Global Issues 2021 Edition. Группа авторов

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СКАЧАТЬ serious crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border. Migrant advocacy groups say Trump has manufactured a crisis, and statistics show illegal immigration from Mexico is in a long-term decline. Governments often seek to stem migration by providing aid to improve the economies of origin countries. Experts say the solution is not so simple, because it takes at least a generation before rising income encourages people to remain at home.

      Global Protest Movements

      Protest movements swept the globe last year—so widely that some experts said there were more protests, and more protesters, in 2019 than at any other time in history. Millions of citizens in dozens of countries took to the streets to protest a host of grievances, ranging from higher consumer prices to government corruption and social inequality. Thousands died; national leaders were forced from office. Experts differ on whether the wave of protests is a sign of failing democracy or of healthy citizen empowerment. But the deadly global spread of the coronavirus this year halted most street protests, at least temporarily, as governments enforced social distancing restrictions in hopes of preventing further infections—and perhaps in some cases in hopes of breaking the protests’ momentum. Many movements took their campaigns online, but how successfully remains to be seen. Social media enables protesters to organize effectively and promote their causes widely. Yet some observers argue that a social media campaign dissipates quickly if organizers cannot meet their followers’ expectations.

      Christians in the Middle East

      The number of Christians in the Middle East has been falling for more than a century, due mainly to emigration and lower birth rates. But the decline has intensified since the early 2000s, as Christians and other religious minorities have faced increased persecution and violence due to wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the rise of extremist groups such as the Islamic State and instability following the Arab Spring democracy movements that began in 2011. Tension also has been rising between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which represent opposite sides of Islam’s Sunni-Shiite divide and where religious restrictions remain among the most severe in the world. While some exiled Christians are trying to return to their old homes, experts are not optimistic that the outflow from the region will slow; nor do they expect the Middle East to become more hospitable to religious minorities. Experts say the plight of these minorities reflects a dangerous lack of pluralism and respect for human rights in many of the area’s societies.

      Environmental Issues

      Extreme Weather

      Climate scientists say that rising global temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions are making some extreme weather events increasingly likely and severe. They predict that heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes and other weather-related disasters will continue to set records and send damage costs soaring, even as countries around the world pledge to reduce emissions in response to global warming. Climate change skeptics, including President Trump and some conservatives, say fears that carbon emissions are making severe weather more frequent and more destructive are largely groundless, and administration officials are taking steps to minimize the role that climate science plays in setting government policies. Recent trends in extreme weather have led many experts to ask whether initiatives such as the financially troubled National Flood Insurance Program should continue to subsidize repeated rebuilding in disaster-prone areas. Some experts believe people living in such areas should be encouraged to leave. Others disagree, saying people have the right to live where they choose.

      Climate Change and Health

      Scientists warn that a warming planet threatens human health. A United Nations agency estimates climate change will cause 250,000 additional deaths annually between 2030 and 2050. The threat is multifaceted. Prolonged droughts are causing malnutrition in Africa, while extreme heat is leading to spikes in heat stroke in places as diverse as Baltimore and Paris. Across the globe, changing climes are worsening allergies and increasing the deadly reach of illnesses such as malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus. But consensus is lacking about what to do. Some experts argue the threat is exaggerated because people will adapt to the changing climate. Others say nations must quickly reduce carbon emissions to limit global warming and protect human health. Environmental activists are amplifying that message. One survey found that respondents ranked climate change as the top threat in 13 of 26 countries polled. In the United States, however, only 27 percent of Republicans—versus 83 percent of Democrats—view climate change as a major threat.

      Fuel Efficiency Standards

      President Trump is significantly reducing federal fuel efficiency and emissions standards for vehicles to below those set by the Obama administration. The Obama regulations required automakers to build vehicle fleets that would average about 54 mpg by 2025. The Trump rule cuts the requirement to about 40 mpg by 2026. Trump has also revoked a waiver that allowed California to set stricter standards, which are followed by several other states. The Trump administration contends its rule will save consumers billions of dollars in vehicle costs and will spur a move to new, cleaner and safer vehicles. Opponents say the rule will endanger public health and accelerate climate change by putting into the air more pollutants and greenhouse gases that cause global warming, especially carbon dioxide. The battle over the standards has divided automobile manufacturers and led a coalition of states headed by California, along with a dozen environmental groups, to sue to block the Trump administration’s fuel efficiency and emissions rollback.

      Preface

      In this pivotal era of international policymaking, scholars, students, practitioners and journalists seek answers to such critical questions as: Will climate change set off a global health catastrophe? Is a denuclearization agreement with North Korea possible? Can companies adjust their global supply chains to Trump’s tariffs and still grow? Students must first understand the facts and contexts of these and other global issues if they are to analyze and articulate well-reasoned positions.

      The 2021 edition of Global Issues provides comprehensive and unbiased coverage of today’s most pressing global problems. This edition is a compilation of 16 recent reports from CQ Researcher, a weekly policy brief that unpacks difficult concepts and provides balanced coverage of competing perspectives. Each article analyzes past, present and possible political maneuvering, is designed to promote in-depth discussion and further research and helps readers formulate their own positions on crucial international issues.

      This collection is organized into four subject areas that span a range of important international policy concerns: conflict, security, and terrorism; international political economy; religious and human rights; and environmental issues. Global Issues is a valuable supplement for courses on world affairs in political science, geography, economics and sociology. Citizens, journalists and business and government leaders also turn to it to become better informed on key issues, actors and policy positions.

       CQ Researcher

      CQ Researcher was founded in 1923 as Editorial Research Reports and was sold primarily to newspapers as a research tool. The magazine was renamed and redesigned in 1991 as CQ Researcher. Today, students are its primary audience. While still used by hundreds of journalists and newspapers, many of which reprint portions of the reports, Researcher’s main subscribers are now high school, college and public libraries. In 2002, Researcher won the American Bar Association’s coveted Silver Gavel Award for magazine excellence for a series of nine reports on civil liberties and other legal issues.

      Researcher writers—all highly experienced journalists—sometimes compare the experience of writing a Researcher report to drafting a college term СКАЧАТЬ