Volume 10 Winter 2009
IMF Quota Reform: The Prospects of Improving Governance
and Voice Opportunities through Revised Voting Shares
By Anja Gaentzsch
National University of Singapore
Recently, policy-makers and IMF management have begun to criticize the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its role in restructuring and developing countries’ economies. The paper will delve into arguments behind the case for reforming the IMF governance structure and existing quota formulas; as well as the challenges for further reform and recommendations.
Procurement in Brazil: Electronic Procurement as Anti-corruption Reform
By John Kucharshki
University of California, San Diego
Though, Brazil has created a relatively successful system for battling corruption in one of the most corruption prone aspects of governance, reforms are necessary to improve the COMPRASNET. COMPRASNET and most other e-procurement systems rely heavily upon electronic auctions to select the recipients of procurement contracts. In turn, these auctions affect the likelihood of corruption in the procurement process. As such the paper will analyze the propensity for corruption in the Brazilian procurement system and make policy recommendations to reduce corruption.
Indonesia’s Oil Crisis: How Indonesia Became A Net Oil Importer
By Shannon Pallone
University of California, San Diego
The paper examines how Indonesia’s supply-side policy mistakes have combined with demand-side policy missteps to lead to the current crisis. It will also review and suggest policy recommendations for Indonesia to move away from the fuel subsidy without creating larger problems in the economy.
Interview
Somalia: The Forgotten Failed State? An Interview with IR/PS Professor Barbara Walter
By John Arnold
University of California, San Diego
On December 29, 2008, Abdullahi Yusuf resigned as president of Somalia, leaving no indication of who might succeed him. With little inclination on the part of the United States or European countries to intervene, the prospect ofimprovement in the situation with Somalia’s borders appears dim. The Journal of International Policy Solutions spoke to Barbara Walter, Associate Professor of Political Science at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego (IR/PS), about the roots of Somalia’s problems and prospects for the country’s future. Walter’s (Ph.d, University of Chicago) is an authority on international security, with an emphasis on internal wars, bargaining and cooperation, and terrorism/counter-terrorism. Her current research and teaching interests include reputation building and war, the strategies of terrorism, and the behavioral foundations of rational behavior.
Book Review:
Cuba Wars by Daniel Erikson
By Greg Lestikow
University of California, San Diego
“Cuba Wars” attempts to look into Cuba’s future by analyzing its past. The Cuba Wars explores the two crucial questions of the coming era: When Castro dies, what will happen in Cuba? And what will happen in America?
