REFERENCE UPDATE
September 2009
1. “The Changing Political Dynamics of East Asian Financial Cooperation: The Chiang Mai Initiative”
Hyoung-kyu Chey. Asian Survey, May/June 2009, 18 pages.
The author analyzes the factors that have contributed to the development of the Chiang Mai Initiative, a financial agreement among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and one of the prominent examples of recent East Asian financial cooperation, by comparing it with the failed 1997 proposal for an Asian Monetary Fund.
2. “Barack Hoover Obama”
Kevin Baker. Harper's Magazine, July 2009, 9 pages.
The author compares Obama's handling of the global financial crisis in 2009 to the failed policies implemented by former U.S. President Herbert Hoover in reaction to the Great Depression of 1929. He suggests that if Obama is to be successful, he must make difficult choices and radical changes, as did former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he assumed office in 1933.
3. “The Global Financial Crisis and Development Strategy for Emerging-Market Economies”
William R. Cline. Peterson Institute for International Economics, June 23, 2009, 9 pages.
The global financial crisis of 2008–2009 calls for a reexamination, not only of industrial countries' financial systems, but also of emerging markets' growth models. The author discusses why key emerging markets, no longer able to rely on rising trade surpluses against industrial countries, must reorient their growth strategies toward production for domestic demand and greater trade with emerging-market partners.
4. “Understanding the Post-Recession Consumer”
Paul Flatters and Michael Willmott. Harvard Business Review, July/August 2009, 7 pages.
The authors explore how the current recession will impact consumer behavior during the current economic downturn, through the recovery, and over the long term. The questions; how previous downturns have altered consumer psychology and activity; how this recession compares with previous ones; and the journey consumers have taken to the present which condition their reaction to the recession and shape their trajectory out of it, are used to anticipate consumer behavior.
5. “Do CEOs Matter?”
Harris Collingwood. The Atlantic, June 2009, 5 pages.
Can a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) -- even one as talented and visionary as Apple Inc.’s ailing CEO Steve Jobs -- really make or break a corporation? Many business scholars have grown skeptical of the idea that a CEO can be a superhero. The author discusses the relative importance of corporate CEOs to the success of companies.
6. “Comprehensive Security and Resilience in Southeast Asia: ASEAN's Approach to Terrorism”
Ralf Emmers. The Pacific Review, May 2009, 19 pages.
The author explores how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has tackled the threat of terrorism since 9/11 and the Bali bombings, focusing on its approach to security and the concept of resilience. He examines how national governments have sought domestically to address the threat of terrorism in comprehensive ways before considering the role of regional consultations in seeking to re-enforce and complement national and sub-regional efforts.
7. “Talking with Insurgents: A Guide for the Perplexed”
Daniel Byman. The Washington Quarterly, April 2009, 13 pages.
The author, Director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, argues for communication with insurgent groups as part of counterinsurgency and pacification. The difficulties of this strategy are detailed and a list of points to ponder for policymakers and analysts as they decide whether a particular group should be engaged is offered.
8. “The End of Plenty”
Joel K. Bourne Jr. National Geographic, June 2009, 13 pages.
The author, a National Geographic Senior editor, discusses the declines in the growth of agricultural productivity around the world and the implications of this change for the alleviation of malnutrition and poverty. Issues relating to projections of population growth, declining grain supplies resulting from the development of feedlot agriculture, and ethanol fuels, as well as issues arising from the green revolution and its environmental and public health impacts as factors driving food shortages are examined.
9. “Pandemics and the Planet of Slums”
Mike Davis. New Perspectives Quarterly, Summer 2009, 3 pages
The author argues that global pandemics today tend to originate and spread from impoverished slums that push humans into close proximity with animals and food sources, thus providing an incubator for viruses that would otherwise die out or go dormant. Health, justice and social issues associated with gargantuan slums all over the world that get overlooked in world politics are discussed. [Davis is the author of The Planet of Slums (2006)].
10. “Anatomy of the Global Food Crisis”
Pedro Conceicao and Ronald U. Mendoza. Third World Quarterly, September 2009, 24 pages.
The authors discuss the global food crisis that has affected much of the developing world by offering a preliminary diagnostic of the possible factors behind the crisis that erupted in 2008. Rising and changing patterns of consumption in fast-growing and large developing countries like China and India are examined and the possibly increasing trade-off between biofuels and food, and the unfolding effects of climate change is looked at more closely. A framework for policy actions, both unilateral and collective, to address the food crisis and ensure future global food security is also outlined.
11. “It's Still the One”
Daniel Yergin. Foreign Policy, September/October 2009, 8 pages.
The very future of oil is being seriously questioned, debated, and challenged. One characteristic of this new age is that oil has developed a split personality, being both a physical commodity and now also a financial asset. The author, an economic researcher who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992, explains why -- just as we need more oil than ever -- the future of oil is changing faster than we can keep up with.
12. “Natural Security”
Sharon Burke. CNAS Working Paper, June 2009, 25 pages.
The author, Vice President for Natural Security at the Center for a New American Security, discusses the national security and foreign policy implications of energy and climate change, focusing on emerging natural resources challenges in six key areas of consumption and consequences – energy, minerals, water, land, climate change, and biodiversity – as well as the ways in which these challenges are linked together.
13. “Climate Science 2008: Major New Discoveries”
Kevin Levin and Dennis Tirpak. WRI Issue Brief, July 2009, 28 pages.
The authors argue that human activity is the primary cause of rising temperatures and that climate change impacts are accelerating. A timely synthesis of current understanding of global warming at a critically important time for the United States and the world, focusing on important advances relating to technologies that could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future is presented.
14. “A Porous Wall”
Natalie Pompilio. American Journalism Review, June/July 2009, 6 pages.
As news organizations blur the line between editorial and advertising in their struggle to survive, does credibility take a hit? The author, a former reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer, examines journalistic ethics in the face of the increasing financial pressures on mass media, especially newspapers, and how they have led to practices that violate the traditional separation of editorial and advertising content.
15. “What's a Fair Share in the Age of Google?”
Peter Osnos. Columbia Journalism Review, July/August 2009, 4 pages.
Google offers many research tools for journalists. However, large news organizations, which find themselves confronted with increasing financial difficulties, believe that Google's Web search engine facilitates the free distribution of proprietary information that they have created, in essence, skimming off almost all the Internet advertising revenue associated with their journalistic products. The author, Vice Chairman of Columbia Journalism Review, takes a look at the effects of Google Inc. has had on journalism, the finance of mass media, and the ethical issue of fairly sharing revenue generated for Internet content.
16. “Cities Without Newspapers”
Rachel Smolkin. American Journalism Review, June/July 2009, 10 pages.
As the economic noose tightens, the notion of big cities being left without local dailies seems a real possibility. What would be the impact on civic life and what might emerge to fill the gap? The author, a USA Today editor and winner of two 2008 National Press Club Award for press criticism, discusses the possibility that the financial crisis that has hit the U.S. newspaper publishing industry could result in one or more large cities lacking a daily newspaper.
17. “End of Television and Foreign Policy”
Monroe E. Price. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, September 2009, 9 pages.
Have modern technological developments caused foreign policy to be increasingly affected by media concerns? The transformation of television has altered the capacity of the state to control the agenda for making war, convening in peace, and otherwise exercising its foreign policy options. The author, Director of The Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the transformation of television and how the end of television may affect foreign policy and public diplomacy.
18. “The Internet: A Room of Our Own?”
Evgeny Morozov. Dissent, Summer 2009, 6 pages.
The author evaluates the influence exerted by the Internet on democracy and democratic movements, asserting that organizations and government institutions engaged in the promotion of global democracy have oversimplified the role that the Internet plays in spreading the political doctrine. Pointing out that the same features that make the Internet a positive tool for advancing democratic causes, the author opines that they can also aid in the dissemination of philosophies and beliefs that are antidemocratic and opposed to the creation of civil societies.
19. “Survival Lessons for Libraries”
Toby Pearlstein and James Matarazzo. Searcher, June 2009, 5 pages.
The authors discuss survival lessons that can be learned from corporate library reduction and closure experiences in the United States as of 2009, opining that these perspectives might help other institutions to minimize the chances of becoming a victim of such actions. Case studies of corporate library reductions and closures are also provided.
20. “Dicing with Democracy”
Richard Youngs. The World Today, July 2009, 3 pages.
Cynics of Obama's views on democracy believe that democracy has reached a plateau and that all those states that could transition to democratic systems have already done so. The author examines democratic progress, focusing on the defense of autocrats against democracy promotion, the risks of failure, and modern technology's influence on civic activity.
21. “Do Gender Stereotypes Transcend Party?”
Kira Sanbonmatsu and Kathleen Dolan. Political Research Quarterly, September 2009, 10 pages.
Voters hold stereotypes about candidates’ genders and candidates’ parties, however, little is known about the intersection of gender and party stereotypes. In this article, the authors examine whether gender stereotypes affect woman politicians differently by party and examine the effect of partisan identification on gender stereotypes.
22. “The United States and the Asia Pacific Region: National Interests and Strategic Imperatives”
James J. Pryztup. Strategic Forum No. 239, April 2009, 5 pages.
The author, a senior research fellow of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, discusses the enduring nature of U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region and the role of America in shaping the future of this region, focusing the strategic imperatives that will confront the Obama administration's policymakers.
23. “Get Smart”
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Foreign Affairs, July/August 2009, 4 pages.
To tackle tough global challenges, the United States must rebuild its foreign policy framework. Smart power - the combination of hard and soft power – should replace the current theme of “war on terror” as the premise for American foreign policy, according to the author, a former Dean of Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The major elements of soft power and how U.S. President Barack Obama can choose specific policies to increase the United States' smart power is examined.
24. “The Return of Carterism?”
Arthur Herman. Commentary, January 2009, 6 pages.
President Obama has begun his administration with the same goal that former President Carter started with -- restoring the image of America around the world. The author explores the foreign policy goals of the Obama administration, reflecting on the legacy of President Jimmy Carter‘s foreign policy, one that was oriented towards human rights.
25. “The Persistence of Writing”
Thomas Burkdall. Educause Review, May/June 2009, 3 pages.
Is the teaching of writing becoming a more difficult exercise because of the mounting cultural pressures against reading and writing? The author, Director of Writing Program at Occidental College in California, discusses how multimedia expression is dominating intellectual discourse, focusing on the future of the written word and its system.
26. “10 Elements Every High School Should Have in Place”
The Education Digest, May 2009, 3 pages.
How effective is your community's high school in educating its students? This article explores 10 key elements that are required to ensure effective high school education, including classes that challenge students and instill key skills, strong relationships between teachers and students and participation of families and the community.
27. “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch”
Michael Pollan. The New York Times Magazine, August 2, 2009, 10 pages.
The rise of cooking celebrities such as Julia Child, Alice Waters, or Martha Stewart has been paralleled by the rise of fast food and home-meal replacements. The author, a Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, discusses why home cooking is on the decline despite how this trend contradicts the increasing popularity of cooking shows on television.
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