"In a time of fiscal constraint, when responsible policy will reduce the size and scope of the U.S. military, foreign policy is liable to suffer. Without continued and increased military exchange promoting professional military development in partner nations, regional and global stability and partnership capacity may decline. Supporting enduring national interests, building partnership capacity should be matured as part of a major U.S. whole-of-government mission set, incorporated into a larger partnership development strategy for the purpose of shaping the environment for favorable U.S. outcomes. To scope this paper, U.S. investment in BPC should focus on the development of professional militaries of select nation-states providing the greatest long-term return on investment. Building partnership capacity through professional military forces enhances regional stability, promotes theater security cooperation, reduces risk, and directly supports positive U.S. foreign policy exchange between sovereign nation-states. Greater expense of national treasure, decreasing U.S. international influence, and decreasing international support are potential negative results of ignoring the need for willing coalitions forming enduring partnerships. Ultimately, this paper offers recommendations to guide the building partnership capacity selection process. Specifically, this study is relevant to U.S. military theatre security cooperation planners, Foreign Service planners, congressional budget planners, and researchers interested in building partnership capacity through professional military development."-- Abstract

The April 2012 Global Financial Stability Report assesses changes in risks to financial stability over the past six months, focusing on sovereign vulnerabilities, risks stemming from private sector deleveraging, and assessing the continued resilience of emerging markets. The report probes the implications of recent reforms in the financial system for market perception of safe assets, and investigates the growing public and private costs of increased longevity risk from aging populations.

Discover how to invest your capital to achieve a powerful, lasting impact on the world. The Global Handbook of Impact Investing: Solving Global Problems Via Smarter Capital Markets Towards A More Sustainable Society is an insightful guide to the growing world-wide movement of Impact Investing. Impact investors seek to realize lasting, beneficial improvements in society by allocating capital to sources of impactful and sustainable profit. This Handbook is a how-to guide for institutional investors, including family offices, foundations, endowments, governments, and international organizations, as well as academics, students, and everyday investors globally. The Handbook´s wide-ranging contributions from around the world make a powerful case for positive impact and profit to fund substantive, lasting solutions that solve critical problems across the world. Edited by two experienced and distinguished professionals in the sustainable investing arena and authored by two dozen renowned experts from finance, academia, and multilateral organizations from around the world, the Global Handbook of Impact Investing educates, inspires, and spurs action towards more responsible investing across all asset classes, resulting in smarter capital markets, including how to: · Realize positive impact and profit · Integrate impact into investment decision-making and portfolio · Allocate impactful investments across all asset classes · Apply unique Impact Investing frameworks · Measure, evaluate and report on impact · Learn from case examples around the globe · Pursue Best Practices in Impact Investing and impact reporting While other resources may take a local or limited approach to the subject, this Handbook gathers global knowledge and results from public and private institutions spanning five continents. The authors also make a powerful case for the ability of Impact Investing to lead to substantive and lasting change that addresses critical problems across the world.

Despite ongoing economic recovery and improvements in global financial stability, structural weaknesses and vulnerabilities remain in some important financial systems. The April 2011 Global Financial Stability Report highlights how risks have changed over the past six months, traces the sources and channels of financial distress with an emphasis on sovereign risk, notes the pressures arising from capital inflows in emerging economies, and discusses policy proposals under consideration to mend the global financial system.

Macroeconomic Investment Strategies for an Era of Economic Uncertainty “Over the years, François’ insightful analyses of the business cycle has led to market calls that have both benefitted investors on the upside and (more important to many) protected them from losses on the downside. François’ incredible track record in successfully interpreting the trends that can be found in leading indicators and other macroeconomic data have also led to his well deserved reputation as an expert in sector rotation - providing investors on both the long and short side of the market opportunities to profit from his ideas. In my opinion, his most important and influential macro prediction to date was his call in the middle of the last decade when he predicted that the worst housing crisis in American history would soon be upon us, and that it would have far-ranging implications for both the global economy and world financial markets.” From the foreword by Robert Doll, Vice Chairman & CIO of Global Equities, Blackrock Advisors, LLC “François Trahan is an insightful observer and student of market forces. His research has identified key drivers of stock market performance over decades in various cycles of inflation, credit growth, and economic developments. In his new book, François tries to sort out and explain for market participants the dynamics that brought us to this point and what he sees as the future path of economic and market developments. It is an essential read for anyone participating in or interested in the stock market.” Robert Soros, Chairman, Soros Fund Management “The Era of Uncertainty is terrific. It challenges conventional Wall Street wisdom, gives investors the necessary tools to successfully navigate the new world order and has policy prescriptions to get the U.S. economy on the right track.” Consuelo Mack, Anchor & Managing Editor, Consuelo Mack WealthTrack “Valuation is not everything. An important lesson from the global financial crisis is that macro matters. In The Era of Uncertainty, François Trahan and Katharine Krantz show how macroeconomic analysis can be incorporated into the investment process and provide a road map for investing in the difficult times ahead.” Edward Chancellor, Author of Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation and member of GMO's Asset Allocation team “François consistently sets a high bar for strategist and thought leaders in the markets, and I can safely say he’s done it yet again with this book. Always insightful, and willing to challenge the ‘stale’ thinking of the establishment on The Street, François' thoughts and analysis are appropriate for anyone who cares not only about markets, but the future of our world.” Jeff deGraaf, Chairman, Renaissance Macro Research, LLC With macro forces governing the post-credit crisis world, and most likely to remain dominant for some time to come, the power of the business cycle is once again in the spotlight. In this type of environment, stock picking will have far less impact on portfolio returns than getting the "big picture" right. And using the last twenty years as a playbook will prove costly to investors. The Era of Uncertainty provides a new way of thinking about investing in a dynamic, macro-driven world. In it, François Trahan and Katherine Krantz discuss the importance of macroeconomic perspectives in an unstable global economy. They go on to cover three possible future scenarios: inflation, deflation, or the middle ground. With each scenario the authors discusses the likely causes and consequences as well as the best strategies for investing profitably. Draws on the experiences of prior credit-driven deleveraging cycles to develop a dynamic framework for investing in an era of economic uncertainty Contains insights on the future of the financial industry Provides fascinating anecdotes from Trahan's time at Bear Stearns prior to its collapse and sale Includes interactive digital tool for users to determine investment strategies based on personal predictions If you intend on succeeding in today's economic environment you can't follow yesterday's investment strategies. The Era of Uncertainty reveals what it will take to make it in such a different market and how you can incorporate new strategies into your everyday investment endeavors. The book comes with an interactive digital tool allowing users to make their own predictions about the economic future and receive asset allocation and sector allocation advice.

Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents is a series that provides primary source documents and expert commentary on the worldwide counter-terrorism effort. Among the documents collected are transcripts of Congressional testimony, reports by such federal government bodies as the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and case law covering issues related to terrorism. Most volumes carry a single theme, and inside each volume the documents appear within topic-based categories. The series also includes a subject index and other indices that guide the user through this complex area of the law. Volume 123, Global Stability and U.S. National Security, includes documents that illuminate instability concerns in key regions of the world and offer insights into how the lack of stability negatively affects U.S. interests, as well as the interests of other nations. The documents selected by Douglas Lovelace include primarily studies of instability concerns in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as a document providing a general assessment of global stability and reports on Southeast and Central Asia and Latin America.