World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

We have discussed in class the seemingly chaotic nature of politics in the world today–a sense of drift and a lack of vision and purpose.  Some commentators are talking more explicitly about the lack of leadership in the world.  The leaders of most countries seem to be focused on the short term because the problems seem to be so overwhelming.  But continued attention to only the short term is a disastrous policy in the long run.  Remarkably, I cannot think of any leader in the world right now who appears to have a vision of how he or she wishes the world to look like in 10 years, and that is very sad.

One of the 20th Century’s great military minds, Vietnam’s Vo Nguyen Giap, has died.  Giap led his forces to victories over both the French and American armies in the drive for Vietnam’s independence and unification.  In both cases, few gave Giap much chance of winning his struggle, but he was able to mobilize his forces to make heroic sacrifices and to exploit his enemy’s weaknesses.  One need not agree with his objectives, but it is hard to dispute his acumen as a military mind.