CAPP Newsletter Archive: November 2002
November 2002 Table of Contents
Message from the Director
CAPP
in the News
New RAND Publications
on Asia
RAND
Research Highlights
CAPP News and Events
Recommended
Resources
Message
from the Director
We are excited that this fall, several new Asia researchers joined RAND,
including Evan Medeiros, a China specialist, Rollie Lal, a South Asianist,
and William Overholt, who will hold the chair at CAPP in Asia policy analysis.
We also recently welcomed Ratan Tata to the CAPP Advisory Board.
-Nina Hachigian, CAPP Director
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Time
to Shoot For the Moon
Evan Medeiros in Newsweek
October 28, 2002
China expects to send astronauts to the moon by 2010. Although outsiders
in the West may question why China would want to follow American and Russian
space pioneers, this article argues that China's effort is a symbolic attempt
to recapture a "lost legacy of technological mastery and innovation." Associate
Political Scientist Evan Medeiros, who joined RAND in September, comments
on China's fast-growing aerospace industry.
Al
Qaeda: Shift to Smaller, 'Softer' Targets?
John Parachini quoted in the Christian Science Monitor
October 17, 2002
New attacks being waged by Al Qaeda suggest that the terrorist network is
far from defeated and is focusing on smaller attacks against "softer" targets.
Parachini suggests that the recent bombing in Bali is more than "an
attack on an idyllic place where Hindus, Muslims, and Christians get along" --
it is an attack on western symbols considered to be an affront to Islam by
Al Qaeda fundamentalists.
CNN
International's Insight Program
Interviews Angel Rabasa
October 14, 2002
Rabasa
sheds light on the motives behind the recent bombing of a Bali
nightclub attributed to Al Qaeda and possible effects of the
attack on political dynamics in Indonesia.
Australia
in the Firing Line
Peter Chalk featured in Queensland's Sunday Mail
October 20, 2002
RAND Political Scientist Peter Chalk cautioned that the recent terrorist bombing in Bali could open the door to attacks in Australia and urged Australian federal and state governments to take immediate security steps. "The people of Queensland, all of Australia, are no more or no less safe than (in the US). They are just as vulnerable as any developed areas around the world," he warned.
Crackdown
Targets Use of Internet
"You've Got Dissent" featured in the Washington Times
August 24, 2002
China's government is dealing with a vexing paradox: how to facilitate the
expansion of information technology without allowing the use of such technology
by dissident groups to mushroom out of control. The Washington Times spotlights
a recent RAND report that examines the complexities of China's balancing
act and determines that, while Chinese authorities currently have the upper
hand, time may be on the dissidents' side.
Read the report
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Terrorism
and Asymmetric Conflict in Southwest Asia
Conference Proceedings
Authors: Shahram Chubin, Jerrold Green
Rapporteur: Andrew Rathmell
On June 23-25, 2002, and the Geneva Center for Security Policy held a workshop
on terrorism and asymmetric conflict in Southwest Asia. Discussions were
organized around four themes: military lessons from the Afghan campaign,
terrorism and asymmetric warfare, regional dimensions of the conflict, and
Euro-Atlantic relations in Southwest Asia. Although the United States and
Europe share similar interests in Southwest Asia, they have adopted divergent
tactics toward the region.
Read the report
Excerpts
from the U.S.-China Security Review Commission Hearings
Charles Wolf, Jr.
Dr. Charles Wolf, Senior Economic Advisor and Corporate Chair of International
Economics at RAND, presented testimony to the congressional committee on
trends in China's military spending and investment, trade, and U.S.-Chinese
military-to-military contacts.
Lessons
of 9/11: Congressional Testimony
Bruce Hoffman
Terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman responded to questions from the United States Joint September 11, 2001 Inquiry Staff of the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence on October 8, 2002. He discussed Islamic radicals, Al Qaeda, and mistakes made by the United States with regard to the threat of terrorism.
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RAND
Research Highlights
Public Attitudes towards the United
States in the Republic of Korea
Very little analytic attention has been given to a critical U.S. security
requirement: public support inside South Korea for the United States and
the U.S.-ROK security alliance. Yet much anecdotal evidence and a growing
body of empirical data indicate that public attitudes toward the United States
have recently turned sharply downward. Popular hostility towards the U.S.
could impede U.S.-ROK military cooperation and undermine deterrence and ROK
defense, threatening stability throughout Northeast Asia. CAPP researchers
are embarking upon a new project, led by Eric Larson, to gain a better understanding
of the actual nature and extent of anti-Americanism in the ROK to help the
U.S. prepare policies to counter the potential adverse implications.
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CAPP
News and Events
CAPP
Hosts Researchers from China
On
September 6, 2002, CAPP hosted a roundtable for representatives
from the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), the
think tank for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
visiting researchers and RAND analysts discussed China's economic
reforms, cross-Strait relations, and other issues pertinent
to the U.S.-China relationship. Read more
Senior fellows from several research institutes in China visited RAND's Santa Monica office on September 19, 2002 in advance of President Jiang Zemin's October 2002 trip to the United States. The fellows attended a meeting chaired by CAPP Asia policy research chair William Overholt and attended by several RAND researchers. Topics of conversation included China's relations with Taiwan, U.S. policy towards North Korea, and the effects of the global war on terrorism on U.S.-China relations.
Opposition
Legislators from Taiwan Visit RAND
On
September 3, 2002, CAPP sponsored a visit to RAND's Santa Monica
office by legislators from the Kuomintang and the People First
Party, which represent the largest opposition in the legislature
to Taiwan's governing party, the DPP. Several RAND researchers
addressed legislators' concerns about China-Taiwan relations
and the potential of U.S. involvement in any possible future
cross-Strait conflict. Read more
Ratan
Tata Joins CAPP Advisory Board
Ratan
Tata, Chairman of TATA Industries Limited, Mumbai,
India, visited RAND on August 8, 2002 and accepted
RAND's invitation to serve on the CAPP Advisory Board.
TATA Industries is one of the most extensive family
businesses in India. The Tata family founded India
Air and is involved in numerous other enterprises. Read
more
William
Overholt Tapped to Hold CAPP Research Chair
William
Overholt, who has long analyzed Asia in both the public and
private sectors, has joined RAND as holder of the Asia policy
research chair at CAPP. Overholt is the author of five books,
most recently The Rise of China, which won the prestigious
Mainichi News/Asian Affairs Research Center Special Book Prize.
He has been a consultant on strategic planning and foreign
affairs to the Conference Board, the U.S. Army Strategic Studies
Institute, the Foreign Service Institute, Dean Witter Reynolds,
A.G. Becker, and numerous corporations.
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