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Article Alert

June/July 2008

ALERT, a monthly publication of the Information Resource Center at the American Center for Educational Exchange, offers abstracts of current articles in major areas of U.S. domestic or international affairs. Full-text articles are available to you upon request. To request articles, please contact the Information Resource Center by telephone , fax, e-mail ircacee@state.gov, or by mail. To request by mail, please circle the articles you wish to receive, include your name, address, and telephone number and return this list to us.  DISCLAIMER: articles and links to non-U.S. government Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

The Rule of Law

1. THE CASE AGAINST THE WEST; AMERICA AND EUROPE IN THE ASIAN CENTURY
Mahbubani, Kishore
Foreign Affairs, vol. 87, no. 3, May/June 2008, pp. 111-125

Mahbubani, formerly Singapore's ambassador to the U.N. and currently dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, describes the ascendancy of east Asian democracies as an example of how domestic good governance can succeed. Mahbubani is highly critical of Western policies in many areas such as foreign aid, nonproliferation, global warming, international trade and the Middle East, believing them to have long become counterproductive. He suggests that the West's strangehold on global institutions reveals a reluctance to acknowledge that "the era of its domination is ending and that the Asian century has come." He contends that the U.S. and Europe will need to adapt a more inclusive world view which reflects the growing political and economic power of Asian countries. "The West needs to acknowledge that sharing power it has accumulated in global forums would serve its interests," writes Mahbubani.

2. A GOVERNMENT ILL EXECUTED: THE DEPLETION OF THE FEDERAL SERVICE
Light, Paul
Public Administration Review, vol. 68, no. 3, May/June 2008, pp. 413-419

Alexander Hamilton in the Federal Papers described some of the pitfalls of a federal government that is "ill executed." After many surveys and years of studying the federal government, the author, professor at New York University, fears that federal government has become the ill-executed government Hamilton warned against. Light blames both Republican and Democratic administrations for "starving government." There is an ever-expanding mission, a steady thickening of the bureaucracy, a cumbersome political appointment and civil service hiring process, and a poor system of rewarding good performance and disciplining bad employees. College seniors now look to NGOs for meaningful work, not public service in the federal government. Light believes that the upcoming retirements of baby boomers presents an opportunity for reforming the federal service.

3. NEW MEDIA AS THE MESSAGE
Simendinger, Alexis
National Journal, vol.40, no. 16, April 19, 2008, pp. 40-44

National Journal staff writer Simendinger describes the Obama campaign's deft use of mainstream media to attract potential voters to its "offline" campaign network. Using text messaging and e-mail signals to young voters that Obama understands who they are and they should trust him, says political communications expert Kathleen Hall Jamison. The author quotes Arizona State University Professor Matthew Hindman, who adds that "Hillary Clinton would have been the nominee but for the Internet, and she would have secured the nomination -- as her campaign expected -- by Super Tuesday." Other experts wonder if the medium is as important as the message. All agree that the Internet, social networking and other new technologies for organizing potential voters will become even more important in future elections as young people rely less on mainstream media for news and political information.

4. PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: LONG-TERM CARE AND THE 2008 ELECTION
Stevenson, David G.
New England Journal of Medicine, May 8, 2008, pp. 1985-1987

The author, a professor at Harvard Medical School, argues that the presidential candidates should be better addressing the nation's growing long-term care needs. About 10 million people in the U.S need constant assistance completing basic daily activities such as eating, bathing and dressing - and that number will only increase as baby boomers age. Currently long-term care, which is not usually covered by Medicare or private insurance, accounts for about 10 percent of U.S. health care costs. Although health care has been mentioned more than 1,000 times in the presidential debates, long-term care has only been mentioned by the candidates 11 times. Stevenson says it is important to address the issue now, because spending on long-term care for the elderly is projected to more than double over the next 30 years, and the longer political leaders decide not to address it, the harder it is to lower these costs. Stevenson argues that the presidential candidates should "exercise leadership in devising a cohesive and sustainable way forward," for planning and paying for long-term health care needs.

5. PLAYING FOR KEEPS
--
American, vol. 2, no. 3, May/June 2008, pp. 80-90

In August, China will host the 29th Summer Olympics, an event that promises to be both political and athletic. Close to 11,000 athletes are expected to flock to China's capital city. At the same time, proponents of human rights, open media, and environmental quality in China, are also competing for the world's attention. With this background, eight China experts were challenged to determine whether the Beijing Olympics will ultimately hurt the cause of freedom in China. If the Games present China as a powerful and capable state, this will increase expectations that the country lives up to international human rights standards. In return, the Olympics will allow the Chinese to take pride in their progress and to show the world that China is a peaceful rising power, not an inevitable enemy of the West. However, it is highly unlikely that the Games will expedite China's social liberalization. In fact, if there are massive protests against the Games, especially over the human rights debate, most Chinese will rally behind their government.

6. PUBLIC OPINION AND DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY
Chu, Yun-Han Et Al.
Journal of Democracy, vol. 19, no. 2, April 2008, pp. 74-87

A team of academics created the Globalbarometer, a tool for measuring public opinion in 54 countries, gauging citizen support for democracy. Some of the findings were counterintuitive -- support for democracy was not tied to economic prosperity. Even in newly democratic countries where economic growth was poor, the idea that democracy was a better form of government was held by a majority of the population. There were regional differences, for wealthier East Asian countries economic performance is an important ingredient for popular support of democracy. In Latin America, democracy was perceived as a preferred state of government but doubts were cast on how well governments delivered on political promises. The global survey concluded that democratization was not a foregone conclusion, citizens of most new democracies expect free and fair elections, an impartial court system and minority protections. If the governments fail to provide these political goods, citizen's support for democracy will decrease.

Economics and Trade

7. THE COMING EUROINVASION
Naim, Moises
Foreign Policy, no. 166, May/June 2008, pp.96-95

European corporations are likely to follow European shoppers to the U.S. to snap up bargains, says Naim, the editor of Foreign Policy magazine. Those corporations are drawn not only by a cheaper dollar but also by cheaper labor, energy, transportation and land. European businesses can also take advantage of being close to clusters of U.S. high-tech companies and part of the largest market in the world. Several large investment and take-over deals in the manufacturing sector have already been announced. More are likely to follow, and other sectors such as banking. Midsize European firms will come even in greater numbers. This "Euroinvasion" is likely to produce political backlash on both sides of the Atlantic, Naim says. European politicians will denounce the companies for "exporting jobs" to America, while U.S. politicians will be incensed by "the foreign takeover of America." But the author believes it will be impossible for politicians on either side to stop a trans-Atlantic shift. Blocking a few large investments by foreign government-owned funds and companies in U.S. ports, defense and other strategic industries is one thing, and preventing investments by thousands of private companies quite another.

8. THE COMING OF DEINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY: A PRACTICAL RESPONSE
Greer, John Michael
Archdruid Report, posted October 5, 2004

The inhabitants of the industrialized world will have to make a transition to a Third World lifestyle as fossil fuels are depleted, writes the author. Western society demands energy inputs that cannot possibly be sustained much longer, and "everybody will have to get used to living on a small fraction of the energy we've been using as a matter of course." The federal government is incapable of managing the transition because no politician could advocate the changes required and remain in office. Strengthening local communities, which "can continue to flourish while empires fall around them," offers the best hope surviving the transition, according to the author. He urges people to learn practical skills of growing and preparing food, making clothing, low-tech medicine and basic handcrafts; "Anything that provides functional alternatives to energy-wasting lifestyles lays foundations for the transitional societies of the late 21st century, and ultimately for the sustainable successor cultures that will begin to emerge in North America."
Available online at http://www.oilcrisis.com/whatToDo/DeindustrialAge.htm

9. THE END OF THE WORLD AS YOU KNOW IT ... AND THE RISE OF THE NEW ENERGY WORLD ORDER
Klare, Michael
TomDispatch.com, April 16, 2008

Klare, professor of world security studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, writes that soaring oil prices in recent weeks are "just a taste of the latest energy news", which portend a fundamental shift in the modern world, which will only intensify as global energy supplies dwindle. We are witnessing the creation of a new world order, characterized by growing competition for the remaining supplies of fossil fuels and uranium, an unprecedented transfer of power and wealth from energy-deficit states such as the U.S., China, Japan and Europe, to energy-surplus states such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela. Sources of renewable energy, while promising, are not being developed and built out fast enough to avoid the multifaceted energy crisis that lies ahead. Klare writes, "in the new, energy-centric world we have all now entered, the price of oil will dominate our lives and power will reside in the hands of those who control its global distribution." He believes that the most urgent decision facing the next U.S. president and Congress is how to speed the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable alternatives. Available online at http://www.alternet.org/audits/82476/?page=entire

10. FOLLOWING THE MONEY
Peters, Katherine
Government Executive, vol. 40, no. 6, June 2008, pp. 28-38

The author believes that understanding how terrorists finance their operations is key to predicting and thwarting attacks. The USA PATRIOT Act was enacted after Sept. 11 to ensure that, among other reasons, combating the financing of terrorism and money laundering was given adequate focus by U.S. financial institutions. Initially, the focus of enforcement efforts was on charities and money-services businesses; the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, an inter-governmental body founded in 1989 by the G7, developed policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Working with the U.S. Treasury Department, the task force made recommendations for standards for all member countries to upgrade their laws and boost enforcement, intelligence efforts and information-sharing, and employed a blacklist to compel noncompliant governments to bring about change. Peters further describes the high-yield damage done by terrorist attacks, considered the work of al-Qaeda and its financial backers, and the manner in which terrorist organizations rely on money laundering to conceal their activities.

11. THE GREEN GAP
Sheppard, Kate
American Prospect, vol. 19, no. 5, May 2008, pp. 18-21

The city of Richmond, California, is wracked by poverty and violence, and is home to oil refineries and industrial sites with a long history of pollution and chemical spills. In an effort to reverse the city's toxic legacy, the municipal government is sponsoring Richmond BUILD, a program in which inner-city youths enroll for job training in energy efficiency, solar power and "green" construction. The program highlights a fundamental change that is taking place in the environmental movement in the U.S.: environmental- and social-justice advocates are coming up with proposals to overhaul the fossil-fuel-powered economy and, at the same time, overcome the country's economic and racial divides. Low-income inner-city neighborhoods are most affected by toxic environmental pollution, yet have never been brought into the environmental movement, which has traditionally been the preserve of affluent well-educated Americans preoccupied with wilderness preservation. The environmental justice movement has been spearheaded by individuals such as Van Jones, co-founder of the Oakland, Calif.-based Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, who early on saw the potential of the "green" economy for inner-city youths. Says Jones, "we're going to have to have a major shift in the U.S. economy and culture in order to not just achieve sustainability, but survivability."

12. OUR PHONY ECONOMY
Rowe, Jonathan
Harper's Magazine, vol. 316, no. 1897, June 2008, pp. 17-24

Economic growth, ordinarily thought to be a good, could be generated by the $20 million that Americans spend yearly on divorce lawyers, or the $9 billion they spend on gasoline burned while they sit in traffic or many other expenditures that are in fact indicators of social and environmental breakdown. In the obsession to boost the economy, policy makers, the media and the public do not ask what is growing and what the effects are. "The failure to do this is insane," Rowe writes. "By the standard of the GDP (gross domestic product), the worst families in America are those that actually function as families -- that cook their own meals, take walks after dinner, and talk together instead of just farming the kids out to the commercial culture." Answering his own question of how the notion of the economy became so uneconomical, Rowe writes that the GDP is a catalogue of national wealth for the purposes of taxation, confiscation, planning and mobilization for war, not a measure of living standards or well-being. With the medical system expected to produce 30 to 40 percent of new jobs over the next 30 years, Rowe writes that the next insanity will be a "disease-led recovery," in which people will have to be encouraged to be sick so the economy can be healthy.

13. WHERE WILL WE FIND TOMORROW'S LEADERS? A CONVERSATION WITH LINDA A. HILL
Hemp, Paul
Harvard Business Review, vol. 86, no. 1, January 2008, pp. 123-129

Corporations and other organizations need new leaders to deal with the increasingly global, diverse, interdependent and complex environment, says Linda Hill, a business administration professor at Harvard Business School. Companies need leaders who know and are from the emerging markets, where the fastest economic growth is occurring, but they also need a new type of leader who can adopt a more inclusive, collaborative style. Calling this model "leading from behind", Hill argues that its followers must be able to create a context or culture in which other people are willing and able to lead. This doesn't mean that new leaders abrogate responsibility; they still will need to nudge and prod if the "flock" strays too far off the track or into danger. Such potential leaders already exist in organizations, Hill says. But they often are "invisible", or not considered for leadership roles, because they don't fit the traditional leadership model developed in the U.S. and Western Europe. Instead, they need to be nurtured by today's leaders, who can make space and provide opportunities for them to grow. Many situations, for example crises, will still require traditional, set-the-course, inspire-people type of leaders. But emphasis needs to be shifted toward the leading-from-behind model.

Global Issues

14. CHINA'S NETIZENS AID EARTHQUAKE RELIEF
Thomas, Christopher
Forbes, June 3, 2008

In the aftermath of China's catastrophic May 12 earthquake, many lives were saved thanks to the Internet. The author notes that the presence of large numbers of potential news reporters online spurred the Chinese government to act quickly. In fact, the Peoples' Liberation Army first responders were able to locate a landing site near the disaster area, thanks to an instant message posted on popular local messaging services Baidu Post Bar and QQ. The poster, a Wenchuan native, gave the location and topography of the field where the army helicopter was able to land.

15. INCONVENIENT TRUTHS
Power, Matt, Et Al.
Wired, vol. 16, no. 6, June 2008, pp. 148-156

If one accepts the premise that climate change is the most urgent problem facing the planet, then one needs to accept the skewering of some sacred cows of the environmental movement. In a series of short articles, Wired Magazine writers serve up arguments debunking some long-held beliefs about the green lifestyle. Pastoral living in the country? Generates far more greenhouse gases than the urban lifestyle, the authors say. Organic farming? The amount of greenhouse gases generated and the amount of land consumed by organic farming exceeds the amounts produced by agri-business when weighed against the amount of yield produced by the two different methods. Even as they attempt to debunk the orthodox thinking, Wired editors allow their own theories to be debunked by Alex Steffen, the editor of the Web site Worldchanging.com. Steffen pops the premise of the Wired package of articles, arguing that focusing all of our environmental concerns on GHG emissions, to the expense of all other issues, "court[s] catastrophe."

16. OFF TARGET
Farhi, Paul
American Journalism Review, vol. 30, no. 2, April/May 2008, pp. 28-33

Farhi, a Washington Post reporter, notes that media coverage of the presidential election in today's accelerated news cycle, with round-the-clock cable television coverage and newspaper journalists having to write for the Web as well as work on print stories, has resulted in a barrage of superficial reporting, analysis and forecasting, much of which has turned out to be inaccurate. As established news media are offering buyouts to expensive, seasoned reporters, younger reporters with less experience are covering the campaign without the context of having covered several campaigns and without the long view. Farhi writes that reporters should look beyond the "groupthink" of the political insiders and pose hard questions to the candidates.

17. STRENGTHENING GLOBAL WATER INITIATIVES
Varady, Robert G., Et Al.
Environment, vol. 50, no. 2, March/April 2008, pp. 19-31

The growing global shortage of clean fresh water is one of the most serious environmental issues facing the world today, say these authors. They analyze the global initiatives that have been at work for decades to resolve water issues, and suggest ways to improve them. "Proficient at their best and weak and corrupt at their worst, the systems that govern the planning and management of water resources need attention," the authors write. A 2004 survey of water experts found overlap of purpose, proliferation of organizations, and imprecision of goals to be major problems in this network of organizations that operate regionally and globally to attempt to provide some solutions for water problems. They suggest several means by which these organizations might attempt to address these inefficiencies, even while admitting that the initiatives "elude easy evaluation." Still, the authors credit these global water initiatives with providing important assistance to nation-states contending with local water issues.

18. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO IRAQ?
Ricchiardi, Sherry
American Journalism Review, vol. 30, no. 3, June/July 2008, pp. 20-27

Americans and the American press have lost interest in the Iraq war, says Ricchiardi; coverage has dropped dramatically, both on television and in print. Iraq has been shoved out of the headlines in part because of the U.S. economic downturn and the contentious presidential primaries. In addition "war fatigue" has set in: the accounts of suicide bombings and brutal sectarian violence are repetitive and hard to translate to U.S audiences. In addition, keeping correspondents on the ground in Baghdad is getting to be too expensive for many news agencies. But all this may change after the U.S. presidential elections, when a new administration will have to grapple with a controversial conflict that is costing U.S. taxpayers an estimated $12.5 billion per month.

Regional Security

19. AFTER BUSH
--
Economist, vol. 386, no. 8573, March 29, 2008, pp. 3-16

In this special report on America and the world, The Economist notes that America's foreign policy may change under the next president, but confusion over Iraq, worries about overstretch and divisions over the country's role in the world will remain. When it comes to foreign policy, there really are two Americas; the divisions are at their sharpest over Iraq, but they extend much further. Among the contentious issues: whether America should put the war on terrorism at the heart of its foreign policy or treat it as just one concern among many, or whether the U.S. should conduct military action against Iran or allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. The authors note that these divisions are the legacy of a president who came into office promising anything but a bold foreign policy. The report includes sections on the status of the Bush doctrine on global involvements, the Democratic surge as they will try to change U.S. foreign policy, the focus on international terrorism, the improvement of its global image, and the future of foreign policy now that the uncertainties of the Cold War have gone.

20. ARGUING FOR A COMPREHENSIVE SPACE PROTECTION STRATEGY
Everett, Terry
Strategic Studies Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 1, Fall 2007, pp. 20-35

Everett, a Republican member of Congress from Alabama, addresses American dependence upon space in military and commercial terms. Rep. Everett has proposed legislation that he feels will protect American interests in space. Given our dependency, America needs to develop a comprehensive space protection strategy to detect, deter, and respond to space-threat contingencies. Although the U.S. is the leader in the use of and access to space, this leadership cannot be maintained unless America adapts to new and emerging challenges in order to stay ahead of competitors and overcome vulnerabilities in space.

21. DO WE WANT TO "KILL PEOPLE AND BREAK THINGS" IN AFRICA? A HISTORIAN'S THOUGHTS ON AFRICA COMMAND
Munson, Robert
Strategic Studies Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 1, Spring 2008, pp 97-110

U.S. Air Force Reserve Major Robert Munson says not to expect a great transformation in U.S. policy in Africa with the establishment of U.S. Africa Command in October 2008. Such a transformation is unlikely, he writes, because it would mean the U.S. would have to shift its emphasis away from its traditional European ties, expanding bonds with Asia, and attention to conflict in the Middle East. He says AFRICOM should be structured so that U.S. interests and programs coincide with traditional U.S. allies and partners in Africa and the U.S. military effort has to be integrated with cross-continent political and development initiatives. The new command, Munson writes, should emphasize non-traditional military missions. The U.S. must approach African nations as equals and work to build beneficial relationships, according to the author. AFRICOM can especially help African peacekeepers with the transportation, equipment and supplies that they need to be effective. By partnering with Africans and helping solve their problems, Munson said future U.S. access to ports and airports will ease.

22. THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN POWER: HOW AMERICA CAN SURVIVE THE RISE OF THE REST
Zakaria, Fareed
Foreign Affairs, Vol. 87, No. 3, May-June 2008, pp. 18-43

According to Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, the era of American dominance is over, but an era when America can still lead is possible. The U.S. need not become bankrupt as Great Britain, the former superpower, did a century earlier. The United States, in fact, can remain economically potent for decades to come, especially if it remains attractive to talented immigrants. The country has become politically dysfunctional, however. Bitter partisanship has prevented politicians in the middle from making the compromises needed to fix Social Security, Medicare, the tax system, subsidies, immigration policy and other national problems. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the world is challenging U.S. industrial, financial, social, and cultural power. Whether the United States can fix its political system in order to keep its economy and society competitive is unclear.

23. IRAN AND THE UNITED STATES: THE NUCLEAR ISSUE
Cordesman, Anthony H.
Middle East Policy Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, Spring 2008, pp. 19-29

Any form of dialogue can help prevent misunderstandings and tension, the author says, but a dialogue alone can't bridge basic fundamental strategic and ideological differences such as those that seem to plague the U.S. and Iran, especially on the nuclear issue. Cordesman, with the Center for Strategic Studies, says the next president will have to create an opening for any new relationship, but notes a new foreign policy team won't likely be in place until the summer of 2009. He examines the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran and says it will probably be four to seven years before Tehran might become a full-fledged nuclear power, leaving time yet to negotiate. But he also notes that the NIE doesn't mention what Iranian nuclear-weapons efforts Tehran has halted or whether all covert and dual-use programs are included. He also says Iran's nuclear enrichment efforts will continue to move it closer to weapons deployment "even if key elements of its weapons-design and production activity have been halted or suspended." Having examined reporting about Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Cordesman says Tehran is still able to pursue serious research and development efforts. The two countries may eventually be able to make some incremental progress in breaching their differences but the key question is whether Tehran and Washington can proceed from dialogue to negotiations. The author suggests that the problem is not one of communication, but serious strategic differences.

24. THE MCCAIN DOCTRINES
Bai, Matt
New York Times Magazine, May 18, 2008, pp. 40//70

Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) is now the prospective nominee for his party's presidential nomination. Among the many issues in his party's platform, he has made Iraq the battle he has chosen to fight, despite criticism from members of the Republican Party that such a stand could hurt him and the party in the November elections. However, in the U.S. Senate, senators are reluctant to impugn one another's motives or integrity, whatever their disagreements on policy, including strong support or opposition to the Iraqi conflict. Many of McCain's colleagues who were also Vietnam veterans, like Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) and Jim Webb (D-Virginia), suspect that the senator, a former POW in Vietnam, came away from his captivity with little of their disillusionment -- he spent the worst years of the war in a Hanoi prison camp, giving him a different perspective from his fellow 'in country' colleagues who believe that some wars simply can't be won on the battlefield, no matter how many soldiers are sent there to die. Instead, McCain is staking everything on the notion that the American public can be convinced that the Iraq war is winnable and worth the continued sacrifice. Without that national retrenching, the senator admits that this war, like the one in Vietnam, is probably doomed.

25. A MORAL CORE FOR U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
Chollet, Derek; Lindberg, Tod
Policy Review, no. 146, December 2007 / January 2008, pp. 3-23

In this essay Chollet, with the Center for a New American Security, and Lindberg, with the Hoover Institution, examine the American values of democracy, liberalism, human rights, and rule of law as they have historically been applied to U.S. foreign policy. The authors also explore what American foreign policy would look like if it were stripped of its "values" component. The article concludes with principles for U.S. foreign policy in the future, such as, promoting and defending democracy; standing against the conquest of territory by force; strengthening alliances and institutions; addressing global hardship; and enforcing the "responsibility to protect".

26. THE NEXT PRESIDENT AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Levy, Daniel
American Prospect, vol. 19, no. 4, April 2008, pp. 16-19

The author, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and the Century Foundation, notes that at the Israeli-Palestinian Annapolis peace process, launched in November 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice managed to lead a change in policy within the administration and to renew efforts toward a permanent-status peace deal after a seven-year hiatus. Just before the Annapolis gathering, sixty-six former U.S. senior officials and experts, spearheaded by Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Lee Hamilton, sent a letter to the president and secretary of state welcoming the new effort and counseling that an "inclusive" process that would involve, even indirectly, and incite political players, such as Syria and Hamas, would be much more likely to succeed than one that excluded them. However, the next administration will inherit a situation that will require more than some presidential goodwill, as that president's Middle East concerns will include Iraq, Iran, al-Qaeda, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pakistan, Afghanistan, relations with China, anti-American sentiments, and global human security.

27. NO SIGN UNTIL THE BURST OF FIRE: UNDERSTANDING THE PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN FRONTIER
Johnson, Thomas H.; Mason, M. Chris
International Security, vol. 32, no. 4, Spring 2008, pp. 41-77

The authors assert that the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area has become the most dangerous frontier on earth and the most challenging for U.S. national security interests. The portion of the border region that is home to extremist groups such the Taliban and al-Qaida coincides almost exactly with the area overwhelmingly dominated by the Pashtun tribes. The fact that most of Pakistan's and Afghanistan's violent religious extremism, and with it much of the counterterrorism challenge to the U.S., are contained within a single ethno-linguistic group, has not been fully grasped by U.S. policymakers. The threat to long-term U.S. security interests in this area is a unique cultural problem. In both southern Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan, the U.S. and the international community should be doing everything in their means to empower the tribal elders and restore balance to a tribal/cultural system that has been disintegrating since the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

28. PROPAGANDA: CAN A WORD DECIDE A WAR?
Murphy, Dennis M.; White, James F.
Parameters, vol. 37, no. 3, Autumn 2007, pp. 15-27

Murphy and White, of the U.S. Army War College, review the history of American propaganda efforts. It is difficult for the U.S. to balance the principles of a free, democratic society with the need to counter disinformation in an effort to establish credibility. Our adversaries have the advantage in an information environment uninhibited by the internal criticism of propaganda facing American leaders. Information power was previously limited to nation-states, but the Internet allows inexpensive, easily accessible propaganda, where messages can have an immediate impact. To counter these information attacks, America must react quickly, accurately, and with messages tailored to local populations.

29. THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF CENTRAL ASIA: AN AMERICAN VIEW
Blank, Stephen
Parameters, vol. 38, no. 1, Spring 2008, pp. 73-87

Central Asia's importance in international affairs is continuing to grow, says the author, professor at the U.S. Army War College. U.S. interests in the region derive from the region's proximity to Russia and China, he notes, but the primary strategic U.S. goal is to see the development of independent, democratic and stable states. To achieve those objectives, the U.S. will encourage greater regional security; greater transparency, respect for human rights, and movement toward democratic policy; and the development of Central Asia's economic potential, he says. But he cautions that competition among international powers will shape the future order of the world and impact the development of Central Asian nations. Blank also notes that "one need not engage in far-reaching geopolitical speculation regarding the future of Central Asia to understand it already is a political battleground of growing importance."

U.S. Society and Values

30. BAD RAP ON THE SCHOOLS
Mathews, Jay
Wilson Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 2, Spring 2008, pp. 15-20

Mathews, an education reporter and columnist at The Washington Post, disputes a recently aired documentary called Two Million Minutes that suggests American students don't study as long and as hard as their counterparts in India and China, and, as a result, the U.S. may be losing the economic race to these countries. Mathews acknowledges that U.S. businesses are having trouble hiring skilled people and must often go abroad to find more, and that American high schools have not shown much improvement in math and reading in the last 30 years. However, Mathews notes that the U.S. school system is greatly superior to those in China and India -- the real problem is the bottom 30 percent of U.S. schools in urban and rural communities full of low-income children. "Not only are we denying the children who attend them the equal education that is their right, but we are squandering almost a third of our intellectual capital," he writes.

31. HOW BIG GOVERNMENT GOT ITS GROOVE BACK
Galston, William
American Prospect, vol. 19, no. 6, June 2008, pp. 23-26

The author, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, notes that the post-World War II social contract in the U.S. is under severe stress. To maintain purchasing power, American households have resorted to record levels of borrowing, driving the savings rate into negative territory for the first time on record and raising personal consumption to an unsustainable 70 percent of GDP. This situation has been a long time in the making, and has come about through a number of factors, such as the burden of retirement savings, health care, child care and education has been transferred from employers to individuals, and the decline of manufacturing. Galston argues that the public safety net needs to be radically changed, and would entail an expanded role for the federal government. Writes Galston, "the alternative to a new contract is no contract -- a society in which the strong will take what they can and the weak will endure what they must."

32. IN THE BASEMENT OF THE IVORY TOWER
Anon.
Atlantic Monthly, vol. 301, no. 5, June 2008, pp. 68-73

An English professor, who wishes to remain anonymous, explains the travails he suffers teaching adults at a small private college and at a community college. Most of his students have families, and more than one job. And most of them, this professor says, are utterly unprepared for college-level work. He writes, "Sending everyone under the sun to college is a noble initiative ... America, ever-idealistic, seems wary of the vocational-education track." He notes that the higher education system has a vested interest in having large attendance -- evening and adult education is a substantial profit center for many colleges. He admits that he, too, "subscribes to the American ideal" of universal higher education -- however, "unfortunately, it is with me and my red pen that that ideal crashes and burns." He questions the morality of admitting so many students to classes they cannot possibly pass.

33. THE LAST VERSE: IS THERE ANY FOLK MUSIC STILL OUT THERE?
Bilger, Burkhard
New Yorker, April 28, 2008, pp. 52-63

The author joins Art Rosenbaum and Lance Ledbetter, collectors of folk music, on a search for the last few folk musicians and singers. The searchers find octogenarians like Cora Mae Bryant and Mary Lomax who still sing old folk songs. Yet this story is as much about the history of folk music and the searchers themselves. Folk music is an oral tradition as old as America, originating in the Midwest, South and especially Appalachia, with many local styles. In the early 20th century collectors like Cecil Sharp and others began to write down and record folk songs. The 1920's where a watershed time when folk songs were recorded and achieved commercial popularity. By the 1930's record sales dropped; however in the 1950's and 1960's there was a revival, which Rosenbaum joined by playing, recording and cataloging folk music. Ledbetter represents a newer generation of folk music aficionados, and came to folk music in the 1990's. Ledbetter's major contribution to folk music is Goodbye Babylon, an acclaimed collection over four years in the making. Since then he and his wife have produced eight other folk music collections. That Lance Ledbetter and Art Rosenbaum were able find folk music singers in their search means that folk music as living genre has not disappeared, yet.

34. LITTLE LEAGUE, HUGE EFFECT
Ganz, Scott; Hassett, Kevin
American, vol. 2, no. 3, May/June 2008, pp. 64-67

The authors, both with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), writing in a publication of the AEI, believe that youth sports strengthen the economic, academic and social prospects of Americans. Since almost all of life in a capitalist society involves some form of competition, young athletes learn the formula for success in a market-based system. The weekly wages of college graduates who were high school athletes are generally higher than those of college graduates who did not play sports in high school. Such athletes also outperform their peers throughout their lifetimes where hard work becomes one measure to determine success. American children spend more time participating in athletics than Europeans; Americans learn on the playing fields that effort and success are connected. This partly explains why over 45 percent of all eligible American youth play in an agency-sponsored league, like Little League baseball, Pop Warner football, or locally-sponsored soccer.

35. SCHOOLS BRACE FOR BHUTANESE WAVE
Zehr, Mary Ann
Education Week, Vol. 27, No. 35, April 30, 2008, pp. 1, 14-15

In the early 1990s, about 100,000 members of a Nepalese-speaking, primarily Hindu minority fled or were expelled by the Buddhist-majority nation of Bhutan. The refugees, known as the Lhotshampas, or "People of the South," have lived ever since in refugee camps in eastern Nepal. The U.S. State Department is now interviewing 60,000 or more of the refugees with the aim of resettling an undetermined number in the U.S. Schools are bracing for the linguistic and cultural challenges of this latest immigrant group. In Syracuse, New York, for example, the first two Bhutanese children have enrolled in a school in which 300 of the 720 students are English-language learners and the principal accepts all the refugees she can because she believes it is good for the American children. A State Department spokesman told the author that 5,000 Bhutanese refugees are expected in the U.S. by the end of September. Although they are trying to learn all they can about Bhutanese culture and language, teachers and principals say they typically don't know what to expect until the children of refugee families arrive at the schoolhouse door.

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