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9891. Africa and Anger: Algeria Remembers

Author:
James Jay Carafano
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
The publication of Martin Evans and John Phillips' Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed could not be more timely or necessary. Recently, the Pentagon established the U.S. Africa Command—AFRICOM. Its creation was not due to plans by the military to invade any African nation. In fact, the motivation for creating the command was the opposite: to disprove the notion that the outside world needs to solve the problems of Africans for them. Establishing AFRICOM will make the United States a more knowledgeable and more effective partner in the region, and will not only preclude the need for armed intervention but will also support African solutions to Africa's issues.
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Algeria

9892. Invisible, Insecure, and Inaccessible: The Humanitarian Crisis in Chad

Author:
Stephanie Getson
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
The night before I arrived in Abéché to begin my internship with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Chad, a small group of rebels attacked the UNHCR guesthouse where I was planning to stay. Rebels killed one guard, and bound and gagged two other guards while the rebel leader threatened a colleague at gunpoint until he gathered enough money to pay off the intruders. Incidents like this have become common in Abéché, the third largest city in Chad, which serves as the base of humanitarian operations working to protect the refugees streaming across the border from Darfur. Before arriving in the country I assumed that the Darfur refugee situation was the largest crisis in the region, but I soon found out that there are other equally dire problems that need to be addressed.

9893. Perception and the Costs of Waiting: Transition in Cuba

Author:
John-Michael McColl
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Life in Cuba is about waiting. Waiting for buses, waiting in line at banks, waiting for food. I spent most of my time in Cuba waiting for something. Today, Cubans continue to wait for just about everything, including news of the ailing Fidel Castro. The rest of the world, particularly the exile community in Miami, scrutinizes every image of the aging leader, trying to determine if he is more or less frail and scraping for any information that will give them some indication of how much longer it will be until Castro is confined to the history books. Yet, the truth is that El Commandante shuffled off his mortal coil decades ago, when he ceased existing as a man and became an icon. For many, Castro is Cuban communism, pure and simple. They imagine that when he dies, his revolucíon will follow him into oblivion. Some picture a situation similar to the fall of the Berlin Wall, when communism seemingly collapsed overnight. They expect Cubans from Miami and Havana to rush across the water straight into each other's arms. On 24 October, President Bush laid out his plans for the upcoming “transition” in Cuba. Anticipating the day the “Cubans [will] rise upto demand their liberty,” President Bush announced the creation of a multi-billion dollar “Freedom Fund” which promises Cubans access to grants, loans, and debt relief to rebuild their country as soon as they oust the undemocratic regime. To the U.S. president and everyone else who is planning for this big day, I have a piece of advice: don't hold your breath.
Political Geography:
United States and Cuba

9894. Rethinking Victory in the "War on Terror"

Author:
Philip H. Gordon
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
GJI A: You say in your new book, Winning the Right War: The Path to Security for America and the World , that we've been fighting the wrong war, the war on terror, for the past six years. Why is the war on terror the "wrong" war? What would be the "right" war? What do you mean by the title?
Topic:
War

9895. Long Time Coming: The Prospects for Democracy in China

Author:
John L. Thornton
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Is China democratizing? The country's leaders do not think of democracy as people in the West generally do, but they are increasingly backing local elections, judicial independence, and oversight of Chinese Communist Party officials. How far China's liberalization will ultimately go and what Chinese politics will look like when it stops are open questions.
Political Geography:
China

9896. The Rise of China and the Future of the West: Can the Liberal System Survive?

Author:
G. John Ikenberry
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
China's rise will inevitably bring the United States' unipolar moment to an end. But that does not necessarily mean a violent power struggle or the overthrow of the Western system. The U.S.-led international order can remain dominant even while integrating a more powerful China -- but only if Washington sets about strengthening that liberal order now.
Political Geography:
United States and China

9897. China's New Dictatorship Diplomacy: Is Beijing Parting With Pariahs?

Author:
Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt and Andrew Small
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Beijing has recently stepped back from its unconditional support for pariah states, such as Burma, North Korea, and Sudan. This means China may now be more likely to help the West manage the problems such states pose -- but only up to a point, because at heart China still favors nonintervention as a general policy.
Political Geography:
China, Sudan, Beijing, North Korea, and Burma

9898. Reconsidering Revaluation: The Wrong Approach to the U.S.-Chinese Trade Imbalance

Author:
David D. Hale and Lyric Hughes Hale
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Politicians in Washington are clamoring for currency revaluation in China to reverse China's trade surplus with the United States. But the trade imbalance is not the threat they make it out to be, and a stronger yuan is not the solution. Everybody should focus instead on properly integrating China into the global economy.
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Washington

9899. The Myth of the Authoritarian Model: How Putin's Crackdown Holds Russia Back

Author:
Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
A growing conventional wisdom holds that Vladimir Putin's attack on democracy has brought Russia stability and prosperity -- providing a new model of successful market authoritarianism. But the correlation between autocracy and economic growth is spurious. Autocracy's effects in Russia have in fact been negative. Whatever the gains under Putin, they would have been greater under a democratic regime.
Political Geography:
Russia

9900. The Costs of Containing Iran: Washington's Misguided New Middle East Policy

Author:
Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The Bush administration wants to contain Iran by rallying the support of Sunni Arab states and now sees Iran's containment as the heart of its Middle East policy: a way to stabilize Iraq, declaw Hezbollah, and restart the Arab-Israeli peace process. But the strategy is unsound and impractical, and it will probably further destabilize an already volatile region.
Political Geography:
Iraq, Iran, Washington, Middle East, and Arab Countries