Partners In Preventive Action

The unipolar moment, to the extent it ever existed, has now truly passed. The United States is part of a globalized world, in which the flows of goods, finance, people, and much more connect us to other countries as never before. But for all the myriad benefits globalization brings, it also means that the challenges of the coming decades -- be they generated by resource competition, climate change, cybercrime, terrorism, or classic competition and rivalry -- cannot be solved or even mitigated by one country alone. Countries will need to cooperate on policies that extend across borders to address issues that affect them all. In this report, the authors argue that the United States should increasingly look to international institutions -- the United Nations and regional organizations like the European Union, the African Union, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- as partners in conflict prevention and peacemaking worldwide. These organizations can serve as a platform for developing and enforcing international norms; provide a source of legitimacy for diplomatic and military efforts; and aggregate the operational resources of their members, all of which can increase the ease and effectiveness of American peacemaking efforts.

Part of the integrated project "Responses to violence in everyday life in a democratic society"

The United States faces an increasingly turbulent world. The risk of violent conflict and other threats to international order presents a vexing dilemma: should the United States remain the principal guarantor of global peace and security with all its considerable commitments and potential pitfalls––not least new and costly military entanglements––that over time diminish its capacity and commitment to play this vital role or, alternatively, should it pull back from the world in the interests of conserving U.S. power, but at the possible cost of even greater threats emerging in the future? Paul B. Stares proposes an innovative and timely strategy—“preventive engagement”—to resolve America’s predicament. This approach entails pursuing three complementary courses of action: promoting policies known to lessen the risk of violent conflict over the long term; anticipating and averting those crises likely to lead to costly military commitments in the medium term; and managing ongoing conflicts in the short term before they escalate further and exert pressure on the United States to intervene. In each of these efforts, forging “preventive partnerships” with a variety of international actors, including the United Nations, regional organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the business community, is essential. The need to think and act ahead that lies at the heart of a preventive engagement strategy requires the United States to become less shortsighted and reactive. Drawing on successful strategies in other areas, Preventive Engagement provides a detailed and comprehensive blueprint for the United States to shape the future and reduce the potential dangers ahead.

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, yet most cases are preventable. Every year in the United States, nearly 5 million people are treated for skin cancer, at an estimated cost of $8.1 billion. Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, causes nearly 9,000 deaths each year. Despite recent efforts to address risk factors, skin cancer rates continue to rise. While those with lighter skin are more susceptible, anyone can get skin cancer—and it can be serious, even deadly. Almost all of the conditions can be caused by unnecessary ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure, usually from excessive time in the sun or from the use of indoor tanning devices. It is alarming that every year, nearly one out of every three young white women aged 16–25 engages in indoor tanning. It's important to shatter the myth that tanned skin is a sign of health. And a “base” tan is not a “safe” tan. Tanned skin is damaged skin. Understanding the risk of UV exposure is crucial to protecting ourselves and our loved ones. That is why “The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer” is important for all of us. It outlines action steps we can all take—as individuals, parents, educators, employers, policy makers, health care professionals, and communities—to reverse this alarming trend. As a nation, we can all do more to address skin cancer as a serious public health challenge. Everyone is urged to find out more about the risk of skin cancer—and what we all can do to prevent it.

State failure, ethnopolitical war, genocide, famine, and refugee flows are variants of a type of complex political and humanitarian crisis, exemplified during the 1990s in places like Somalia, Bosnia, Liberia, and Afghanistan. The international consequences of such crises are profound, often threatening regional security and requiring major inputs of humanitarian assistance. They also may pose long-term and costly challenges of rebuilding shattered governments and societies. A vital policy question is whether failures can be diagnosed far enough in advance to facilitate effective international efforts at prevention or peaceful transformation. This volume of original essays examines crisis early warning factors at different levels, in different settings, and judges their effectiveness according to various models. Top contributors offer answers along with analyses as they move from early warning to early response in their policy recommendations.

This forward-thinking reference spotlights an expansive and inclusive community model for youth alcohol prevention as opposed to traditional individual and school-based group approaches. Focusing on a long-term intervention in a Southwestern border town, it documents the development of critical consciousness in an affected community, and emphasizes young people as crucial drivers of change in their environment. The book’s Community Readiness Model provides vital context for successful coalition building between youth, families, and community entities (e.g., schools, civic leaders, police) in reducing alcohol risk factors and promoting healthier choices. Given the severity and prevalence of youth alcohol use, this case study offers a viable blueprint for large-scale engagement in prevention. Among the featured topics: Integrating research into prevention strategies using participatory action research. Breaking down silos between community-based organizations: coalition development. Adult perspectives on nurturing youth leadership and coalition participation. Youth perspectives on youth power as the source of community dev elopment. Coalition as conclusion: tips on creating a functioning coalition. Community transformational resilience for adolescent alcohol prevention. Youth-Community Partnerships for Adolescent Alcohol Prevention is both practical and inspiring reading for researchers and other mental health professionals in psychology, social work, and public health who work with adolescents, communities, and civic engagement.

The eagerly anticipated follow up to Leashing the Dogs of War. In the midst of a global political shift where power moves from central institutions to smaller, more disbursed units, another landmark text edited by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall provides essential insights and practical guidance. In Managing Conflict in a World Adrift, 40 of the world’s leading international affairs analysts examine the relationship between political, social or economic change and the outbreak and spread of conflict. They then consider what this means for conflict management. This panoramic study is the latest volume in a series of titles on conflict management edited by Crocker, Hampson and Aall and follows up on their seminal work Leashing the Dogs of War (2007). For more than a decade, this series of titles has been the definitive resource for students and practitioners of conflict management who want a better understanding of the most contemporary thinking about what causes conflict and how to prevent and manage it.