Science, Technology, and Public Policy

The author critically examines the creation and implementation of new security standards within the postal network after the 2001 anthrax attack. Drawing on research conducted at the Smithsonian Institution and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the article traces the politics inscribed within the architecture of new security technologies. The article sets debates about postal security within a broader account of political economy. The article emphasizes the possibilities and limitations of disasters to create moments of disruption and undergird new political interventions.

"The question of whether we can "act in time" on energy and climate change poses one of the most profound challenges facing the world today. No human activity, other than the wide-scale use of nuclear weapons, has greater potential to reshape and harm our planet and our species than the rapidly expanding generation of greenhouse gases. What is so frustrating about the issue is that even though the dangers are widely accepted in the scientific community, and even though failing to act in time could set off a chain of events that would be all but irreversible, action to date has been weak at best."

Jeffery Lewis examines patterns in Chinese defense investments, strategic force deployments, and arms control behavior to assess China's nuclear strategy.

This chapter focuses on the role of government policy in the evolution of GM technology and institutions.

Governments and industry face a dilemma: how to reconcile increased energy demand with the need to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) offers a means of reducing pollution from coal-fired power generation.

This is the first book to bridge the gap between the "naysayers" and "cheerleaders", and to provide a penetrating examination of the realities, complexities, benefits and pitfalls of GM adoption in developing countries that are desperately fighting poverty while trying to stay afloat in the hyper-competitive global economy.

"Biotechnology enthusiasts emphasize the power of the new science to address a seemimgly endless array of constraints facing resource poor farmers. But the process of technological innovation depends as much on institutions as on the science...."

"Investing in agricultural technology increasingly turns up these days on lists of the top ten practical actions the rich world could take to contribute to reducing global poverty...."