July/August 2010
July/August 2010
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Comments
Comment
Kenya was once Africa's poster child for stability and growth. Then, in late 2007, it descended into ethnic violence. The current coalition government has not solved the underlying problems of corruption and inequality, and ethnic resentments are likely to remain until Kenyans elect a clean and inclusive government.
Comment
Zimbabwe has been ruled by a unity government since 2008, but President Robert Mugabe and his party continue to usurp power and pillage the country's wealth.
Essays
Essay
A pernicious mix of heavy-handed rule, corrupt governance, high unemployment, and militant Islam has reignited the Russian North Caucasus. Today, it is not only the old conflict zone of Chechnya but also its neighboring republics that are bordering on open civil war.
Essay
Mexico is currently suffering from the same sort of drug-related violence that plagued Colombia during the 1980s. Mexico and the United States can learn a great deal from Colombia's example, including that they must build law enforcement capacity and not rely solely on military force.
Essay
Since 2001, the West has tried to build a strong centralized government in Afghanistan. But such an approach fits poorly with the country's history and political culture. The most realistic and acceptable alternative models of governance are decentralized democracy and a system of internal mixed sovereignty.
Essay
Cubans want the United States to lift its long-standing embargo on Cuba, but any serious easing of trade and travel restrictions between the two countries may badly harm Cuba's health-care industry.
Essay
The United States' commitment to helping treat HIV patients is limiting Washington's leverage over recipient countries and undermining other development goals.
Essay
It is probably too late to convince North Korea and Iran to dismantle their nuclear programs. Rather than fixating on the proliferation they are unable to prevent, concerned countries should pay more attention to preventing proliferation to states that have not yet decided to build nuclear weapons.
Essay
Although the wary are fretting about China’s unprecedented financial might, Beijing's policies -- hoarding foreign currency reserves and sending money abroad -- have so far been better for other countries than for China itself.
Essay
The Obama administration has not yet delivered on the promising new policy for Latin America and the Caribbean it announced last year, but it still can.
Essay
On becoming president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych immediately took actions that undermined democracy and aligned Ukraine closely with Russia. If he keeps on his current course, he could very well provoke a second Orange Revolution.
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Reviews & Responses
Review Essay
In The Flight of the Intellectuals, Paul Berman argues that it is not violent Islamists who pose the greatest danger to liberal societies in the West but rather their so-called moderate cousins, such as Tariq Ramadan. Such a reading of contemporary Islamism, however, misses the many nuances of the movement and the real battles between reformers and Salafists.
Review Essay
David Remnick’s The Bridge delivers fresh insights about Barack Obama’s personal and political odyssey -- particularly when it comes to understanding the degree to which Obama is a product of New England’s commitment to social and global reform.
Review Essay
Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper's extensive volume and Timothy Parsons' selective survey are systematic treatments of empires; Richard Immerman's history is a focused critique of America's imperial career. None is an apologia for the United States.
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Response
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Response
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Letter to the Editor
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Letter to the Editor
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Letter to the Editor
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