Peace or Justice? Transitional Justice in Afghanistan

The three decades of conflict in Afghanistan have taken thelives of more than a million people and the country and itspeople have suffered the gravest violations of human rights.There is a strong desire for justice among the Afghanis, butsince the fall of the Taliban, the transitional government withits base of international support has intentionally ignoredthe calls to deal with these past injustices. While Afghanistan has come a long way towards establishing democraticinstitutions, such as parliament, failure to deal with the crimesof the past threatens the legitimacy and democratic foundationof these institutions. The country has started on a path dealing with these past injusticesby conducting a comprehensive national consultation and developinga transitional justice strategy that is coherent, multidimensionaland based on the views of the public. The success of this resultingstrategy remains precarious, however, due to both the ongoinginsecurity in the country as well as its dependence upon theunreliable political will of Afghanistan's leadership.     

Brazil��s growth performance: a comparative perspective to the Asian giants

We compare economic efficiencies in Brazil, India, and China, where economic efficiency measures the gap between potential and actual output for a given input combination and technological factor. We use stochastic production frontier models to measure the contributions of factors of production and technology to growth and estimate non-positive error terms that capture production inefficiencies in each country. The results suggest that China and India had relatively inefficient production in the early 1980s but have since improved production efficiency substantially. In the same period, production efficiency in Brazil has lagged those of China and India. The gap between Brazil??s production efficiency and those of its Asian peers has narrowed in recent years. However, production remains more efficient in China and India, supporting more rapid growth in these countries relative to Brazil.     

Organizing the Federal System for Homeland Security: Problems, Issues, and Dilemmas

Improving the capacity of U.S. governments to provide greater homeland security will require numerous changes in the way federal, state, and local governments are organized and operate. It also will require significant alterations in intergovernmental relations. Changes will be required in intergovernmental dimensions, including operational, financial, legal, and political dimensions. A dual–track approach to rearranging intergovernmental relationships in order to provide a coordinated intergovernmental response to the requirements of homeland security is to be expected.