"Enlightening Ideas for Public Policy..."
Vol. 8, Issue 20; May 15, 2006
-------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE:
1. Does Nation Building Work?
2. Eland Opposes CIA Nominee and the NSA
3. FISA and the PATRIOT Act
4. Latin America's Leftist Resurgence
-------------------------------------------------------------
DOES NATION BUILDING WORK?
Building stable democracies in place of "failed states" has been one of the
most talked-about foreign-policy topics in recent years. What is the overall
track record of attempts to plant liberal democracies in lands ruled by
lawlessness or tyranny? In "Does Nation Building Work?" (THE INDEPENDENT
REVIEW, spring 2006), James L. Payne examines the history of democratic
nation building -- i.e., invading a country with the establishment of a
lasting democracy being a key objective -- and finds that successful efforts
have been few and far between.
Since 1850, Britain and the United States have sent military troops abroad
51 times to engage in democratic nation building but have left behind
lasting democracy in only 14 of those countries, according to Payne -- a
success rate of only 27 percent. But even this low number overstates the
weak case for nation building, Payne argues, because it includes countries
that probably would have become democratic even without outside military
intervention (e.g., the Dominican Republic in the mid-1960s).
"The dirty little secret of nation building is that no one knows how to do
it," Payne writes. "Huge amounts of government and foundation money have
been poured into this question, and, in response to the dollars, the
scholars and bureaucrats have produced only reams of verbose commentary."
See "Does Nation Building Work?" by James L. Payne (THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW,
Spring 2006), at
http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=45&articleID=576.
No-Risk Trial Subscription to THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW
http://www.independent.org/store/tir/subscriptions.asp
-------------------------------------------------------------
ELAND OPPOSES CIA NOMINEE AND THE NSA
The nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the National
Security Agency, to head the Central Intelligence Agency should be rejected,
on the grounds that under his watch the NSA engaged in illegal spying of
Americans -- in stark violation of the Fourth Amendment, according to Ivan
Eland, director of the Independent Institute's Center on Peace & Liberty.
"What part of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution doesn't the general
understand?" Eland writes in his latest op-ed. "The amendment clearly
intends that a warrant is needed for all searches -- which includes
modern-day eavesdropping and wiretapping -- and specifically states that
warrants should not even be issued unless government officials can attest
that there is 'probable cause' that a crime has been committed."
Eland concludes by calling for the dissolution of Hayden's former agency:
"The NSA has been so discredited by its warrantless spying and data mining
that it is time to reorganize the agency out of existence.... The
discredited agency should be eliminated and its more legitimate functions
incorporated into a reorganized and more nimble intelligence community."
See "Abolish Both the Hayden Nomination and NSA," by Ivan Eland (5/15/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1724
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"Hay que abolir a la nominación de Hayden y a la Agencia de Seguridad
Nacional"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1724
THE EMPIRE HAS NO CLOTHES: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed, by Ivan Eland
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=54
THE WAY OUT OF IRAQ: Decentralizing the Iraqi Government, by Ivan Eland
http://www.independent.org/store/policy_reports/detail.asp?id=16
Center on Peace & Liberty (Ivan Eland, director)
http://www.independent.org/research/copal/
-------------------------------------------------------------
FISA AND THE PATRIOT ACT
Samih Jammal, a U.S. citizen who owned a wholesale grocery business in
Arizona, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in an
organized ring that stole and resold baby formula. What makes the case
notable is that at some stage it relied on wiretaps authorized by a FISA
court warrant -- a tool created to catch foreign spies and terrorists --
although Jammal was not charged with supporting terrorism.
Like recent reports of federal spying on peaceful political activists and
the use of the USA PATRIOT ACT to combat online gambling, the Jammal case
shows how anti-terrorist tools are increasingly directed against
non-terrorists, argues Anthony Gregory, research analyst with the
Independent Institute's Center on Peace & Liberty, in a new op-ed.
Among other problems with this trend, Gregory argues, is that FISA warrants
and the Patriot Act's sneak-and-peak searchers fail to meet the standards of
the Fourth Amendment. "Instead, they allow investigators to snoop on
Americans without any traditional court warrant, only a secret and
unaccountable administrative or judicial decree," he writes. "Laws like FISA
and the Patriot Act abuse our privacy, system of checks and balances and
constitutional government. These abusive laws must be repealed for the sake
of American liberty."
See "FISA and the Patriot Act Are the Abuse," by Anthony Gregory (SAN DIEGO
UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/12/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1721
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"La FISA y la Ley Patriota son el abuso"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1721
More articles by Anthony Gregory
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=506
-------------------------------------------------------------
LATIN AMERICA'S LEFTIST RESURGENCE
The resurgence of the authoritarian and populist Left in Latin America has
not occurred in a vacuum. Unfulfilled promises, incomplete reforms, and
widespread corruption have paved the way for the likes of Hugo Chavez in
Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, and Ollanta Humala, who won the first
round of the presidential elections in Peru, argues Carlos Sabino, adjunct
fellow with the Independent Institute's Center on Global Prosperity.
"After the failure of the interventionist model in the 1960s and '70s, which
foundered in the big crisis of 1982-83, a series of free-market reforms,
including monetary and fiscal restraint and privatization, was initiated
that stabilized the situation," writes Sabino in his latest op-ed. "But the
reforms -- partial as they were, and always limited in their intention and
objectives -- could not furnish the rapid growth many citizens desired, or
reduce the social inequalities that in reality had dragged on for several
centuries."
The new populist statism cannot succeed and thus has no future, Sabino adds.
"We can only hope that, after the present euphoria dies down, ways may be
found to separate the new apprentice dictators from power, without violence
and in an environment that will favor civil, political and economic
freedoms."
See "Nostalgia for the Left," by Carlos Sabino (5/15/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1723
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"Nostalgia por la Izquierda"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1723
Spanish-language Blog:
El Independent: El Blog del Centro Para la Prosperidad Global de The
Independent Institute
http://independent.typepad.com
THE CHE GUEVARA MYTH AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERTY, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=61
LIBERTY FOR LATIN AMERICA: How to Undo Five-Hundred Years of State
Oppression, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=55
Center on Global Prosperity (Alvaro Vargas Llosa, director)
http://www.independent.org/research/cogp/
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE LIGHTHOUSE, edited by Carl P. Close, is made possible by the generous
contributions of supporters of the Independent Institute. If you enjoy THE
LIGHTHOUSE, please consider making a donation to the Independent Institute.
For details on the Independent Associate Membership program, see
http://www.independent.org/membership/ or contact us by phone at
510-632-1366, e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or snail mail to: The
Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428. All
contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you!
-------------------------------------------------------------
For previous issues of THE LIGHTHOUSE, see
http://www.independent.org/publications/the_lighthouse/.
-------------------------------------------------------------
For information on books and other publications from The Independent
Institute, see
http://www.independent.org/publications/.
-------------------------------------------------------------
For membership information, see
http://www.independent.org/membership/
-------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to The Lighthouse page:
http://www.independent.org/publications/the_lighthouse/. Enter your email
address, select "Subscribe" or "Unsubscribe", and click "Submit".
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE LIGHTHOUSE
ISSN 1526-173X
Copyright © 2006 The Independent Institute
100 Swan Way Oakland, CA 94621-1428
(510) 632-1366 phone
(510) 568-6040 fax
ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "Libertarian" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
