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71. Map Room: Anonymous Hacktivism

Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
The hacktivist group Anonymous is a loose collective of cyber activists, united only by a broad philosophy of eradicating corruption. The group has gained notoriety for its high profile attacks on governments around the world and international corporations like Paypal, Visa, and Sony. The decentralized and nebulous structure of Anonymous accounts for its global reach and diversity in targets.

72. Russia's Surveillance State

Author:
Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
MOSCOW—In March 2013, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security at the U.S. State Department issued a warning for Americans wanting to come to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia next February: Beware of SORM. The System of Operative-Investigative Measures, or SORM, is Russia's national system of lawful interception of all electronic utterances—an Orwellian network that jeopardizes privacy and the ability to use telecommunications to oppose the government. The U.S. warning ends with a list of “Travel Cyber Security Best Practices,” which, apart from the new technology, resembles the briefing instructions for a Cold War-era spy: Consider traveling with “clean” electronic devices—if you do not need the device, do not take it. Otherwise, essential devices should have all personal identifying information and sensitive files removed or “sanitized.” Devices with wireless connection capabilities should have the Wi-Fi turned off at all times. Do not check business or personal electronic devices with your luggage at the airport. ... Do not connect to local ISPs at cafes, coffee shops, hotels, airports, or other local venues. .. Change all your passwords before and after your trip. ... Be sure to re- move the battery from your Smart- phone when not in use. Technology is commercially available that can geo-track your location and activate the microphone on your phone. Assume any electronic device you take can be exploited. ... If you must utilize a phone during travel consider using a “burn phone” that uses a SIM card purchased locally with cash. Sanitize sensitive conversations as necessary.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, America, Moscow, and Sochi

73. Afghanistan: Withdrawal Lessons

Author:
Jack Devine and Whitney Kassel
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
The withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2014 is likely to be followed by a civil war between a predominantly non-Pashtun security apparatus and Pakistan-backed Taliban forces. As we confront this reality, we would be wise to look closely at the experience of the Soviet Union following its occupation of Afghanistan in the late 1980s. The prime lessons from that ill-fated moment are the need to provide continued economic and military support to the leadership in Kabul and to obtain the support of Pakistan, while maintaining sufficient intelligence and covert action infrastructure on both sides of the frontier the two countries share. A sustainable relationship with Pakistan is critical today because of the country's important role in any political solution in Afghanistan and the significant risks to the international community posed by Pakistan's own instability.
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Taliban

74. In His Own Words: Jordan's Security BackboneThe Thoughts of His Majesty King AbdulahII of Jordan

Author:
Abdullah Hussein II
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Since the creation of the modern Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the monarchs King Hussein and his son, the current ruler King Abdullah II, have presided over a nation that has served as a model of tranquility and security, moving steadily toward an increasingly democratic system of government. As turmoil has shaken all its neighbors, the royal family has managed to guard its sovereignty and independence. King Abdullah II, described as the 43rd generation direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad, ascended the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom on the death of his father in February 1999. Educated in the United States and Britain, after training at the British military academy at Sandhurst, he served as a major general in the Jordanian Army. During his 14-year reign, the kingdom's economy has flourished, and he has played a major role in encouraging an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. World Policy Journal editors asked His Majesty to illuminate, in his own words, the roots of Jordan's extraordinary record of security and democracy and the unique challenges posed by the complex neighborhood where his nation finds itself.
Political Geography:
Britain, United States, and Jordan

75. La Cienega: Ecuador's Childless Village

Author:
Santiago Arcos Veintimilla
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
LA CIENEGA, Ecuador—This is the last town in Ecuador without children. The youngest of the 11 remaining villagers is Geronomio. He is 63 years old, while the oldest is 98, which means their village is destined to become a ghost town. In the mid-1970s, a five-year drought combined with a lack of work and the promise of wealth in the big cities led every young person in La Cienega to move out of town. They left behind the elderly, those unable to move, and residents who refused to change their lifestyles.

76. Latin Justice: A New Look

Author:
Thea Johnson
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
QUITO, Ecuador—The prosecutor stands to deliver her opening statement in the case. She wears a tight, electric-blue dress that comes to mid-thigh. Standing on her matching stiletto heels, she turns toward the three-judge panel at the front of the room and lays out her case against the defendant. The defendant, she begins, had cut down an ancient and valuable tree, thereby committing a crime against the property owner and the state. Her opening statment is short, mostly read from the page in front of her. The judges, two middle-aged men and a young woman in her early 30s, listen intently from their seats behind a folding table. They face the audience, crammed into two narrow rows at the back of the room, and are flanked to the left by the prosecution team and to the right by the defendant and his lawyer, all seated at creaky folding tables. The defendant- a dark-skinned, middle-aged man in a short-sleeve button-down blue shirt-sits listlessly, his arms folded across his chest. His lawyer takes occasional notes during the opening statement, but mostly looks down at the thin binder before him. Everyone in the room-audience, judges, and lawyers-sits in folding chairs. Next to the judges is the clerk of the court at a computer. Besides that, the room is barren.

77. Don't Shoot the Ambulance: Medicine in the Crossfire

Author:
Jason Cone and Françoise Duroch
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
LANKIEN, South Sudan—The wounded started arriving in the evening. A rusted-out pick-up truck dropped off four young men with gunshot wounds, two with life-threatening wounds to the abdomen and the others with leg injuries, at the 100-bed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital here. Just hours earlier, the hospital's team and local residents had been playing volleyball as the sun began to set on a 106-degree day.
Political Geography:
South Sudan

78. From Disease to Pandemic

Author:
Amy Lieberman
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
MANGALSEN, Nepal—Most locals walk here, journeying hours or days to reach a smattering of tea shops and convenience stores or an ammonia-washed health clinic. Outsiders access the western Nepali district of Achham either by helicopter or the single road clinging precariously to the rocky corners of the Himalayan Mountains. People in Achham have no choice but to eat the little that sprouts from their stubborn land. Here, many know HIV only as "Bombay disease," a seemingly mysterious illness that began to weaken and kill in Achham when men started migrating to India for short-term, low-wage jobs more than a decade ago.
Political Geography:
India and Nepal

79. Bangladesh: A Labor Paradox

Author:
Edward Bearnot
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
DHAKA, Bangladesh—Color floods the main roads of this mega-city's industrial belt. Saffron scarves flutter in the hot, dusty wind, billowing against green and fuchsia salwar kameez—products of the textile mills that line these streets for miles. A sea of people shuffle along sunbaked, garbage-strewn roads wearing plastic flip-flops, the crowd thick with young faces packed 10 across and hundreds deep. Some are smiling, some are sullen, and most are women. They walk past rows of tea stalls and scrap metal hawkers, heading home to the sprawling slums that grow like the ubiquitous purple hyacinth around the factories. The crowd brings the heavy traffic to a begrudging halt.
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and Dhaka

80. The Somali Question

Author:
Mwaura Samora
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
NAIROBI—Throngs of traders haggle and jostle for goods along busy streets, constantly interrupted by the hooting of matatus, local public transport vehicles, and the shouting of pushcart drivers, known as mkokotenis. This neighborhood is no place for the squeamish. The matatus and the mkokotenis make their way through deep, water-filled potholes, splashing thick, dark liquid onto crowded sidewalks. Like the badly damaged roads, the sewage system in Nairobi's Eastleigh district was built by British colonists in the 1920s to service a few hundred working-class Africans and Indians, but now it must bear the waste of over 100,000 residents. Today raw sewage oozes out of thousands of household pipes that have ruptured after decades of neglect. The dark green sludge mixes with runoff in the streets to form a foul porridge of human excrement.
Political Geography:
Africa, India, Somalia, and Nairobi