Journalist James Fallows explores China’s recent rise to power and what it means for the US in his new book of essays, Postcards Tomorrow Square.
A National Correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, Fallows has been reporting on the economic and political transformation taking place in China since 2006.
Check out these five “dispatches” from the former USSR. The fifth dispatch focuses on Uzbekistan.
“The Plan is for the United States to rule the world. The overt theme is unilateralism, but it is ultimately a story of domination. It calls for the United States to maintain its overwhelming military superiority and prevent new rivals from rising up to challenge it on the world stage. It calls for dominion over friends and enemies alike. It says not that the United States must be more powerful, or most powerful, but that it must be absolutely powerful.”
Dick Cheney’s Song of America: Drafting a Plan for Global Dominance
Socratic Dialogue Questions for class session in response to the reading
Primary Sources: Excerpts from Various Drafts of the DPG from NY Times (1992)
A List of US Military Involvements 1945-2005
Hugo Chavez is an enigma. He is either glorified or vilified; few seem to demonstrate a well-balanced view of him. Love him or hate him, Chavez has captured international headlines. Learn more about Chavez by reading the articles below and writing a 1.5-2 page, single-spaced response which addresses the following questions:
-what does Chavez believe? What are the strengths and weaknesses of his political belief system?
-what are the goals of Chavez (both domestically and in terms of foreign policy) and how does he plan to accomplish them?
-how is the world responding to the Chavez enigma? How should the world respond to Chavez?
-Is Chavez a great political leader? Why or why not?
You should not read too much into the EU. Despite its state-like attributes, it is far from being a state, since it lacks the monopoly over the legitimate use of force in its territory that most political scientists argue makes a state a state. What’s more, the shift toward a more united Europe is not occurring at an even or steady pace. It has evolved in a series of fits and starts in which bursts of growth have been followed by longer periods of doubt and criticism. That holds whether you focus on the EU’s broadening (adding new members) or deepening (adding new powers). Similarly, the organization is more “advanced” in some policy areas than others. Thus, the EU itself has the authority to make and enforce much economic policy over the wishes of the member states, including virtually everything involving international trade and, now, monetary matters. Such supranational powers are nowhere near as well developed in other policy areas, including the adoption of broad new policy initiatives, There, as we will see in more detail below, the member states continue to hold most of the power.
Read the article here and please be prepared to discuss the reading in class. Taking notes and creating discussion questions would be appreciated. It’s your final assignment.
To dismiss the terrorists as insane is to delude ourselves. Bin Laden and his fellow fanatics are products of failed societies that breed their anger. America needs a plan that will not only defeat terror but reform the Arab world
To the question “Why do the terrorists hate us?” Americans could be pardoned for answering, “Why should we care?” The immediate reaction to the murder of 5,000 innocents is anger, not analysis. Yet anger will not be enough to get us through what is sure to be a long struggle. For that we will need answers. The ones we have heard so far have been comforting but familiar. We stand for freedom and they hate it. We are rich and they envy us. We are strong and they resent this. All of which is true. But there are billions of poor and weak and oppressed people around the world. They don’t turn planes into bombs. They don’t blow themselves up to kill thousands of civilians. If envy were the cause of terrorism, Beverly Hills, Fifth Avenue and Mayfair would have become morgues long ago. There is something stronger at work here than deprivation and jealousy. Something that can move men to kill but also to die.
Read the rest of the Zakaria piece here and respond to these questions
Used to innumerable discourses on the differences between the West and the East, one is not prepared to recognize two facts.
First, although Europe and China have been slowly elaborating two distinct civilizations, they cannot be absolutely separated. Having in common long maturations over millennia, the two old worlds have developed affinities and, despite all the exotic representations, the two edges of Eurasia are closer than they seem.
Second, one should not reduce the West to the US: that country, which from a colony has been rising to the rank of global hyperpower in only 230 years…
It is precisely based on their affinities that Europe and China have to build a partnership that goes beyond ever-varying trade, scientific or even political interests. In other words, by placing culture as the keystone of their relationship, the two Eurasian civilizations would enter a really stable and meaningful cooperation having over time global constructive impact.
Eugene V. Debs stated that, “years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then…while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”
H.L. Mencken asserted that, “the average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.”
Freedom House has set forth to gauge the state of freedom around the world.
Your assignment is to assess the state of freedom in the one AP country study assigned to you using the data provided in the Freedom House index. You do not have to write an essay (you’re welcome). Rather, come to class with notes (which I will collect) and be prepared to present and discuss the state of freedom in the country assigned to you.
Then read the most recent FH report of the country to which you were assigned. Take notes and be prepared to present what you learned when we meet in class. Notes will be collected for homework.
Stephen F. Cohen of Colombia University posits that the Cold War is far from over and that “[c]ontrary to established opinion, the gravest threats to America’s national security are still in Russia. They derive from an unprecedented development that most US policy-makers have recklessly disregarded, as evidenced by the undeclared cold war Washington has waged, under both parties, against post-Communist Russia during the past fifteen years.”