STICKY: 2011.02.15 – Just a preview. Site will be live on March 25.

0003

Foreign Policy
American Decline: This Time It’s for Real
by Gideon Rachman.

This time it’s different. It’s certainly true that America has been through cycles of declinism in the past. Campaigning for the presidency in 1960, John F. Kennedy complained, “American strength relative to that of the Soviet Union has been slipping, and communism has been advancing steadily in every area of the world.” Ezra Vogel’s Japan as Number One was published in 1979, heralding a decade of steadily rising paranoia about Japanese manufacturing techniques and trade policies.

Complete article via Foreign Policy

0002

International Crisis Group
Armenia and Azerbaijan: Preventing War

Policy briefing highlights the deterioration of the situation in the past year. Increased military capabilities on both sides would make a new armed conflict in the South Caucasus far more deadly than the 1992-1994 one that ended with a shaky truce. Even if neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan is planning an immediate all-out offensive, skirmishes could easily spiral out of control.

Complete report (PDF format) via International Crisis Group

Additional background information:
2003 US Congressional Issue Brief (PDF format) prepared by the Congressional Research Service via Air University

0001

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Getting to Pluralism: Political Actors in the Arab World
by Marina Ottaway and Amr Hamzawy

Explores the balance of power between the disparate political forces of the Arab world. The essays in this volume examine the characteristics of the major political actors in great detail and assess the weaknesses of the secular parties. They also illustrate the complexities of Islamist participation in the political processes of several Arab countries—pointing out both similarities and differences. Finally, the authors evaluate how incumbent Arab regimes have been able to maintain their grip on power in spite of their claims that they support political and social reform.

Book via Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

In the video below, the authors of Getting to Pluralism discuss their book with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, in an event moderated by Carnegie’s President, Jessica T. Mathews.

Vodpod videos no longer available.