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131. Toward a Universal Cinema

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Steven Soderbergh burst on the international film scene more than two decades ago with his extraordinary indie success, “sex, lies, and video-tape,” which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival—at 26, the youngest director ever to receive the festival's top honor. There followed a succession of Oscar nominations and big budget Hollywood successes, including “Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic,” “Ocean's Eleven” and its sequels, followed by the four-hour, two-part epic, “Che,” chronicling the life of the Argentine revolutionary. Soderbergh talked in his Manhattan production studio with World Policy Journal Editor David A. Andelman and World Policy Institute senior fellow Silvana Paternostro, who also served as associate producer of “Che.”
Political Geography:
Argentina

132. Deadly Gold

Author:
Thomas Lee
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Dunkwa-on-offin, Ghana—An illegal gold mine collapsed in these remote jungles on June 27, 2010, after heavy rains hit central Ghana. At least 100 people were buried, but that's just an estimate. The owner had no idea how many of his 136 hires were working at the time of his arrest, and the dozen illegal miners who survived kept their mouths shut, fearing prosecution. This is hardly a rare incident, but it provides a vivid snapshot of the deeply rooted abuses in Ghana's ancient and ever more profitable gold complex.
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

133. Ingenuity, Peanut Butter, and a Little Green Leaf

Author:
J.T. Simms
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
I first learned of moringa early in my service. It's a small, thin tree, with medallionshaped leaves resembling cooked spinach. Each serving contains more vitamins and nutrients than any other food in West Africa, and maybe the world. Native to India but found throughout the tropics, it contains, gram for gram, more vitamin A than carrots, more vitamin C than oranges, more potassium than bananas, more iron than spinach, and, astonishingly, more protein and calcium than milk. And, as a tree, it's a permanent fixture that, once matured, is capable of being harvested every few weeks.
Political Geography:
Africa

134. An Ugly Exploration

Author:
Jonathan Ewing
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Addis ababa, Ethiopia—After the battle he was given the ugly task of counting the bodies and separating them—Ethiopian from Chinese. This wasn't an easy job. Each time he finished the tally, he'd forget the number and have to start again. This happened to Omar Muktar four times. He was shocked by what he had just seen and participated in.
Political Geography:
China and Ethiopia

135. The Balkans' Underbelly

Author:
David L. Phillips
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
PRISHTINA, KOSOVO—For nearly two years Kosovo, the world's newest nation, has struggled to be recognized as a sovereign state. On July 22, 2010, the International Court of Justice [ijc] removed uncertainty about Kosovo's status since its declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008—concluding that the declaration did not violate international law. But Kosovar Albanians knew long before the court's opinion that their freedom from Serbia was, and remains, irrevocable. They would never stand for the return to Serbian control.
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Serbia

136. The Roots of Hate

Author:
Michael J. Jordan
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Heves, Hungary—The past few years have been turbulent for Szabolcs Szedlak, far worse than most Hungarians could have imagined two decades ago, when they tore a hole in the Iron Curtain and changed their world. Szedlak, 34, came of age during the tumult of the postcommunist transition from dictatorship to democracy. Back then Hungarians were told, and many believed, they'd become like neighboring Austrians—a BMW in every driveway. Just don't remind folks of those daydreams in this bleak corner of northeastern Hungary.
Political Geography:
Europe

137. Censorship: Might vs. Right

Author:
David A. Andelman
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
We hit the road before dawn on May 14, 1982, headed for Israel's northern border with Lebanon. There were four of us in the car—our two-man CBS News crew (cameraman and soundman), the Tel Aviv bureau producer and me. Tensions were mounting with Lebanon, which was then serving as the sanctuary for the leadership and many followers of the Palestine Liberation Organization [plo]. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was already looking for a reason to send forces in, to discredit and destroy the plo. But the plo had maintained a ceasefire for nearly a year, and appeared to be pursuing a diplomatic strategy. Its tactics were frustrating Begin's plans. Still, we'd had reports of Israeli forces on the move, massing on their side of the frontier. So we were heading north to shoot a segment.
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

138. Editor's Note

Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
As a fragile democracy grows in Iraq, as U.S. forces in Afghanistan try to reform governance in Kabul, and as Mexico threatens to devolve into a narco-state, we hear a strident, intensifying refrain: crime and corruption must be stamped out. But if the chorus is in harmony on the pernicious effects of these plagues— poverty, war, lack of development, poor governance—it has offered little in the way of remedy. Moreover, given how interwoven and insidious these problems often are, just which should be tackled first?
Topic:
Crime
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Mexico

139. The Big Question: How Can Nations Break the Cycle of Crime and Corruption?

Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
If not quite as apocalyptic as Pope would have us believe, corruption and crime all too often drag nations into a cycle of deprivation and wanton greed—companies bribing bureaucrats in exchange for lucrative contracts, petty graft greasing the palms of low-level civil servants, and powerful politicians enriching themselves at the expense of their people and the advancement of society. How do nations, especially developing ones, escape this swamp? World Policy Journal asked a panel of experts to weigh in on the challenges.
Topic:
Corruption and Crime

140. Global Corruption: An Untamed Hydra

Author:
Laurence Cockcroft
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
The last 15 years have seen a remarkable change in the perception of corruption at both national and international levels, driven in large part by civil society organizations and watchdog groups. In the many countries where corruption is endemic, but where public discussion had been most limited, it has become the focal point of increasingly open campaigns by civil society and political parties. In the international arena, a series of conventions at both the global and regional levels have influenced corporate codes of conduct and the agendas of development finance agencies. This increased awareness has achieved a notable toughening of anti-corruption legislation in many countries and spurred changes in corporate behavior. But these achievements remain quite modest in relation to the overall scale of the problem. There remains woefully inadequate recognition of the ways corruption is intertwined with the larger necessities of eliminating poverty, halting climate change, and rebuilding failed states. What anti-corruption measures are now in place need to be vastly extended.
Topic:
Civil Society and Corruption