The Scholar's Stage

Video of the Day 23/11/09 — East vs. West: the Myths that Mystify

24 November, 2009Bharat, Culture, Video of the Day

East vs. West — the Myths that Mystify Devdutt Pattanik. TED. November 2009. I endorse this presentation with some hesistance. Pattanik’s presentation is convincing, even brilliant, but there are limitations to the argument he makes. It has been 30 years since the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism. The book’s publication brought about the collapse of […]

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The Best Headline of the Month Goes to….

20 November, 2009Europa Regina, Humor

I know I used this line two weeks ago. I ask you to excuse me for recycling it. At the time of the original post I had thought that the CATO headline was the cleverest I was going to see – readings in international affairs are more dry than you would think – but it […]

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The Blog Role Just Got a Bit Bigger

16 November, 2009Climate, Sustainability

I have added two new sites to the ‘Naturalist’ section of my blog roll, Yale Environment 360 and Wandering Gaia. Two articles posted at Yale Environment 360 prompted its addition to my feed reader. The first is an essay by Jonathan Foley titled “The Other Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis in Global Land Use”. The abstract […]

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Naxalism: A Short Introduction to India’s Scariest Security Challenge

15 November, 2009Bharat, COIN, Stealth Conflicts

Prime Minister Mahoman Singh has called them “the single biggest security challenge ever faced by our country”. Fourteen Indian states are struggling to battle the insurgency waged by their 20,000 fighters. Over the last three years some 2,600 people have died by their hands. These are the Naxalites, the source of India’s scariest security challenge. […]

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The Best Headline of the Month Award Goes to…

03 November, 2009Education, The Middle Kingdom

…Neal McCluskley of the CATO Institute. If China Jumped Off a Bridge, Would We Do It To?Neal McCluskley. CATO@Liberty. 2 November 2009. Of late CATO@Liberty has produced some content sure to be of interest to readers of the Stage. While ideologues to the core, the CATO folks have a special talent for brevity, humor, and […]

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Ocean Acidification: The Real Carbon Problem

28 October, 2009Ecology

Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Acidification National Resource Defense Council. 17 September 2009. I have long held that the greatest challenge posed by industrial carbon emissions is not anthropogenic global warming but ocean acidification.* Geoengineering and adaptation schemes offer policy makers answers to the problem posed by climate change; these options do diddly squat […]

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An Update on the Poland Missile Shield Kerfuffle

21 October, 2009Diplomacy, Europa Regina, Russia, The Presidency

Earlier this month I wrote an in depth summary and analysis of the U.S.-Eastern European missile shield kerfuffle. Recent events require me to write a short update to that post. These recent events are adequately summarized in an excerpt from last week’s news: Poland to Accept New US Missile Defense ShieldAFP. 17 October 2009. WARSAW […]

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Intelligent Folk Dissect The CCP So I Don’t Have To.

20 October, 2009The Middle Kingdom

A common theme here on the Stage is the need for pundits and analysts alike to have a better understanding of the internal structures, dynamics, and divisions of the Chinese Communist Party. As stated before, there are few human beings whose actions have so large an influence over the course of world affairs but receive […]

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Brazil Rising

12 October, 2009Brazil, Geopolitics, Latin America, Strategy

Over the last few weeks I have noticed a transformation in the actions and rhetoric of Brazilian statesmen. None of Brasilia’s undertakings seem to be remarkable or abnormal when examined individually. Yet when viewed in the aggregate, it is hard to miss the new trend found within Brazil’s dealings with the outside world. A selection […]

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Notes From All Over 9/10/2009

08 October, 2009Africa, Arabia, Bactria, Climate, Electoral Intrigues, Energy, Entangling Alliances, Epidemiology, Notes From All Over, Stealth Conflicts, The Middle Kingdom

TOP BILLING: Beijing’s Secret Succession Battle Willy Lam. Wall Street Journal. 24 September 2009. The Hakka People, China’s Leadership Caste “Curzon” ComingAnarchy.com 3 October 2009. Few people possess as much power as the ruling elites of the Chinese Communist Party. For American statesmen and diplomats, few topics have as much importance as the internal divisions […]

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