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21. Argentina: Driven Black

Author:
Meredith Hoffman
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
BUENOS AIRES—When the peso hit rock bottom in January, Ande Wanderer rang up her money dealer—a former official in Argentina's nation-al government. She'd sold off her stocks, cashed in her American savings, and wired him the money. Now she rushed to his office, a ninth floor room in downtown Buenos Aires. The official ex-change rate was 8 pesos to the dollar. But her dealer gave her 11—the black market rate at the time—and kept a small fee for himself. That meant she got some 40 percent more pesos for her U.S. money.
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Argentina

22. God and State in Egypt

Author:
Michael Wahid Hanna
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
CAIRO—During a private conversation following Egypt's bitterly contested and closely fought presidential election of 2012, a Western diplomat marveled, naively, at the multitudes of veiled women who had come out to support the old regime's candidate, the avowedly anti-Islamist figure of Ahmed Shafik. It was during this campaign that strongly held anti-Islamist themes were aired widely and used to mount a campaign against the potent, often bigoted, Muslim Brotherhood. Many of these same views were advanced in support of the military's removal of the Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, victorious candidate for the presidency and, with his electoral victory, successor to President Hosni Mubarak.
Political Geography:
Egypt

23. A Box of Ideas

Author:
Rosalie Hughes
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
CANKUZO PROVINCE, Burundi —Last November, Sedar Zamukulu Watula and 30 other Congolese refugees waited, perched on a circle of wobbly wooden benches in Kavumu Refugee Camp in western Burundi. Watula, 27, sweat in the heat, unusual for the rainy season. He was used to waiting —for food, for soap, for peace in his hometown of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But this time the wait was different. He'd come to hear a mzungu (white person) talk about a new project that was about to arrive in the camp- the Ideas Box.
Political Geography:
Paris

24. Child Care in Crisis

Author:
Sabrina Natasha Premji
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
NAIROBI, Kenya —In the winding alleyways of Mlolongo, one of Kenya's densest slums, heavy rainfalls from the previous night carpet the road with mud and animal waste, making both nearly impossible to avoid. Visitors approach and remove their shoes at the door to Mama Agnes' home, a mud shack, then step into a room where the air is pungent with the smell of urine and feces. In the darkness, one misstep and a visitor stumbles upon an infant, who seems unshaken by the accidental nudge. A few steps further lie two dozen more infants, none older than 18 months —some sitting on a broken couch, many lying on the concrete ground. Though all awake, their perfect little bodies remain still, only their bellies ri sing with each breath. In an eight-foot square space, there are at least 25 babies, and the only sound —silence.
Political Geography:
Kenya and Nairobi

25. Unveiling Koovagam

Author:
Jeff Roy
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
KOOVAGAM, India —In the middle of India's southernmost state of Tamil Nadu is the hamlet of Koovagam —a spit of dry dust surrounded by two empty rice fields and crisscrossing dirt pathways that converge like veins into the heart of town. At the center is a temple —a modest structure adorned with statues of gods and goddesses, where incense sticks burn. Surrounding the temple are market stalls that, on a normal day, offer displays of spices, flour, and seasonal fruits and vegetables for the town's handful of residents. But, on the full moon of the Chithirai month of the Tamil calendar, generally late April or early May, flamboyant arrays of offerings, religious figurines, and refreshments fill the stalls for tens of thousands of townsmen, women, children, and Aravanis, or transgender pilgrims.
Political Geography:
India

26. Walking the Wall

Author:
Paul Sullivan
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
TOKYO—The concrete and steel tsunami wall at a nuclear plant south of Tokyo is nearly 50 feet high and stretches a mile long. It is only one of a host of other earthquake and tsunami refits—waterproofing some of the most vital areas of the plant, backing up cooling systems, and improving venting for the facility in the event of hydrogen build up. On March 11, 2011, known as 3/11 in Japan, in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daichi, thousands died in the earthquake and resulting tsunamis; countless others lost their lands and livelihoods. There were a number of casualties from stress, dislocation, and more, especially among the elderly. And worse yet, future health fallouts are still to be seen. It was unquestionably a social and cultural calamity for a country that has had so many in its past, yet always seems to recover and come back stronger than ever.
Political Geography:
Japan and Tokyo

27. Just Communicating

Author:
David A. Andelman
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
PARIS—In March 1975, in what would turn out to be the final month of the war in Cambodia, I thought it might be a nice touch to place a call to my bride of six months and wish her a happy birthday. My interpreter/fixer/photographer, Dith Pranh, advised me to book the call a week or so in advance, which I did at the PTT (Post Telegraph)—the only locale where an international call had even a prayer of going through. At the appointed time, I appeared there and, after a wait of only several hours, the operator announced that my party was on the line in New York, and I could pick up "the apparatus" in Cabin #1. I lifted the phone and there, 7,000 miles away, was a very faint voice of Susan making its way through a cloud of electronic noise, crackles, and pops. We shouted at each other for a minute or so, before we finally gave up on any meaningful communication.
Political Geography:
New York, Paris, and Cambodia

28. Connectivity: Intellectual Lubricant

Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Connectivity is the intellectual lubricant of our time. And today, more than at any other point in human history, we are all connected—with each other, with our leaders and followers, with our friends, relatives, and even strangers—for better or, all too often, for worse. Connectivity has sparked revolutions, cured disease and famine, and led to more advances in a shorter period of time than any previous point in history. Of course, today's social media frenzy is not the first such effort. Connectivity and its media enablers began with Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone, or even earlier with Samuel Morse and his telegraph, followed by Guglielmo Marconi and his radio. But each incremental advance, down to today's revolutionary connectivity is all part of a fundamental urge of the human species—to communicate, to connect. That's what we set out to explore in the Fall issue of World Policy Journal.

29. The Big Question: Have social media and/or smartphones disrupted life in your part of the world?

Author:
Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Sebastián Valenzuela, Valgeir Valdimarsson, Nwachukwu Egbunike, Matthew Fraser, Araba Sey, Tohir Pallaev, Erkan Saka, and Igor Lyubashenko
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Social media and smartphones, the latter carrying this newest of mankind's means of communication and activism, have in many cases served as agents of change for both good and ill. We asked our panel of global experts how these new networks and those who use them may have disrupted daily life in their respective parts of the world.

30. Joining Zone 9

Author:
Rebecca Mackinnon
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
"We want more openness, more transparency," Ethiopian writer Endalkchew Chala observes. "People deserve choice; people deserve access to the world's knowledge." For expressing views like these online, his friends were scheduled to go on trial for terrorism in early August—though the trial has since been adjourned to October 15. Perhaps because the absurd charges against them were getting more international attention than expected.
Political Geography:
Ethiopia