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Geopolitics and Global Issues

REVISITING THE FUTURE:  GEOPOLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. Mathew J. Burrows and Jennifer Harris, The Washington Quarterly, April 20069, pp. 27-38. “Drafters of the National Intelligence Council’s 2025 report forecast potential effects of the ongoing financial crisis on the economy, the role of the state, and the shape of world order. Will reduced U.S. political and market clout be one of the casualties?” READ MORE

THE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY. Robert D. Kaplan, Foreign Policy, May/June 2009, var. pages.  “People and ideas influence events, but geography largely determines them, now more than ever. To understand the coming struggles, it’s time to dust off the Victorian thinkers who knew the physical world best. A journalist who has covered the ends of the Earth offers a guide to the relief map—and a primer on the next phase of conflict.” READ MORE

FARM FUTURES. Catherine Bertini and Dan Glickman, Foreign Affairs, May-June 2009, var. pages. “Hunger remains one of world’s gravest humanitarian problems, but the United States has failed to prioritize food aid and agricultural development. Washington must put agriculture at the center of development aid -- and make it a key part of a new U.S. foreign policy.” READ MORE 

Middle East

THE IMPERATIVES OF SYRIAN-ISRAELI PEACE. Paul Salem, The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Winter/Spring 2009, pp. 63-72. “Negotiations between Syria and Israel should be facilitated by the United States in order to carry diplomacy to the next level. A Syrian-Israeli peace deal would benefit not just the two countries themselves, but an array of other stakeholders ranging from the Lebanese and Iraqis to countries that are interested in containing Iran’s influence in the region. Paul Salem argues that the Obama administration should use a combination of sticks, carrots, and active diplomacy to ensure an integrated approach to the problem— a departure from the Bush administration’s approach, which relied primarily on force.” READ MORE

SLOUCHING TOWARD JERUSALEM. Aaron David Miller? The National Interest, May/June 2009, var. pages. “The United States has been a surprisingly ineffectual Middle East peacemaker. Clinton’s overenthusiasm and Bush’s lack of interest caused us to lose our credibility with both Israel and Palestine. To ensure progress, Obama must first indicate he is going to take the issue seriously. This may well necessitate a period of benign neglect. And he might look to Syria—not Palestine—to provide the beginnings of a regional settlement between the Israelis and the Arabs.” READ MORE

THE KING AND US. David Ottaway, Foreign Affairs, May-June 2009, var. pages. “The exchange of oil for security no longer defines the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Still, the two countries can restore healthy ties by addressing common concerns such as Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.” READ MORE

CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE. David Ignatius, Foreign Policy, May/June 2009, pp. 42-48. “Looking at America's troubled role in the Middle East today, the author fears the country finds itself trying to act as a moderator in a bitter dispute, to seek a middle where there is no middle. The US is perceived as siding with the Israelis even as it claims to be impartial. Though the American mantra may be that it never negotiates with terrorists, the reality is that it always has, when it's necessary or useful to do so. Nowadays, the Middle East's leaders don't seem to need the US as much. Today, the nice Palestinian is Pres Mahmoud Abbas. But to his people, he appears impotent. He has been unable to deliver peace and independence. He can't stop Israeli settlements in the West Bank or incursions into Gaza. American leaders must give up the notion that they can transform the Middle East and its culture through military force. READ MORE

U.S.:  Decline or Renewal?

DECLINE OR RENEWAL? Kishore Mahbubani, Tyler Cowen and Arthur Herman, The Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2009, pp. 47-66. “The taller you stand, the farther you fall. That is one argument for the proposition that the United States is coming to the end of its reign as the world's dominant power. With its economy in crisis and its national debt mushrooming, the nation may in the future have little room for maneuver against less encumbered rivals. Yet, as our contributors make clear, it is easy to see more hopeful scenarios for postcrisis America.” READ MORE

NECESSITY, CHOICE, AND COMMON SENSE. Leslie H. Gelb, Foreign Affairs, May-June 2009, var. pages.  “The United States is declining as a nation and a world power. This is a serious yet reversible situation, so long as Americans are clear-eyed about the causes and courageous about implementing the cures, including a return to pragmatic problem solving.” READ MORE

Human Rights

EXPEDIENCY OF THE ANGELS.  Suzanne Katzenstein and Jack Snyder, The National Interest, March/April 2009, var. pages. “Liberals and neoconservatives alike have been long on human-rights rhetoric and short on results. Wary of overpromising, the U.S. public has begun to shy away from promoting our values abroad. Yet the lesson of our failures is not to cower in the shadow of our ideals, but instead to push for results in more pragmatic ways. Without developing a more effective human-rights policy, the United States will neither recover its tarnished reputation nor accomplish its larger strategic goals.” READ MORE

DUSK OR DAWN FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT? Sarah E. Mendelson, The Washington Quarterly, April 2009, pp. 103-120. “Mendelson talks about the fate of the Human Rights Movement. December 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the conclusion, gathered through original interviews with activists, scholars, and critics of the human rights movement, that the consensus on human rights remains fragile. About a month before the 60th anniversary of the UDHR, the US elected its first African-American president, Barack Obama. This historic event, a fitting milestone, brings to life that declaration, which human rights activists and legal scholars regard as the sacred text. Obama's election fulfills a dream of the US civil rights movement, a struggle that relied as much on the UDHR as on the courage of the men and women who for decades fought to make the US a ‘more perfect union.’ For human rights defenders around the world, its significance cannot be overstated.” READ MORE

DETENTION NATION. Karen J. Greenberg, The National Interest, May/June, var. pages. “George W. Bush’s policies toward terror detainees were perhaps some of his most jaw-dropping. Barack Obama came to office promising to change course. So far, he has done little. It remains to be seen whether the president can—or wants to—develop an effective replacement policy.” READ MORE

Climate Policy

THINK AGAIN: THE GREEN ECONOMY. Matthew E. Kahn, Foreign Policy, May-June 2009, pp. 34-38. “Going green has finally gone mainstream, and politicians from London to Seoul are spending billions on clean technologies they say will create jobs. But unless we are all willing to risk a little more pain, the green revolution could founder before it ever really starts.” READ MORE

IS LOCAL FOOD BETTER? Sarah DeWeerdt, World Watch Magazine, May/June, pp. 6-10. “Yes, probably-but not in the way many people think. This two-part series examines the potential impacts of greater localization of food, beginning with the environmental effects and then, in the July/August issue, the economic implications.”  READ MORE

IN SEARCH OF EFFECTIVE AND VIABLE POLICIES TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASES. Nicholas Burger, Liisa Ecola et al., Environment, May/June 2009, pp. 8-18. ”As U.S. policymakers debate how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they cannot overlook normative considerations, such as cost-effectiveness, ability to stimulate innovation, fairness, and adaptability. How do we balance these factors with political viability?” READ MORE

Piracy

FIGHTING PIRATES: THE PEN AND THE SWORD. James Kraska and Brian Wilson, World Policy Journal, Winter 2008/09, pp. 41–52.  “Maritime piracy is experiencing a renaissance not seen since the period of the Barbary pirates. Instability from maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden is sending ripples throughout the global supply chain, which is already reeling from the collapse of shipping rates brought on by the worldwide economic slowdown.” READ MORE

SECURITY ISSUES FOR THE U.S. MILITARY IN THE 21^ST CENTURY - WHY ALEXANDER THE GREAT IS STILL RELEVANT AND PIRATES REMAIN A PROBLEM. Admiral William J. Fallon, The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Winter/Spring 2009, pp. 115-130. “This winter, The Forum spoke with Admiral William J. Fallon, who drew upon lessons from the recent and distant past to explain how the U.S. military currently addresses a range of international threats across the globe. Scaling up counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan, pursuing a durable peace in the Middle East, facilitating the provision of humanitarian aid, tackling nuclear non-proliferation, and fighting piracy—these challenges require U.S. leadership, continued investment in the military, and renewed partnerships with U.S. allies.” READ MORE

Economy

BUSINESS BANKRUPTCY: ARE U.S. BANKRUPTCY LAWS EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE? Barbara Mantel, The CQ Researcher, April 10, 2009, var. pages. “Some of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history have occurred in the past seven months, led by Lehman Brothers investment bank and Washington Mutual savings and loan. The Obama administration is now threatening General Motors and Chrysler with a government-managed bankruptcy if they don't come up with an aggressive restructuring plan in short order. While the two automakers' woes have captured the headlines, thousands of other firms — many in retail and real estate — are quietly trying to avoid bankruptcy court. Last year the number of bankruptcies rose more than 50 percent over the previous year — to more than 43,000. Some experts say the government needs to step in and lend money to bankrupt companies while other critics say Congress made emerging from bankruptcy almost impossible for some companies when it amended the Bankruptcy Code in 2005.” READ MORE

THE QUIET COUP. Simon Johnson, The Atlantic, May 2009, var. pages. “Johnson, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, writes that the Obama administration is unlikely to reform the U.S. financial system because his top economic advisers have been recruited from the leading investment banks, the very institutions in need of reform. The author, now a scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, asserts that the U.S. financial disaster was brought about by an “Oligarchy, running the country rather like a profit-seeking company in which they are the controlling shareholders.” He said that government bailouts of the banks that have become too big to fail are not incentives to reform. “The government’s velvet-glove approach with banks ... is inadequate to change the behavior of a financial sector accustomed to doing business on its own terms,” Johnson asserts. In contrast to the administration’s bailout strategy, Johnson has another proposal: nationalize troubled banks and break them up as necessary. Without thorough banking reform, the author said that the world risks going into an economic slump worse than the Great Depression.” READ MORE

Society

MOYNIHAN WAS RIGHT: NOW WHAT?  Ron Haskins, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, January 2009, pp. 281-314.  In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan predicted that the exposure of so many black children, especially males, to fatherless families would prevent many from seizing new opportunities through the civil rights revolution. Although Moynihan was excoriated in the academic world and beyond, subsequent events have proven him correct. Today, in part because of the continuing demise of married-couple families, the average black is far behind the average white in educational achievement, employment rates, and earnings; blacks also have much higher crime and incarceration rates. These outcomes have led to growing recognition that the promise of the civil rights revolution will not be achieved until the black family is repaired. This article proposes a series of policies intended to increase and reward work, reduce nonmarital births and increase marriage rates, expand preschool education, and reduce incarceration rates and integrate former prisoners back into society—all designed to reduce lone parenting or deal with its effects. READ MORE


“CULTURES OF INEQUALITY”: ETHNICITY, IMMIGRATION, SOCIAL WELFARE, AND IMPRISONMENT.  Robert Crutchfield and David Pettinicchio.  Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May 2009, 134-147.  The authors discuss the shift from classic culture of poverty arguments to more contemporary uses of cultural variables in explaining criminal justice practices in Western industrialized countries. The authors use “cultures of inequality” to refer to the increasing taste or tolerance for inequality in the general population across nations. They also elaborate a potential link between perceived threat of others and growing tastes for inequality, thereby extending the classic threat hypothesis. Using country-level data and data from the World Values Survey, the authors find that countries with higher than average tastes for inequality also have higher income inequality, more population heterogeneity, and higher percentages of others in prison. However, people in these countries do not necessarily have more hostile attitudes toward others . The United States shares several characteristics with other Western countries but appears to be driving the difference in the mean taste for inequality between countries with low and high imprisonment of others.  READ MORE

THE WORLD'S NEW NUMBERS.  Martin Walker. The Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2009, pp. 24-31. "'Here lies Europe, overwhelmed by Muslim immigrants and emptied of native-born Europeans.' That is the obituary some pundits have been writing in recent years. But neither the immigrants nor the Europeans are playing their assigned roles. New facts have snuck up on the doomsayers who foresee a decrepit, baby-poor Europe overrun by fertile Muslim immigrants and unable to pay for its social welfare states." READ MORE

PROJECTING POPULATION. Elizabeth Leahy and Sean Peoples, World Watch Magazine, May/June, pp. 24-30. "Estimates of population growth assume many things - including that growth-reducing policies will actually be pursued." READ MORE

WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS: IS OVERHAUL OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM NEEDED? Steve Weinberg, The CQ Researcher, April 17, 2009, pp. 345-372. "As recently as 10 years ago, the proposition that innocent men and women regularly end up in prison failed to find traction. Today, thanks to the power of DNA evidence, media coverage and the establishment of innocence projects, there is general acceptance that wrongful convictions indeed occur. Dozens of states have passed laws to prevent wrongful convictions and compensate those wrongly imprisoned. Defense attorneys and many academics say wrongful convictions are a recurrent problem requiring substantial changes in the criminal justice system, but prosecutors, police and other academics say mistaken convictions are such a small percentage of all cases that the system should mostly be left alone." READ MORE

ESCAPE FROM THE ZOMBIE FOOD COURT.  Joe Bageant. AlterNet, posted April 6, 2009.
In this article, condensed from recent presentations, author and social commentator Joe Bageant notes that what he writes about is “Americans, and why we think and behave the way we do.” Says Bageant, the outside world does not exist for most of us – “it is a real place with many fast developing disasters, economic and ecological collapse being just two. The more aware among us grasp that there is much at stake. Yet, even the most informed and educated Americans have cultural conditioning working against them round the clock.” Notes Bageant, “given the financialization of all aspects of our culture and lives, even our so-called leisure time, it is not an exaggeration to say that true democracy is dead and a corporate financial state has now arrived.” Television and the media “have colonized our inner lives like a virus”; though a comparatively recent phenomenon, “this commoditization of our human consciousness is probably the most astounding, most chilling accomplishment of American capitalist culture.” It has succeeded in spreading around the world because it “requires no effort, no critical thinking ... just passive consumption.” How does one escape such a system? According to Bageant, “humble and thoughtful service to the world.” He sees idealism making a comeback since its decline in the 1960s, especially among a new breed of young people, who understand it “completely ... they seem to already know what it took me a lifetime to learn.” READ MORE

IS TECHNOLOGY TEARING APART FAMILY LIFE? Dana Wollman, Laptop, March 2009, pp. 92-97.  The author notes that text messaging, social networking and online video are changing the dynamics between parents and children; technology today is the new “rock-and-roll”, with the older generation trying to make sense of it, if not openly embrace, it. Some believe that social networking will improve family interaction, while others argue that the new technology threatens to rip apart not just family unity but the fabric of society itself, as more individuals communicate only through their high-tech devices, decreasing the amount of time they actually interact on a personal level. Eye contact, emotional resonance and body language are lost if humans rely primarily on texting, instant-messaging or FaceBook as means of communication. Family togetherness, like evening meals or weekend activities, gets short-changed once again as children use their gadgets as a substitute for family participation. READ MORE


Journalism and New Media

ROLL THE DICE: HOW ONE JOURNALIST GAMBLED ON THE FUTURE OF NEWS.  Charles M. Sennot.  Columbia Journalism Review, March-April 2009.  Sennot, a former Boston Globe correspondent, writes of his transition from being a traditional print journalist to co-founding GlobalPost.com, an online “collaborative” foreign news agency that has attracted major journalists who write on a freelance basis for a modest stipends and shares in the company. Despite the trepidation of entering a new realm, and a shortfall in funding, GlobalPost.com was launched and is among a group that includes ProPublica and Politico moving the news delivery model forward. It also offers an entrepreneurial landing spot for journalists exiting traditional print careers. “It is an exciting time, a historic shift in how the world will be informed,” Sennot writes. He is currently GlobalPost.com’s executive editor. READ MORE

HITTING THE TWEET SPOT. Barb Palser.  American Journalism Review, April-May 2009.
Palser, director of digital media for McGraw-Hill Broadcasting, recommends that news outlets use Twitter to reach elusive and sought-after audiences, such as 18- to 34-year-olds who are more likely to read a newspaper on a mobile phone or Web site. While Twitter is successful in reaching these audiences, the question remains on how to use Twitter to generate revenue for the news organizations. The most likely benefit, she says, is that the Web offerings will benefit from increased traffic from Twitter links. “Tweets” – 140 character mini-blogs – can be used as a valuable news tool. During the October 2007 Southern California wildfires, for example, news organizations such as the Los Angeles Times and San Diego public radio station KPBS used Twitter to efficiently dispatch urgent bits of information, such as evacuation orders, shelter locations, and firefighting progress. A number of news organizations have incorporated Twitter into their daily operations by using Tweets to automatically feed Web headlines and breaking news and to invite suggestions and questions from subscribers. READ MORE