Sunday, January 18th, 2009
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.
Listen to this interview with Fallows
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Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
Critics of U.S. global dominance should pause and consider the alternative. If the United States retreats from its hegemonic role, who would supplant it? Not Europe, not China, not the Muslim world—and certainly not the United Nations. Unfortunately, the alternative to a single superpower is not a multilateral utopia, but the anarchic nightmare of a new Dark Age…
Unfortunately, the world’s experience with power vacuums (eras of “apolarity,” if you will) is hardly encouraging. Anyone who dislikes U.S. hegemony should bear in mind that, rather than a multipolar world of competing great powers, a world with no hegemon at all may be the real alternative to U.S. primacy. Apolarity could turn out to mean an anarchic new Dark Age: an era of waning empires and religious fanaticism; of endemic plunder and pillage in the world’s forgotten regions; of economic stagnation and civilization’s retreat into a few fortified enclaves.
Read more Ferguson from Foreign Policy Magazine
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Sunday, June 29th, 2008
The Breakup of the USSR Makes the US the Leader of the World (Elliot Abrams)
The Breakup of the USSR Signals the End of US World Leadership (Zoltan Grossman)
Write a 1-2 page, single-spaced position paper which adheres to the following:
I. Short Intro with a Thesis (specific, complex and refutable)
II. Summarize the ideas of the author with whom you do NOT concur and explain why his ideas are disagreeable (clearly demonstrate that you have read and understood this author’s ideas). Do not feel compelled to disagree with this author entirely as there surely is some truth to his argument.
III. Summarize the ideas of the author with whom you DO concur and explain how his ideas are superior to the other author (clearly demonstrate that you have read and understood this author’s ideas).
IV. Conclude by restating your thesis and exploring the significance thereof.
Please bear in mind that your goal is to illustrate that you have read BOTH documents and that you have thought about them. Be prepared for a healthy debate in class.
Posted in USH: Cold War, USH: Reagan Years, World Civ-Cold War in West, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas, World Civ-Post Cold War | No Comments »
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The Assignment:
1. Read Time’s Person of the Year 2006 and Respond to these questions
2. Watch Larry Lessig on Creative Media and take notes on his lecture. You will submit your notes as part of this assignment.
(Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school’s Center for Internet and Society. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he was the Berkman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and a Professor at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.) Visit Lessig’s website
>> In class we will write an essay which explores how the web is impacting the world.
If this assignment is of interest to you, you might also appreciate this article
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Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Social-media sites like Wikipedia and Digg are celebrated as shining examples of Web democracy, places built by millions of Web users who all act as writers, editors, and voters. In reality, a small number of people are running the show. According to researchers in Palo Alto, 1 percent of Wikipedia users are responsible for about half of the site’s edits.
Read from Slate
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Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
The impending enlargement raises several questions: How will an EU of 25 affect the United States? How will the EU manage an already cumbersome decision-making process with an even more diverse set of interests? And what sorts of policies will emerge from a wider EU?
The Challenges of EU Enlargement
Posted in AP Supranational Institutions, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
Use evidence from all three articles to write a formal 1-2 page single-spaced essay that explores the extent to which China is a threat to the West (and, in particular to the U.S.). Your primary focus is to demonstrate a mastery of of the content of all three articles.
China: Threat or Peaceful Rise?
Revving Up the China Threat
A Chinese Perspective from People’s Daily Online
Power Point: Is China a Threat to the West?
Posted in AP China, AP Post AP Seminar, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas, World Civ-Post Cold War | No Comments »
Friday, April 27th, 2007
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.
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Friday, April 13th, 2007
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
Posted in AP Post AP Seminar, World Civ-Middle East, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »