China

How Walmart Is Changing China. Orville Schell, The Atlantic, December 2011, var. pp. The world’s biggest corporation and the world’s most populous nation have launched a bold experiment in consumer behavior and environmental stewardship: to set green standards for 20,000 suppliers making several hundred thousand items sold to billions of shoppers worldwide. Will that effort take hold, or will it unravel in a recriminatory tangle of misguided expectations and broken promises? READ MORE

Perspective: Could China Be the Next Wave? Bruce Gilley, Current History, November 2011, pp. 331-333. "China’s one-party state is here to stay, many observers agree. Then again, Samuel Huntington in 1984 assessed the odds of regime change in the communist world as 'virtually nil.'" READ MORE

The Return of Gunboat Diplomacy. Christian Le Mière, Survival, October-November 2011, pp. 53-68. "Gunboat diplomacy, never entirely absent from Asian waters, has seen a recent resurgence. Its implications for stability in East Asia may be more positive than first appears." READ MORE

China’s Rural Economy and the Rule of Law. Elizabeth Pond, Survival, October-November 2011, pp. 89-106. "The party hierarchy may soon have to make a choice between enforcing legal protections or reneging on the commitment to lift the peasantry from poverty." READ MORE

China and India: Awkward Ascents. Joshi Shashank, Orbis, Fall 2011, pp. 558-576. "This article surveys the key loci of Sino-Indian tension, situating them within the context of a classical if uneven security dilemma. It then examines the sources of stability within the relationship, arguing that the scope and intensity of conflict is attenuated by a series of military, political, economic and other factors. Lastly, the essay discusses the implications of the analysis for external powers, and the possible trajectories of the relationship." READ MORE

Arab Spring

Future of the Gulf States: Can the monarchies survive in a changing region? Jennifer Koons, November 1, 2011, CQ Global Researcher, pp. 525-548. "Known for their towering, ultramodern skyscrapers and jaw-dropping energy reserves, the six Arab monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are striving to improve regional stability amid the turmoil of the Arab Spring. The economic and security coalition — made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with huge fiscal surpluses that are financing, among other things, construction of state-of-the-art facilities for higher education and international sporting events. However, the six Sunni-led Muslim countries — key U.S. military allies — face ongoing unrest from a Shiite majority in Bahrain, uncertainty about the intentions of Shiite regimes in neighboring Iran and Iraq and an unstable Yemen, home to Al Qaeda-linked terrorists. The GCC countries also are struggling to balance their overdependence on foreign labor with the need for more jobs for their huge, youth populations." READ MORE

The Transnational Challenge to Arab Freedom. Jason Brownlee, Current History, November 2011, pp. 317-323. "The White House has not repealed the doctrines that in the Middle East prioritize the stability of allied autocracies over democratization." READ MORE

The Impact of Election Systems. John M. Carey and Andrew Reynolds, Journal Of Democracy, October 2011, pp. 36-47. "Methods of electing legislatures are fraught with consequences for the shape and quality of democracy, and must balance a number of competing goals. Amid the current political ferment of the Arab world, what kinds of electoral systems are emerging and what will they mean for democratic hopes there?" READ MORE

The Failure of Democracy in Turkey: A Comparative Analysis. Government & Opposition, Lauren McLaren and Burak Cop, Government and Opposition, October 2011, pp. 485-516. "Although Turkey took its initial steps toward establishing democracy in 1950, it has thus far failed to become a fully functioning democracy. Using the comparison cases of Spain and Greece, this article discusses two related variables that are likely to have thwarted the development of full democracy in Turkey: the country's experience with authoritarian rule, and the lack of elite settlement or convergence towards acceptance of the democratic rules of the game. The article ultimately contends that despite the EU's attempt to push Turkey towards full democracy in the modern day it is unlikely that it will become a fully functioning democracy unless it manages to achieve civilian elite agreement regarding the rules of the Turkish democratic game, and that Turkey's experience with authoritarian rule may, in turn, have hindered the development of such rules." READ MORE

U.S. Foreign Policy

Power Down. James Kitfield , The National Journal, November 17, 2011, var. pp. In an era of diminished resources, rising powers, and increasing global instability, how can the United States project real authority?  For generations reared on the mother’s milk of “American exceptionalism,” each day brings a new affront. China, on the rise, stubbornly refuses to end its currency manipulation, distorting Beijing’s advantage in an international system of our making. Close allies in Europe and Japan slash defense budgets, further burdening Washington with the role of global police officer. In the face of repeated threats and sanctions, Iran still dares to build nuclear weapons and plot terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Syria’s despotic president lingers in power. Israelis and Palestinians blithely ignore presidential exhortations to make concessions for peace. A costly war in Afghanistan drags on toward … what, exactly? READ MORE

Applied Grand Strategy: Making Tough Choices in an Era of Limits and Constraint. Clark Murdock, Kevin Kallmyer, Orbis, Fall 2011, pp. 541-557. "This article hopes to contribute to the strategic content of U.S. foreign policy by offering a definition of grand strategy and case for reorienting U.S. policy around it. Rather than advocate a specific grand strategy—a matter still open for debate—the analysis concludes with a set of attributes to assess whether a proposed grand strategy constitutes a “good” grand strategy. It concludes by introducing the concept of an applied grand strategy approach, which may help to identify and assess the strategic implications of foreign policy choices." READ MORE

EU Issues

Night Thoughts on Europe. Walter Laqueur, The National Interest, Nov-Dec 2011, var. pp. Europe’s problems go far beyond deflating currency and rising debt. It suffers from a lack of will, a crisis of confidence—and a serious identity problem. The once-great superpower has already fallen. Centuries of predominance slip away. READ MORE

Why Europe Needs a New Deal. Andy Robinson, The Nation, November 16, 2011, var. pp. When the Troika holds your country up as definitive proof that austerity works, you know you’re in big trouble. First it was tiny Latvia, singled out by International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde at its annual meeting in September as a shining light for the eurozone. This was after a 25 percent drop in Latvia’s GDP—more than in America during the Great Depression—which forced nearly one in four employees out of work and one in twenty to flee the country. Now it’s Ireland’s turn. “There is some good news,” insisted French technocrat Philippe Mills, chair of an EU subcommittee on government bonds, at a gathering of terrified bond investors in Brussels days before the October European summit, billed as make or break for the euro. “Ireland is now overachieving the targets we set,” Mills said, noting admiringly how the eurozone’s most swingeing wage and spending cuts had restored the Celtic Tiger’s competitive position and propelled its trade balance into positive territory. This was exactly the sort of “internal devaluation” that the Troika—the improvised council of European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF now managing the euro crisis—was prescribing for the wasteful Mediterranean rim. READ MORE

Climate & Energy Issues

Legislating Climate Change on a National Level. Terry Townshend, Sam Fankhauser, Adam Matthews, Clément Feger, et al. Environment, Sep/Oct 2011, var. pages. "With hopes for a comprehensive international agreement on emissions reductions fading, the onus to enact meaningful climate change legislation is falling on national governments. A new report by Global International and the Grantham Research Institute examines the growth of climate change policies among the G20 range of large emitters and gives hope that real change could be accomplished at the national and subnational level. Here, Townshend et al identify laws, regulations, policies, and decrees of comparable status that relate to climate change, energy efficiency, low-carbon energy, sustainble transport, forestry management, or adaptation to climate change." READ MORE

Nuclear Power After Japan: The Social Dimensions, Catherine Butler, Karen A. Parkhill, and Nicholas F. Pidgeon, Environment, Nov/Dec 2011, var. pages. "The nuclear emergency at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant after the tsunami brought the issue of nuclear power to the public’s attention in a way it has not been since Chernobyl." READ MORE

Immigration

The No-Growth Trap. Benjamin M. Friedman, The National Interest, Nov-Dec 2011, var. pp. Well befor the summer’s horrific shootings in Norway, many citizens of the Western democracies had the sense that the social fabric was fraying in unexpected places. The Danes restricted immigration in violation of the European Union’s Schengen Agreement. The lower house of the Dutch parliament voted—by nearly four to one—to outlaw ritual Muslim butchers (and, along the way, kosher butchers too). The French banned burkas in the streets. The Swiss banned minarets. In America, we are fighting over whether to build a wall between Texas and Mexico and litigating how far individual states can go in enforcing their own laws that bar undocumented immigrants and deny public benefits to those here legally. Most recently, a swath of cities across Britain exploded in racial violence and riots. But the tensions on display across so much of the Western world are hardly limited to questions of immigration or race or religion. A dismissively antagonistic, often outright nasty, tone of public debate has become the new norm, in some countries accompanied by outright political paralysis. According to the latest opinion surveys, most Americans were appalled at the U.S. government’s inability to resolve the debt-limit crisis with at least some semblance of order, even if not civility. READ MORE

Education Issues

Expanding Higher Education: Should every country have a world-class university? Reed Karaim, CQ Global Researcher, November 15, 2011, pp. 525-572. "For most of recorded history higher education was reserved for the elite few. Today, the number of students attending colleges and universities around the world is exploding — a phenomenon specialists call the “massification” of education. Worldwide, university enrollment has grown from about 100 million in 2000 to 158 million today and is expected to reach 263 million by 2025. Higher education is also becoming much more international. The number of students studying outside their home countries is soaring; universities are opening branch campuses in other nations and expanding partnerships with foreign institutions at a rapid pace. But the massification of education also has raised concerns. Some experts worry that educational standards are falling, while others say a glut of graduates could find themselves saddled with debt and facing limited job prospects. Some even question whether the traditional university model still makes sense in the Internet age." READ MORE

The Educational Lottery. On the four kinds of heretics attacking the gospel of education. Steven Brint, November 15, 2011, var. pp. [...] The American education gospel is built around four core beliefs. First, it teaches that access to higher levels of education should be available to everyone, regardless of their background or previous academic performance. Every educational sinner should have a path to redemption. (Most of these paths now run through community colleges.) Second, the gospel teaches that opportunity for a better life is the goal of everyone and that education is the primary — and perhaps the only — road to opportunity. Third, it teaches that the country can solve its social problems — drugs, crime, poverty, and the rest — by providing more education to the poor. Education instills the knowledge, discipline, and the habits of life that lead to personal renewal and social mobility. And, finally, it teaches that higher levels of education for all will reduce social inequalities, as they will put everyone on a more equal footing. No wonder President Obama and Bill Gates want the country to double its college graduation rate over the next 10 years. READ MORE

U.S. Issues

Military Suicides: Is the military doing enough to help soldiers cope? Peter Katel, The CQ Researcher, September 23, 2011, pp. 781-804. "Nearly a decade after the United States went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the suicide rate among soldiers and veterans — though lower than the civilian rate — is rising sharply, leading to criticism that military leaders aren't doing enough to help service members. President Barack Obama acknowledged the severity of the problem this year when he began sending condolence letters to families of service members who commit suicide while deployed in combat zones. Scrambling to address the problem — in uncoordinated fashion, researchers say — the military has determined possible causes for the rise in suicides, including multiple deployments that leave soldiers little time at home between combat tours. Yet suicides are also rising among service members who have never deployed. The Veterans Administration (VA) is under pressure from courts and lawmakers to step up mental-health treatment. VA officials say they are doing so, but politicians and veterans’ families remain unimpressed with the efforts." READ MORE

Child Poverty: Are out-of-wedlock births the root cause? Peter Katel, The CQ Researcher, October 28, 2011, pp. 901-928. "One in five American children lives in a household with income below the poverty line — $22,050 for a family of four. Not only are the daily lives of poor children difficult, but experts worry that many will suffer lifelong effects from early deprivation. Concern about child poverty has grown especially strong amid a push in Congress for sweeping budget cuts, including reductions in spending on food stamps and other anti-poverty programs. As child poverty continues to rise amid the nation's persistent economic woes and high unemployment, a long-simmering debate over the problem's root causes is heating up. Liberals argue that fewer children would fall into poverty if the government safety net were stronger and more jobs were available for struggling parents. Conservatives, on the other hand, say child poverty largely stems from parental behavior — particularly a growing tendency to have children out of wedlock." READ MORE