Hoover Institution - Hoover Digest - Hoover Digest 2001 No. 4

Should We Send in the Marines—or the Cops?
In the post–Cold War era the line between national security and law enforcement has become increasingly blurred. Hoover fellow Bruce Berkowitz explains why this is a problem.

Education

Blaming the Messenger
Critics of the SAT have chosen the wrong target. Instead of attacking a fair and valid achievement test, they should level their ire at our dismal public schools. By Hoover fellow E. D. Hirsch Jr.

Give Choice a Chance
Hoover fellow George P. Shultz helped make possible the triumph of freedom abroad. Now he’d like to see it triumph in America’s schools.

Regulation

The Bush Administration Deals a Blow to Biotechnology—and to Itself
Scientists worldwide agree that adding genes to plants doesn’t make them dangerous either to the environment or for human consumption. Would someone please tell that to the EPA? By Hoover fellow Henry I. Miller.

Politics

How ~~Gore~~ Bush Won Florida
Hoover fellow Robert Zelnick offers a behind-the scenes look at the political battle of battles: Bush v. Gore.

Technology

Big Brother Is Watching
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis suggested some 70 years ago that personal privacy—the right to be left alone—is the right we Americans value most. Alas, in the information age that right is constantly being eroded. By Hoover fellow Charles J. Sykes.

International Affairs

How to Defuse the Population Bomb
While birthrates continue to fall sharply in rich nations, they continue to rise sharply in poor nations. This growing demographic divide is increasing poverty and suffering. Hoover fellow Gary S. Becker explains what we can do.

On Leadership and Listening
On September 11, 2001, the post–Cold War era came to an abrupt and violent end. How should the United States respond to this bleak new world? Hoover fellow John Lewis Gaddis offers some foreign policy advice for the post-post–Cold War world.

In, Out, and Down: Games Nations Play with America
It’s not easy being the world’s sole superpower. Hoover fellow Charles Hill reflects on the challenges of confronting a contentious post–Cold War world.

Asia

A "Yankee Imperialist" Offers Asia a Little Help
How Asian nations, still suffering from the economic meltdown of 1997, can revive their economies at last. By Hoover fellow Robert J. Barro.

Korea

Who’s Afraid of Kim Jong Il?
As the Bush administration struggles to find a way of dealing with North Korea and its enigmatic leader, Kim Jong Il, longtime Korea watcher and Hoover fellow Robert J. Myers offers some suggestions of his own.

Russia

Pull Russia West
Engaging in an unremitting effort to get the Russians to agree to a missile defense, the Bush administration has neglected the most important aspect of our relations with Russia—integrating Russia into the West. By Hoover fellow Michael McFaul.

Russian Federalism: A Contradiction in Terms
The prospects for a stable democracy and a successful economy in Russia? Grim. Rui J. P. De Figueiredo Jr. and Hoover fellow Barry R. Weingast explain.

Colombia

A Nation under Siege
Colombia is under siege, with left-wing rebels and right-wing paramilitaries in control of more than half its territory and a government incapable of restoring order. U.S. policy is only making things worse. By Hoover fellows Edgardo Buscaglia and William Ratliff.

Cuba

Semper Fidel
At 75, Fidel Castro has survived 10 American presidents, a 40-year American economic embargo, the collapse of communism, the loss of his principal benefactor, and the utter ruination of his country. Hoover fellow William Ratliff on a man too mean to die.