A 'nanotech' future

Researchers under the direction of JUDIT CASTELLA of the Barcelona based Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca i la Innovació (FCRI) review nanotechnology , its economic and social implications, and its role in public policy and state that private investment in nanotech had exceeded public funding with a total overall annual R&D spend of over $4 billion led by US, Japan and the EU.

In a report for the FCRI, "Nanotechnology: What is it and how will it affect us?", they state that nanotechnology could cause significant disruption in multiple industries and require massive investments in infrastructure with development forecast over three phases: 

1. the current early-stage spanning 5 years focused on investigation phase, 

2: a commercial development phase spanning 5-10 years wherein applications would begin to be produced on an industrial scale and 

3: a mature phase spanning 10-15 years featuring a consolidation of the industry with a market for nanotechnology-enabled applications exceeding $ 1 trillion.

They state that nanotechnology could be compared to electricity which caused disruption in most industries on introduction contrasting that with genetics which impacted only medicine and agriculture and was impeded by social concerns. They conclude that the challenge for governments was to secure a niche for new economic growth by empowering local industries to assimilate new technologies, building a large, multi-disciplinary educated workforce, and addressing public concern over health and environmental issues.

Halting the decline in fish stocks

ACHIM STEINER of the UN Environment Program and JOSHUA REICHERT of the Pew Group state that the high seas containing the largest reservoir of Earth's biodiversity was under strain with the UN estimating that 85% of the world's fish stocks were fully exploited in the run-up to Rio+20 summit in June 2012, being held 20 years after the landmark Earth summit in Rio in 1992.

In their op-ed for the Project Syndicate, "Fixing Our Broken Oceans", they state that fragmented marine management practices, lack of high-seas governance, and over-subsidies for fishing that have resulted in twice as many industrial fishing vessels catching fish as the oceans can sustain.

They advocate an investment of $110 billion over the coming years in strengthened fisheries management including the establishment of marine protected areas, decommissioning and reduction of fleet capacity of industrial-scale large vessels, retraining of workers impacted by job losses, and policy measures to enable a recovery of fishery stocks.

Infrastructure development in North-East

SHIVANANDA of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses reviews India's infrastructure in the North-East in the backdrop of China's rapidly augmented infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control with all-weather, double-lane roads, a road network of 58,000 kms, extension of Qinghai-Tibet railway up to Shigatse and additional airfields under construction in Tibet. He states that all passes and military posts on the LAC had been linked with highways, logistic depots and military installations and China could mobilize more than 30 divisions and outnumber Indian forces by 3:1.

In his op-ed for IDSA Comments, "Is India’s Transport Infrastructure Prepared for the Eastern Front?", states that although infrastructure development had picked up in the northern sector there was a considerable lag in the eastern sector undermining New Delhi's capability to thwart external aggression in the eastern front.

He calls for enhanced transport connectivity in the region with establishment of railway networks in the hinterland, timely construction of roads that extend to the borders, and expedited construction of bridges.

State-wise analysis of the Indian growth miracle

ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN of the Peterson Institute and UTSAV KUMAR of the Asian Development Bank analyze patterns in India's decadal growth in 2001-2009 vs the 1993-2001 as the turnaround in policy entered its third decade since 1991. 

In a Business Standard op-ed, "India: Growth in 2000s- Key Facts", they present four key findings on the state of growth in India  

1. Doubling of growth: Per-capita growth rates doubled in the 2000s in most states with the exception of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan 

2. Increasing divergence: Richer states on average grew faster and pulled away from the rest and inequality increased in spite of the stellar performance of hitherto laggards such as Bihar, Orissa and Chattisgarh 

3. Vulnerability to globalization: Globalization catalyzed growth as well as decline exemplified by states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharshtra where growth accelerated prior to 2008 and declined sharply during the global financial crisis 

4. Demographic complacence: Demographically aging states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat did remarkably well while demographically dynamic states such as U.P, Rajastan and M.P did not fare as well.

They state that the Indian growth miracle continued to confound with India capacious enough to allow both Bania, reforming Gujarat and Marxist, reform-resistant Kerala to flourish.

Unleashing India

JESSICA SEDDON of the Council on Foreign Relations states that Indian economy and the polity had built up substantial momentum albeit on a creaky infrastructure and poor services, undercutting its demographic dividend.

In an article for the Harvard International Review, "India's Catastrophic Landscape: Fixing a flawed foundation", she advocates a paradigm shift from a focus on particular policy changes such as labor market reform or financial sector reform to that of political reform where focus was on revamping the state's ability as an organization to deliver on the infrastructure and services for its citizens.

She calls for three elements: clarification of roles and responsibilities and untangling of three layers of government, improvement of management information systems and setting up of systems to recruit the right people such as intra-party democracy and campaign finance reform as part of a broader management overhaul of the state in response to growing disenchantment.

Analysis of Russian Arctic Policy

ELANA WILSON ROWE of the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, MARLENE LARUELLE at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and DMITRY GORENBURG, editor of Russian Politics and Law analyze aspects of Russia's Arctic policy such as politics in the Russian North, demographics and the role of the Russian military in the Arctic, in a study, "Russian Policy Options in the Arctic" for the Russian analytical digest.
Elana Wilson Rowe provides an introduction to the politics of the Russian North, and outlines the dichotomy of an ‘open’ North with wider international co-operation and a ‘closed’ North with an emphasis on defending its national interests and authority and calls for greater attention on the overlaps and tensions between these two modes. 
Marlene Laruelle reviews the Moscow's demographic challenges in the Russian Arctic and states that as it embarked on greater resource extraction in the region, Moscow would have to address challenges to key aspects of its Russian identity in the wake of an influx of migrants from Central Asia and China.
Dmitry Gorenburg states that Russia’s military and security strategy in the Arctic has shifted from unilateral military posturing to peaceful dispute resolution due to a perception of a co-operative approach as being more conducive to exploration and investment in Arctic natural resources. He states that the Arctic was unexpectedly becoming a venue for strengthening international cooperation although the role of growing non-Arctic powers such as China and Korea was an unknown for the near future.

Roadmap for Pakistan

HASSAN ABBAS of the Asia Society and a team of American and Pakistani experts focus on Pakistan’s internal crises and define a road map for establishing stability, a sustainable democratic order, and a pluralistic society as a way to strengthen and develop the country in service of its population.
In their study group report, "PAKISTAN 2020 A Vision for Building a Better Future", they focus on seven core issues i.e. democratic institutions, rule of law, human development, energy, assistance to flood victims, internal security and peace with India.
They call for international assistance to support Pakistan keeping in mind its historical insecurity, while providing assistance in reforming its civil institutions, democracy and in addressing regional tensions.

A new approach to Nuclear spent fuel management

CHARLES FERGUSON, CLIFFORD SINGER, JACK SPENCER and SHARON SQUASSONI state that the central planning approach to U.S. spent nuclear fuel management had been a glaring exception to the trend toward a market-driven energy sector and each of the three past approaches - breeding fuel, prompt burial and deep burn had failed due to what they view as inflexibility to changing economic and political conditions.
In a report of the Proliferation Prevention Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel: A market based solution", they envisage a market-driven approach that would fundamentally alter the notion of spent nuclear fuel from a liability as it is currently to an asset alongwith provisions of adequate financial incentives to states and communities hosting long-term spent fuel management facilities.
The key components of their proposal include payments into escrow funds for spent fuel management rather than to the government, reassessment of radio-isotope containment criteria, licenses for away-from-reactor storage facilities alongwith removal of restrictions on volumes and site duration, removal of the requirement for prompt burial, equal treatment of all states, allowing private sector multiple options on fuel storage and importing foreign spent fuel.
The authors state that this could enhance U.S' ability as a nuclear supplier to influence other countries' nuclear fuel cycle choices and enhance regional security and support nuclear non-proliferation initiatives.

Black to White money

ZELJKO BJELAJAC of the University of Novi Sad states that the combination of over 100 tax havens worldwide, correspondent accounts that nullify the 'Know Your Customer (KYC)' principle and proliferation of new electronic payment systems have significantly enhanced the scale of money laundering operations by transnational organized crime.
In an analysis of contemporary money-laundering for the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS), "Contemporary Tendencies in Money Laundering Methods", he draws attention to the inherent risks of electronic payment systems such as lack of transparency, inadequate recording and alerting on suspicious transactions and hindered access to judicial authorities that have been identified by the expert Financial Agenda Task Force (FATF).
He highlights global co-operation including universal standards for prevention of money-laundering and funding of terrorism, implementation across all jurisdictions, establishment of supervisory and internal controls, specialized education and staff training methodologies, detection and prosecution to reduce the risks arising out of money-laundering.

Global scientific collaboration

Fellows of the Royal Society headed by CHRIS LLEWELYN SMITH survey the changing landscape for science and innovation in the 21st century, its networks of collaboration and implications for global decision-makers in science, business, NGO's and governments for addressing 'global challenges' such as climate change, food security, and infectious diseases.

In their study in cooperation with Elsevier, "Knowledge, networks and nations: global scientific collaboration in the 21st century", they state that international collaboration comprised of upto 35% of all publications in international journals and was driven by scientists themselves in their quest to work with the best people, institutions and equipment with the R&D budget estimated at $1.2 trillion spanning 7 million researchers across the world. 

They recommend strengthened support for international science and collaboration, development of national and international science strategies, international capacity building to ensure sharing of the benefits of scientific research and development of better indices to evaluate global science.

Mineral Security

CHRISTINE PARTHEMORE of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) explores a range of potential vulnerabilities that stem from the dependence of the U.S. defense supply chains on minerals such as lithium, gallium, rhenium, tantalum, niobium and rare earths such as neodymium, samarium and dysprosium on the back of China's supply blockade of rare-earth minerals to Japan in 2010.

In a CNAS report, "Elements of Security: Mitigating the Risks of U.S. Dependence on Critical Minerals", she states that minerals could affect U.S. interests through four factors: 1) an evolving energy paradigm, 2) increasing space exploration 3) accelerating seabed exploration and 4) a changing defense industrial base while policymakers were currently hampered by a lack of access to appropriate information and where hype could drive policy debates.

She states that vulnerability to mineral supply disruptions could cause high cost overruns for weapons, lags in delivery of equipment, provide leverage to supplier countries and also inhibit development of clean energy technologies. She concludes that the U.S. should conduct new assessments of its defense supply chains, enhance its data collection capabilities on critical minerals as well as promote information-sharing with the private sector, integrate mineral supply vulnerabilities into its war-gaming scenarios as well as for Senate to ratify the U.N convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS).