World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The recent financial scandals (LIBOR being the most obvious, but there have been many others in the last decade) seem to stem from dramatic changes in the global financial industry (such as the creation of derivatives), but nothing could be further from the truth.  Financial innovations are just tactical changes in the broader strategic game of trying to make money from money, itself an age-old game.  Sometimes the game erupts in social and political violence, such as the Peasants’ Revolt in Europe in the late 14th Century.  Some things never change.

Elaine Scarry, an author with whom I frequently disagree,  has published an essay in the Boston Review worth reading.  She makes a very intriguing argument about the impact of literature on the types of violence that occur in the world.  In the argument, she tries to correlate her understanding with a broader argument being developed in the International Relations literature on the decline of violence as a whole in the world (Pinker, Goldstein).  It is a thoughtful and rich essay.