Cornell International Affairs Review - Volume 05, Number 1 (Fall 2011)
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Item Brazil's China ChallengeSucre, Carlos (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)In 2001, Goldman Sachs named Brazil one of the four most important emerging economies, with China, Russia and India.1 The BRICs, a term coined by Jim O’Neill, are prophesized to become four of the top six economies in the world by 2050,2 and, with the United States, form a new core of power. O’Neill argued that if Brazil could, “keep inflation low and engage with the rest of the world, Brazil could immediately become something else.”3 In the past twenty years, Brazil has done that and more. It has established a vibrant democracy, controlled inflation and achieved solid growth.Item The Evolution of Revolution: Social Media in the Modern Middle East and its Policy ImplicationsBossung, Taylor (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)Item Empowering Women in the Chinese Capitalist Factory SystemAkl, Sara (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)Over the past thirty years, China has moved from a communist to a capitalist economy. This change has pushed millions of young, rural women to migrate to the cities in order to begin working in its many booming factories. These women, if they manage to avoid falling prey to false advertising and trafficking scams, enter the competitive capitalist system at the absolute lowest level. They find employment in foreign-invested companies, usually producing toys, clothing, footwear, and electronics. Their service positions in an unregulated labor market subordinate them, and factory women are constantly reminded of their low positions within the workplace.Item The Illusion of US IsolationismLilli, Eugenio (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)As of September 2011, the United States was involved, at different levels, in military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. America has more than 700 military installations overseas, and its military expenses account for almost half of the world’s total . This substantial foreign engagement directly contradicts the United States’ self-professed isolationism in foreign policy. The concept of US isolationism dates back to the colonial days. Evidence for example can be found in Thomas Paine’s work, Common Sense (1776). It was then often reiterated by US leaders, such as Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, not long after America had gained its independence. Nowadays, characterizations of US foreign policy as isolationist are even further complicated if one moves beyond the field of military intervention and considers the thick web of economic, political, and cultural international relations existing among states. But what about past American foreign policy? Is it sensible to describe it as isolationist? This article analyzes US foreign policy rhetoric to suggest an answer to this inquiry.Item Information Technology and Control in the DPRKDuffley, Robert (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)In the Hermit Kingdom, information is a crucial resource. Its possession represents access to resource and weapons development techniques, but more importantly, information is what separates North Korean society from the rest of the world. Since the state’s inception, meager rations of information combined with hearty doses of propaganda have kept the populace starved with respect to knowledge of the rest of the world’s progress, which has quickly surpassed their own in the past two decades. Why, then, has the current regime dared implement 21st century communications systems such as internet technology if such a move would increase the possibility of an information risk?Item Letter from TunisiaElyès, Jouini (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)Item Militarization of Aid and its Implications for ColombiaKing, Ian (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)The US has increasingly turned to using the military to administer humanitarian aid in recent years. This process has come under attack from many academics and foreign officials. Using action in Colombia from 1999 to present as a case study, this article evaluates the use of military vice civilian and NGO agencies to administer humanitarian aid. The article includes a suggested model of response to situations such as that found in Colombia today, where the military first has to maintain security, then transition over to civilian and NGO aid.Item Cornell International Affairs Review: Fall 2011Cornell International Affairs Review, Editorial Board (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)Item When Should the US Intervene? Criteria for Military Intervention in Weak CountriesKeohane, Robert (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)When should the United States intervene militarily in weak countries? This is a topic of pressing international concern because the United States keeps intervening in weak countries. We are currently involved indirectly in Libya and very deeply in Afghanistan, as well as still being involved to some extent in Iraq. We have a propensity to engage in this kind of activity, but it hasn’t always worked out well for us. We need to reconsider the issue, and I want to discuss what the criteria should be for the United States when intervening militarily.Item The Problems With American ExceptionalismBorjian, Timothy (Cornell University Library, 2011-11-01)In 2001, German President Johannes Rau made a statement that divided Germany. In an interview with a television station, Rau said that although he is “pleased and grateful” to be German, he cannot be “proud” of it––as “it is not an achievement to be German, [but] just a matter of luck.” This statement drew criticism from the opposition in Germany who claimed that without patriotism, it is not possible to adequately represent the interests of the country. Many politicians called for Rau’s resignation or, at the very least, a recant of his words––he did neither. The uproar died down shortly after, and Rau served as President for another three years.