Books & Reports
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Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament
Overview In April 2009, U.S. president Barack Obama identified nuclear terrorism as the gravest threat to the United States. But debates in the main decision-making bodies in Vienna and New York r… -
Overview Many people argue that inappropriate compensation policies in financial companies contributed to the global financial crisis. Some say the overall level of pay was too high. Others critic…
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Overview There are critical holes in the existing regulatory framework for handling large complex financial institutions that become impaired. This uncertainty makes it difficult for regulators to…
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Overview Global macroeconomic imbalances—massive borrowing by some countries and massive lending by others—drove the financial boom and bubble that eventually burst into the current crisis. These …
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Overview In this Center for Geoeconomic Studies Working Paper, Steven Dunaway argues that the outlook for recovery and growth in the world economy at this juncture appears rather gloomy. Lasting a…
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Overview Nigeria’s underdeveloped but oil-rich Niger Delta region currently is the site of a crippling insurgency. Fueled by a complex mixture of protest, crime, and political corruption, the netw…
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Overview Retirement saving is undergoing a fundamental change as employers shift from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) accounts. Defined contribution pla…
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Overview Credit default swaps (CDS) are contracts that provide protection against the risk of default by borrowers. The buyer of the CDS makes periodic payments to the seller, and in return the bu…
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Overview Many analysts, including Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve, have argued that global imbalances are an important causal factor of the global financial crisis. But it is not the …
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Overview This is an update to the January 2009 Working Paper China’s $1.7 Trillion Bet. Download the original paper [PDF]. China is now by far the United States’ largest creditor. Its treasury …
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Overview Financial regulations in almost all countries are designed to ensure the soundness of individual institutions, principally commercial banks, against the risk of loss on their assets. This…
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Overview The fight against HIV and AIDS has become a massive exercise. Twenty years ago, the AIDS epidemic was solely a topic of medical and public health concern in most societies. Today the pand…
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Overview President Obama publicly unveiled his administration's policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan in March 2009. In this Policy Options Paper, CFR Senior Fellow Daniel Markey analyzes the Oba…
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Overview This Working Paper, the second in a series from the Squam Lake Working Group distributed by the Center for Geoeconomic Studies, argues that regulators consider systemic effects when setti…
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Overview This Working Paper, the third in the Squam Lake Working Group series distributed by the Center for Geoeconomic Studies, recommends support for a new regulatory hybrid security that will e…
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Overview Information about prices and quantities of assets lies at the heart of well-functioning capital markets. In the current financial crisis, it has become clear that many important actors—bo…
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Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Overview President Barack Obama, in one of his first moves in office, reversed some of the most controversial detention and interrogation policies of the Bush administration. His three executive o… -
Executive Summary Excerpt: As the Obama Administration transitions to power already burdened with global economic crises and two wars, two events underscore India's importance for US interests: t…
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Overview Though the United States of America faces its toughest budgetary and economic challenges since the Great Depression, it cannot afford to eliminate, or even reduce, its foreign assistance …
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Overview For several years, high oil prices enabled the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to add large sums to their state coffers. Falling oil prices imply that some Gulf countries may need to d…
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Overview Around the world, 72 million primary-school-aged children and another 226 million adolescents will not attend school this year. While global awareness of the silent crisis of education in…
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Overview This Center for Preventive Action Working Paper surveys existing approaches to assessing state fragility and failure within the context of development, conflict, and governance. It examin…
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Overview Despite generations of talking, trading, intermarrying, and fighting together as allies--not to mention sharing a border--Canadians cherish ideas about the United States that may not be t…
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Overview The CFR Forum is series of discussions about pressing international issues hosted by CFR fellows. Every few weeks, a different fellow hand picks a group of experts to tackle a new subject…