Environment & Climate Change

Over several years, some of the most distinguished Chinese and American scholars have engaged in a major research project, sponsored by the China- U.S. Exchange Foundation (USEF), to address the big bilateral and global issues the two countries face. Historically, the ascension of a great power has resulted in armed conflict. This group of scholars—experts in politics, economics, international security, and environmental studies—set out to establish consensus on potentially contentious issues and elaborate areas where the two nations can work together to achieve common goals. Featuring essays on global warming, trade relations, Taiwan, democratization, WMDs and bilateral humanitarian intervention, Power and Restraint finds that China and the United States can exist side by side and establish mutual understanding to better cope with the common challenges they face.

Negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) will soon be underway at the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, and will include detailed attention to how such a treaty could be verified. This paper explains how commercial observation satellites can be effective in verifying that reactors used to produce weapons plutonium in the past are kept in a shutdown status under a cutoff treaty or moratorium. The satellites considered are the new-generation satellites with fine spatial resolution images in the visible and near infrared band complemented by thermal infrared images with lower-spatial resolution but good temperature resolution. These satellites can also contribute to the detection of undeclared nuclear-reactor sites and suspicious construction activities.

The single best volume analyzing the defining moment in the nuclear age, the original edition of Essence of Decision is a classic work that has influenced generations of students, scholars, and policy makers. The new edition of this best-selling text includes comprehensive synthesis of all new evidence — including recently declassified Kennedy tapes and Soviet files. Not only revised, but completely rewritten, the new edition provides deeper and clearer answers to an enduring question: how should citizens understand the actions of their governments?

This 1992 book offers a critical reappraisal of traditional relationships between the military and industry.

The Kosovo conflict in Spring 1999 brought an unsettling close to the 20th Century, representing both a critical test of post WWII international security structures and a chapter in a human tragedy that is far from concluded. In this volume, the editors have compiled the definitive collection of official, unclassified documents— agreements, speeches, communiques, and statements— surrounding this event.

As a bridge between the East and West, a pole of stability in the Balkans, and a Mediterranean crossroads, Greece could play a significant role in the post-Cold War world. But Greece's performance in domestic and international policy falls short of this promise. The essays in The Greek Paradox look at some of the reasons for this gap and suggest possible political and economic reforms.