Chinese Cooperation Affirmative Index

As was discussed earlier, congestion in space is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge and addressing it will require international action. There are now around 21,000 pieces of space debris in various Earth orbits – in other words, about 6,000 metric tons of debris orbiting the Earth. Some of this debris was created accidentally through collisions or routine space launches, some was intentional such as the Chinese ASAT test in 2007. Not only is there a direct economic impact to this debris, it also adds to the overall magnitude of hazards in critical orbits, such as those used by the space shuttle and the International Space Station. For example, the space shuttle is impacted by debris repeatedly on every mission. In fact, debris poses the single largest threat to the shuttle and to the astronauts onboard during these missions. The typical risk of the space shuttle being critically impacted by debris is about one in 250. To address the growing problem of orbital debris, the United States plans to expand its engagement within the United Nations and with other governments and non-governmental organizations. We are continuing to lead the development and adoption of international standards to minimize debris, building upon the foundation of the U.N. Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines. The United States is also engaged with our European allies and partners and other like-minded nations on a multi-year study of “long-term sustainability” within the Scientific and Technical Committee of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, or COPUOS. This effort will provide a valuable opportunity for cooperation with established and emerging space actors and with the private sector to establish a set of “best practice” guidelines that will enhance space-flight safety. In collaboration with other space-faring nations, the United States is also pursuing research and development of technologies and techniques to mitigate on-orbit debris, reduce hazards, and increase our understanding of the current and future debris environment. These activities provide valuable opportunities and benefits for expanded international cooperation with the global space-faring community and the private sector, and also contribute to preserving the space environment for future generations.

THE WILLINGNESS of other countries to cooperate in dealing with transnational issues such as terrorism depends in part on their own self-interest, but also on the attractiveness of American positions. Soft power lies in the ability to attract and persuade rather than coerce. It means that others want what the United States wants, and there is less need to use carrots and sticks. Hard power, the ability to coerce, grows out of a country’s military and economic might. Soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies. When U.S. policies appear legitimate in the eyes of others, American soft power is enhanced. Hard power will always remain crucial in a world of nation-states guarding their independence, but soft power will become increasingly important in dealing with the transna¬tional issues that require multilateral cooperation for their solution.

One of Rumsfeld’s “rules” is that “weakness is provocative.” In this, he is correct. As Osama bin Laden observed, it is best to bet on the strong horse. The effective demonstration of military power in the second Gulf War, as in the first, might have a deterrent as well as a transformative effect in the Middle East. But the first Gulf War, which led to the Oslo peace process, was widely regarded as legitimate, whereas the legitimacy of the more recent war was contested. Unable to balance American military power, France, Germany, Russia, and China created a coalition to balance American soft power by depriving the United States of the legitimacy that might have been bestowed by a second UN resolution. Although such balancing did not avert the war in Iraq, it did significantly raise its price. When Turkish parliamentarians regarded U.S. policy as illegitimate, they refused Pentagon requests to allow the Fourth Infantry Division to enter Iraq from the north. Inadequate attention to soft power was detrimental to the hard power the United States could bring to bear in the early days of the war. Hard and soft power may sometimes conflict, but they can also reinforce each other. And when the Jacksonians mistake soft power for weakness, they do so at their own risk.

Leadership by the United States, as the world's leading economy, its most powerful military force, and a leading democracy, is a key factor in limiting the frequency and destructiveness of great power, regional, and communal conflicts. The paradox of the post-cold war role of the United States is that it is the most powerful state in terms of both "hard" power resources (its economy and military forces) and "soft" ones (the appeal of its political system and culture), yet it is not so powerful that it can achieve all its international goals by acting alone. The United States lacks both the international and domestic prerequisites to resolve every conflict, and in each case its role must be proportionate to its interests at stake and the costs of pursuing them. Yet the United States can continue to enable and mobilize international coalitions to pursue shared security interests, whether or not the United States itself supplies large military forces. The U.S. role will thus not be that of a lone global policeman; rather, the United States can frequently serve as the sheriff of the posse, leading shifting coalitions of friends and allies to address shared security concerns within the legitimizing framework of international organizations. This requires sustained attention to the infrastructure and institutional mechanisms that make U.S. leadership effective and joint action possible: forward stationing and preventive deployments of U.S. and allied forces, prepositioning of U.S. and allied equipment, advance planning and joint training to ensure interoperability with allied forces, and steady improvement in the conflict resolution abilities of an interlocking set of bilateral alliances, regional security organizations and alliances, and global institutions. Thus, although great power conflicts are less likely than ever before to arise out of global or regional balance of power considerations, the great powers will continue to face difficult choices on how to prevent communal conflicts from occurring or from escalating in intensity, spreading geographically, and proliferating in number. American leadership is a key factor in limiting the frequency and destructiveness of all three kinds of conflicts. This does not mean that the United States could or should get involved in every potential or ongoing conflict. Its role must be proportionate to its interests in each conflict, and the nation cannot afford the military, economic, and political costs of being a global policeman. Instead, where it has important interests, the United States must continue to aspire to a role more like the sheriff of the posse, enabling international coalitions to pursue interests that it shares whether or not the United States itself supplies the bulk of the military forces involved.

Given the growing importance of and interest in the Asian region, this research examines differing levels and causal forces of Asians’ evaluation of US soft power from the 2003 AsiaBarometer survey.Two main findings from the 2003 AsiaBarometer are, in aggregate,that countries receiving higher military, economic and humanitarian aid from the US government display higher average responses about US soft power. At the individual level, the Asians’ favourable interpretation of US soft power most strongly stems from personal or national economic well-being.

The military action however did not bring about democracy and stability in Iraq and the region, goals that the Bush administrationhas claimed to have, and one result of the U.S. military actions in Iraq has been actually to diminish respect forthe United States as the failure to achieve our states objectives has damaged the prestige and reputation of ourcountry. In other words, the potential positive “soft power” impact of American military action did notmaterialize, and the military action turn into a soft power negative, undermining respect for the United States.

Hard powers aims to create desired outcomes using tangible threats or payoffs, soft power gets results without either of these things. This “second face of power” relies on a leader’s ability to shape the preferences of others, co-opting rather than coercing them. Nye makes the plausible point that a range of leadership skills such as creating a vision, communicating it, attracting and choosing able people, delegating, and forming coalitions depend on soft power. Soft power is more than simply influence (which can rest on hard power) or persuasion. In essence, soft power is attractive power.

Nye explains how hard and soft power differ in degree rather than in kind, and he looks at how they can either support one another or interfere with each other, depending on context. For example, soft power is likely to be more important when power is dispersed. He applies his distinction to the relative power of nations, virtual communities and networks, and transnational corporations.

For some missions, it may be necessary to perform collision avoidance. The space shuttle orbiter has maneuvered to avoid collisions with other objects on several occasions. Regarding satellite constellations, if a potential collision will lead to the creation of a debris cloud that may result in damage to other constellation members, it may be worthwhile to perform a collision avoidance maneuver. In the more distant future, it may be necessary to completely remove all satellites and upper stages from orbit. This removal will not be feasible until new technology is developed, which will cost trillions.

Space experts say such events are only becoming more frequent as the amount of waste - from nuts and bolts to rocket parts - is on the rise due to everything from basic wear and tear to controversial military testing.Millions of chunks of metal, plastic and glass are whirling round Earth, the garbage left from 4,600 launches in 54 years of space exploration.,but the junk travels at such high speed that even a tiny shard can cripple a satellite costing tens of millions of dollars.

an José, CA - In the first week of June, two important reports showed a sharp slowdown in the U.S. economy. On Friday, June 3, the Department of Labor said that unemployment in May rose to 9.1%, while only 54,000 new jobs were created, far less than what mainstream economists were predicting. Two days earlier, on June 1, a report on home prices showed another drop of 4.2% in the first three months of 2011, bringing home prices to a new low since the housing market began to tank in 2006.Not only did the unemployment rate rise for the second month in a row, but the average length of unemployment rose to 39.7 weeks (almost 10 months), the longest time on records going back to 1948.

As 2011 begins, many investors are acting as if Keynes'"magneto trouble" has been fixed. Stock markets are up as investors feel the return of "animal spirits," to use another of Keynes graphic metaphors. but is the economic engine really fixed? As Keynes would noted, that's partly a matter of perception.If investors believe that good times are back and start investing on that expectation, then a virtuous cycle will take over: Growth will accelerate, manufacturers will add more workers and build new plants; consumers will spend more, and eventually we're back to full prosperity. Beyond these financial measures, there are signs of improvement in the real economy. The institute for supply management reported Monday that its index of factory activity rose in December for the 17th straight month. sales of automobiles and other consumer durables have been increasing. And the banking system finally seems to have steadied and America is now truly saving money

That’s grim news for Canada, too, since this country’s continued expansion is heavily dependent on sales to our biggest global customer.

“The economy could be one shock away from another recession,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets.

That’s not his prediction right now, certainly, but with U.S. federal politicians playing chicken over a necessary increase in that country’s debt ceiling, more and more in the financial community are becoming worried that such an additional shock could arrive within another couple of months.

These control measures will significantly increase the cost of debris control measures; but if we do not do them, we will increase the cost of future space activities even more. We might be tempted to put increasing amounts of shielding on all spacecraft to protect them and increase their life, or we might just accept shorter lifetimes for all spacecraft. However, neither option is acceptable: More shielding not only increases cost, but it also increases both the frequency of catastrophic collisions and the amount of debris generated when such a collision occurs. Accepting a shorter lifetime also increases cost, because it means that satellites must be replaced more often….with the failed satellites again increasing the catastrophic collision rate and producing larger amounts of debris.

President elevated development to one of the three pillars of U.S. National Security Strategy, along with economy and diplomacy. 3 Foreign assistance encompasses a wide array of activities and goals: delivering food to famine-and drought-stricken regions; providing disaster assistance; spurring environmental protection; combating health crises; and alleviating poverty. United States foreign assistance has always had a two fold purpose: both to further America's foreign policy interests in expanding democracy and free markets, and to improve the lives of citizens in developing countries. Post-conflict economic and physical reconstruction activities are intended to stabilize and rebuild a war-torn country.

Krisko, P. H Research analyst for ESCG/Jacobs

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=4cb6e1b3-d981-41f7-87a3-45d5fbe753c8%40sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d / December 2007 

Title: The predicted growth of the low-Earth orbit space debris environment - an assessment of future risk for spacecraft.