Ethan A. Nadelmann, Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement

This book review asserts that Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement ( Cops Across Borders ) is the first book to attempt a systematic analysis of the role that the United States has played in the field of international law enforcement. For that reason, the book represents a major step forward in understanding this rapidly evolving area. While many people have examined different aspects of international law enforcement, such as extraterritorial jurisdiction, extradition, and international evidence gathering, not until this book has the entire field been subjected to historical and scholarly research. Mr. Nadelmann\u27s book has forged a new road in this rapidly growing, but often confusing, area. The book is not without defects, however. The basic problem with Cops Across Borders is that the general theme of international law enforcement is not strong enough to hold together the different chapters to form a cohesive whole. Each chapter is a self-contained study of a particular facet of law enforcement, and the reader is left with the feeling that Mr. Nadelmann has forced the parts together to form a single text. Given the importance of his endeavor, however, the effort can be readily defended as the exercise of justifiable force. Indeed, the sections of the book are well-suited to use in an academic setting as the basis for an extended study of the issues raised

What Do International Tests Really Show About U.S. Student Performance?

Evidence-based policy has been a goal of American education policymakers for at least two decades. School reformers seek data about student knowledge and skills, hoping to use this information to improve schools. One category of such evidence, international test results, has seemingly permitted comparisons of student performance in the United States with that in other countries. Such comparisons have frequently been interpreted to show that American students perform poorly when compared to students internationally. From this, reformers conclude that U.S. public education is failing and that its failure imperils America's ability to compete with other nations economically.This report, however, shows that such inferences are too glib. Comparative student performance on international tests should be interpreted with much greater care than policymakers typically give it