Political Theory Daily Review

[Jun 22] From the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wins election. From Turkey, on intellectuals and the Kurdish idenitity. From Mongolia, an end to one-party domination? From Europe, Croatia, ready for its close-up, is told it can begin negotiations to join the EU, while the Caucasus countries join the New Neighborhood Initiative. A look at how the EU really works. The US is accused of tying to isolate the UN Population Fund. Ralph Nader picks Peter Camejo as his running mate. An analysis of Connecticut Governor John Rowland's resignation. Robert Samuelson calls blogs "the fast food of the news business". A review of The Submarine: A Reader. Do half of American men over 40 need a pill to make their sex lives complete? And purple patches on reach of reason and the perspective of freedom by Amartya Sen

[Jun 21] From South Asia, India and Pakistan establish a nuclear hotline. From South Korea, on the meaning of plebiscites and referendums, and Financial Times talks to former president Kim Dae-jung. From Singapore, activists worry about being labelled political. From the US, St. Croix, Maine is to observe the 400th anniversary of first settlement. From Australia, Germaine Greer on whites and aborigines. The WTO rules against US cotton subsidies. A human rights report says the US has 'secret' detention centers. A senior US intelligence official warned Bush he is playing into Bin Laden's hand. On Bush, Saddam's pistol and the phallic equivalent of a scalp. A review of books on Bush, from his spiritual life to his approach to war. As Alan Greenspan begins his fifth term, not everyone on Wall Street is cheering. Why George Will is always an intellectual, but not always a conservative. Jonathan Chait on why this election isn't all it's cracked up to be. ChristianExodus.org wants conservative Christians to move to South Carolina to form a biblically inspired government and secede from the United States. And on cynical marketing gimmicks and how to kick-start the revolt against 'special days'

[Weekend 2e] From China, the government says Taiwan may resort to terrorism. From Europe, "we blame the government... whoever they are," and from Great Britain, is compulsory voting the answer to low turnout? From the United States, Americans opt out of doing civic duty. There are newer revelations that Bush is indecisive, moody, paranoid and delusional. Is Tom DeLay's day of reckoning drawing nearer? From Salon, Joe Conason on the anti-Clinton slime machine, and on how the talking heads wet kiss each other. More than ever before, Jonah Goldberg comes to appreciate the importance of dogma. Brendan O'Neill on what the Victorians can teach us about city life. Athens had its marketplaces, Paris its salons, and now Rockingham its Socratic soirees. From Utne, a look at the Green Dollhouse Project. What is the secret of Ikea's success? And what exactly is a Mållen clip for? A look at the New Geeks, people who are technically trained but also work in other disciplines. On boldface names: why do the other guys get the swell assignments? Want to attract single voters? Drop the underpants. And why do politicians lie?

[Weekend] From Europe, a final EU constitution wins approval (and some highlights). From Australia, utopia was a plain away. From China, will the country go green, or will it face an environmental meltdown? From New Zealand, a philosopher urges schools to teach religion. On how politics in Belgium is something else. Obituary: Jacek Kuron (and more). The IAEA delivers a stinging rebuke to Iran for its lack of cooperation. Kofi Annan and Lula call for using free trade to raise living standards. Pratap Bhanu Mehta on how globalization requires the legitimacy only democracy can give. Paul Kennedy on how the US needs to blend democratic ideals with geopolitical wisdom. An interview with Bob Kerrey on Iraq and democracy. An interview with Michigan's Juan Cole. An op-ed piece on how the holy warriors learned to hate. A review of Understanding Terror Networks. On the Saudi civil war: Who is fighting? Who will win? And is the House of Saud good for the West and the rest? Muslims in the West are talking, but is anyone listening? And want to know what the secret code to launch America's ICBMs was?

[Jun 18] From Europe, Hungarian Livia Járóka becomes the first Roma MEP. From Iran, how conservatives are now underpinned by military ideologues. From Singapore, sometimes the best leaders act like followers. From Mali, there are worse things than life on a rubbish dump. From China, on replacing the Japanese as the world's most fanatical shoppers. From Great Britain, the party with the most credible version of choice may be the one given the poisoned chalice of governing. On how Pierluigi Collina can become a referee to lead Europe. From The Economist, an analysis of the informal economy, and back to the 1970's? Why loose monetary policy is encouraging rising inflation. An excerpt from The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis. More from William Saletan on swing state West Virginia. How John Kerry should learn a few tricks from Bill Clinton. On the potential for the use of blogs to shape opinions by dressing partisans up as new and anonymous sources. The Los Angeles Times on the Craiglist phenomenon. Should you believe The National Enquirer? Jack Shafer wants to know. And on the kookiest, darkest, most grimly compelling court case in America

[Jun 17] From Belgium, an increasing number of politicians say Vlaams Blok should be allowed to join the next government, while the country's skeptics commit mass suicide. From Ivory Coast, on illegal migration and the lure of the north. From South Africa, what the hell has June 16 achieved for the African majority? From India, on faith and two democracies. From the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention rejects school pullout call and leaves the Baptist World Alliance. Dennis Kucinich plans to make his presence felt through the Democratic National Convention and beyond. Business Week interviews Howard Dean. The internal GOP battle over immigration gets ugly. William Saletan takes a look at West Virginia, another swing state. Trying to motivate young voters, hip-hop goes political. The Weekly Standard on the secret life of Newt Gingrich. And Clinton-haters vs. Bush-bashers? No contest

[Jun 16] From Equatorial Guinea, Miguel Abia Biteo has been named the new prime minister. From Great Britain, Tony Blair stands firm on Europe. From Mongolia, after more than 80 years without surnames, citizens need to pick one. Why Turkey in Europe is not a minor question. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi on the World Bank and its human rights problem. No question: John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history. From The American Spectator, is the Talmud Republican? Tim Berners-Lee is awarded the Millennium Technology Prize, for inventing the Web. On climate change: Is the world worth saving? And are we all really doomed? Our fears have grown exponentially over the past half-century

[Jun 22] From Foreign Affairs, Editor James Hodges on a global power shift in the making, an article on going Beyond Kyoto, and a review of books on China and Xinjiang. Kenneth Maxwell resigns from Foreign Affairs. Niall Ferguson on (what else?) the need for US imperialism. Thomas Powers on how to set the CIA free. In poorer nations, oil resources can be a curse upon the people. From Capitalism, on why altruism in evil. Michael Newdow pledges allegiance to his daughter. Michiko Kakutani reviews Bill Clinton's My Life, and Michael Tomasky reviews Kakutani's review. A review of Dick Morris' Rewriting History. Christopher Hitchens reviews Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11: "See me in court... Let's see what you're made of". And more on The Wisdom of Crowds and an excerpt

[Jun 21] Will Iraqi sovereignty have real meaning or simply mask U.S. control? Five experts write about the challenges. Ivo Daalder and Robert Kagan on why the allies must step up. There's a growing revulsion in the Muslim world against the random atrocities committed by terrorists. More on John Keegan's The Iraq War. John Gray reviews Desperately Seeking Paradise. On the 9/11 Commission: And now for the hard part. Brandeis' David Cunningham on the FBI's Cointelpro program and its lessons. A look at Harlem's Children Zone and a new strategy for the inner cities. Here's an interview with Trent Lott. More and more on Who Are We? More on Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas? Lew Rockwell asks, "Are markets boring?" and an excerpt from Mises' The Anti - Capitalistic Mentality. From Slingshot, on the distinctions between the different alternatives to traditional property relations. A look at the reshaping of the US economy and the widening income inequality among workers. An excerpt from the newly released version of Limits to Growth. Ron Oxburgh, chairman of Shell, admits that the threat of climate change makes him "really very worried for the planet". And suddenly it's hip to conserve energy

[Weekend 2e] From New Statesman, our need to belong makes us look for new allegiances, but it can also make us putty in unscrupulous hands. From The Washington Monthly, a look at the work of Niall Ferguson and the problem with David Brooks, Michael Lind reviews The Right Nation (and here are one two three four five excerpts), and on the media and the lack of civility in Washington. From US News, a special series of articles examining what it is that makes America unique, with contributions by Michael Barone (and more), Thomas Hayden, and Michael Kazin. David Callahan, author of The Cheating Culture, is liberal with a new emphasis on old values. Ramesh Ponnuru on the market's neglected virtues. Here are two excerpts from Willing Slaves: How the Overwork Culture is Ruling Our Lives. From Buzzflash, an interview with Katrina vanden Heuvel and an interview with Robert Reich. An interview with Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, authors of The Hunting of the President. On how the Left is using two weapons effectively. And now, it seems, we're also deeply divided about how deeply divided we really are

[Weekend] Robert Barro on religious faith and economic growth: What matters most, belief or belonging? And is there an Islamic economics? From Chronicles, on economic science and Catholic social teaching. On Marx, Kierkegaard, Rawls and the Christian question in American politics. From Intervention, a look at America's prayer warriors. Samuel Huntington on why Michael Newdow is right: Atheists are outsiders in America. Newdow speaks on family courts. Why the decision on the Pledge of Allegiance case raises federalism issues. On Kerry and religion: Can he reach 'persuadable' Catholics? On the left-wing busybodies who are shaming the Catholic Church. When will Rush's hypocrisy become so overwhelming that it destroys his career as a moralizing gasbag? From Crisis, a review of David Limbaugh's Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity, and Senator Rick Santorum writes on antireligious courts. When does personhood begin? And what difference does it make? The abortion issue has little, if any, effect on the Catholic vote. And on the Inquisition: "It wasn't all that bad"

[Jun 18] From Salon, NYU's Stephen Holmes on what a post-Bush foreign policy might look like, and a review of books on psychoanalyzing Bush. From The New Republic, Thomas Friedman on why he still has hope for Iraq, Fareed Zakaria on how the US could have done it right, Leon Wieseltier on disillusion and its limits, and so, were the editors wrong? From Slate, on Bush's Clintonian calibrations on al-Qaida. An interview with Robert Kaplan. Stuart Taylor on the torture memos, putting the president above the law. From Open Democracy, an extract from Kofi Annan's commencement address at Harvard on America, the United Nations, and the world; Financial Times' Martin Wolf and IPPR's David Mepham respond to David Held; a look at Al-Jazeera and the world through Arab eyes; Todd Gitlin on Bush's political use of God; and does the left need religion? And why did Solana Larsen travel four and a half deadpan hours to visit the flag-draped casket of Ronald Reagan? The Nation interviews Oxford's Avi Shlaim on the Middle East. After Tenet: Two views on how to reform the national intelligence community. And Terry Jones is going to round up all the children in the neighbourhood, chain them and set dogs on them

[Jun 17] Cass Sunstein on why we need to reclaim the Second Bill of Rights. A new issue of The Public Interest is out, including articles by BC's Susan Shell on The Liberal Case Against Gay Marriage, and a look at the economics of obesity. A review of The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World. From Asia Times, is the US clever enough to rule the world? Hakim Bey on Jihad, Revisited. Justin Raimondo takes on the essential dishonesty of Christopher Hitchens. From Reason, on an epistemological conundrum: All we know is that we know something. On how random copying explains why some cars, dogs and pop singers are fashionable. A Global Business Forum conference revives the old debate on global inequality, and a review of The Working Poor: Invisible in America. And from PopMatters, on the myth of the rebel consumer

[Jun 16] Jürgen Habermas says the US has made the world less safe. Since neo-conservatism best defends America, rumors of the neo-con's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Rebuild or Retreat: America's strategic dilemma. TAP interviews Gary Hart. Brookings' Peter W. Singer on nation builders and low bidders in Iraq. From Christianity Today, a review of The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War, on the overlap between "people with the Spirit" and "people with Ph.D.'s", and exploring Latino Pentecostalism. From Sojourners, an interview with Wendell Berry, an article on the power of the Religious Right, and a look at comic books' take on the world of faith and spirituality. And Joseph Epstein reviews Flesh in the Age of Reason

[Jun 22] Campbell Brown (ANU): Consequentalise This pdf. Dusan I. Bjelic (USM): The Balkans and the "History of Shit". Scientific American takes a look at the Voynich Manuscript, and Michael Shermer takes on the scientific proof of God existence. A review of Putting Science in its Place: Geographies of Scientific Knowledge, and a review of books by Christian sociologist David Martin. From Kenya, a review of African Historians and African Voice: Essays Presented to Professor Bethwell Allan Ogot. Criticism of crude academic writing on Hinduism is coming from the community because it is not present in the academy. Donald Boudreaux on the assumptions behind the study of economics. From Colorado, on the modern relevance for another c-word. And from The Globe and Mail, here are some social studies news

[Jun 21] BS Chimini (JNU): International Institutions Today: An Imperial Global State in the Making; and a review of A Theory of Universal Democracy: Beyond the End of History and Right to Democracy in International Law pdf. A review of Cold War Triumphalism: The Misuse of History after the Fall of Communism. A review of BHL's War, Evil, and the End of History. From Ideas, on Régis Debray's mysterious ways and on the clash of worldviews between Natalie Angier and Cardinal Avery Dulles. “What purpose does all this complexity serve?” may soon go from a question few biologists dare to pose, to one on everyone's lips. Here's a page with papers from a conference on Science and Religion in Context. A study says willpower doesn't delay death. A review of Why We Do It: Rethinking Sex and the Selfish Gene. A review of Status Syndrome. Jim Holt on the idea that happiness can harm a person's character. Laura Miller on the golden age of self-help. Peter Steinfels on Stanley Fish and the mixing of morals with education. A review of books on education and college sports. And college officials are beginning to look for ways to bolster the career prospects of their liberal arts students

[Weekend 2e] From Globalization, Patrick O'Donnell (SBCC): Sovereignty Past & Present; Michael Peters (Glasgow): Postmodern Terror in a Globalized World; and James Leigh (Intercollege): Reflections of Babylon: Intercultural Communication and Globalization in the New World Order. APSA creates a webpage on that lists "Expert Analysis of the 2004 Presidential Election." A review of Compulsory Compassion: A Critique of Restorative Justice. More and more on Stuart Hampshire. More on Robert Merton's The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity. A look at practical ways of avoiding crooked thinking. On "happiness research" as a fast-emerging social-science specialty. From Edge, a talk with paleontologist Scott Sampson. A profile of science author Timothy Ferris. More on Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos. Stanford's Terry Karl delivers a commencement speech, Fly Like an Eagle (Even if You Feel Like a Chicken) pdf. 'Oops...we broke the world': Here's the commencement speech delivered by Jon Stewart at William and Mary. And read any good blogs lately?

[Weekend] From the Journal of International Women's Studies, Ann Braithwaite (UPEI): Politics of/and Backlash, and a review of Societies in Transition - Challenges to Women’s and Gender Studies. Peter Anderson (UNO) and Maria Newton (Utah): Predicting the Use of Sexual Initiation: Tactics in a Sample of College Women. A review of Taking Sex Differences Seriously. Slowly, but sometimes showily, the female half of the Arab population is beginning to find a voice. African leaders target gays as cause of continent's ills. From LA Weekly, on The Williams Project, a think tank for gays. Barbara Crossette on a new and disturbing book that is getting a lot of attention around the UN, Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story From Hell on Earth. As a P&G female sexual desire patch is effective in trial, behavioral scientists implant a single gene into promiscuous male voles, transforming them at a stroke into faithful, attentive and caring partners. An article on pornography that is made by women for women. And on easing the grad-student baby blues

[Jun 18] Science and psychology stuff: Neil Levy (Melbourne): Cognitive Scientific Challenges to Morality pdf. Johan Moyersoen (Oxford): Psychology's Prospect Theory: Relevance for Identifying Positions of Local Satiation as Robust Reference Points of Joint Actions in Peace Agreements. From Behavior and Philosophy, papers from a symposium of the Science of Behavior, with an introduction pdf. From Law Social Justice & Global Development, a special issue on global health law, with an introduction. From The Journal of Philosophy, Science and Law, Avner Levin (Ryerson): The Problem of Observation, and on Playing Politics with Bioethics: Now That’s Repugnant. A review of The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram. A review of Eli Zaretsky's Secrets of the Soul: A Social and Cultural History of Psychoanalysis. More on how bilingualism may protect the mind from deterioration in old. From the APA's Monitor on Psychology, a special issue on consumerism, including an article on consumerism and its discontents, a look at the value of money, and can you have too many choices? And how do you persist when your molecules don't?

[Jun 17] From Political Theory, Jacqueline Stevens (IBU): On the Morals of Genealogy pdf. Here's a book online, Genealogies of Difference, by Nathan Widder. From The Chronicle of Higher Education, a 15-year battle over U. of Illinois's Chief Illiniwek finally may be coming to a close, on the Reagan administration's relationship with higher education, on how most assistant professors at top Ivy League universities won't be sticking around for the long term, an open letter on reclaiming the mission of graduate education, and an article on life lessons from football. From Ideas, on the relationship between art and science, on why good ideas are born in Boston--but don't always stay, on Boston as a city of words, on how Massachusetts is like Saudi Arabia, and is the lone inventor making a comeback? And from Skeptical Inquirer, on bridging the chasm between two cultures

[Jun 16] Obituary: Stuart Hampshire. Brian Glenn (Harvard): The Two Schools of American Political Development pdf. An excerpt from Martha Nussbaum's Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law. A review of Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection. A review of Kierkegaard’s Relation to Hegel Reconsidered, and a review of The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy. A review of John McGowan's Democracy's Children: Intellectuals and the Rise of Cultural Politics, a review of Luce Irigaray, Between East and West: From Singularity to Community, and more on Slavoj Zizek's The Puppet and the Dwarf. And from ZNet, a response to Stanley Fish's recent op-ed in The New York Times