In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, State Department representative, Marie Harf, made the following statement:
“We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them. So are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians – they’re in this fight with us…But we cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs, …”
Harf is, of course, absolutely correct. But the reaction to her comments (I suspect fueled by a great deal of anti-female sentiment) in parts of the media was absolute ridicule. It is hard to imagine how progress can be made when intelligent ideas are not treated with the seriousness they deserve.
The cease-fire in Ukraine has essentially collapsed. Russian President Putin has told Kiev to let its soldiers to surrender to pro-Russian separatists in a statement that was a declaration of war more than a humanitarian offer. There really was no cease-fire at all in the city of Debaltseve and the rebels stated that they had captured “hundreds” of Ukrainian soldiers in the battle. The brevity of the cease-fire suggests that it was never a serious option for the separatists.
Economic theory suggests that globalization should over time reduce inequality in the world, but empirical evidence suggests that that consequence is not occurring. Harvard researchers have traced the growth of economic inequality in the world and suggest that inequality results primarily from the movement of skilled workers from poorer countries to richer countries. In essence, globalization clusters highly skilled workers, leaving pools of poorer paid, unskilled workers in noncompetitive positions.
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