Foreign Affairs – Once a leader in Internet innovation, the United States has fallen far behind Japan and other Asian states in deploying broadband and the latest mobile-phone technology. This lag will cost it dearly. By outdoing the United States, Japan and its neighbors are positioning themselves to be the first states to reap the benefits of the broadband era: economic growth, increased productivity, and a better quality of life.
Category Archives: Geopolitics
Geopolitics / Middle East – Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East
Foreign Affairs – Bernard Lewis says to speak of dictatorship as being the immemorial way of doing things in the Middle East is simply untrue. It shows ignorance of the Arab past, contempt for the Arab present, and lack of concern for the Arab future. Creating a democratic political and social order in Iraq or elsewhere in the region will not be easy. But it is possible, and there are increasing signs that it has already begun.
Geopolitics / Pakistan – Musharraf is losing his grip
New York Times – Ahmed Rashid on how Pakistan continues to unravel.
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Geopolitics / Lebanon – The Autumn of the Autocrats
Foreign Affairs – If the assassins of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri sought to make an example of him for his defiance of Syria, the aftermath of the crime has mocked them. For a generation, Lebanon was an appendage of Syrian power. But now the Lebanese people, in an “independence intifada,” are clamoring for a return to normalcy. The old Arab edifice of power has survived many challenges in the past, but something is different this time: the United States is now willing to gamble on freedom.
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Geopolitics / Law – New Rules for War?
Naval War College Review – The overarching factors of asymmetry and moralism dominate the political discourse and frame the understanding of Americans. From those factors emerge specific issues of real ethical concern. Just war principles and the law of armed conflict help, but both leave room for interpretation. Ultimately, these issues require moral reasoning and reflection.
Geopolitics / Media – The Media as an Instrument of War
Parameters – The media, in the modern era, are indisputably an instrument of war. This is because winning modern wars is as much dependent on carrying domestic and international public opinion as it is on defeating the enemy on the battlefield. And it remains true regardless of the aspirations of many journalists to give an impartial and balanced assessment of conflict.
Geopolitics / Iran – Taking on Tehran
Foreign Affairs – If Washington wants to derail Iran’s nuclear program, it must take advantage of a split in Tehran between hard-liners, who care mostly about security, and pragmatists, who want to fix Iran’s ailing economy. By promising strong rewards for compliance and severe penalties for defiance, Washington can strengthen the pragmatists’ case that Tehran should choose butter over bombs.
Geopolitics / Strategy – How Has War Changed Since the End of the Cold War?
Parameters – In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “Prediction is difficult, especially about the future.”
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Geopolitics – A New Doctrine for New Wars
Wall Street Journal – In a prescient article originally published shortly after 9/11, former Secretary of the Navy James Webb lays out what might have been and possibly still could be a winning strategy for defeating groups like al-Qa’ida.
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Geopolitics / Central Asia – Democracy is not about to sweep Central Asia
International Herald Tribune – Ahmed Rhasid says democracy will not overtake Central Asia any time soon.
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Geopolitics / Environment – The Choice
Foreign Affairs – Jared Diamond’s Collapse is a catalog of past environmental ruin. But despite the abundance of bad news, its message is one of cautious optimism: if modern society can learn from the failures of its predecessors, it can avoid their fate.
Geopolitics / Israel – Their best defence
The Guardian – According to Martin Van Creveld’s new book, entitled Defending Israel, Israel has no choice but to withdraw from the West Bank – not to indulge the Palestinians but to save itself
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Geopolitics / Yemen – Yemen After the Cole
Sea Power – Volatile nation remains a strategically important ally, but experts worry about its intrinsic vulnerabilities.
Geopolitics / Empire – The Overstretch Myth
Foreign Affairs – The United States’ current account deficit and foreign debt are not dire threats to its global position, as would-be Cassandras warn. U.S. power is firmly grounded on economic superiority and financial stability that will not end soon.
Geopolitics / North Korea – Did North Korea Cheat?
Foreign Affairs – Two years ago, Washington accused Pyongyang of running a secret nuclear weapons program. But how much evidence was there to back up the charge? A review of the facts shows that the Bush administration misrepresented and distorted the data–while ignoring the one real threat North Korea actually poses.
Geopolitics / Empire – Our Currency, Your Problem
New York Times Magazine – Niall Ferguson on why Asian banks finance the U.S. way of life???and the power these banks therefore hold over US foreign policy.
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Geopolitics / Peacekeeping – No Size Fits All
Foreign Affairs – Three new studies of the international community’s attempts at postwar state reconstruction in the 1990s offer valuable lessons about how best to handle the job, but they also overgeneralize and miss critical differences among their cases.
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Geopolitics / Morality – Jus Post Bellum – The Moral Responsibilities of Victors in War
Naval War College Review – Traditionally, the categories of jus ad bellum (a just decision to wage war) and jus in bello (just behavior in war) have defined “just war.” This theory has been continually adapted and revised to reflect ever-changing geopolitical realities, and events in Afghanistan and Iraq suggest it is time for a fundamental expansion of scope. Has the time come to embrace a third category-jus post bellum, justice in the postconflict stage of war?
Geopolitics / Morality – Principia Leviathan – The Moral Duties of American Hegemony
Naval War College Review – How should the United States provide for its security in a context of both unprecedented power and vulnerability? Is it required in this situation to act as Leviathan to promote a Pax Americana? The United States can pursue its security interests and an ethical foreign policy at the same time, and that would be the most promising route to success in both the war on terror and the promotion of democracy and stability.
Geopolitics – Dear Mr. President, Here's How to Make Sense of Your Second Term, Secure Your Legacy, and, oh yeah, Create a Future Worth Living
Esquire – Thomas P.M. Barnett lays out what he feels the Bush Administration’s foreign policy should be in its second term. Fascinating reading???
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Geopolitics / Saudi Arabia – House of Saud
Frontline – The House of Saud has controlled every aspect of Saudi life and politics since the kingdom was established in 1932. But outside the Desert Kingdom, little is known about Saudi Arabia’s secretive royal family. An exploration of how the Al Saud family maintains its hold on power in the face of growing tensions between Islam and modernity. Read the fascinating transcript.
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Geopolitics / Japan – Japan to Join U.S. Policy on Taiwan
Washington Post – The United States and Japan will declare Saturday for the first time in a joint agreement that Taiwan is a mutual security concern, according to a draft of the document. Analysts called the move a demonstration of Japan’s willingness to confront the rapidly growing might of China.
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Geopolitics – Mapping the Global Future
National Intelligence Council – An attempt to define what the global landscape will look like in 2020.
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Geopolitics / Conscription – From Conscription to Voluteers: NATO's Transitions to All-Volunteer Forces
Naval War College Review – Like the United States after the Vietnam War, European militaries are seeking creative solutions to recruit, retain, and motivate the high-quality volunteers they need. But the demographic, economic, social, and labor environments within which the militaries compete for employees are different, and Europe is likely to find the task more difficult, costly, and lengthy than did the United States.
Geopolitics / Japan – Japan-China tensions rise over tiny islands
Christian Science Monitor – In a sign of deepening popular and political animosity between China and Japan, Tokyo took formal possession this week of a tiny archipelago in the Pacific waters south of Japan. In the early morning of Feb. 9, Tokyo informed Beijing’s embassy here that the Senkaku Islands would be administered by the Japanese coast guard. The unexpectedly bold action by Tokyo received little attention here. But it is seen as a “serious chess move,” says one diplomat, in a region where power relations are being redefined, and where tensions over energy, borders, military buildups, and ethnic rivalries are palpable.
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