World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The Pew Research Center has posted a quiz on global perceptions of the US.  Take the quiz and I’ll poll the class on Wednesday to see how you all did.  I won’t ask any questions on the weekly quiz about the Pew quiz.

In our discussions on liberalism, one of the key tenets of the ideology is its belief in scientific rationality.  There seems to be an increased willingness in the world to question scientific evidence, whether it be on the question of evolution or climate change.  A recent case in Italy raises even more dramatic evidence of whether science is losing its ability to persuade.

The handover of power in China continues to spin along an uncertain route.  Everything seems to set in place, but the power of leftists in the Party still threatens to derail the stability of the succession.  Indeed, the boldness with which the leftists are defending Bo Xilai suggests that a very deep internal struggle is still going on.

Desmond tutu has written a wonderful essay comparing the protests in Great Britain (against austerity) with the protests in South Africa by the miners.  The link between the protests in rich and poor countries is rarely mentioned, but it is unquestionably powerful.  The poor in the rich countries have interests similar to the poor in poor countries.  And the same is probably true of the rich in both poor and rich countries.