Leapfrogging allows developing countries to skip many of the steps that developed countries have had to take when making technological advancements. This article examines the processes developing countries have undergone in order to take advantage of leapfrogging and to develop more efficiently.
The Interdependence Movement is devolving. The 2010 Berlin Interdependence Day Forum and Celebration emphasized the increased role of communal action in promotion of global peace, democracy, and justice.
58th President of Colombia and recently named Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University, Álvaro Uribe Vélez discusses his time in office and the future of Colombia.
George Orwell, in a famous essay in 1945, described sport as “"war minus the shooting." Exaggerated as this description may sound, Orwell observed a seemingly obvious relationship between sport and politics that has not systematically been studied. Given all our theories about how nation-states interact in international relations, this gap in the literature is somewhat astounding, especially since sport is an activity engaged in by all of the world's population-across territorial, cultural, religious, and ethnic boundaries.
Keeping in mind the many purposes of sport in the international arena, this issue's Forum brings together authors who advance our knowledge of the relationship between sport and politics.
The authors of this Forum hold different opinions of the utility and role of sport in international affairs, but they do agree on one thing: the potential influence of sport on the nation-state. Sport, as Orwell opined, may lack the shooting of a full-blown war. But sport, like war, may be just as intense and just as defining for the character of a country and for relations among states.
In early December of 2009, South Africa held a ceremony to receive the World Cup trophy as a kickoff to a year-long celebration. President Jacob Zuma declared, ."Let us display the Rainbow Nation to the world, let us display that here on the southern tip of Africa, where mankind originates from, we can make the home of everyone."Chief Executive Officer of South Africa.' s 2010 FIFA World Cup bid Danny Jordaan.-whose job is admittedly to boost the significance of the event.-added, ."All of us who were [involved in the struggle against Apartheid] said .' one day we are going to be a democratic South Africa, one day we are going to host this World Cup.' Today, as we welcome this trophy, we announce the death of doubt."
In this increasingly complex, interdependent, and information-rich world, U.S. policymakers face the common challenge of bringing expert knowledge to bear in governmental decision making. American think-tanks are well-positioned to provide alternative views to administrations and foster debate on contentious topics.
Each year, the top American intelligence official appears before Congress to present the intelligence community.' s assessment of worldwide threats to U.S. national security. In his 2010 testimony, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dennis Blair included something new. Under the heading ."Mass Killings,." Blair wrote, ."Looking ahead over the next five years, a number of countries in Africa and Asia are at significant risk for a new outbreak of mass killing." He defined mass killing as ."the deliberate killing of at least 1,000 unarmed civilians of a particular political identity by state or state-sponsored actors in a single event or over a sustained period." This appeared to be the first time the senior-most U.S. intelligence official had called attention to the general phenomenon of mass killing.-or the closely related and more common notions of genocide or mass atrocities.-in his annual threat assessment.
The challenge of addressing North Korean human rights abuses remains a polarized, politically sensitive, and intractable problem within the international diplomatic arena. This article analyzes how the issue has been addressed and offers suggestions for a new approach.