Of all the regions of the former Soviet Union, Central Asia is potentially one of the most explosive and certainly one of the least understood. It is also growing rapidly in importance to U.S. national security, commercial, and foreign policy interests: it has vast oil, gas, gold, and other resources; it has become a source and transit route for narcotics and possible nuclear and other materials; and it is affected by the fierce conflicts in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Vast in size (larger than Eastern and Western Europe combined), and with a rapidly growing population of over 50 million people, it is marked by the persistence of relatively corrupt and authoritarian governments. This report assesses the potential for conflict in Central Asia through the prism of one of its most volatile areas, the Ferghana Valley. Spanning parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, the Ferghana Valley is home to 20 percent of Central Asia's entire population. The region has recently experienced increasing religious and ethnic tensions--the further danger being that instability in the valley could spread more widely throughout Central Asia. The Ferghana Valley project of the Council on Foreign Relations' Center for Preventive Action (CPA) has produced this report as the fourth volume in its series of Preventive Action Reports. Sponsored by The Council on Foreign Relations and The Century Foundation.

Calming the Ferghana Valley: Development and Dialogue in the Heart of Central Asia (Preventive Action Reports, V. 4)

Business & Money

Rubin, Barnett R.

Council On Foreign Relations

Lubin, Nancy

Century Foundation

Center for Preventive Action Ferghana Valley Working Group

Economics

For thirty years, labor unions have been in a slump. Private sector membership has eroded steadily and dramatically. Hostility toward unions among politicians and the general public has increased. Economic globalization, new technology, and changes in the workplace have compounded the resistance of employers to unions. Unions face substantial legal obstacles when attempting to organize and then gain an initial contract with employers. And, in some unions, scandals continue to obscure reform efforts. Recently, the Twentieth Century Fund/Century Foundation convened a task force of business executives, labor leaders, academics, and others who care about the well-being of the American workforce to reconsider the future of unions. Under the chairmanship of former Ohio Governor Richard Celeste, the task force explored provocative questions: Are labor unions outmoded anachronisms? Or do they have the capacity to revitalize themselves and regain an important role in the U.S. economy and political system? This book argues that labor unions have proven to be the only consistently effective mechanism for enabling workers to express their concerns and exert significant influence in the workplace. It also documents the extent to which unions have benefited not only members, but the workforce as a whole. The report also includes a variety of new ideas for regaining membership, rebuilding public popularity, developing greater flexibility in the workplace, and shaping government policy. The book includes a background paper analyzing the labor movement's ups and downs by Nelson Lichtenstein, professor of political science at the University of Virginia.

What's Next for Organized Labor?: Report of the Century Foundation Task Force on the Future of Unions

Century Foundation Task Force on the Future of Unions

Countdown to Reform: The Great Social Security Debate

With baby-boomer retirement drawing nearer, Social Security, long a "third rail" in American politics, has become fair game. When President Clinton launched national discussion in April on the future of the program, the loudest voices seemed to belong to those who claimed the system would go "bankrupt" and argued for scrapping it in favor of a privatized plan. Is the nation's premier social insurance program on the brink of collapse? In this book, two of the nation's most widely respected economists argue that the "Chicken Little" view of Social Security--that future costs doom the current system--is so exaggerated that it is just plain wrong. Certainly, the retirement of the baby boom generation will require some adjustments, but they need be no greater in type or size than adjustments the government has adopted to deal with the overall budget deficit. The book provides the historical background of the economic circumstances that different generations have faced in this century and shows how changes in Social Security has affected life in America. The authors also analyze the economic assumptions underlying current reform efforts, closely scrutinizing the increasingly popular proposals to privatize Social Security by transforming it from an insurance program to a system of individual retirement accounts.

Reischauer, Robert D.

Aaron, Henry J.

Since the end of the cold war, the United States has, at times, displayed a reluctance to think cooperatively about its security. Nowhere has the U.S. propensity to coerce rather than cooperate been more pronounced —or more profoundly misguided —than in its dealings with the Soviet Union and its successor state, Russia. According to Sigal, the United States has fumbled its great opportunity to address the new nuclear dangers caused by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Under Gorbachev and Yeltsin, Moscow was prepared to reduce radically its nuclear arsenal and dispose of its weapons-grade material. But instead of treating Russia as an ally, the realists who dominated American foreign policy sought to extract the maximum advantage in every negotiation, alienating Russia's democrats and provoking a nationalist backlash.

Hang Separately: Cooperative Security Between the United States and Russia, 1985-1994

History

Sigal, Leon V.

World

As the United States enters the new century, technological advances have the power to transform commerce, the public sector, and how citizens interact. This volume, part of the multiyear Digital Promise project administered by The Century Foundation, examines emerging technologies including wireless telephones, electronic data transmission, and Internet communications and how they impact educational, cultural, and other nonprofit organizations. The book features a report prepared by Lawrence K. Grossman, former president of NBC News and PBS, and Newton Minow, former chairman of the FCC and PBS, two of the leading intellectuals on public telecommunications matters. They offer specific policy recommendations for securing and protecting the public's interest in the ongoing technology revolution. Specifically, Grossman and Minow suggest creating a "Digital Information Trust," modeled after the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts of the nineteenth century. The trust fund would be financed by revenues from the federal government's sale or lease of electromagnetic spectrum and would be used to support the work of a range of educational and nonprofit groups. Other contributors include Les Brown (Fordham University), Marion R. Fremont-Smith (Harvard University), Richard Kimball (Project Vote Smart) and Mark Lloyd (Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy).

Digital Gift to the Nation: Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital and Internet Age

Minow, Newton N.

Grossman, Lawrence K.

On March 1, 2002, the most extensive reorganization of federal agencies since the end of World War II occurred. With the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), twenty-two agencies comprising 180,000 federal workers were merged into a single department whose principal mission is to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks. This report evaluates how effective the DHS has been in its first year while highlighting problems that have occurred to date. In addition to the overview section, written by Donald F. Kettl, the report features a section on border security by Stephen E. Flynn; a section on intelligence by Gregory F. Treverton; a section on federal-state issues by Anne Khademian; a section on aviation security by E. Marla Felcher; and a section on immigration by T. Alexander Aleinikoff.

The Department of Homeland Security's First Year: a report card

Engineering & Transportation

Treverton, Gregory F.

Kettl, Donald F.

Aleinikoff, T.

Khademian, Anne

Felcher, E Marla

Engineering

National Health Insurance: Lessons From Abroad (The Basics / A Century Foundation Guide to the Issues)

Century Foundaion

Insurance

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