World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The quiz will be on the following articles:  Zakaria, Sanger, and Walt (Ignore the Nye article–the link is broken).  I will also ask questions about the blog articles from 5-8 April.

Charles Kupchan, a noted IR theorist, has written a perceptive op-ed piece for the New York Times, on the challenges facing the United States as power begins to redistribute among the other major powers.  It is a provocative piece with some very interesting insights.  The question of governance is clearly the issue that matters the most.

Hopes for a cease-fire in Syria faded quickly as President Assad made some difficult conditions for its implementation.  With that alternative no longer viable, it is clear that something else needs to be done.  Turkey, as the country most directly affected by the flood of refugees from Syria, will likely take action to create some sort of enclave/staging area for the rebels.  Obviously, the step is one of self-protection, but it will also signal an escalation of the conflict from a civil war to a regional conflict.  We’ll watch what Turkey does over the next few days.

The Greek elections will probably be held sometime early in May, and the recent polling suggests that the two major parties may not get sufficient votes to create a ruling coalition.  If that is the case, there are a number of more radical parties which may become pivotal in determining the next government.  Some of these fringe parties include a Nazi-like party (Golden Dawn) which is hard to believe in a country that endured brutal Nazi rule during World War II.

Iran has rejected Turkey as the location for its talks with the West on its nuclear program.  The rejection has much to do with the competition between Iran and Turkey for regional hegemony.  Both countries style themselves as the dominant Middle Eastern power–a traditional self-perception on the part of Iran, a new identity for Turkey.  The emergence of Turkish aspirations is interesting: it reflect Turkey’s decision to turn away from EU membership and instead  focus on Central Asia and the Middle East.  It is a symbolic turn that parallels the difficulties of Europe and the United States, and the emergence of new powers to the east.  The tectonic plates of world politics are certainly shifting.  We’ll see if the West can come up with a more palatable venue for the nuclear negotiations.

Samir Amin, a very prominent Marxist IR theorist, has published a long essay in AllAfrica entitled “Africa: The South Challenges Globalization.”  It is a very long essay so I won’t ask any questions on the American foreign policy quiz about it.  But for those of you who are interested in thinking about alternatives to the Western world order, Amin offers a very cogent possibility.

The funeral for Dimitris Christoulas, the 77-year old pensioner who shot himself in Athens, turned violent as demonstrators assaulted a police officer.   The suicide note read as follows:

“The Tsolakoglou government has annihilated all traces for my survival, which was based on a very dignified pension that I alone paid for 35 years with no help from the state. And since my advanced age does not allow me a way of dynamically reacting (although if a fellow Greek were to grab a Kalashnikov, I would be right behind him), I see no other solution than this dignified end to my life, so I don’t find myself fishing through garbage cans for my sustenance. I believe that young people with no future, will one day take up arms and hang the traitors of this country at Syntagma square, just like the Italians did to Mussolini in 1945″

The note undoubtedly inflamed many people.  As the Greek elections near, it is hard to see how further violence can be avoided.

David Igantius of the Washington Post has another post on the Iranian nuclear situation.  This piece is a little less dire than the post he ran in February which seemed to indicate that an attack on Iran was imminent.  In the more recent post, Ignatius seems to indicate that progress is being made to resoolve the crisis diplomatically, and that Turkey is playing a crucial intermediary role.  Let’s hope that progress is indeed being made.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has recommended that sanctions be lifted against Burma because of the recent election and other human rights changes.  This step is an important endorsement and could have the effect of solidifying the changes there.  I have been impressed by the complicated and delicate diplomacy associated with these changes–it is almost a textbook case of how change can come about non-violently.

One of the best predictors of political protest is the price of food.  Unfortunately, those prices have been going up again.  The last time prices increased this rapidly (2008) there were food riots in many places in the world.  We should be on the watch as the spring unfolds.

The Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, is reporting that Iran and its client, Hezbollah, are aiding Syria’s President Assad in his fight against the rebels.   The news is not necessarily surprising since Assad has long been allied with Iran.  But it does indicate a ratcheting up of the pressure against Iran by tying it to the turmoil in Syria.  The other thing to remember is that many of the rebels are supported by Saudi Arabia so both Iran and Saudi Arabia are fighting a proxy war in Syria.  There are games within games.  The Daily Star, a great newspaper from Lebanon, has an excellent article on how the turmoil in Syria is affecting Iraq.

A 77 year old pensioner in Greece committed suicide in the main square in Athens, and his death has rattled Greek society as it assesses the human costs of the economic crisis it has endured.   In fact, suicides have increased dramatically in Greece over the last two years, but this particular one has raised all sorts of questions about the future of Greek society.  What remains to be seen is how the death reverberates:  will it increase the anger of Greeks leading to more violent protests?  Or will it increase the social solidarity in Greece to face the crisis in a more united fashion?

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad has secured the town of Timbuktu in Mali and it appears as if the Tuareg have established themselves quite securely in northern Africa.  It remains to be seen if the move will spread beyond Mali, but there is no reason to believe that it will be contained within Mali.  Thus, the repercussions of the overthrow of Qaddafi in Libya continue to resonate.  Overthrowing governmentes is always a very problematic course of action.

Minxin Pei is a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, and he has written a very disturbing essay on the situation in China.  He describes the current state of Chinese society as poised on the brink of a major change due to problems in the governments ability to respond to the rising demands of the population.  One should always be careful of essays that foresee some sort of cataclysm (it’s an easy way to get read), but the arguments seem, to my superficial eye, persuasive.

There is a three way race for the Presidency of the World Bank.  President Obama has nominated Jim Yong Kim, the President of Dartmouth College for the post, but there is strong support for  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian born economist.   Most observers believe that Kim will ultimately get the nomination since the US is the largest contributor to the World Bank and therefore has the largest number of votes.  But there are good reasons to think about a non-US candidate.

In an article published in a British newspaper, the source of the information that led the Bush Administration to conclude that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in 2003 has admitted that his story was a lie.  His justification was that the lie led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.  But his lie also led to the deaths of over 100,000 people (at the very least).  We should keep this story in mind as stories circulate about the nuclear program of Iran.

Despite earlier assurances, the Muslim Brotherhood has announced that it will be fielding a candidate in the Egyptian elections.  Ths candidate is generally regarded as a less moderate member of the Brotherhood, but I will freely admit that I am not in any position to make a judgment on that assessment.  The change in policy, however, does increase the likelihood that the US and Israel will regard Egypt with more suspicion.  I will watch more carefully to try to find out the reaction within Egypt.

Unemployment in Europe has reached an all-time high.  The news was not unexpected, but it suggests that world economic growth will slow down this year.   The US and China are apparently still growing according to the index typically used (the Purchasing Manufacturers Index).  WHether they will pull Europe up, or whether Europe will pull the others down is the big question for 2012.

The readings for the quiz on 4 April are: George W. Bush, Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, 20 September 2001, and Remarks by the President on Ending the War in Iraq, 21 October 2011.

The blog articles are from 29 March to 2 April (I missed a few days).

The world continues to dither while the violence in Syria continues.  Despite the efforts of UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, the cease fire has not held, and close to 9,000 Syrians have died.  The US has decided to send limited humanitarian aid to Syria, and other states are considering arming the rebels.  All this limited action, however, does not seem to have dissuaded Assad from staying in power.

Amazingly, the reformist party in Burma has claimed victory, taking 40 out of 45 seats in the Parliament.  If the results hold, then there will be a dramatic change in Burma, a country that has long suffered under military rule.  Let’s hope that the military doesn’t intervene and cancel out the election.