policy. Read more »

April 20th, 2008

Substantial part of carbon offset market doesn't mean reduction, Wara and Victor say

PESD scholars Michael Wara and David Victor suggest that a substantial fraction of the $12b market for international carbon offsets does not represent real reductions and that the market is unlikely to provide reliable cost-control for a domestic carbon market. Instead, they suggest that a broader array of strategies will be needed to make a real dent in developing world emissions and that more explicit cost control mechanisms be considered for a U.S. cap-and- trade market for greenhouse gases.

• » A Realistic Policy on International Carbon Offsets

April 18th, 2008

Straub appointed associate director of Korean Studies Program

David Straub, currently a Pantech Fellow at Shorenstein APARC, has been appointed associate director of the Korean Studies Program. "David has been a tremendous asset to us with his expertise and experiences on U.S.-ROK relations," said Shorenstein APARC Director Gi-Wook Shin. "As he takes on his new role with us, he will provide important leadership to the Korean Studies Program that has been expanding fast." Read more »

Newsweek: Victor looks at problems with Mexico's national oil company, effect on oil markets

What to do about Mexico's oil company, Pemex, may seem like a parochial issue of interest only to Mexicans and a few oil industry executives. But the matter should be of concern to anybody who is wondering when oil will come down off its near-record highs. Read more »

April 17th, 2008

PESD releases case study of Pemex, Mexico's national oil company

PESD has just released an 87-page case study of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's national oil company. In "The Void of Governance: An Assessment of Pemex's Performance and Strategy," researcher Ognen Stojanovski examines how the state-owned company functions and details some of the profound challenges faced by reformers.
Read more »

Hicham Benabdallah writes about Arab democracy in age of terrorism

For the last 20 years authoritarian regimes have refashioned themselves in order to stay in power, writes CDDRL visiting scholar Hicham Benabdallah in Le Monde Diplomatique. As the middle class under these regimes becomes increasingly disengaged from local politics, many social groups see the hope for their future outside the national context. Read more »

Germany vetoes NATO membership for Ukraine, Georgia; Putin the big winner, McFaul tells National Journal

"Putin looks like the big winner this week," CDDRL Director Michael McFaul wrote in an e-mail to the National Journal from Kiev. "As one of my Ukrainian friends said, Russia de facto is already a NATO member as they have the power to veto members, while Ukraine has no such similar powers." Read more »

April 16th, 2008

Armacost: U.S., South Korea must move past years of missteps

Shorenstein APARC Distinguished Fellow Michael Armacost discusses U.S.-South Korea ties and points out challenges ahead. "From free trade to North Korea's nuclear threat," writes Armacost in the Christian Science Monitor, "both sides must move past years of missteps." Read more »

Report of New Beginnings group advises U.S. to respond positively to South Korea's requests

The report of New Beginnings group suggests U.S. conduct comprehensive evaluation of Korean peninsula and Northeast Asian situations. Read more »

Preparation is key to avoiding 'worst-case outcome,' Chertoff says

CISAC members Lynn Eden, Martha Crenshaw, and Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar participated in"Germ Warfare, Contagious Disease and the Constitution," a daylong event co-hosted by Stanford Law School. CISAC affiliate Laura Donohue conceived and developed the project. Read more »

Bush's climate change plan significant, but will need to outline specific steps, Victor tells New York Times

President Bush's willingness to set goals for greenhouse gases is "significant, because it's moving in the right direction," PESD Director David Victor told the New York Times on April 16, in advance of the president's announcement of new climate change policies. "If he's not going to outline how you actually get to the goals," Victor said, 'it's hard to see that this is going to have much credibility."

• » New York Times: Bush to give goals for greenhouse gases
• » International Herald Tribune: Bush to lay out goals on global warming
• » White House: President Bush discusses global climate change

April 15th, 2008

Sagan wins Gerner teaching award

The International Studies Association has awarded CISAC Co-Director Scott Sagan the 2008 Deborah "Misty" Gerner Innovative Teaching in International Studies Award for his simulation exercise that he has taught to Stanford undergraduates for the last decade through PS 114S "International Security in a Changing World." Read more »

April 14th, 2008

New Beginnings group to release report on U.S.-South Korea alliance

New Beginnings, a non-partisan study group of distinguished former American senior officials and experts formed by the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the New York-based Korea Society, will release their report on how to revitalize the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance on Monday, April 14, in Washington, DC., followed by a presentation in New York on April 15. 2 papers available
Read more »

April 11th, 2008

Should be engaging Medvedev after May, not Putin in April, says McFaul in Wash Post

CDDRL Director Michael McFaul comments for the Washington Post on Bush and Putin's weekend meeting in Sochi. "We should be engaging Medvedev after May, not Putin in April," says McFaul.

• » Washington Post: Aiming to Ease Tensions, Without U.S.-Russia Pact

Diamond sketches way out of Iraq

The truth is, we remain trapped in an awful quagmire, writes Larry Diamond in the Huffington Post and FSI In The World, a new faculty blog for the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. So what needs to be done? Read more »

April 7th, 2008

McFaul interviewed by Russia Today about NATO expansion, Bush and Putin in Sochi

Russia Today interviews CDDRL Director Michael McFaul about NATO expansion and Bush and Putin's meeting in Sochi. Read more »

April 3rd, 2008

Blix talks to Boston Review, will hold Global Justice workshop

Hans Blix, the U.N.'s chief weapons inspector from 2000-03, led the inspections in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion. On the five-year anniversary of the invasion, Dr. Blix spoke with Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, associate editor of Boston Review Books, about what makes a good diplomat, the Iraq inspections, and his new book from Boston Review Books calling for new, global disarmament efforts. He will discuss his book, Why Nuclear Disarmament Matters, at a special Program on Global Justice workshop Friday, April 4. Read more »

Eggleston and colleagues receive award for research on China's dramatic pre-1980 health improvements

Official growth in Chinese life expectancy between 1950 and 1980 ranks among the most rapid in documented global history, yet virtually no study has quantitatively assessed the determinants of those longevity gains. Recently Karen Eggleston received notice of an award from Stanford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging--supported by the National Institutes of Health / National Institute of Aging--for a study entitled "Health Improvement under Mao and Its Implications for Contemporary Aging in China." Eggleston will undertake this study jointly with colleagues Grant Miller (Stanford) and Hongbin Li (Tsinghua, PRC). Read more »

April 1st, 2008

Koret gift to Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center to support Korean Studies Program

The Koret Foundation of San Francisco has approved a $300,000 gift in support of the Korean Studies Program at Stanford University. Read more »

March 28th, 2008

SPRIE Co-Director William Miller profiled on Forbes.com

While the Stanford community may know him as former provost, professor emeritus, and co-director of SPRIE, William Miller is also chair and co-founder of Redwood City's Nanostellar, a start-up using innovative methods and new technologies to dramatically increase the efficiency of catalytic converters. Read more »

March 27th, 2008

Working paper: Jojarth develops empirical model for oil production costs

What does it cost to produce a barrel of oil? CDDRL research associate and PESD affiliate Christine Jojarth provides a systematic answer to this question, taking into account geography, the "difficulty" of the oil field, and other factors. The results help quantify how much extra revenue is flowing to oil producers worldwide. Read more »

March 25th, 2008

Blog: Weiss interviewed about U.S.-India nuclear deal

Kingston Reif interviews CISAC affiliate Leonard Weiss for Nukes of Hazard, a project of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. YouTube video available. Read more »

Siegfried Hecker's report on North Korea visit to Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Siegfried Hecker's report was presented as part of a formal report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 17, 2008, by Keith Luse, senior staffer to Sen. Richard Lugar.

• » Report of Visit to North Korea to Senate Foreign Relations Committee

CISAC's Perry to head congressional commission examining nation's strategic weapons posture

Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, co-director of CISAC's Preventive Defense Project, has been named chair of a Congressional bipartisan commission nominated March 19 to examine America's strategic military posture, including the "appropriate role" of nuclear weapons. Read more »