Search

20831. The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics: The Case Against the Brandens

Author:
Roderick Fitts
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Objective Standard
Institution:
The Objective Standard
Abstract:
Ayn Rand was an influential and controversial novelist and philosopher whose name invariably ushers in a flood of debate. Unfortunately, not all of the controversy stems from Rand's radical ideas, such as her advocacy of egoism and laissez-faire capitalism. Distracting from the discussion of her ideas is a controversy concerning claims made about Rand's personal life and character in the works of two of her former students: Barbara Branden's The Passion of Ayn Rand (Doubleday, 1986) and Nathaniel Branden's My Years with Ayn Rand (Jossey-Bass, 1999). For eighteen years, the Brandens (who were married to each other from 1953 to 1965) were among Rand's closest friends. However, their relationships with Rand ended abruptly in 1968, at which point they became her most vocal and publicized critics. In their books, both of which were published after Rand's death, the Brandens tell their stories. James Valliant's The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics: The Case Against the Brandens is the first book-length critique of the Brandens' allegations. Valliant's book is divided into two parts: the first, an analysis of several dozen claims made by the Brandens about Rand; the second, a selection of journal entries from Rand concerning psychological issues that Nathaniel Branden revealed to her during their romantic relationship. (Rand was happily married but had an open affair with Nathaniel Branden, with the full knowledge and consent of her husband and Barbara Branden.) The purpose of Valliant's book is to dispel false claims the Brandens made regarding Rand, setting the record straight for those interested in the details of her life. . . .

20832. How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes

Author:
Daniel Wahl
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Objective Standard
Institution:
The Objective Standard
Abstract:
Very few economists predicted an economic catastrophe in 2007. Even following the crash, many continued to claim that our present economic course was fine. As for today? “Three years into the mess, economists now offer remedies that strike most people as frankly ridiculous. We are told that we must go deeper into debt to fix our debt crisis, and that we must spend in order [to] prosper” (pp. xi–xii). The source of such seeming obliviousness, according to Peter and Andrew Schiff, is the early-20th-century economist John Maynard Keynes. According to the Schiffs, Keynes taught that governments could smooth market volatility, increase employment, boost growth, and raise living standards simply by going into more debt and printing more money. Although they grant that Keynes was smart, the Schiffs say he developed some very stupid economic ideas—ideas that are false, dangerous, and causing the collapse of America's economy. The Schiffs set out to counter these harmful ideas in How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes. The book is an extended allegory of U.S. economic history, with supplementary discussions and illustrations. It begins with three men living on a tropical island, each subsisting on one fish per day, which he catches with his bare hands. One of the men, Able, devises a better way to catch fish: a net. Thus equipped, he hopes to catch more fish, and faster, leaving himself spare time to make new clothes. . . .
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
United States

20833. The Flaw of Averages: Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty

Author:
David H. Mirman
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Objective Standard
Institution:
The Objective Standard
Abstract:
Consider a drunk staggering down the middle of a busy highway and assume that his average position is the centerline. The state of the drunk at his average position is alive, but on average, he's dead. (p. 83) This is an example of the danger of the “Flaw of Averages,” Sam Savage's term for the common mistake of “representing an uncertain number by its average” (p. 59). “Plans based on average assumptions are wrong on average,” he explains. “In everyday life, the Flaw of Averages ensures that plans based on the average customer demand, average completion time . . . and other uncertainties are . . . behind schedule, and beyond budget” (p. 11, emphasis original). In The Flaw of Averages, Savage demonstrates the harm caused by the error and arms his readers with skills to avoid it. . . .

20834. Passive Globalization and the Failure of the European Union's Lisbon Strategy, 2000-2010: Some New Cross-National Evidence

Author:
Arno Tausch
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
The current paper investigates the cross-national relevance of dependency theory and world systems theory for eight dimensions of development. The main emphasis is on indicators of sustainable development, and our essay comprises in all 36 main dependent variables. They are part of the dimensions of democracy, gender justice, high quality tertiary education, economic growth during the outgone economic cycle until 2008 and projected economic growth after 2009, the environment, human development, employment, and social cohesion on a global scale by a new. Our 175 nation analysis, using 20 main predictors of development tries to confront the very basic pro-globalist assumptions of the “Lisbon process”, the policy target of the European leaders since the EU's Lisbon Council meeting in March 2000 to make Europe the leading knowledge-based economy in the world with a “globalization critical perspective”. A realistic and politically useful analysis of the “Lisbon process” has to be a “Schumpeterian” approach. We analyze the “Lisbon performance” of the world economy by multivariate, quantitative means, looking into the possible contradictions that might exists between the dependent insertion into the global economy and other goals of the “Lisbon process”. Lowering the comparative price levels and increasing the dependency from the large, transnational corporations, as correctly predicted by Latin American social science of the 1960s and 1970s, emerges as one of the most serious development blockades, confronting Europe. It also emerges that failing to develop Europe's own MNC headquarter status in the global economy has very negative effects on development performance. The increase in military expenditures, proposed in article 42,3 of the new EU Lisbon Treaty, is another stumbling block against development. We also present a concluding factor analytical perspective, which again re-iterates the importance of avoiding a “race to the bottom” as an “alternative” in Europe.
Political Geography:
Europe and Latin America

20835. The European Union Foreign and Security Actions and the Western Balkans

Author:
Siret Hursoy
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
The EU's realisation of the need to develop more cogent external relations, foreign and security policies towards the Western Balkans can be attributable to the failure of Europeans to end conflicts on their doorstep in Bosnia, Croatia, Albania and Kosovo throughout the 1990s. It is argued that the EU's network of external relations traditionally consists of three main elements: trade, foreign and security policy and development co-operation. Therefore, this paper will dwell upon the EU's international role through its external relations elements which are also considered to be the main tools of bringing stability and prosperity into the Western Balkans. Moreover, it will be argued that the EU has an extensive network of foreign relations, but no 'real' foreign policy. This article will specifically examine the experiences of the EU's CFSP by highlighting the success and failures of the ESDP in the region.
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Kosovo, and Albania

20836. Iran's Nuclear Program: The US Misses Opportunities? –An Examination of US Policies in the Middle East and Implications of those Policies on the US Global Position–

Author:
Adem Ogultarhan
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan cause people to think that the US can resort to military measures against Iran as well. However the US invasion of Iraq and the uncertainties prevailing because of the invasion make analysts to question the necessity of military operations, because it might bring further uncertainties to region and to world politics. In this paper, it is argued that the US priorities in the Middle East are not well-defined and its policies are contaminated with cultural misperceptions, as seen in the case of the Iran's nuclear program. Historical, technical and international law aspects of Iran's nuclear program would be surveyed and the US policies regarding Iran's nuclear program would be analyzed. The US interests in the region would be discussed and the most known clichés regarding Iran and US relations would be questioned. It is the argument that US policies in the Middle East are not well-calculated in terms of the US global realpolitik concerns; and current US policies in the region harm the US interests in global stage. Thus, the US confrontation with Iran makes the potential cooperation opportunities with the Middle Eastern countries missed.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Iran

20837. Understanding Iran's Foreign Policy: An Application of Holistic Constructivism

Author:
Mahdi Mohammad Nia
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
This article seeks to explain why Iranian foreign policy toward the western countries in general and The United States in particular even under the systemic pressures has remained relatively unchanged. To this end, the present article identifies the determinant factors affect Iranian foreign policy. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian foreign and security policy has been dominated by a new set of revolutionary values and discourses. The author believes that the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran mostly is driven by its revolutionary values and ideological perspectives than the logic of nation states. To understand Iranian foreign behavior, one should try to understand the basic characteristics of the country's normative and discursive structures. Hence, this article argues that due to the role of normative factors in constructing Iranian foreign policy, the Holistic constructivist approach is considered the most applicable theory for explaining the country's foreign policy.
Political Geography:
United States and Iran

20838. The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Reconciling or Re-dividing Liberia?

Author:
David Harris and Richard Lappin
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
After 14 years of civil war and violence followed by the momentous and rather unusual elections of 2005, in which a woman defeated a footballer for the presidency, Liberia has seen over six years of state reconstruction and relative peace. Two recent announcements have, however, served as a warning to the extent of progress. The most recent is President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's declaration that she will, despite previous statements to the contrary, stand for re-election in 2011 due to shortcomings in progress. The announcement preceding Johnson-Sirleaf's was made in the form of the report of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It recommended that Johnson-Sirleaf, and indeed many others accused of involvement in the war, should be barred from public office for the next 30 years, and still more should stand trial on charges of war crimes. Four important questions arise. First, what was the mandate and findings of the TRC? Second, how has Liberia and the wider international community reacted to the final report? Third, has the TRC fulfilled its mandate and contributed to a process of reconciliation? Finally, and in a much broader sense, where does the TRC stand relative to the much wider liberal peace model?
Political Geography:
Liberia

20839. Economic Sanctions: A Panacea to Democracy and Good Governance in Zimbabwe?

Author:
Heather Chingono
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
Against a background of the augmented utilization of economic sanctions as a prescriptive measure to restore/establish democracy in autocratic or semi-autocratic regimes, this article seeks to explore the impact of economic sanctions on Zimbabwe's democratization process. This article argues that imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe further rendered the prospects of democracy attainment a murky area as reflected by some of the internal and external strategies espoused by the Zimbabwe government in redressing the unintentional manifestations of economic sanctions. Palpably, the use of economic sanctions to induce democracy in Zimbabwe has to a large extent failed, yet, on the contrary it has provided an opportunity, a scapegoat, and a fertile (conducive) platform for the government to further deny citizens their political freedoms whilst blaming it on external forces. This article's conclusions and results seek to bring out the significant policy implications related to the utilization of sanctions as an apparatus for attaining the political freedoms of people and to reveal some of the unintended outcomes of sanctions.
Political Geography:
Zimbabwe

20840. Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Jigmi Y. Thinley

Author:
Jigmi Y. Thinley
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
An address by Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley of the Kingdom of Bhutan followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Guests are invited to a reception at the conclusion of the program.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
South Asia and Asia