On Charlie Rose tonight is Greg Mortenson. The review of his newest book was published in FA, noting that “this dedicated dreamer’s story inspires hope that his brand of liberal interventionism is right for Afghanistan.” Read the review here.
July 2010
11 posts
“The international community should not worry that the Green Movement is doomed, but it should harbor no illusions that its success would inevitably lead to peace and democracy in the long term.”
—Iranian Re-Revolution: How the Green Movement is Repeating Iranian History by Michael Singh.
Letter From Port of Spain
Under-the-table payoffs have been a way of life for politicians in the government of Trinidad and Tobago. Will the newly installed government of Persad Bissessar be able to combat corruption and break up the criminal syndicates that threaten to destabilize this regional Caribbean power? Read this account of the politics of Port of Spain by Dorn Townsend.
What to read on North Korean politics
North Korea is probably the hardest place in the world today for outsiders to understand because astonishingly little hard data about it is available. This reading list provides some of the best background information for those trying to learn more about this enigmatic and politicized country.
Economists call for action on unemployment
Sixteen economists, including FA contributors Alan Blinder, Joseph Stiglitz, David Reynolds, Robert Reich and FA editor Jim Hoge, signed a statement on The Daily Beast that appealed for government action. “Fourteen million unemployed represents a gigantic waste of human capital, an irrecoverable loss of wealth and spending power, and an affront to the ideals of America.”
What to Read on Afghan Politics →
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As the war in Afghanistan continues, read up on the background of the present struggles in that nation in this reading list by Zalmay Khalilzad.
“The underpinning philosophy of 21st-century statecraft — that the networked world ‘exists above the state, below the state and through the state’ — was laid out in a paper in Foreign Affairs in 2009 by Slaughter, before she became head of the policy planning staff. Cohen rereads the paper all the time. Ross gives it to all new U.S. ambassadors.”
—From a New York Times article on the U.S. State Department’s ventures into Digital Diplomacy. Read the above-mentioned essay by Anne-Marie Slaughter in Foreign Affair’s online archives.
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“Whereas a 2001 earthquake in democratic India killed more than 20,000 people, a slightly smaller 2005 earthquake in nondemocratic (and then slightly wealthier) Pakistan killed more than 80,000.”
—Alastair Smith and Alejandro Quiroz Flores discuss why earthquakes rock democracies less in their article for Foreign Affairs.
Reading List for "Countdown to Zero"
A new documentary on the history of the atomic bomb, “Countdown to Zero,” features Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf and Tony Blair. The film comes out on July 23. Before then, check out our definitive reading list on nuclear proliferation here .
