DOCSLIB.ORG

Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom edited by Fred McMahon Fraser Institute ©2012 • www.fraserinstitute.org • www.freetheworld.com Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom Edited by Fred McMahon Fraser Institute • Liberales Institut • 2012 Copyright ©2012 by the Fraser Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be repro- duced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief passages quoted in critical articles and reviews. The authors of this book have worked independently and opinions expressed by them are, therefore, their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute, its Board of Trustees, its donors and supporters, or its staff. This publication in no way implies that the Fraser Insti- tute, its trustees, or staff are in favour of, or oppose the passage of, any bill; or that they support or oppose any particular political party or candidate. Printed and bound in Canada Editing: Kristin McCahon Cover design and artwork: Bill C. Ray Cite this book: McMahon, Fred (ed.) (2012). Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom. Fraser Institute. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom / edited by Fred McMahon Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-88975-259-7. Fraser Institute ©2012 • www.fraserinstitute.org • www.freetheworld.com Contents About the co-publishers and Acknowledgements / iv Overview / v 1 Why Do We Measure Freedom? / 3 Detmar Doering 2 Human Freedom from Pericles to Measurement / 7 Fred McMahon 3 An Index of Freedom in the World / 55 Ian Vásquez and Tanja Štumberger 4 Measuring Individual Freedom: Actions and Rights as Indicators of Individual Liberty / 113 Peter Graeff 5 A Compact Statement of a Cost-based Theory of Rights and Freedom: Implications for Classifying and Measuring Rights / 137 Michael A. Walker 6 Conditions for Freedom: A Few Theses on the Theory of Freedom and on Creating an Index of Freedom / 153 Andrei Illarionov 7 Evolution and Freedom / 173 Paul H. Rubin 8 Liberty in Comparative Perspective: China, India, and the West / 189 Erich Weede 9 The Evisceration of Liberty in Canadian Courts / 243 Karen Selick, Derek From, and Chris Schafer 10 From Fighting the Drug War to Protecting the Right to Use Drugs: Recognizing a Forgotten Liberty / 253 Doug Bandow www.freetheworld.com • www.fraserinstitute.org • Fraser Institute ©2012 About the co-publishers Fraser Institute The vision of the Fraser Institute is a free and prosperous world where individuals benefit from greater choice, competitive markets, and per- sonal responsibility. Our mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government interventions on the welfare of individuals. Founded in 1974, we are an independent research and educational organization with locations throughout North America and international partners in nearly 90 nations and territories. Our work is financed by tax-deductible contributions from thousands of individuals, organizations, and foundations. In order to protect its independence, the Institute does not accept grants from government or contracts for research. Website: http://www.fraserinstitute.org. Liberales Institut The Liberales Institut is the think tank of the Friedrich-Naumann- Foundation for Freedom, based in Potsdam, Germany. It spreads lib- eral and free-market ideas through publications, the analysis of political trends, and the promotion of research. It aims to promote the goal of mak- ing freedom valid for the dignity of all people and in all areas of society, both in Germany and abroad. Its policies work towards promoting the rule of law, democracy, and the world-wide liberalization of all markets: information, technology, goods and services, as well as currency and capi- tal markets. The Institute organizes conferences and workshops to stimu- late an intellectual exchange among liberals around the world. Website: http://www.libinst.de. Acknowledgments This publication has been generously supported by the Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation, and by the sponsors of the seminars out of which the book arose: the first, in Atlanta, sponsored by Liberty Fund; two, in Potsdam, sponsored by the Liberal Institute of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom; and one, in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Cato Institute. Fraser Institute ©2012 • www.fraserinstitute.org • www.freetheworld.com Overview The quest People have been seeking freedom for millennia, but not freedom for all. Slaves, serfs, women, outsiders, and the defeated were not included. That changed in the last few centuries as the circle of those considered deserv- ing of freedom expanded. Evolution continues. Two centuries ago, slav- ery was alive in the world in many nations, not just the United States; a century ago, women everywhere lacked full citizenship and the freedoms that go with it; more recently, sexual orientation is being removed as a barrier to freedom. The analysis A rigorous debate on freedom and what it is did not fully blossom until the Enlightenment when the thinkers of the time made clearer both the nature of freedom and the universal right to it. They also understood and developed the relationship between economic freedom, including prop- erty rights, and other freedoms. Key analytical advances (Berlin, 1958 and MacCallum, 1967) have been even more recent. The measure Yet efforts to measure freedom have only emerged in the last quarter cen- tury or so. Unfortunately, these efforts have been flawed: blurring vari- ous definitions of freedoms (despite Berlin’s and MacCallum’s analytical work), confusing “other good things” with freedom, using subjective rather than objective measures, and either failing to account for economic freedom or focusing exclusively on it. The project This project focuses on creating a comprehensive index of human free- dom, which includes economic freedom and is based on the “nega- tive” definition of freedom—in other words, the absence of barriers or coercion that prevent individuals from acting as they might wish. (This concept is discussed at more length in the McMahon, chapter two in this volume.) We have held four seminars to explore the concept and develop a way to proceed: the first in Atlanta, sponsored by Liberty Fund; two in www.freetheworld.com • www.fraserinstitute.org • Fraser Institute ©2012 vi • Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom Potsdam, sponsored by the Liberales Institut (Liberty Institute) of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation; and one in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Cato Institute. Contents 1 Why Do We Measure Freedom? Detmar Doering Doering’s insightful, brief essay outlines the motivation for this proj- ect. He reviews the existing evidence that freedom produces superior utilitarian outcomes but notes the incompleteness of this evidence. He discusses the flaws of the existing “freedom” indexes and the need to inte- grate economic freedom into an overall index of human freedom. Only then, when a reliable measure of freedom exists, will it be possible to test the impact of freedom on human well-being reliably. As he says in his concluding paragraph: “An index that could provide us with sound empirical evidence about the state of freedom and its beneficial conse- quences could do a lot to bridge the gap that has divided the friends of freedom for long time.” 2 Human Freedom from Pericles to Measurement Fred McMahon This article provides a literature review of freedom, tracing its concep- tual development from classical times. It explores the analytical devices developed to help understand freedom. Turning to the various measures of freedom now available, it shows how they are either incomplete or con- fused (or both) about the nature of freedom. 3 An Index of Freedom in the World Ian Vásquez and Tanja Štumberger Building on the conceptual work of the conferences, Vásquez and Štumberger develop a human freedom index based on a consistent “neg- ative” concept of freedom. It uses only third party data to ensure objec- tivity and avoid subjective judgments. It also creates a unified index of economic and other freedoms, which until now were only examined in separate indexes. 4 Measuring Individual Freedom: Actions and Rights as Indicators of Individual Liberty Peter Graeff The author attempts to “reduce the gap between theoretical ideas of freedom (in the negative sense) and operationalization.” To do this, he analyzes the debates over what freedom actually is and the relation of “negative” to other sorts of freedom. He argues that a measure should Fraser Institute ©2012 • www.fraserinstitute.org • www.freetheworld.com Overview • vii understand the difference between “actions” that individuals can under- take and obstacles to them, on the one hand, and the range of rights granted to individuals by culture, society, or law, on the other. 5 A Compact Statement of a Cost-based Theory of Rights and Freedom: Implications for Classifying and Measuring Rights Michael A. Walker The author draws a distinction between two types of rights or free- doms: those that are costless or low cost for a society to provide and those that require the expenditure of resources to provide. The first set simply requires government to refrain from acting. It includes, among others, freedoms like non-interference with families, most elements of economic freedom, non-discrimination by government, and no prohibi- tion of religions, clubs, newspapers, or other modes of communication. Costly rights include security of property and
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Songs by Artist
    Reil Entertainment Songs by Artist Karaoke by Artist Title Title &, Caitlin Will 12 Gauge Address In The Stars Dunkie Butt 10 Cc 12 Stones Donna We Are One Dreadlock Holiday 19 Somethin' Im Mandy Fly Me Mark Wills I'm Not In Love 1910 Fruitgum Co Rubber Bullets 1, 2, 3 Redlight Things We Do For Love Simon Says Wall Street Shuffle 1910 Fruitgum Co. 10 Years 1,2,3 Redlight Through The Iris Simon Says Wasteland 1975 10, 000 Maniacs Chocolate These Are The Days City 10,000 Maniacs Love Me Because Of The Night Sex... Because The Night Sex.... More Than This Sound These Are The Days The Sound Trouble Me UGH! 10,000 Maniacs Wvocal 1975, The Because The Night Chocolate 100 Proof Aged In Soul Sex Somebody's Been Sleeping The City 10Cc 1Barenaked Ladies Dreadlock Holiday Be My Yoko Ono I'm Not In Love Brian Wilson (2000 Version) We Do For Love Call And Answer 11) Enid OS Get In Line (Duet Version) 112 Get In Line (Solo Version) Come See Me It's All Been Done Cupid Jane Dance With Me Never Is Enough It's Over Now Old Apartment, The Only You One Week Peaches & Cream Shoe Box Peaches And Cream Straw Hat U Already Know What A Good Boy Song List Generator® Printed 11/21/2017 Page 1 of 486 Licensed to Greg Reil Reil Entertainment Songs by Artist Karaoke by Artist Title Title 1Barenaked Ladies 20 Fingers When I Fall Short Dick Man 1Beatles, The 2AM Club Come Together Not Your Boyfriend Day Tripper 2Pac Good Day Sunshine California Love (Original Version) Help! 3 Degrees I Saw Her Standing There When Will I See You Again Love Me Do Woman In Love Nowhere Man 3 Dog Night P.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Basic Models of Conflict and Cooperation
    PSC/IR 106: The Democratic Peace Theory William Spaniel williamspaniel.com/pscir-106 Data Project #1 • Questions? Problem Set #1 • Grades were good • Returned already or in recitation this week Robert Axelrod Robert Axelrod Outline • Brief History of IR Theory • The Democratic Peace • Explanations for the Democratic Peace? • Correlation Does Not Imply Causation • The McDonald’s Peace Theory • The Capitalist Peace • The Rise of China Outline • Brief History of IR Theory • The Democratic Peace • Explanations for the Democratic Peace? • Correlation Does Not Imply Causation • The McDonald’s Peace Theory • The Capitalist Peace • The Rise of China Roadmap • Before: Unitary actor assumption • Now: Perhaps type of government matters • Next week: Perhaps leaders matter Intellectual History • For the majority of IR’s history, scholars assumed that states were identical except for in relative power (Realists) • Other scholars challenged this assumption in the 1980s – Evidence overwhelmingly supports the second group Outline • Brief History of IR Theory • The Democratic Peace • Explanations for the Democratic Peace? • Correlation Does Not Imply Causation • The McDonald’s Peace Theory • The Capitalist Peace • The Rise of China The Democratic Peace Theory Democracies tend not to fight other democracies. Ultimately, the best strategy to ensure our security and to build a durable peace is to support the advance of democracy elsewhere. Democracies don't attack each other. (1994 State of the Union) Democracies don't go to war with each other. And the reason why is the people of most societies don't like war, and they understand what war means.... I've got great faith in democracies to promote peace.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 4 Freedom and Progress
    Chapter 4 Freedom and Progress The best road to progress is freedom’s road. John F. Kennedy The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impeded their efforts to obtain it. John Stuart Mill To cull the inestimable benefits assured by freedom of the press, it is necessary to put up with the inevitable evils springing therefrom. Alexis de Tocqueville Freedom is necessary to generate progress; people also value freedom as an important component of progress. This chapter will contend that both propositions are correct. Without liberty, there will be little or no progress; most people will consider an expansion in freedom as progress. Neither proposition would win universal acceptance. Some would argue that a totalitarian state can marshal the resources to generate economic growth. Many will contend that too much liberty induces libertine behavior and is destructive of society, peace, and the family. For better or worse, the record shows that freedom has increased throughout the world over the last few centuries and especially over the last few decades. There are of course many examples of non-free, totalitarian, ruthless government on the globe, but their number has decreased and now represents a smaller proportion of the world’s population. Perhaps this growth of freedom is partially responsible for the breakdown of the family and the rise in crime, described in the previous chapter. Dictators do tolerate less crime and are often very repressive of deviant sexual behavior, but, as the previous chapter reported, divorce and illegitimacy are more connected with improved income of women than with a permissive society.
    [Show full text]
  • “American Chronicles: the Art of Norman Rockwell at TAM” Published in Artdish, March 2011  2011 Jane Richlovsky
    “American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell at TAM” published in Artdish, March 2011 2011 Jane Richlovsky Norman Rockwell's painting "Discovery", currently on display at the Tacoma Art Museum, depicts a pajama-clad young boy finding a Santa Claus suit and false beard in Dad's bureau drawer, incriminating evidence of the old man's fakery. The picture appeared on the cover of the December 29, 1956 Saturday Evening Post. It's hard at first to get past the boy's facial expression. His eyes are popping out of his head, in a way that irritatingly foreshadows the ubiquitous Macauley Caulkin "Home Alone" publicity shot. However unfortunate this association, the expression is so utterly unconvincing as a portrayal of having one's cherished mythology punctured, that one can't help but think the kid never believed in Santa in the first place. Considering that this is one of many Rockwell paintings that repeatedly revisit the Santa-unmasking narrative over decades, you have to wonder: Is the guy responsible for our vision of the American Myth perhaps telling us we shouldn't be so surprised or upset that it's all made up? I've always found sunny, idealized, 1950's-style Leave-it-to-Beaver archetypal America intriguing, compelling, and horrifying. I'm far from alone in this, but I have spent more time than most people immersed in its ephemera, interrogating, digesting, cutting up, reconfiguring, and spitting back out endless images from midcentury domestic magazines. Imagine my shock when, after all that, putting together a show of the resulting paintings, I encounter a dealer's misbegotten press release, or an enthusiastic patron, praising what I thought was my scathing critique as a fond, nostalgic look back at a "simpler time".
    [Show full text]
  • Durham Research Online
    Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 24 April 2017 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Dimova-Cookson, Maria (2013) 'Defending Isaiah Berlin's distinctions between negative and positive freedoms.', in Isaiah Berlin and the politics of freedom : 'Two concepts of liberty' 50 years later. New York: Routledge, pp. 73-86. Routledge innovations in political theory. (48). Further information on publisher's website: https://www.routledge.com/9780415656795/ Publisher's copyright statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Isaiah Berlin and the politics of freedom: 'Two concepts of liberty' 50 years later on 20/12/2012, available online: https://www.routledge.com/9780415656795/ Additional information: Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk Defending Isaiah Berlin’s Distinctions between Negative and Positive Freedoms1 Maria Dimova-Cookson Published in Bruce Baum and Robert Nichols, eds.
    [Show full text]
  • EU POLICY in the SOUTH CAUCASUS Sascha Tamm
    WEAKNESS AS AN OPPORTUNITY: EU POLICY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS With the European Neighborhood Policy, the EU’s relationship with the countries of the South Caucasus has achieved a new quality. These countries now have a concrete legal foundation on which to stand in their relationship with the EU. However, up until now the EU has not been taking adequate advantage of its opportunity. The EU is not a geo- strategic player with military power, that will destroy itself in the struggle over a “sphere of influence”. However its principles and institutions, which are based upon liberal ideas, are a shining example for the three countries. On this basis, the EU is able to and has to play its part in the development of long-term peace and prosperity in the South Caucasus. * Sascha Tamm * The author is Head of the Central, Southeast and Eastern Europe Department of the Friedrich-Naumann- Foundation for Liberty, Germany In 2006, all three countries of the South Caucasus–Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan– were admitted into the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). This was an important step, but one which came much too late. Until 2006, Europe could not be characterized as having a coherent strategy in this region. Today still there is not an acceptable and transparent solution to the problems that burden the future of the region and its relationship with the European Union. The EU neither has a master plan nor the geo- strategic weight to enforce its plans against the will of individual countries or political groups. This can and should not be its objective, at least not in the region being discussed here.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution, Politics and Law
    Valparaiso University Law Review Volume 38 Number 4 Summer 2004 pp.1129-1248 Summer 2004 Evolution, Politics and Law Bailey Kuklin Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Bailey Kuklin, Evolution, Politics and Law, 38 Val. U. L. Rev. 1129 (2004). Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol38/iss4/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Valparaiso University Law School at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Valparaiso University Law Review by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Kuklin: Evolution, Politics and Law VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 38 SUMMER 2004 NUMBER 4 Article EVOLUTION, POLITICS AND LAW Bailey Kuklin* I. Introduction ............................................... 1129 II. Evolutionary Theory ................................. 1134 III. The Normative Implications of Biological Dispositions ......................... 1140 A . Fact and Value .................................... 1141 B. Biological Determinism ..................... 1163 C. Future Fitness ..................................... 1183 D. Cultural N orm s .................................. 1188 IV. The Politics of Sociobiology ..................... 1196 A. Political Orientations ......................... 1205 B. Political Tactics ................................... 1232 V . C onclusion ................................................. 1248 I. INTRODUCTION
    [Show full text]
  • WPSA 2017 Unstable Equilibrium
    Unstable Equilibrium: Positive and Negative Liberty for Isaiah Berlin Kathleen Cole, Ph.D. Metropolitan State University Paper for Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association April 15, 2017 This paper is a working draft. Please do not circulate. In his landmark essay, “Two Concepts of Liberty,” Isaiah Berlin identifies two distinct conceptions of liberty that have emerged from various philosophical traditions: negative and positive liberty. For Berlin, theorists of negative and positive liberty differ with respect to the divergent questions they ask when determining conditions of freedom or unfreedom. Negative liberty theorists are centrally concerned with the question, “[What is the] minimum area of personal freedom which must on no account be violated”?1 From this perspective, “I am normally said to be free to the degree to which no man or body of men interferes with my activity. Political liberty in this sense if simply the area within which a man can act unobstructed by others.”2 In contrast, positive liberty theorists determine conditions of freedom or unfreedom by asking, “By whom am I ruled?”3 From this perspective, to be free is to be one’s own master, to make autonomous choices about the purpose and practices of one’s life, and to bear the responsibility for those choices.4 Berlin’s essay has been widely praised for clarifying important distinctions between conflicting meanings of the term liberty.5 The essay has become one of Berlin’s most widely read and influential publications. Often, the essay is interpreted as an endorsement of negative liberty and a rejection of positive conceptions of liberty.
    [Show full text]
  • Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg
    Smithsonian American Art Museum TEACHER’S GUIDE from the collections of GEORGE LUCAS and STEVEN SPIELBERG 1 ABOUT THIS RESOURCE PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO THE MUSEUM This teacher’s guide was developed to accompany the exhibition Telling The Smithsonian American Art Museum is located at 8th and G Streets, NW, Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and above the Gallery Place Metro stop and near the Verizon Center. The museum Steven Spielberg, on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Admission is free. Washington, D.C., from July 2, 2010 through January 2, 2011. The show Visit the exhibition online at http://AmericanArt.si.edu/rockwell explores the connections between Norman Rockwell’s iconic images of American life and the movies. Two of America’s best-known modern GUIDED SCHOOL TOURS filmmakers—George Lucas and Steven Spielberg—recognized a kindred Tours of the exhibition with American Art Museum docents are available spirit in Rockwell and formed in-depth collections of his work. Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., September through Rockwell was a masterful storyteller who could distill a narrative into December. To schedule a tour contact the tour scheduler at (202) 633-8550 a single moment. His images contain characters, settings, and situations that or [email protected]. viewers recognize immediately. However, he devised his compositional The docent will contact you in advance of your visit. Please let the details in a painstaking process. Rockwell selected locations, lit sets, chose docent know if you would like to use materials from this guide or any you props and costumes, and directed his models in much the same way that design yourself during the visit.
    [Show full text]
  • Basic Income with High Open Innovation Dynamics: the Way to the Entrepreneurial State
    Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity Concept Paper Basic Income with High Open Innovation Dynamics: The Way to the Entrepreneurial State Jinhyo Joseph Yun 1,* , KyungBae Park 2 , Sung Duck Hahm 3 and Dongwook Kim 4 1 Department of Open Innovation, Open Innovation Academy of SOItmC, Convergence Research Center for Future Automotive Technology of DGIST, Daegu 42988, Korea 2 Department of Business Administration, Sangji University, 83 Sangjidae-gil, Wonju, Gangwon-do 26339, Korea 3 Korean Institute for Presidential Studies (KIPS), Seoul 06306, Korea 4 Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 21 May 2019; Accepted: 25 June 2019; Published: 11 July 2019 Abstract: Currently, the world economy is approaching a near-zero growth rate. Governments should move from a market-failure-oriented to a system-failure-oriented approach to understanding this problem, and transform to an entrepreneurial state to motivate the Schumpeterian dynamics of open innovation. We want to answer the following research question in this study: “How can a government enact policies to conquer the growth limits imposed on the economy by inequality or the control of big businesses?” First, we conducted a literature review to establish the concept of building a causal loop model of basic income with open innovation dynamics. Second, we built a causal loop model which includes basic income and all factors of open innovation dynamics. Third, we proved our causal loop model through a meta-analysis of global cases of basic income. Our research indicates that reflective basic income with permissionless open innovation, capital fluidity, a sharing economy, and a platform tax can motivate open innovation dynamics and arrive at a method by which an entrepreneurial state can conquer the growth limits of capitalism.
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of the Social Science Literature on the Causes of Conflict
    Research Report Understanding Conflict Trends A Review of the Social Science Literature on the Causes of Conflict Stephen Watts, Jennifer Kavanagh, Bryan Frederick, Tova C. Norlen, Angela O’Mahony, Phoenix Voorhies, Thomas S. Szayna Prepared for the United States Army Approved for public release; distribution unlimited ARROYO CENTER For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/rr1063z1 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2017 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.html. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface The recent spike in violence in places like Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen notwithstanding, the number of conflicts worldwide has fallen since the end of the Cold War, and few of those that remain are clashes between states.
    [Show full text]
  • U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress
    U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress Updated April 6, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R44891 U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress Summary The U.S. role in the world refers to the overall character, purpose, or direction of U.S. participation in international affairs and the country’s overall relationship to the rest of the world. The U.S. role in the world can be viewed as establishing the overall context or framework for U.S. policymakers for developing, implementing, and measuring the success of U.S. policies and actions on specific international issues, and for foreign countries or other observers for interpreting and understanding U.S. actions on the world stage. While descriptions of the U.S. role in the world since the end of World War II vary in their specifics, it can be described in general terms as consisting of four key elements: global leadership; defense and promotion of the liberal international order; defense and promotion of freedom, democracy, and human rights; and prevention of the emergence of regional hegemons in Eurasia. The issue for Congress is whether the U.S. role in the world is changing, and if so, what implications this might have for the United States and the world. A change in the U.S. role could have significant and even profound effects on U.S. security, freedom, and prosperity. It could significantly affect U.S. policy in areas such as relations with allies and other countries, defense plans and programs, trade and international finance, foreign assistance, and human rights.
    [Show full text]