- By Chrisella Sagers Herzog
Welcome to Around the World! From Russia-China relations to the legacy of American First Ladies, here’s the news you’ll need for the week ahead!
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Call for Nominations: Top 99 under 33 Class of 2013 Do you know a remarkable young professional who is changing the world? The nominations period has just four days left! To nominate yourself or another person, please complete the form by February 28, 2013. Find out more about the nominations process here. |
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The Mali Crisis: How Should the U.S. Respond? In Washington, DC on February 14th, the Congressional House Committee on Foreign Affairs met to discuss the crisis situation in Mali. The question still remains: What will be the United States’ role? Read more about it here. |
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The Role of First Ladies: A Conversation with Anita McBride Far from being the socialite fashionistas they are too often portrayed to be, First Ladies play a vital role in supporting public relations campaigns and the creation of policy proposals. Anita McBride, former Chief of Staff to Former First Lady Laura Bush, discussed the legacies of American First Ladies at an American University panel last week. Read more about it here. |
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The Russia-China Relationship and the Russian Far East Chinese direct investment in Eastern Russia will not encourage Russians to migrate back to the eastern oblasts in great number. The low-level of development in the Russian Far East increases its vulnerability and compels the Kremlin to cooperate with China in that region and on the world stage. Read more about it here. |
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Values and National Security: The Need for Leaders Who Read Literature can and should occupy a prominent place in the study of war and security. A story wrought by a master can make a national security decision-maker more attuned to the nuances and complexities of power, force, and resistance. Read more about it here. |
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Beyond a Human Framework of International Relations The 21st century is not necessarily one ruled by machines, but certainly one that is ruled alongside with them. Governments that ignore advances in technology will appear a generation inferior to the ones that intelligently put them to use. Read about it here. |
Around the Web
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai announced in what was described as a “hastily convened news conference” yesterday that U.S. troops were ordered to leave Wardak province over allegations of torture and abuse of Afghan civilians in the area by Afghan security forces working with U.S. special forces. Coalition spokesman German General Gunter Katz said the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has found no evidence for misconduct, and warned that the province–described as a “lynchpin” between the north and south–could fall to Taliban forces in the region without a coalition presence.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s first visit to the United Kingdom in his new role failed to charm the British press. After he was pressed on the issue of the approaching Falkland Islands referendum, he stated, “I’m not going to comment, nor is the President, on a referendum that has yet to take place, hasn’t taken place. Our position on the Falklands has not changed.” Barely before he had left the building, headlines excoriating his remarks began to appear: the London Evening Standard” printed, “Visiting John Kerry refuses to back Falklands vote”; The Telegraph reported Kerry “ducked” the question, signaling that the Obama Administration, in an insult to Britain, “kowtows to Kirchner”.
This Week in History
1942: U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 and delegates its enforcement to the War Department, ordering the removal of “resident enemy aliens” from parts of the Western United States vaguely deemed of military importance. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, racism toward Japanese-Americans (motivated in part by jealousy over their commercial success) exploded. Those of Japanese descent were systematically rounded up and placed in relocation camps for the duration of the war. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued a public apology on behalf of the government for the abuses and discrimination, and authorized reparations for former Japanese internees or their descendants.
1988: During the then-20-month-long state of emergency, the South African apartheid regime outlaws anti-apartheid organizations, including the 2.5 million-member United Democratic Front, and prohibited the organizations from “carrying on or performing any acts whatsoever.” Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said of the developments, “Peaceful paths to change are being closed off one by one and those wanting real change are being encouraged by the government’s actions to turn to violence. [...] God help us.”