India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (PDF)

Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

India is the world’s largest democracy, and one of its fastest-growing economies. The country is celebrated for its educated professional class, its urban-based prosperity, and its Bollywood-fueled cultural influence abroad. Commentators wax effusive about its extraordinary “growth story” and rising global clout. A 2010 joint study by the U.S. National Intelligence Council and the European Union declared it the world’s third-most powerful nation.

India, to borrow a government slogan first coined in 2003, is indeed “shining.” This cheery narrative, however, masks a parallel reality about India. While parts of the country bask in the glow of new-found affluence, others continue to toil in the gloom of abject poverty. This other side of India is also riven by violence and unrest, which increasingly targets the government. Meanwhile, even as India takes on the trappings of a global power, it remains deeply concerned about security developments beyond its borders. Lurking beneath India’s recent triumphs are internal and external security challenges that may well intensify in the years ahead.

United States Peace Index 2011

United States Peace Index 2011

Source: Institute for Economics & Peace

The United States Peace Index (USPI) is the first in a series of national peace indices that will build on the work of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in measuring and understanding the fabric of peace. The Institute produces the Global Peace Index which is the first ever study to methodically rank the nations of the world by their peacefulness and to identify potential drivers of peace. The GPI has become a valued resource and is used by academics, think tanks and governments around the world.

Defense Budgets and American Power

Defense Budgets and American Power

Source: Brookings Institution

In the late 1980s, as U.S. GDP growth slowed, budget deficits remained stubbornly high, and other nations’ economies outperformed that of the United States, arguments that “the Cold War is over—and Japan and Germany won” were heard frequently. Since that time, however, these U.S. allies have encountered their own challenges—Germany in reintegrating its eastern half and then helping establish the viability (and solvency) of the European Union (EU) and Euro systems; and Japan in dealing with a protracted deflating of its earlier financial bubble, combined with demographic challenges that leave its future economic prospects uncertain, at best.

Today, we are witnessing a period of even greater American economic travails, with much larger fiscal deficits. These are coupled with deep concern that less friendly powers—China in particular and perhaps Russia and others—may be poised to benefit from the relative decline of the United States specifically and the West in general. Is this assessment accurate? What do these shifting economic realities bode for the future of American power and ultimately the security of this country and its allies? Most of all, in light of these changes, to what extent can the United States mitigate the downsides of any hegemonic realignment of global power by more responsible fiscal policy? Put most sharply for the purposes of this essay, to what extent should the United States, as part of a broader strategy to reduce its deficits and strengthen its future economic prospects, accept some defense budget cuts now to preserve and enhance its power in the future?

Deloitte's Energy Predictions 2011 report focuses on sustainability in challenging conditions

Deloitte's Energy Predictions 2011 report focuses on sustainability in challenging conditions

Source: Deloitte

Deloitte’s Global Energy & Resources Group today published its Energy Predictions 2011 report, the second year it has published its predictions for the year ahead. The report is based on in-depth interviews with clients, industry analysts, and senior energy practitioners from Deloitte member firms around the world.

Even as the global economic downturn begins to ease, the energy sector is still likely to experience challenging conditions entering 2011. Serving as a global and unified measure of economic recovery, the price of oil and the strength and sustainability of the recovery will impact the ways in which all forms of energy are produced and consumed.

“Energy plays a pivotal role in driving the global economy,” says Peter Bommel, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited Global Energy & Resources Industry Leader. “Anticipating the course of the energy and resources sector over the next twelve months is not easy, but Deloitte’s Energy Predictions Report aims to stimulate debate, inform of possible industry directions, and help identify opportunities and potential courses of action.”

Guide to the Global Economic Crisis

Guide to the Global Economic Crisis

By Robert J. Tiess, Reference Department, Middletown (NY) Thrall Library

Web resource guide which includes key information on the current economic crisis, related concepts and initiatives, as well as recent U.S. Government statements and actions concerning the situation.

Economic Report of the President

Economic Report of the President

Source: Council of Economic Advisors

From Fact Sheet: The Economic Report of the President:

Today, the White House released the Economic Report of the President, an annual report to Congress on the Nation’s economic progress. The report released today reviews the state of the U.S. economy, the outlook for the next several years, and a wide variety of economic issues that underlie many of the Administration’s economic policies.…

The U.S. economy continued to grow for the sixth straight year in 2007, but we are facing a rough patch. Although real GDP growth slowed in the fourth quarter of last year, economic growth is expected to continue in 2008. Most market forecasts suggest a slower pace in the first half of 2008, followed by strengthened growth in the second half of the year.

Budget of the United States Government, FY09

Budget of the United States Government, FY09

Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President’s budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications, such as the Economic Report of the President, are included, which may vary from year to year

U.S. Key to Building Prosperity and Opportunity in Latin America

U.S. Key to Building Prosperity and Opportunity in Latin America

Source: International Trade Administration (USDoC)

The Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) released new data demonstrating the United States’ contribution to prosperity in the Western Hemisphere. In conjunction with the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), ITA issued fact sheets which highlight the trade, investment and social development provided by the U.S. to countries in the hemisphere from Mexico to Argentina.

Global Development Finance 2007: The Globalization of Corporate Finance in Developing Countries

Global Development Finance 2007: The Globalization of Corporate Finance in Developing Countries

Source: World Bank

Net private capital flows to developing countries reached a record $647 billion in 2006, although the rate of growth of these flows slowed from 34 percent in 2005 to 17 percent in 2006. Emerging Europe attracted an increasing share of the overall flows and equity financing grew much faster than debt, says Global Development Finance 2007. Despite commitments made by donors, aid flows were disappointing, and the shift from official to private sources of finance continued.

The annual World Bank report predicts that higher interest rates and emerging capacity constraints will slow the very fast growth of developing countries in the past few years, with global growth falling from 4 percent in 2006 to around 3.5 percent in 2009. This realignment could also temper some of the positive global financial conditions that have prevailed in many developing countries over the past four years.