The Runaway General | Rolling Stone Politics

The Runaway General | Rolling Stone Politics This article is another example of how a failed policy in Afghanistan can not be undone simply by electoral politics. Foreign policy has a memory and stems from domestic conditions as well as the actions of individuals.

The Larger Struggle

Last week, on June 14, David Brooks wrote a column to describe the struggle between democratic capitalism and state capitalism as to deflect the incovenient truth of the larger struggle around us. Although for David Brooks the larger struggle is about the type of capitalism, as he conveniently places together in the "evil" state capitalist systems those of Iran, China, Venezuela, and every other evil doer that he can remember. Surprise, surprise, he places BP and the Obama administration on the democratic side. By using some Shumpeter and "creative destruction" or by saying that Mobil Exxon is not as big and bad as we think, because there are worse out there as the state-owned energy companies. Brooks is really stretching in his argument because what the untappable hole in the middle of the ocean point to is the uncontrollable greed that drives capitalism and now threatens to drown all of us in oil. How ironic after a century of expansion, political intimidation and war over fossil fuels, we are about to be drowned in oil.

However, Brooks is right, there is a larger struggle over the loss of power and legitimacy of government everywhere: from the inability of the US government to stem this global environmental disaster, to the European governments being helpless to deal with the rating houses of Moodys and Standard & Poors, to the government of Kyrgyzstan, which fires live bullets upon its own people. The larger struggle Mr. Brooks is over governance in a global world where the imperative of the market is greater than imperative of regulation.

Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future

I just recently finished the book by Stephen Kinzer, Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future, which I found to be an interesting historical read, especially as it is filled with anecdotal evidence of American foreign policy exchanges. His retelling of the US-Iran story is a must read for anyone that's interested in understanding the divisions and apprehensions that define the current state of affairs between these two states. Narrow American interests that were tied to fighting the cold war and at the same time acting as a protector of business created a blind spot among American policy makers toward the abusive and dictatorial regime of the Shah, which made the US accomplices in the eyes of the Iranian people.

Beyond the historical anecdotes, Kinzer rushes through the story to very quickly suggest that the US should follow Turkey's lead in the region as "American have come to realize that they lack some of the historical and cultural tools necessary to navigate effectivel through the Middle East and surrounding regions. They need a guide. Turkey is the best choice." (pg. 201)

Although I like the historical story telling, I am not convinced of the conclusion as he doesn't make a good case. Kinzer was on OnPoint this week and here is the interview: Turkey's Moves

China Floods Greece With Money, Saves Europe? | The Atlantic Wire

This is not immediately possible since the situation in Greece is more complex than needing foreign direct investment. Greece is unfortunately a failed state, which is unable to collect taxes or provide the basic functions within the scope of the modern state. China Floods Greece With Money, Saves Europe? | The Atlantic Wire

Is Apple destroying the social fabric?

Yesterday the New York Times published an article Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price outlining a scientific study that that found that our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information from e-mail and other interruptions. This is the latest piece of evidence of how our social and personal interaction is being affected by gadgets and technology. In 2008, The Atlantic Magazine published an article on the effects that Google has by raising the question, Is Google Making Us Stupid?

As we witnessed the events in the national and international arena from the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil still flows, to the shifting geopolitics in the Middle East, as Turkey, Russia and Iran are moving further away from the US, the issue of attention span and ability to maintain focus is critical.

This on the day that Apple has just introduced a new iphone and has released figures that there is an ipad selling every 3 seconds. The question that becomes even more important then is what is this doing for the social fabric of society and the effects that it has in democratic governance? By democratic governance the reference is to the effects on the political culture and level of subjective or participatory attitudes that develop.