Volume 4, Issue 1: Winter 2009

INTERVIEWS

Engaging Africa: Prospects for U.S. Foreign Policy (PDF)

An Interview with Paul Tiyambe Zeleza

Perhaps nowhere else in the world was the election of U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed with as much enthusiasm as on the continent of Africa. On the eve of the transition between U.S. administrations, YJIA Managing Editor Jason Warner interviewed Paul Tiyambe Zeleza about the future of U.S.-Africa relations and Africa’s own prospects for hope and change in the coming year.

NGOs and Environmental Governance in China (PDF)

An Interview with Ma Jun

Ma Jun began his career as an investigative journalist for the South China Morning Post in the 1990s. His reporting on Chinese environmental issues culminated in his book China’s Water Crisis, which has been compared with Rachael Carson’s Silent Spring as one of the first broadly received works on China’s environmental situation. He currently directs the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), which created the China Water Pollution Map, the first public database of water pollution information in China. YJIA Editor Chansonetta Cummings interviewed Ma Jun about the state of environmental governance in China.

ARTICLES

One Step Back, Two Steps Ahead: Revisiting the ESS – Toward the EU as a Regional Player (PDF)

By Tobias Franke

Tobias Franke discusses a possible revision of the European Security Strategy in 2009, arguing that a renewed version should position the European Union as a regional security actor.

Russia’s Strategy in Central Asia: An Analysis of Key Trends (PDF)

By Roman Muzalevsky

Roman Muzalevsky analyzes Russia’s strategy in Central Asia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the context of growing competition and cooperation between the EU, U.S. and China.

Afghanistan’s Cultivation Conundrum: Will Federally Licensing Opium Poppy Cultivation Eradicate Afghanistan’s Opium Poppy Crisis? (PDF)

By Michael Stoll

Michael Stoll discusses the opium poppy crisis enveloping Afghanistan, arguing that the crisis is a result of instability, poor and corrupt governance, and a lack of security.

Home-grown Jihadism and the Factors of Terror (PDF)

By James R. Henderson

Jim Henderson discusses the phenomenon of “home-grown jihadism” in Europe and its absence in the United States as a means of evaluating the root causes of terrorism.

U.S. National Security Strategy: Managing Strategic Partnerships in South Asia (PDF)

By Mehran Gul

Mehran Gul investigates the role that India and Pakistan have played in successive U.S. grand strategies, arguing that the difficulty of managing relations with the two nations is a central dilemma faced by the United States.

OP-ED

A New U.S. Policy Approach Toward Africa (PDF)

By ‘Dapo Oyewole

‘Dapo Oyewole writes that a fresh policy approach led by the Obama administration may pave the way for a new phase in U.S.-Africa relations.