Ideologies: Anarchism - The world that never was

There is an excellent Review by John Gray of Alex Butterworth’s book - The World That Never Was: a True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents.

Here is an exerpt:

read more...»

Global Issues: Environmental Concerns - Copenhagen Summit undone by ‘arrogance’?

More on the weather.  The BBC has another article entitled Copenhagen climate summit undone by arrogance which ties in with the key issue of states and their ability or willingness to co-operate on climate change.  The article highlights that ‘rich’ countries had failed to take account of the concerns of ‘poorer’ countries:
“The “disappointing” outcome of December’s climate summit was largely down to “arrogance” on the part of rich countries, according to Lord Stern. The economist told BBC News that the US and EU nations had not understood well enough the concerns of poorer nations. But, he said, the summit had led to a number of countries outlining what they were prepared to do to curb emissions.”
Full article

Climate Change: It’s still real and it’s still a problem

Climate-related controversies and the outcome of the Copenhagen summit widely regarded as a failure have left a sense of hopelessness in climate policy, says Lord Chris Smith in an article on the BBC.

US and UK - an ideological parting?

There is an interesting article in the Washington Post entilted: Between the U.S. and Britain, an ideological parting:
“Now we have Brown-Obama, who barely speak to each other. And even though in Gordon Brown and Barack Obama we once again have two “center-left” candidates in charge, a distinct lack of harmony characterizes transatlantic political debates. Our health-care conversations, for example, are totally different. This became apparent last year when Republicans held up the British health-care system as an example of the nightmare that might await America if Obama’s health-care proposals were passed. British conservatives—who had been bashing their centralized system for years—immediately rallied to its defense. David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader who is angling to become prime minister in this spring’s election, has even promised to “ring-fence” health care so that it is not affected by future budget cuts.”

Global Issues: Conflict, War and Terrorism: Nuclear Proliferation

Nuclear Weapons proliferation, whether by state or no state actors, poses one of the greatest threats to international security today.  Iran’s declared intent to be a nuclear power, North Korea’s nuclear brinkmanship and also the forthcoming Non Proliferation Treaty meeting are all developments to be followed.  The idea of nuclear disarmament is gaining traction globally, and requires a multi-national response, but countries supporting it must counter the risk of various ‘rogue states’. Here are a few recent resources and articles on the subject:

1. The Council for Foreign Relations website has an excellent Global Governance Monitor ‘interactive guide’ on Nuclear Proliferation.

2. CFR also carries an article: Confronting a Nuclear Tipping Point
“The idea of nuclear disarmament is gaining support internationally, with the United States leading the charge and China and Russia expressing interest, says George P. Shultz, Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state from 1982-89.”

3. The CFR also have an Interactive Timeline on ‘US-Russian Nuclear Arms Control’.

4. Chatham House’s current March edition World Today carries an article: Extended Nuclear Deterrence: Under the Umbrella, which asserts:
“In his now famous Prague speech last April, United States President Barack Obama endorsed the vision of a world without nuclear weapons. He sent a strong political signal: if repairing the fragile nuclear nonproliferation arrangements required a credible disarmament commitment by the nuclear weapons states, America was willing to lead by example. But setting that example could become much more complex if a whole host of new nuclear states is to be avoided. The American nuclear umbrella is still needed to shelter many nations, preventing them from pursuing their own nuclear paths.”

Global Issues: Aid and Corruption: The Wabenzi - Africa’s Big Men

The Wabenzi are Africa’s ‘Big Men’ so named from the Swahili word meaning ‘the Benz people’ - they are the ones who have their sleek cars paid for by the government. In fact, they are the government.  The Wabenzi are colourful examples of corrupt government officials and thus a useful illustrative example for the topics on ‘Corruption’ and ‘Aid’.  South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande, who is also incidentally the leader of the SA Communist Party, has just acquired a BMW 7 Series as his official vehicle - Karl Marx must either be turning in his grave or planning on being resurrected.  The UK have just pledged to give South Africa £65 million for ‘transport’ following on from Jacob Zuma’s recent state visit - can only imagine how ‘JayZee’ might interpret ‘transport’…

Here are two articles on the ‘Wabenzi’:

read more...»

What is a hung parliament?

Both the polls and political commentators are continually pointing to the prospect of a ‘Hung Parliament’ in the 2010 General election.  So what would actually happen in the case of a hung parliament and who would be in charge?

The BBC has a useful Q&A on ‘What is a hung Parliament’

Daily Politics have a light hearted but precise clip entitled ‘Guide to a Hung Parliament’

There is much conjecture as to quite which way the Lib Dems might go in the event of a hung parliament despite their professed ‘equi-distant’ strategy beween the two major parties.  Recent articles on the subject are:

1. Andrew Grice in the Independent - ‘Clegg should not be on a hung parliament yet’:
“A hung parliament would not be a dream. It would be a nightmare.” So wrote Paddy Ashdown, the then Liberal Democrat leader, in his diary ahead of the 1992 general election.

2. James Macintyre’s Blog in the Newstatesman: Clegg steps towards clarity over hung parliament

LSE Election Blog

The LSE is running an election blog for the 2010 General Election - it looks promising and can be found here

Global Issues: Terrorism and Aid - UK Pledges Aid to Somalia

In a shift to British policy the UK is set to announce its first aid package to war-torn Somalia, the most glaring of the world’s ‘failed states’, amid concerns that the country could harbour al-Qaida militants.  Following on from the Home Secretary banning the Somali terrorist group Al Shabaab, the UK is about to announce its first aid package for Somalia’s transitional government amid mounting concern that without more international support the war-torn country could become a safe haven for al-Qaida.

Beyond the obvious tie in with topic on Terrorism, this story is provides a nice example for the topic of Aid: in relation to the issue of bilateral aid and the fact that counties do not tend to necessarily give out aid ‘freely’, but rather conditions are attached and it tends to be motivated by self-interest.  Thus aid can be seen to be security linked and given to countries who pose the latest security risk, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and now Somalia!  Read here for the full article from Channel 4 news.

Other related links on Somalia are:

read more...»

Dispatches

An excellent Channel 4 Dispatches documentary last night on Cameron’s government. Lots of good stuff here for both Politics and Economics students, for example discussing the proposed “Office for Budget Responsibility” to introduce more independence into Treasury forecasts. There’s been lots of talk about fiscal tightening in recent months, but this program asks where exactly do the Tories want to start fiscal tightening - and the non-committal answers will have you laughing/crying*, with no Shadow Minister agreeing to a cut in their department; and the Conservative party not wanting to admit to future tax rises just before the election. It also discusses the issue of the Conservatives and their stance on Europe.
*delete as appropriate

Global Issues: The rise of cultural conflict

A couple of stories in the news over the last few days emphasise the prominence of cultural conflict:

1) China says it expects new attacks by separatists seeking independence for the traditionally Turkic Muslim region of Xinjiang after deadly ethnic violence there last year.

2) Some 500 people, including many women and children, are now reported to have died in a weekend religious clash near Nigeria’s city of Jos, officials say.

...and an excellent pictorial overview of current day conflict

Cameron Uncovered (Channel 4)

Channel 4 has a documentary by Andrew Rawnsley this Monday night (details here) and here is the link to the Channel 4 Dispatches site

Best Politics Books - Ever!

In the Times David Finkelstein in his column ‘Central Comment’ features ‘The 15 political books you need to read’. They are listed under these categories:

1. THE 5 BEST FOR A POLITICAL NOVICE
2. THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT FOR THIS GENERAL ELECTION
3. THE 5 BEST ON POLITICS. EVER

For the full list, which includes comment from the Times correspondents click here.

Lord Ashcroft and the Troubled Times of David Cameron

The last few weeks have been a classic case of how unmerciful politics is, and how quickly the political tide can turn against anyone foolish or brave enough to try and swim in it.  Back in November, when the new parliamentary year got going, David Cameron must have seen a rosy future.  He was an Opposition Leader against an apparently wearying government in a time of recession, a telegenic, empathetic politician facing a woefully non-empathetic and distinctly untelegenic rival.  The relative collapse in the Cameron fortunes may not offer many actual lessons, but it does illustrate the pitfalls of political leadership, as well as giving us further insights into the state of the Conservative Party.

read more...»

Rated: (5/5), based on 1 review

Global Issues: Conflict - Afghanistan - US Strategy in Afghanistan

The Financial Times in a new series from Washington DC has an online tv interview with Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.  He discusses the progress of the latest US military surge in Afghanistan, the thinking behind it and the prospects for eventual withdrawal.  He also discusses his ‘agnostic’ attitude towards whether the Pakistanin government has committed in whole as a partner to the US in the ‘War on Terror’ in spite of the dramatic arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, an Afghan Taliban leader.

Holbrooke assers that America and its allies face a “daunting” task in Afghanistan and “it is much too early” to predict how it will turn out:
“You can’t occupy every piece of terrain, so the real key is building and transferring [control to the Afghan security forces],” “It’s much too early. . .  I’m not ready to predict how it is going to turn out because it is a difficult challenge.”

Here is the link to the interview.

Click here for accompanying article by FT’s Richard Luce: Tough road ahead for Afghanistan transfer

Global issues: Poverty and Development : AID - Better dead or fed?

Does Aid work?  This is a controversial topic. Over the past fifty years $1 trillion of aid has flowed from Western governments to Africa, with campaigns still waged for more. But has this helped or hindered helped Africa?  A recent book on the subject by Dambisa Moya called Dead Aid: Why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa reveals why millions are actually poorer because of aid, unable to escape corruption and reduced, in the West’s eyes, to a state of beggary. Moyo argues that with access to capital and with the right policies, even the poorest nations can turn themselves around. She is of the view that it is necessary to destroy the myth that aid works - and make charity history.

Linking in with the ‘Aid’ theme are two recent articles:
1. In the Newstatesman there is an interview with Dambisa Moyo where she states: “People need jobs and investment. There is no magic trick”.

2. There is an older polemical article by Sam Kiley [former Times African correspondent] entitled ‘Do starving Africans a favour. Don’t feed them!’, where he argues in relation to the impending famines in Ethiopia and Kenya that sending food and emergency relief will make things worse in the long run.

3. Paul Collier’s book ‘Wars, Guns and Votes - Democracy in Dangerous Places’ is a heavy read but carries a chapter ‘Better dead than fed’.

Global Issues: NATO says Afghanistan is model for future crises

In an intersting video blog on the war in Afghanistan NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the military no longer provides “the complete answer” for complex conflicts such as Afghanistan. Instead, it needs the support of international development organizations and NGOs to provide the “soft power” needed to prevail in such crises.

Michael Foot: RIP

The former Labour leader Michael Foot has died at the age of 96. He was a brilliant man, a prolific writer (‘Guilty Men’ being a seminal work), a natural orator and a legendary if infamously unsuccessful leader of the Labour party.  Foot’s political legacy will be much-discussed and much-disputed no doubt in the coming days and the media will be full of profiles, essays and obituaries.  Also focus will surely rest on Labour’s 1983 general election defeat under Foot and the latter’s “crazy” left-wing election manifesto, often described as “the longest suicide note in history”.

Here are a few ‘media’ clips which should be useful:
1. BBC - Former Labour Leader Michael Foot Dies

2. BBC Radio 4 – on iplayer is ‘Michael Foot: Champion of the Left’ a moving tribute by Donald Macintyre [currently the Independents Jerusalem correspondent but formerly their Political Editor]. Well worth a listen.

3. BBC Newsnight from Wednesday 3rd March also on iplayer – again focuses on the death of Michael Foot and looks too at how the Labour Party has changed since Michael Foot was leader.  Click here for the link.

Teaching vacancy - Head of Politics

There is a vacancy for a Head of Politics at Hampton School…

read more...»

Global Issues: Ethiopia famine aid ‘spent on weapons’

Millions of dollars earmarked for victims of the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85 went on buying weapons, according to a BBC investigation. A neat contribution to the ‘does aid work’ debate in Global Issues.

Social media and pressure groups

This four minute TED talk is quite entertaining with a useful message - the potential for users online to create momentum and finally persuade a government to postpone a controversial project. The Founder of Reddit talks about how his users energised a Greenpeace campaign to stop whaling by the Japanese government.

Global Issues: Conflict: Afghanistan - COIN strategy - Doomed to Failure?

“Before the British came, everyone was happy they were coming to bring security and reconstruction, but all the British brought was chaos”
“The Helmand people just want peace, not reconstruction even, just peace.  But if NATO sent another 100,000 troops to Helmand without good government…..they won’t be able to bring security”Haji Mahboob Khan; Senator from Garmser District Helmand; From The Economist 11-17 July 2009

The above quotes highlight the key problems which need to addressed in mounting ‘counter insurgency’ [COIN] strategy in Afghanistan and also serve to show where things have gone wrong.  Can things be ‘fixed’ - that is another question altogether.
On 28 January, foreign ministers from around the world gathered in London for a conference on Afghanistan. The aim was to mobilise international efforts behind a plan for how to deploy military and civilian resources on the ground. The London conference was chaired by the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. In an article which coincided with the summit entitled; “The Danger is being outgoverned, rather than outgunned!” he asserted that:
“The implications for how we succeed are clear: military and development resources are critical, but they need to be channelled towards a clear political strategy aimed at maintaining the support of the Afghan people, dividing the insurgency and building regional co-operation.”

Here are two other recent articles analyzing the counter-insurgency tactics being adopted in the latest attempt to defeat the Taliban:

read more...»

Global Issues: Islamic scholar Tahir ul-Qadri to issue terrorism fatwa

This BBC report relates neatly to the elements of the Global Issues course dealing with cultural conflict, the Clash of Civilisations and terrorism. An influential Muslim scholar is to issue in London a global ruling against terrorism and suicide bombing. Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, from Pakistan, says his 600-page judgement, known as a fatwa, completely dismantles al-Qaeda’s violent ideology.

Global Issues: Conflict - Afghanistan - Measuring success in a ‘New’ War

Operation Moshtarak, the ‘military surge’ underway in Afghanistan puts the conflict back in the spotlight not least in terms of questions of strategy and what type of war is being waged in countering the Taliban insurgency.  This has direct relevance to the Global Issues papers topic on the ‘changing character of conflict’. Thus it is worth looking at to what extent does the conflict in Afghanistan constitute a ‘New’ War?

Here is;
1. A quick definition from Gen Rupert Smith describing how there has been a shift to ‘New Warfare’ - or ‘war amongst the people’ as he calls it
2. A link to a BBC resource on ‘Measuring Success in Afghanistan’
3. A link to a recent Paddy Ashdown article: “A military Rolls-Royce, but a political car crash”

read more...»

Brown in Power – What the Rawnsley Revelations Tell Us About the Office of Prime Minister

In amongst all of the headline grabbing stuff about Gordon Brown’s famously bad temper, there are some interesting glimpses about the nature of the office of prime minister, and in particular just how it is being performed by its present incumbent.  No student going in to an AS exam paper on the Executive should be in ignorance of these fascinating insights.

read more...»

Prime Ministerial Power: PMs behaving badly?

Gordon Brown’s temper was so bad that he received a warning over his volcanic eruptions of temper from cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, a new book by Andrew Rawnsley claims. Brown has said accusations over his behaviour are ‘lies’, and Lord Mandelson has said the Oberver was just ‘flamming up’ its front page for its relaunch, and that Brown was merely ‘impatient’ and ‘very demanding of people’.

read more...»

Global Issues: Human Rights - ‘The Ticking Bomb’ - Torture, Jack Bauer and Binyam Mohamed

The Human rights component of the Global Issues paper has a bit on the ‘Balance between public safety and human rights’ and the issue of whether violation of human rights is a lesser evil?  A good case in point is the ‘ticking bomb scenario’ that has been used in the ethics debate over whether torture can be justified and which has been dramatically played out by Jack Bauer in the series 24.

In a previous blog entry [Judiciary and terrorism - human rights v national security] I referred to the recent judicial ruling involving Binyam Mohamed and also a recent article in the Independent by Bruce Anderson entitled ‘We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty’:  who argues that the British government would have not just the right, but the duty, to torture if there was a ticking bomb, and that they should torture women and children if they believed that doing so would yield information that would avert a terrorist attack:
“It came, in the form of a devilish intellectual challenge. “Let’s take your hypothesis a bit further. We have captured a terrorist, but he is a hardened character. We cannot be certain that he will crack in time. We have also captured his wife and children”. After much agonising, I have come to the conclusion that there is only one answer to Sydney’s question. Torture the wife and children”.

On the back of this Mehdi Hasan in the Newstatesman has reacted with incredulity to this notion asking ‘Is this a bad joke’ in his blog posting ‘Bruce Anderson says we should torture children’.  He has followed this up with a searching column entitled ‘The Torturer’s apprentices’ which focuses directly on the myth of the ticking bomb and ties it in with Jack Bauer’s tactics in 24.  Here are a few snippets:

read more...»

Political Parties - Conservatives backtracking and Lib Dems not hanging

Two articles from this mornings papers:

Ignore the propaganda and spin - the Tory party hasn’t changed (Independent)
Johann Hari attacks David Cameron’s claim to have “changed” the Conservative Party. Even if we assume the Tory leader is sincerely committed to a modernized agenda, he will not be able to defy his party’s core instincts for long, especially when he has a small majority:
“The evidence suggests that when he is faced with a challenge, Cameron rushes right back up the road to Damascus – into the loving arms of an unreformed right-wing party.”


Clegg’s coalition ruling is one more nail in Labour’s coffin (Guardian)
Martin Kettle says that Nick Clegg’s decision to rule out a coalition with either Labour or the Tories means that a hung parliament will almost certainly produce a minority Conservative government:
“By ruling out the possibility of the Liberal Democrats forming a coalition with Labour or the Conservatives after the next election Clegg did not just pre-empt the endless campaign trail questions about who he is more likely to shack up with.  He also blew away a lot of wishy-washy talk surrounding the whole subject of hung parliaments”

Global Issues - Top Books

Here is a list of books which might be used as supplementary reading for the ‘Global Issues’ course.  They touch on a number of themes in the course but also serve to deepen understanding and foster a more universal concern.So hopefully useful for holiday reading lists and also for conducting ‘Book Review/Discussion Groups’.  The titles are linked to ‘amazon’ as they give brief a sysnopsis of each book.  Here is the list in no particular order:

read more...»

Global Issues: Top Films

Here is a ‘Top 14 list’ - in no particular order - of films and documentaries which might be used to supplement the Global Issues paper.  Obviously given constraints of time and the ludicrous idea that teaching sometimes involves talking to/at people they cannot be used in full - but there are a few clips which are useful and a few lend themselves to ‘Politics Society’ extension activities.  I guess most are relatively well known and where they might fit in with the course is not rocket science - the list is linked to ‘amazon’ which provides a synopsis of each title. Guff over, heres the list:

read more...»