Report Card
Pollak, Roger
Wasting Away THE TOXICS CRISIS: WHAT THE STATES SHOULD DO by the staff of the Conference on Alternative State and Local Policies C.A.S.L.P., 2000 Florida Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009....
...Social upheaval in Central America is inevitable and does not threaten U.S...
...Much of the garbage ends up in the 16,000 unregulated hazardous-waste dumps that pockmark the country...
...efforts to counter local upheavals...
...CHANGING COURSE: BLUEPRINT FOR PEACE IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN by Richard Barnet, Saul Landau, et al...
...security concerns, economic interests, and past foreign relations...
...Three years later, quiet diplomacy has failed, according to Americas Watch, Helsinki Watch, and the Lawyers Committee on International Human Rights, co-authors of this report...
...Human Wrongs FAILURE: THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION'S HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY IN 1983 by Americas Watch, et al...
...comes not from revolutions in neighboring countries, but from the potential regionalization of the war that may be the result of U.S...
...Changing Course offers a cogently argued liberal program for defending U.S...
...Though many hands crafted Changing Course—and the authors include some outspoken advocates of radical change in Central America—the report has a centrist tone...
...The figures tell the story: Ours is a nation deeply fouled by its own wastes...
...Liberal reforms may be possible in California, Massachusetts, Maine, or Oregon, but what about Mississippi, Alabama, Utah, or Oklahoma...
...Instead, consumers and workers must organize on the state level for stronger protective measures...
...To assist in this undertaking, the Conference on Alternative State and Local Policies has presented a well-organized and informative issue-by-issue discussion of the changes organizers should effect...
...5.00...
...Mired in "ideological rigidity," the Administration cynically bases most human rights decisions on an anticommunist litmus test...
...The Federal Government, particularly under the control of President Reagan, cannot be trusted to be the zealous protector that is needed," say the authors of Toxics Crisis...
...Historically, disparities among states have provided a major impetus for Federal action on social issues...
...The twenty-three country-by-country reviews in Failure reveal that "most of the time, far from acknowledging abuses by friendly countries, the Reagan Administration acts as their apologist...
...The real crisis is in the inability of the United States to respond appropriately to profound changes in Central America which this nation cannot prevent without damaging our own democratic institutions, our economy, and our national security," the report states...
...Conversely, where the Administration dislikes a nation's policies, human rights pronouncements are used to discredit and destabilize, as in Nicaragua...
...Whose Interests...
...interests in Central America...
...Each year, tens of thousands of toxic chemicals pass through offices, factories, and homes...
...Tightly written and carefully researched, the report sets out a new basis for American policy toward the region, talcing into consideration U.S...
...Countering conventional wisdom, the authors conclude that "the greater threat...
...Institute for Policy Studies, 1901 Q Street, Washington, DC 20009...
...After they are spent, these substances become "hazardous wastes"—of which 275 million tons are generated annually...
...7.95...
...Toxics Crisis exaggerates, perhaps inadvertently, the case for focusing on the state level...
...6.00...
...However, the report fails to confront one important fact: Many states have even more dismal environmental records than the Reagan Administration...
...Upon entering office, Ronald Reagan set out to overhaul Jimmy Carter's activist human rights policy, promising greater gains through what he termed "quiet diplomacy...
...Americas Watch Committee, 36 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036...
...national security interests with a noninterventionist Central America policy, providing a solid foundation for progressive influence within the political mainstream...
...Overall, Changing Course does an excellent job of equating U.S...
...This valuable report brings a tragic irony home: The Reagan Administration's cynical and self-serving human rights posturing has become an instrument of military policy and an indirect contributor to human rights abuses...
...interests, argues Changing Course...
Vol. 48 • April 1984 • No. 4
