Review Academic Articles

 

 

The Return of Ancient Times – Robert Kaplan

 

• Good men bent on doing good must learn how to be bad.
• Rabin and Hussein committed amoral acts, but it was for the betterment of their society.
• Pagan-> non-religious values
• Machiavellan values were not Christian but they were moral.
• Use a minimal degree of cruelty to further a virtous cause.
• A society must take care of its political needs rather than morally perfect its society.
• Necessity and self-interest drive politics.
• Anxious foresight –foreseeing future events and making sure today’s decisions do not compromise the future.
• Stereotyping denies people their individuality.
• Is necessary to have meaningful discussions about groups.
• Anxious foresight is based on generalizations.
• Foresight based on probability is all we ever have.
• Moral goals require amoral arguments.
• Preventing atrocities requires that we base policies on historical models for groups of people.
• In the Past: Movements were caused by masses.
• Present: Power can be put in anyone’s hands.

 

The Question of Hegemony –William Pfaff

 

• American power has been poorly used and has not resolved many conflicts.
• American soldiers are not determined, they are not ready to die. They may be hegemonic but they do not act militarily in such a manner.
• US has tried to extend unilatermilism through the world by increasing NATO’s influence.
• Today’s international system is based around America
• Institutions serve American interests
• The US infuses its policy with morality
• This makes it more liked by other nations.
• Exemplarists: US should lead by example.
• Vindicators: Better humanity through coercion.
• Quiles (French Politician): Democratic states, especially the US, have the power to carry out military interventions à this will, however, invited opposition.
• Roosevelt: moral thing to do was to expand and show people the American way.
• Wilson started out as an isolationist:
• Wilson entered the World War because he felt it would be a war to end all wrs.
• America, he believed, fights for global humanity, not just for itself.
• US is created by god to show other nations the right path.
• US is extending its power to stabilized the world.
• This will inevitably invite opposition.
• US should not be considered invincible, Europe fell over-night in the early-mid 20^th century.
• Self-destructive hubris will cause America’s decline.

 

Five and Half Utopias –Steven Weinberg

 

• Chekov: only happiness we can know is to work towards a goal of a Utopia.
• Socialism à Utopian idea but it failed.
• There are 5 forms of Utopia that are beginning to emerge.

 

Free Market Utopia

 

• Government barriers to trade disappear
• Govt only punishes crimes and worries about defense
• The world becomes industrialized and prosperous.
• Problem: equality: untalented people will get less than those that prosper.
• Socialists and anarachists have tried to resolve the worlds wealth distrubtion problems, to no avail.
• Problem: Civilization is compromised
• The arts and publics services that improve the quality of life will be lost.
• Government actions is needed to keep the society in check, this will not occur.

 

The Best and Brightest Utopia

 

• Put public affaris in the hands of intelligent elite that rule the rest of society.
• These technocracies exist in Singapore àthey have recently failed due to economic decline.
• Problem: The majority of society would become dumb and would not be making their own decisions.
• Power is not safe in the hands of a few people, nor is it safe in the hands of many.
• Power should be spread through the government and among conflicting government institutions.

 

The Religious Utopia

 

• Religious leaders are accepted as rulers.
• Scientific research is only permitted if it does not conflict with religion.
• Religious rulers are most powerful because they can punish people in the after-life. Their power is most dangerous.
• Problem: perversions of religious belief may occur

 

 

The Green Utopia

 

• No more industrializations: simpler way of life.
• Communal living prevails.
• Very little technology
• We have romanticized agricultural workà it is actually quite difficult.
• Some people believe that to achieve a green Utopia we should reduce the population of the Earth but still reap the benefits of some technology.
• Who do you kill to achieve this?
• Problem: Goes against human instinct to progress.

 

The Technological Utopia

 

• Whole world gets connected.
• Synthetic materials robotics get rid of economic inequality.
• We exaggerate the impact of technology on our lives.
• Computer technology will eventually reach limits
• Internet is already overcrowded
• Pollution will increase (2 billion air-conditioners in China and India will cause problems in the future)
• We need to work and technology will take this away from us. Many of the jobs that exist today will be taken away.

 

Civilized Egalitarian Capitalist Utopia

 

• Production remains in the hands of private corporations.
• People still get paid high salaries but they give a portion of it to the museums or charities of their choice.
• Institutions of art (they receive the taxes) will invest this money to better their institutions and invest in private companies.
• Eventually these institutions of art will end up owning most of the companies.

 

Jihad vs McWorld

 

• Forces of tribalism and globalism are clashing.
• McWorld: MTV, McDonalds, represents forces of globalism.
• Jihad: Faiths developing against interdependence.
• These two ideologies are clashing
• As the World gets closer and closer the farther it is being divided apart.
• 1) Market Imperative: promote common markets and pursue free-market transnational trade.
• 2) Resource Imperative: Autarky does not work and humans tend to go towards depency. The increased sharing of resources.
• 3) IT Imperative: Spread of information is increasing. McDonalds all over the world is an effective method of ‘colonization’
• 4) Ecological Imperative: Protecting the environment.
• Jihad is the breakdown of these imperatives that encourage unification. There are numerous communal wars all over the world à most of them are ethnic and tribal.
• Aims of these small-scale wars is to redraw boundaries à to escape McWorld’s imperatives.
• Neither Jihad or McWorld promote democracy.

 

Notes on the 20^th Century –Hans Koning

 

• Early years of the century known as La Belle Epoque.
• The West ruled the world and its economy was booming.
• Natural demons of the past have been banished.
• There was thought to be a degree of certainty.
• Hidden beneath la belle époque was racism, exploitation and colonialism.
• The next portion of the century was known as the modern age, where war was used as an instrument of expression.
• The world is NOW becoming less secure à we live in an age where Samaritans are become rare.
• After war and poverty in 1945 government rethought their policies.
• Governments felt they owed their people after decades of war.
• Bodies were created to abolish poverty and discrimination.
• All this led to the creation of the welfare state.
• Welfare states help people to be less aggressive because their basic needs are satisfied.
• Our century is based on creating new technology to store information but we do not create any information.
• Humanity in the 1900s has aged and it has lost its innocence.
• It has, however, matured as well.

 

The Real Roots of Anti-Americanism –Barry Rubin

 

• American support of Israel and certain oppressive regimes has nurtured anti-Americanism in the Middle East.
• The US is blamed for what is wrong in the Middle East.
• The politicians use America as a scapegoat to hide their nation’s problems.
• The public focuses on hating the US instead of demanding for better social services, equality etc.
• The conflicts that the US has taken part in Middle East have been where Arabs have been fighting Arabs.
• US have supported those groups that have the best claim to Islamic legitimacy.
• US maintained pro-Arab policy throughout the Cold War.
• Whenever the US attempts to promote democracy in the Middle East it is seen as imperialistic.
• US has been kind to Mid-East organizations:
• Overlooked Plo’s terrorism and support of the USSR
• US have supported Muslim Pakistan against India.
• The US has only entered the Gulf War when it was asked by nations to protect their oil-tankers.
• Reasons for hatred:
• Do not understand the US à think they want to wipe them out.
• Masses are shut off from accurate data and only receive info that is biased against the US.
• US are portrayed as imperialistic and its record is distorted.
• The threats the US has suppressed have not been promoted but suppressed.
• All American policy is reduced to one issue: US support of Israel. So long as this exists there will be a problem.
• Oil producing states have benefited greatly and the US has little influence over their affairs. They do not meddle.
• Since 1953 there have been no covert operations to overthrow an Arab government. Further proof the US is not meddling.
• What can the US do?
• Public apologies and appeasement alone will not solve the problem.
• US can only show the world that it will support its allies.
• Stand by Israel and support moderate Arab states.

 

When Soldiers Become Cops –Rachel Bronson

 

• US has only poorly organized civilian policing troops.
• Special military forces fill the void
• During the Cold War the US focused on day after scenarios à nuclear winter.
• Never focused on nation building.
• Another reason why they do not have policing forces is because reckless politicians may overcommitt American forces.
• President Bill Clinton started Presidential Decision Directives (PDDS) to reorganize the military for operations other than war.
• There were not enough resources to do this.
• The military has been deployed to do the job of nation building but they have no means of exit.
• They become entangled in managing and administering a region after a war.
• Three Sets of Forces are required:
• High End military capabilities: to destroy hostile forces.
• Constabilitory forces: handle threats like riots.
• Police, judges and penal system: to ensure that law and order are established.
• Afghanistan was a problem à US failed to rebuild it.
• US forces become over-committed and have to provide policing, jailing etc. they do not have the know-how to do this.
• CIVPOL is the organization that hires police officers and deploys them overseas.
• Very small organization with little resources and it is not connected to the military.
• ICITAP works to provide advisory programs that can help to combat organized crime.
• This organization is not effectively used by the US.
• MPS forces deployed by the Pentagon are effective because they use a minimum degree of force to counter devil disturbances.
• Europe is developing its own forces ESIF along with the RRF to help relieve the pressure of Washington.
• ESIF will be a policing force which can clean up after the RRF.