The Story of Laurent Gbagbo

The Story of Laurent Gbagbo, Stephen W. Smith

An enlightening essay regarding the complexity of an obscure news story, that did not receive the attention of the "Arab Spring," yet might prove more indicative of the state of global politics today.

Summer Reading

Four recent publications that I would like to bring to your attention and that you should consider are:

Henry Kissinger: On China (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/books/on-china-by-henry-kissinger-review.html)

Francis Fukuyama: The Origins of Political Order (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/books/review/book-review-the-origins-of-political-order-by-francis-fukuyama.html)

Robert Putnam: American Grace (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/books/review/Wright-t.html)

Thomas Friedman: Flat Hot and Crowded (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/books/review/Freedland-t.html)

Andrew Bacevich: Limits of Power (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/books/review/Tepperman-t.html)

and of course the First Year Reading

Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012902147.html)

Danger: Falling Tyrants - The Atlantic

Danger: Falling Tyrants - The Atlantic

Wallowing in Decline or Clashing Moon Shots

Have Thomas Friedman and others since September 11, wallowed in the decline of America? As a matter of fact, Thomas Friedman in his recent Sunday column does compare negatively the American versus Chinese economic trajectory Their Moon Shot and Ours. However, there are increasing voices on the opposite end urging not Wallowing in Decline - By James Traub | Foreign Policy

Beware of Greeks Bearing Bonds Business: vanityfair.com

A very sad sad but very true story, which points not only to the case of Greece, but unfortunately the world of easy credit and lack of transparency that has dominated the recent wave of globalization. Beware of Greeks Bearing Bonds Business: vanityfair.com

The 2010 Failed States Index | Foreign Policy

On the day that seven European banks failed the stress test of a possible double dip recession, Foreign Policy published its The 2010 Failed States Index | Foreign Policy. Is the European Union on its way to being a failed experiment or is it too simplistic an analysis? There is however, a distinct model that is being tried in Europe to deal with the Financial Crisis, than the stimulus approach of the Obama administration and by what Paul Krugman has been demanding to Redo the Voodoo.

It's all about Branding

I remember the first time, I noticed the new BP logo, being fully aware of the history and the marketing of British Petroleum from its influential role in the geopolitics in Iran and the Caspian since 1908, the new logo of the green energy sun with the new "Beyond Petroleum" tagline was indicative of the importance of branding and rebranding in our flattened world. The oil leak in Gulf of Mexico has sensitized our consumerist environmental concerns and blemishes the green and yellow sun of the logo. However, the logo of 2001 attempts to whitewash the history of a corporate giant that has mixed state and corporate interests in imperial geopolitical games. It is our value added perceptions of corporations and imperial games that necessitate marketing rebranding to make consumption palatable for us. Whitewash can only cover so much; inevitably the darker past comes through. The leak in the Gulf is not unusual in oil exploration; there are leaks that last months until they can be tapped. One has to look to the frantic drilling in the Caspian Sea since 1989 and the environmental degradation that has resulted from it. So advertisers get ready BP is about to put out a new RFP for a new branding campaign as the 2001 logo is washing away.

In case you thought BP's PR problems couldn't get any worse... - By Steve LeVine | The Oil and the Glory