Foreign Affairs articles from March 2007

Foreign Affairs archives from March 2007

College Goes Global.
March 1, 2007... THE COMING TEST In June, students of Shengda College, in Xinzheng, China, staged one of the most disruptive and violent protests since pro-democracy demonstrators took to Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. Riot police were called in, the...

The Underfunded Pentagon.(managing defense spending)
March 1, 2007... PROBABLE CAUSE Throughout the twentieth century, U.S. military capabilities were sufficient to protect the United States and its allies. For many decades, the United States has been the global leader in military spending, and it continues...

From "Marvelous Momentum" to Health Care for All: Success Is Possible With the Right Programs.(Viewpoint essay)
March 1, 2007... Intelligent Design Paul Farmer The last quarter of the twentieth century saw little investment in international health or in the health problems of the world's poor. Over the past few years, as Laurie Garrett notes ("The Challenge of...

Japan Is Back: Why Tokyo's New Assertiveness Is Good for Washington.(Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose.By Kenneth B. Pyle: Public Affairs, 2007, 448 pp., $29.95 These days, any book on Asia with the word "rising" in the title is likely to be about China. It was doubtless with that in...

Chinese Lessons:Nixon, Mao, and the Course of U.S.-Chinese Relations.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World.By Margaret Macmillan: Random House, 2007, 394 pp., $27.95 In the mid-1960s, having failed to win either the presidency or the governorship of California, Richard Nixon had ample time to think...

Political and Legal - Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village.(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village By Daniel H. Deudney: Princeton University Press, 2006, 384, $35.00 A long-awaited and truly brilliant book, "Bounding Power" presents nothing less than a...

Political and Legal - Regime Change: U.S. Strategy through the Prism of 9/11.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Regime Change: U.S. Strategy Through the Prism of 9/11 By Robert S. Litwak: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007, 424, $65.00 This impressive study is the best yet of those that outline the dilemmas and choices that face the United States...

Political and Legal - The American Ascendancy: How the United States Gained and Wielded Global Dominance.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The American Ascendancy: How the United States Gained and Wielded Global Dominance By Michael H. Hunt: University of North Carolina Press, 2007, 416, $34.95 This engaging history of the United States' rise to global dominance explains how...

Political and Legal - Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq By Stephen Kinzer: Henry Holt, 2006, 400, $27.50 Over the last century, the United States has intervened in over a dozen countries to overthrow their governments -- more...

Political and Legal - Freedom's Power: The True Force of Liberalism.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Freedom's Power: The True Force of Liberalism By Paul Starr: Basic Books, 2007, 288, $26.00 Starr, a distinguished political sociologist, offers an eloquent restatement of the principles and promise of modern liberalism. In recent decades,...

"Economic, Social, and Environmental" - Globalization and Labor Conditions: Working Conditions and Worker Rights in a Global Economy.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Globalization and Labor Conditions: Working Conditions and Worker Rights in a Global Economy By Robert J. Flanagan: Oxford University Press, 2006, 272, $45.00 In this impressively argued, empirically supported analysis of the evolution of...

"Economic, Social, and Environmental" - The Emerging Markets Century: How a New Breed of World-Class Companies Is Overtaking the World.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Emerging Markets Century: How a New Breed of World-Class Companies Is Overtaking the World By Antoine Van Agtmael: Free Press, 2007, 384, $28.00 A common assumption about the increasingly globalized world is that high-skill design work...

"Economic, Social, and Environmental" - Case Studies in U.S. Trade Negotiations (2 vols.).(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Case Studies in U.S. Trade Negotiations (2 vols.) By Charan Devereaux, Robert Z. Lawrence, and Michael D. Watkins: Institute for International Economics, 2006, 384, $27.95 The economics of international trade is simple and straightforward...

"Economic, Social, and Environmental" - The Changing Dynamics of Energy in the Middle East.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Changing Dynamics of Energy in the Middle East By Anthony Cordesman and Khalid R. al-Rodhan: Praeger Security International, 2006, 488, $150.00 Drawing heavily on work by the U.S. Department of Energy and the International Energy...

"Economic, Social, and Environmental" - Foreign Aid: Diplomacy, Development, Domestic Politics.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Foreign Aid: Diplomacy, Development, Domestic Politics By Carol Lancaster: University of Chicago Press, 2006, 288, $50.00 Official foreign aid, which recently exceeded $100 billion a year for the first time, has become a normal component of...

"Military, Scientific, and Technological" - Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence From Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence From Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea By Jeffrey T. Richelson: Norton, 2006, 704, $34.95 Richelson demonstrates the craft of intelligence as he studies it. He has a gift for following...

"Military, Scientific, and Technological" - The Tet Offensive: A Concise History.(Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Tet Offensive: A Concise History By James H. Willbanks: Columbia University Press, 2006, 272, $29.50 "Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive. "BY STEPHEN P. RANDOLPH. Harvard University Press, 2007, 416...

"Military, Scientific, and Technological" - Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive.(The Tet Offensive: A Concise History)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive By Stephen P. Randolph: Harvard University Press, 2007, 416, $29.95 "The Tet Offensive: A Concise History. "BY JAMES H. WILLBANKS. Columbia University Press, 2006, 272...

"Military, Scientific, and Technological" - Making Enemies: Humiliation and International Conflict.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Making Enemies: Humiliation and International Conflict By Evelin Lindner: Praeger Security International, 2006, 248, $49.95 This is an intensely frustrating book. The frequency of references to the consequences of humiliation, often...

"Military, Scientific, and Technological" - Circle in the Sand.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Circle in the Sand By Christian Alfonsi: Doubleday, 2006, 480, $26.95 The blurb for this book claims that it shows how "decisions made by the First Bush White House preordained the current administration's decision to invade Iraq"; it does...

"Military, Scientific, and Technological" - Buying Military Transformation: Technological Innovation and the Defense Industry.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Buying Military Transformation: Technological Innovation and the Defense Industry By Peter Dombrowski and Eugene Gholz: Columbia University Press, 2006, 244, $45.00 This is an intriguing addition to the literature on military innovation....

The United States - The American Way of Strategy: U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Way of Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The American Way of Strategy: U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Way of Life By Michael Lind: Oxford University Press, 2006, 304, $24.00 The growing body of literature that grounds discussion of U.S. foreign policy in a deep knowledge of...

The United States - Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America.(Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause)(War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America By Byron L. Dorgan: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006, 288, $24.95 "Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans...

The United States - Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.(Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America)(War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause By Richard A. Viguerie: Bonus Books, 2006, 271, $24.95 "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics...

The United States - War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back.(Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America)(Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back By Lou Dobbs: Viking, 2006, 256, $24.95 "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and...

The United States - American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America By Chris Hedges: Free Press, 2007, 256, $25.00 In this passionately argued and deeply felt but ultimately unconvincing book, the former "New York Times" foreign correspondent...

Western Europe - Why the French Don't Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Why the French Don't Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space By John R. Bowen: Princeton University Press, 2006, 328, $27.95 In March 2004, France's parliament passed a law banning students from wearing "conspicuous" religious...

Western Europe - Europe's Blurred Boundaries: Rethinking Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Europe's Blurred Boundaries: Rethinking Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy By Charles Grant: Centre for European Reform, 2006, 78, $19.00 The European Union's enlargement process has arguably been Europe's greatest contribution to world...

Western Europe - The New Global Puzzle: What World for the EU in 2025.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The New Global Puzzle: What World for the EU in 2025 By Edited by Nicole Gnesotto and Giovanni Grevi: Intstitute for Security Studies, 2006, 250, Free As part of an effort to think about Europe's long-term security needs, the European...

Western Europe - Prevailing against Terrorism: White Paper on Domestic Security against Terrorism.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Prevailing Against Terrorism: White Paper on Domestic Security Against Terrorism By Dominique De Villepin: La Documentation Francaise, 2006, 135, Free For all the talk of a "transatlantic gap" on the issue of terrorism, this official...

Western Europe - Europe at War, 1939-1945: No Simple Victory.(Europe East and West)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Europe at War, 1939-1945: No Simple Victory By Norman Davies: Macmillan, 2006, 456, $55.00 "Europe East and West." BY NORMAN DAVIES. Jonathan Cape, 2006, 352 pp. [pounds sterling]20.00. The British-born historian Davies -- author of a...

Western Europe - Europe East and West.(Europe at War, 1939-1945: No Simple Victory)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Europe East and West By Norman Davies: Jonathan Cape, 2006, 352, A[pounds sterling]20.00 "Europe at War, 1939-1945: No Simple Victory." BY NORMAN DAVIES. Macmillan, 2006, 456 pp. $55.00. The British-born historian Davies -- author of a...

Western Hemisphere - Living With Hugo: U.S. Policy Toward Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.(U.S.-Venezuela Policy: A Reality Based Approach)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... "Living With Hugo: U.S. Policy Toward Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. "BY RICHARD LAPPER. Council on Foreign Relations, 2006, 56 pp. $10.00. "U.S.-Venezuela Policy: A Reality Based Approach. "BY DANIEL RESTREPO. Center for American Progress,...

Western Hemisphere - Gunboat Democracy: U.S. Interventions in the Dominican Republic, Greneda, and Panama.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Gunboat Democracy: U.S. Interventions in the Dominican Republic, Greneda, and Panama By Russell Crandall: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, 265, $75.00 In this important and well-reasoned study, a former Bush administration official audaciously...

Western Hemisphere - The Last Forest: The Amazon in the Age of Globalization.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Last Forest: The Amazon in the Age of Globalization By Mark London and Brian Kelly: Random House, 2007, 336, $25.95 A journalist-lawyer team return to Brazil to update their 1983 book, "Amazon", and find a world transformed:...

Western Hemisphere - Close to Home: The Development Impact of Remittances in Latin America.(Sending Money Home: Leveraging the Development Impact of Remittances)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Close to Home: The Development Impact of Remittances in Latin America By Pablo Fajnzylber and J. Humberto LA[sup.3]pez: World Bank, 2007, 89, Free "Sending Money Home: Leveraging the Development Impact of Remittances. "BY DONALD TERRY AND...

Western Hemisphere - Sending Money Home: Leveraging the Development Impact of Remittances.(Close to Home: The Development Impact of Remittances in Latin America)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Sending Money Home: Leveraging the Development Impact of Remittances By Donald Terry and Gregory Watson: Inter-American Development Bank, 2006, 16, Free "Close to Home: The Development Impact of Remittances in Latin America." BY PABLO...

Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Republics - Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power By Virginia Rounding: St. Martin's Press, 2007, 592, $29.95 Scarcely more has been written about any Russian ruler, unless it be Peter, than Catherine, but rarely is it done in a way that captures...

Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Republics - Nationalist Politics and Everyday Ethnicity in a Transylvanian Town.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Nationalist Politics and Everyday Ethnicity in a Transylvanian Town By Rogers Brubaker, Margit Feischmidt, Jon Fox, and Liana Grancea: Princeton University Press, 2006, 502, $35.00 No topics receive more attention these days than...

Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Republics - Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Stalin's Wars: From Wold War to Cold War By Geoffrey Roberts: Yale University Press, 2007, 496, $35.00 Stalin's brutality -- as great as that of any Russian autocrat (no mean comparison set) -- is well known. But was there also greatness...

Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Republics - How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business By Alena V. Ledeneva: Cornell University Press, 2006, 288, $22.95 Any society applies grease, some of it less than pure, to make its...

Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Republics - The Cambridge History of Russia: The Twentieth Century, vol. 3.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume 3, The Twentieth Century By Edited by Ronald Grigor Suny: Cambridge University Press, 2006, 866, $185.00 With 27 authors, writing on 25 different topics, this muscle-toning volume of over 800 pages...

Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Republics - Putin's Russia and the Enlarged Europe.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Putin's Russia and the Enlarged Europe By Roy Allison, Margot Light, and Stephen White: Blackwell, 2006, 240, $89.95 Perhaps the most complex and, in many ways, most revealing dimension of Russian foreign policy is Russia's relations with...

Middle East - Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty By Ali Gheissari and Vali Nasr: Oxford University Press, 2006, 232, $25.00 This book treats the last century of Iranian history, organized around the theme of how the country "has...

Middle East - Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid By Jimmy Carter: Simon & Schuster, 2006, 288, $27.00 Soon after taking office in 1977, Jimmy Carter declared that the Palestinians must have a "homeland." Later in his presidency, Carter led the tortuous...

Middle East - The Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... The Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy By Edited by Brenda Shaffer: MIT Press, 2006, 352, $50.00 Does a state's culture significantly shape its foreign policy? Would a Muslim state act differently in international relations from...

Middle East - Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years By Edited by H. E. Chehabi: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, 288, $59.50 Students and practitioners of Middle Eastern politics and diplomacy turning to this work for knowledge about...

Middle East - In the Line of Fire: A Memoir.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... In the Line of Fire: A Memoir By Pervez Musharraf: Simon & Schuster, 2006, 368, $28.00 Pakistan, the second-largest Muslim state (after Indonesia), a nuclear power, and an uneasy neighbor of India, Afghanistan, and Iran, is fated to play a...

Asia and Pacific - Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India By Stanley Wolpert: Oxford University Press, 2006, 272, $28.00 Winston Churchill characterized the British withdrawal from India as a "shameful flight," a judgment that Wolpert,...

Asia and Pacific - Reins of Liberation: An Entangled History of Mongolian Independence, Chinese Territoriality, and Great Power Hegemony, 1911-1950.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Reins of Liberation: An Entangled History of Mongolian Independence, Chinese Territoriality, and Great Power Hegemony, 1911-1950 By Xiaoyuan Liu: Stanford University Press, 2006, 506, $65.00 The story of Mongolia, both Inner and Outer, has...

Asia and Pacific - Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era: New Leaders, New Challenges.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era: New Leaders, New Challenges By Willy Wo-Lap Lam: M.E. Sharpe, 2006, 376, $82.95 Lam, a journalist based in Hong Kong, has had a remarkable career reporting on Chinese developments. He established...

Asia and Pacific - America's Geisha Ally: Reimagining the Japanese Enemy.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... America's Geisha Ally: Reimagining the Japanese Enemy By Naoko Shibusawa: Harvard University Press, 2006, 408, $35.00 This is a bold book in which the author quite openly discusses the racial and gender prejudices of Americans toward the...

Africa - Mandela: A Critical Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Mandela: A Critical Life By Tom Lodge: Oxford University Press, 2006, 304, $26.00 Lodge, a well-regarded longtime observer of South African politics, has written a splendid biography of South Africa's first democratic president. Nelson...

Africa - A Culture of Corruption: Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in Nigeria.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... A Culture of Corruption: Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in Nigeria By Daniel Jordan Smith: Princeton University Press, 2006, 289, $27.95 At the center of this anthropological account of the pervasiveness of corruption at all...

Africa - Transformation and Trouble: Crime, Justice, and Participation in Democratic South Africa.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Transformation and Trouble: Crime, Justice, and Participation in Democratic South Africa By Diana Gordon: University of Michigan Press, 2006, 400, $75.00 Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has had a well-established reputation for...

Africa - Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy, and Society South of the Sahara in 2005.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy, and Society South of the Sahara in 2005 By Edited by Andeas Mehler, Henning Melber, and Klaas Van Walraven: Brill, 2006, 512, $54.00 A joint project of African studies institutions in Germany, Holland,...

Africa - Security Dynamics in Africa's Great Lakes Region.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Security Dynamics in Africa's Great Lakes Region By Edited by Gilbert M. Khadiagala: Lynee Reinner, 2006, 231, $49.95 Africa's Great Lakes region includes the countries to the east and north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that have...

Iraq's Civil War.
March 1, 2007... NO GRACEFUL EXIT As sectarian violence spiked in Baghdad around last Thanksgiving, Bush administration spokespeople found themselves engaged in a strange semantic fight with American journalists over whether the conflict in Iraq is...

Time for Detente With Iran.(militant activities rise)
March 1, 2007... A RISING STAR Over five years after the Bush administration vowed to transform the Middle East, the region is indeed profoundly different. Washington's misadventures in Iraq, the humbling of Israeli power in Lebanon, the rise of the...

The New New World Order.(India and China are the emerging countries)
March 1, 2007... RISING AND FALLING Throughout the twentieth century, the list of the world's great powers was predictably short: the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and northwestern Europe. The twenty-first century will be different. China and...

Unprepared for a Pandemic.(H5N1 avian influenza virus )
March 1, 2007... SOUNDING THE ALARM, AGAIN More than a year and a half ago, Foreign Affairs published three articles that sounded a clarion call to prepare for the next pandemic. They warned that another pandemic could occur at any time and at a staggering...

Blowing the Horn.(terrorism in Africa)
March 1, 2007... WASHINGTON'S FAILINGS IN AFRICA The Greater Horn of Africa -- a region half the size of the United States that includes Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda -- is the hottest conflict zone in the world. Some of the...

How Able Is Abe?(Shinzo Abe appointed as Japan's prime minister )
March 1, 2007... A SOFTER TOUCH FOR JAPAN When Junichiro Koizumi retired as Japan's prime minister last September, he left big shoes to fill. Although major reforms to Japan's economy had begun years prior to his election in 2001, Koizumi greatly advanced...

India's Democratic Challenge.
March 1, 2007... CHARTING A NEW PATH India is attempting a transformation few nations in modern history have successfully managed: liberalizing the economy within an established democratic order. It is hard to escape the impression that market interests...

The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood.(Organization overview)
March 1, 2007... FRIEND OR FOE? The Muslim Brotherhood is the world's oldest, largest, and most influential Islamist organization. It is also the most controversial, condemned by both conventional opinion in the West and radical opinion in the Middle East....