Europe and the Middle East

Europe and the Arab World: The Dilemma of Recognising Counterparts. François Burgat, International Politics, September 2009, pp. 616-635. Can the European Union (EU) secure the confidence of the Middle Eastern masses while being perceived as the ally and accomplice of two main adversaries of the Arab population, namely the Israeli state and the authoritarian Arab regimes, which are rightly accused to be violating international law and the same principles of good governance that the EU is purportedly promoting in the Middle East? Europe’s inaccurate identification of suitable partners, within Arab civil society or opposition movements, and, most notably, its chronic inability in establishing meaningful relations with the emerging generation of moderate Islamic actors, has impacted negatively upon the EU’s image in the Middle East, diminishing significantly the effectiveness of its regional policies. READ MORE

Between ‘Soft Power' and a Hard Place: European Foreign and Security Policy between the Islamic World and the United States. Michael Smith, International Politics, September 2009, pp. 596-615. This paper explores the pressures operating on European Union Foreign and Security Policy in the ‘triangle of forces’ created by the European integration process, developments in the Islamic world and the responses of the United States. In the first section, the paper explores ideas about foreign policy and power in the European Union (EU), as exemplified in debates about the Lisbon Treaty and the future role of the Union. The second part of the paper sets out three logics inherent in the development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, distinguishing between the ‘internal’ logic of the European integration process, the ‘external’ logic reflecting the opportunity structure in the world arena, which creates challenges and opportunities for the EU and its Member States, and the ‘identity’ logic, which creates a move towards self-realisation and ‘self-recognition’ on the part of the EU in international politics, and relates this to recent developments in European foreign and security policy. The paper then argues that the multi-dimensional ‘triangle of forces’ between European integration, the Islamic world and the United States has played a key role in focusing these developments, by posing challenges to the three logics and creating complex linkages between them. The Conclusion asks whether as a result EU foreign policy has been ‘catalysed’ (given new impetus and direction) or ‘constrained’ (subject to a process of external or self-limitation), and points to some early indications of the impact of the Obama Administration in the United States. READ MORE


Contrasting Explanations for Peace: Realism vs. Liberalism in Europe and the Middle East. Benjamin Miller, Contemporary Security Policy, April 2010, pp. 134-164. The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago solidified the spread of peace on most of the European continent. This peace emerged first in West Europe in the aftermath of World War Two, evolving into what I’ll call here ‘warm peace’. What are the main causes of this peace and to what extent do they apply in other regions? There is a realist–liberal debate on the sources of the European peace and thus potentially also on their application into other regions. The realist–liberal distinction, however, is insufficient. I distinguish here among four approaches to peace and security based on a novel distinction not only between realism and liberalism, but also on an internal division inside each camp between offensive and defensive approaches. Indeed, besides the familiar distinction between offensive and defensive realism, there is also an overlooked parallel distinction between offensive and defensive liberalism. Thus, we get four distinctive approaches: defensive realism, offensive realism and also defensive liberalism and offensive liberalism. This article focuses on this novel fourfold distinction and its application to regional security, particularly in two key regions: Europe and the Middle East. I argue that the combined effect of the realist mechanisms produced ‘cold peace’ in Europe, while the liberal strategies warmed the peace considerably, eventually producing a ‘high-level warm peace’. READ MORE

U.S. Society

The Tea Party vs. the Intellectuals. Lee Harris, Policy Review, June/July 2010, var. pp. A movement of attitude, not ideas. Intellectual critics of the Tea Party movement most often attack it for its lack of ideas, especially new ideas — and these critics have a point. But the point they are making reveals as much about them as it does about the Tea Party. Behind the criticism lies the implicit assumption that comes quite naturally to American intellectuals: Namely, that a political movement ought be motivated by ideas and that a new political movement should provide new ideas. But the Tea Party movement is not about ideas. It is all about attitude, like the attitude expressed by the popular poster seen at all Tea Party rallies. Over the head of a hissing rattlesnake threatening to strike is inscribed the defiant slogan so popular among our revolutionary ancestors: “Don’t tread on me!” The old defiant motto is certainly not a new idea. In fact, it is not an idea at all. It is a warning. READ MORE

How to Save the News. James Fallows, The Atlantic, June 2010, var. pp. Plummeting newspaper circulation, disappearing classified ads, “unbundling” of content—the list of what’s killing journalism is long. But high on that list, many would say, is Google, the biggest unbundler of them all. Now, having helped break the news business, the company wants to fix it—for commercial as well as civic reasons: if news organizations stop producing great journalism, says one Google executive, the search engine will no longer have interesting content to link to. So some of the smartest minds at the company are thinking about this, and working with publishers, and peering ahead to see what the future of journalism looks like. Guess what? It’s bright. READ MORE

Here Comes the Neighborhood. Christopher B. Leinberger, The Atlantic, June 2010, var. pages. "Conventional suburbs are overbuilt and out of favor. In cities and suburbs alike, walkable neighborhoods linked by train are the future. Here’s how a new network of privately funded rail lines can make that future come to pass more quickly and cheaply—and help reinvigorate housing and the economy." READ MORE

Being There: Why Leaders Should Not "Fiddle" While Rome Burns. Joanne B. Ciulla, Presidential Studies Quarterly, March 2010, pp. 38-56. "A leader's "being there" for his or her constituents is a matter of moral importance even when it lacks immediate practical value. Physical presence during or after a crisis plays a signal role in conveying moral solidarity, commitment, and concern, apart from the leader's actual empathy or sensitivity. The familiar story of Nero fiddling while Rome burned illustrates, by contrast, the importance of a leader's presence. Similar illustrations are provided by more recent examples of leaders who failed to 'be there' when disaster struck: Vladimir Putin remaining on vacation during the Kursk submarine disaster, and George W. Bush's conspicuous absence in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In contrast, President Bill Clinton made it a priority to show up at the scene of disasters, a priority that may have contributed to his resilient popular support." READ MORE

Are We There Yet? Bennett, Jessica; Ellison, Jesse; Ball, Sarah.  Newsweek, March 29, 2010.  In 1970, 46 women working at Newsweek filed a landmark gender-discrimination case and won. This article reviews that event and looks at the current status of women at Newsweek and in the workplace across the country. The authors conclude that while chances for promotion for women at Newsweek have improved, they are far from equal to that of men. Although 49 percent of Newsweek employees are female, men wrote all but six of Newsweek magazine’s 49 cover stories last year. Nationwide, the situation isn’t much better. U.S. Department of Education data show that, a year out of school, despite better college grades, young women take home just 80 percent of what their male colleagues do. Motherhood has long been the explanation for the persistent pay gap, yet a decade out of college, full-time working women without children still make 77 cents for every dollar males make. The Global Gender Gap Index -- a ranking of women's educational, health, political, and financial standing by the World Economic Forum -- found that, from 2006 to 2009 the U.S. had fallen from 23rd to 31st, behind Cuba and just above Namibia. Companies may have incorporated policies aimed at helping women, but they haven't helped as much as you'd think. "The U.S. always scores abysmally in terms of work-life balance," says the WEF's Kevin Steinberg. "But even here, [women] still rank 'masculine or patriarchal corporate culture' as the highest impediment to success." The four most common female professions today are secretary, registered nurse, teacher, and cashier—low-paying, "pink collar" jobs that employ 43 percent of all women. READ MORE

American Dream in Decline? Good, Chris, Atlantic Monthly online, March 15, 2010.  Most Americans think attaining the “American Dream” -– opportunity, home ownership, financial success -- is getting harder, according to a poll conducted in February by Xavier University. A more disturbing finding of the poll is that 58 percent of the more than 1200 respondents felt that America itself is in decline. African Americans and Hispanics are the most hopeful in attaining the “American Dream,” the study found. READ MORE

The Alternative. Davis, Michelle, Washington Post Magazine, April 11, 2010, pp. 22-29.
Younger students are giving community colleges a second look as a gateway to a four-year degree in a still-tight economy. As job losses rack up and family savings dwindle, more students who saw themselves going directly from high school to a four-year institution are instead enrolling at their local community college. Once known for the night courses they offered to usually older students who were holding down daytime jobs and had other responsibilities, community colleges now maintain daytime programs and specialized courses of study once only available in more expensive degree programs. Nationally, about 46 percent of students on community college campuses are younger than 21, according to a 2007 report from the American Association of Community Colleges, up from 42.5 percent in 2003.  READ MORE

Financial Markets and the Economy

Causes and Consequences of the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009. William Poole. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Spring 2010,  var. pp.  After the stock market peak in 2000 and to resist the 2001 recession, the Fed reduced its target federal funds rate in steps, eventually reaching 1% in 2003. n With interest rates low and memories of the dot-com stock crash fresh, investors searched for higher yielding investments. They thought that they had found the perfect vehicle in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) backed by subprime mortgages. The CDOs were structured obligations, with several tranches of differing risk characteristics. The senior tranche had first claim on the mortgage interest and principal paid by the subprime mortgages in the mortgage pool backing each CDO issue. The senior tranches were rated triple-? by the rating agencies.
As the decade proceeded, underwriting standards for subprime mortgages deteriorated. Mortgage brokers, who originated the subprime mortgages, lent to households without adequate income or assets to service the mortgages. Income and asset documentation was weak or nonexistent. Some of the mortgage borrowers were investors anticipating quick resale of the properties they purchased - the "flippers."Nevertheless, the market was so hungry for yield that investment banks found that they could easily package subprime mortgages into CDOs and peddle them to investors. Too many investors, unfortunately, took the triple- A ratings at face value and loaded their portfolios with the CDOs. READ MORE  

Energy/Climate Change

Burden-sharing and global climate negotiations: the case of the Kyoto Protocol
Yosef Bhatti, Kasper Lindskow, Lene Holm Pedersen. Climate Policy. Spring 2010. var. pp. International climate agreements are important examples of internationally negotiated distributive politics and the resulting obligations vary considerably across countries. Nevertheless, few studies have empirically examined the determinants of burden sharing in this context. The allocation of emission reductions in the Kyoto protocol is investigated in relation to the different arguments advanced during the Kyoto negotiations. Regression-based evidence suggests that countries were compensated for early action and that affluent countries, states with high GHG emissions, countries with a high projected growth rate as well as potential EU member states undertook to meet the strictest targets. These findings demonstrate that the context in which negotiations are undertaken influences the obligations that countries are willing to accept and they indicate that there may be a potential for reaching a burden sharing agreement even in the context of financial crisis. READ MORE

China's New Energy-Security Debate. Andrew B. Kennedy, Survival, June 2010 , pages 137 - 158. China's debate over what 'energy security' is and how it can be achieved has evolved considerably over the past decade. raditionally, Chinese officials and analysts have been most worried about China's mounting oil imports, and they have expressed considerable wariness of international energy markets and institutions. This narrow and relatively nationalistic view of China's energy-security challenge has been challenged on several different fronts, however, particularly in the past five years. Prominent analysts now call for a more positive approach to international markets and institutions, and some argue that external dependence is a less important energy security challenge than the shortcomings of China's own energy system. China's broadening debate over energy security represents an opportunity for the outside world as it engages China on energy and climate change in the years ahead. READ MORE