Project USA: American competitiveness and what must be done to restore it

The United States today faces a loss of influence as a world power, a reduction in American independence as a policymaker, and a decline in the standard of living on which Americans have come to depend. History teaches that nations weaker and less productive than the United States can rise to become economic powerhouses and rapidly increase their standards of living. History also teaches that nations failing to recognize their fundamental problems will inevitably decline. American politicians must face what is abundantly clear: the United States is losing ground and must act quickly to reverse its course. This White Paper outlines what must be done. Information about the nation's current status must be analyzed and communicated. Incentives to improve the level of competence in government must be provided and maintained. The emphasis of government policy must be changed to reflect broad economic and technological interests as opposed to special interests. Savings must be encouraged and increased. Infrastructure must be improved Tax laws must be modified to help bring these changes about. Economic and technological issues must be elevated to the importance they require. American thinking must reflect the new realities: that the age of leadership through military power is over, that the requirements for success in the world of the 1990s and beyond require a sound and growing economy that is internationally competitive. The US can accomplish these goals only through foundation-shaking, comprehensive, fundamental changealong the lines we propose herein.This paper is the executive summary (with minor editing modifications) of a white paper that is available from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management.     

C. Reviews: general

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARI. VOL. III: THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. Translated by WILLIAM M. BRINNER. Albany, N.Y., SUNY Press, 1991. xii, 194 pp. $44.00 (hb), $14.95 (pb).

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARI. VOL. XXXIII: STORM AND STRESS ALONG THE NORTHERN FRONTIERS OF THE ‘ABBASID CALIPHATE. Translated by C.E. BOSWORTH. Albany, N.Y., SUNY Press, 1991. xix, 239 pp. $57.50 (hb), $18.95 (pb).

THE AWAKENING OF PERSIA: THE REIGN OF NASR AL‐DIN SHAH 1848–1896. By A.J. ABRAHAM. USA, Vande Vere Publishing, 1992. 64pp. $18.95.

THE EMERGENCE OF KURDISH NATIONALISM AND THE SHAIKH SAID REBELLION, 1880–1925. By ROBERT OLSON. Austin, University of Texas Press, 1992.

THE ARAB BUREAU: BRITISH POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 1916–1920. By BRUCE WESTRATE. University Park, PA, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992. xvi, 240 pp. $35.

DIE TÜRKEI UND ÄGYPTEN IN DER WELTWIRTSCHAFTSKRISE 1929–1933. By CAMILLA DAWLETSCHIN‐LINDER. (Studien zur modernen Geschichte, 40). Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1989. xviii, 187 pp. 20 tables, 6 diagrams. DM 68‐.

EGYPT FROM INDEPENDENCE TO REVOLUTION, 1919–1952. By SELMA BOTMAN. Syracuse, Syracuse University Press, 1991.

EXPULSION OF THE PALESTINIANS: THE CONCEPT OF ‘TRANSFER’ IN ZIONIST POLITICAL THOUGHT 1882–1948. By NUR MASALHA. Washington, DC, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992. iii, 235pp. $24.95 (hb), $11.95 (pb).

TRANSITION TO SELF‐GOVERNMENT: PRACTICAL STEPS TOWARD ISRAELI‐PALESTINIAN PEACE. Report of a study group convened by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, ANN MOSELY LESCH, principal author. Indiana University Press, 1993. 160pp. £22.50 (hb), £9.99 (pb).

GREATER SYRIA: THE HISTORY OF AN AMBITION. By DANIEL PIPES. New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1990. viii, 240pp.

IBN SAUD: FOUNDER OF A KINGDOM. By LESLIE McLOUGHLIN. Basingstoke, Macmillan in association with St Antony's College, Oxford, 1993. 240pp. £40.00.

THE DESPAIRING DEVELOPER: DIARY OF AN AID WORKER IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By TIMOTHY MORRIS. London, Tauris, 1991.

A MODERN CULTURAL HISTORY OF BAHRAIN. By SAMI A. HANNA. Bahrain, National Council for Culture Arts and Literature, 1991. 107pp.

THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE GULF WAR. By KAMRAN MOFID. London, Routledge, 1990. xxiv, 177pp.

EARLY ARABIC POETRY: MARATHI AND SU'LUK POEMS, Vol. 1. Edition, translation, and commentary by ALAN JONES. (Oxford Oriental Institute Monographs, 14.) Reading, Ithaca Press, 1992. ix, 270 pp. Map. £25.00.

RELIGION, LEARNING AND SCIENCE IN THE ‘ABBASID PERIOD. Edited by M.J.L. YOUNG, J.D. LATHAM and R.B. SERJEANT. (The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991. xxi, 587pp. £ 60.00 (hb).

THREE SHADOW PLAYS. By MUHAMMAD IBN DANIYAL. Edited by PAUL KAHLE. Critical apparatus by DEREK HOPWOOD. Introductory Essay by MUSTAFA BADAWI. (E.J.W. Gibb Memorial, New Series, 32.) Cambridge and Warminster, Gibb Memorial Trust/Aris and Phillips, 1992. 154pp. in Arabic and 30pp. in English. £12.00.

GENRE AND LANGUAGE IN MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE. By SASSON SOMEKH. Wiesbaden, Harrassowittz, 1991.

DER ARABISCHE DIALEKT DER JUDEN VON ‘AQRA UND ARBIL (Semitica Viva, 5.) By OTTO JASTROW. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1990. 438pp. DM 112.‐

1 For technical reasons, the symbol ‘e’ has been substituted for the ‘inverted e’ of the original throughout this review. [—Ed.]

WADAAN: REINFORCING READING/WRITING/FIRST LEVEL ARABIC COURSE, Vol.4. By DIONISIUS A. AGIUS, and PARWEEN N. ARIF. Leeds, University of Leeds, 1991. 65 pp.

HAYYAN BINA: KITAB AL‐TAMARIN. DRILLS/FIRST LEVEL ARABIC COURSE, Vol.5. By DIONISIUS A. AGIUS. Leeds, University of Leeds, 1991. 111 pp.

MUGHAMARAT ‘AJIBA FI QISAS MUFIDA: THIRD LEVEL ARABIC COURSE BOOK 1. By PARWEEN N. ARIF and DIONISIUS A. AGIUS. Leeds, University of Leeds, 1991. 64 pp.

UNVEILING ISLAM. By ROGER DU PASQUIER. Cambridge, Islamic Texts Society, 1992. viii, 157pp. £6.95.

CULTURAL SCHIZOPHRENIA. By DARYUSH SHAYEGAN. London, Saqi Books, 1992. vii, 188pp.     

Genetic markers in human bone: I. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was isolated from a number of spongy and compact human bone tissue specimens, and the yield was estimated on a "per milligram of starting tissue" basis. DNA was, in addition, isolated from a number of corresponding blood and bone tissue specimens. Spectrophotofluorometry and ethidium bromide visualization on minigels were used to estimate the quantity and degree of degradation of DNA. The DNA from several blood-bone pairs is shown to give concordant restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing results by two different typing protocols with five different single-locus probes. DNA from several additional blood-bone pairs is shown to give concordant results for human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ alpha phenotypes following polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and hybridization to specific allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes, and for the variable numbers of tandem repeats (VNTR) length polymorphisms 3' to the human apolipoprotein B (APOB) gene following PCR amplification with specific primers and analysis of the products by electrophoresis and ethidium bromide visualization.