Last week Prospect Magazine published a significant essay written by Boston University professor of international relations Stephen Kinzer. The ideas contained inside are more than reasonable, though they will be deemed radical by most who read it. If you can only read one article today, I ask that it be this one: The Next Power […]
Recently I wrote a post where I attempted to define “tyranny” as the word is used here on the Stage. I have given the matter some thought since then, and would like to add few points to this earlier effort. I concluded the post with the following operative definition of “tyranny”: Tyranny can be found […]
The Washington D.C. based Jamestown Foundation warrants the attention of all interested in geopolitics. In particular, the foundation’s China Brief is a valuable resource. Using open source documents and statements originally published in Chinese, the Jamestown Foundation fellows create a short brief on the internal debates and political developments occurring within the Chinese Communist Party […]
In case you missed it: Chinese firms have brokered a deal to construct two nuclear reactors for the Chashma Nuclear Complex in Pakistan. Pakistan, and in particular, Punjab (the state in which the complex can be found) suffers from chronic energy shortages. After a series of rolling black outs this April, the Punjab Chief Minister […]
America is aflutter with talk of General Stanley McChrystal. The story is now old news and hardly needs to be repeated; the possible consequences and causes of General McChrystal’s intemperate remarks have been discussed by every person capable of articulating an opinion on the matter. Tonight I had planned on adding my voice to this […]
…Then nothing ever will. Other videos in the series can be seen here and here. H/T to the League of Ordinary Gentlemen.
Over the past few months this author has taken some heat for an allegedly liberal use of the word tyranny. As I do not plan on using this word less liberally in the future, it is prudent to have on hand a succinct explanation for what exactly is meant when I speak of tyranny. Tyranny, […]
I am happy to announce that my antilibrary is one book shorter. Earlier this week I finally beat my way through Vaclav Smil’s encyclopedic Energy and Nature in Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems. The book was a fascinating one and I imagine that before July comes I will write a post or two on […]
Via Foreign Policy Watch comes this entertaining documentary on the North Korean film industry: Less than 1,200 Americans have been allowed entry into North Korea since the Korean War. The accounts of their experiences in the bizarre other-world that is North Korea are fascinating – and terrifying. They are enduring testaments to facts normally forgotten: […]
Suggestion the first: “In general, the Chinese rarely resort to such high pressure tactics. They usually do not make demands for action, only demands that actions not be taken, which is one reason many countries have good relations with them.” –Michael D. Swaine and Tiffany P. Ng. “China”, Is a Regional Strategy Viable in Afghanistan? […]
