CIAO DATE: 11/2012
Volume: 13, Issue: 1
Winter/Spring 2012
Language, Identity & Politics
Sikander Kiani, Michael Brannagan
Introduction
Eric Langenbacher
The relationship between language and international affairs is crucial and operates on several levels. This issue’s Forum investigates the intersection between language, culture, identity and politics.
Orwell and the Diction of War: Language, Rhetoric and the Linguistic Properties of Violence
Andrew N. Rubin
The Welsh Language: Devolution and International Relations
Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost
The Flemish Movement: On the Intersection of Language and Politics in the Dutch-Speaking Part of Belgium
Jeroen Dewulf
The Arab Digital Vanguard: How a Decade of Blogging Contributed to a Year of Revolution
Jillian York
In 1991, just four years after Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali rose to power as president, Tunisia became the first country in the Arab world to connect to the Internet. The public had access by 1996, though its vast democratizing benefits were to be short-lived. That same year, the L’Agence Tunisienne d’Internet (Tunisian Internet Agency, or ATI) was established. Among its first mandates was the introduction of censorship. Over the course of the next decade the region began to trickle online, with Saudi Arabia and Syria amongst the last to connect. Swept up by the global technology bubble, in Cairo and Beirut, Amman and Abu Dhabi, entrepreneurs, seeing the communicative potential of the pre-Web 2.0 Internet, began developing email services, job-search sites, and perhaps most importantly, web forums. Such forums became sources of unreported news, discussion, social commentary, and political debate, paving the way for the region’s future bloggers. In countries where political discussion was taboo and crossing red lines—such as discussion of the ruling family, or debates about Islam—resulted in persecution of journalists, web forums created new spaces, outside of society, where political discussion was relatively safe…
The Effectiveness of Establishing Hindi as a National Language
Lakhan Gusain
Disintegration Theory
Jan Zielonka
In the midst of crisis, the EU stands at a pivotal moment in its brief history. With both abrupt disintegration and a transition into federalism on the table, a third path—one embracing a new medievalism – potentially provides a cure for that which ails Europe.
The Sino-Vietnamese Standoff in the South China Sea
John D. Ciorciari, Jessica Chen Weiss
The past summer was a tempestuous one for Sino-Vietnamese relations. In May and June 2011, Vietnam accused China of deliberately cutting the cables of oil exploration vessels in the western Spratly Islands, calling the second incident a “premeditated and carefully calculated” attack. China responded by accusing Vietnam of “gravely violating” its sovereignty by conducting “invasive activities.” Both sides flexed their muscles by holding naval exercises in the disputed area, and Chinese state-owned media warned Vietnam of possible military “counterstrikes.” In July, Vietnam reported that Chinese forces beat a Vietnamese fishing captain and drove his ship out of disputed waters. In Hanoi and Ho Chih Minh City, protesters vented anger at China in a series of rare public demonstrations. Tensions arguably reached their most dangerous level since the two former Cold War adversaries normalized relations in 1991. Both China and Vietnam have sought to mobilize diplomatic support abroad and manage rising nationalism at home. Vietnam has been more successful at courting international support, but in broadcasting its grievances it has aroused nationalist forces at home and abroad that could jeopardize a negotiated solution. China is also constrained, criticized for its “assertive” behavior abroad while facing domestic demands to take a harder line. Both states recently agreed to return to the negotiating table, but they remain far apart on questions of territorial sovereignty, and the dispute continues to feed into powerful currents of nationalism and popular frustration in both countries. These domestic forces exacerbate the difficult task of forging a peaceful resolution to the complex multi-party dispute in the South China Sea.
Ethnic Federalism in Nepal: Risks and Opportunities
Dev Raj Dahal, Yubaraj Ghimire
Some groups within Nepal have advocated for a federal system of governance based on ethnic divisions. The authors argue that ethnic federalism is not a suitable solution for the country. Instead, they recommend a model of federalism based on inclusiveness and cooperation that would guarantee the mutually beneficial coexistence of Nepalis.
NGOs, IGOs and International Law: Gaining Credibility and Legitimacy through Lobbying and Results
Sigfrido Burgos Cáceres
In an age of fragmented normative governance, NGOs have come to play an increasingly important role in the determinations of more traditional legal authorities. By working in conjunction with states and IGOs, they continue to gain legitimacy as global actors and redefine the standards for international law and operation.
The United States' First Brain Drain
Vivek Wadhwa
Given the poor health of its economy and the rise of competitors like China and India, the United States needs high-skilled immigrants more than ever. After all, it is these immigrants who have fueled the country’s technology boom and boosted its global advantage. Yet, American political leaders are so deeply embroiled in debates about the plight of low-skilled workers who have entered the country illegally, that immigration itself has become a political quagmire. There is a complete stalemate on immigration reform. Meanwhile, the number of high-skilled immigrants in the United States who are waiting to gain legal permanent residence now exceeds one million. The wait time for new immigrants from India in this category is now estimated to be seventy years. The result is that fewer high-skilled workers are coming to the United States, and the country is experiencing its first brain drain. The economic growth that could be taking place in the United States is now occurring in India and China. Consider that of all engineering and technology companies established in the United States between 1995 and 2005, 25.3 percent had at least one immigrant as a key founder. In Silicon Valley, this proportion was 52.4 percent. More than half of these founders initially came to the United States to study. Very few, 1.6 percent, came for the sole purpose of starting a company. They typically founded companies after working and residing in the United States for an average of thirteen years. This means that with the backlog of skilled workers waiting for legal permanent residence today, immigrants who would be starting companies are instead caught in “immigration limbo.” The temporary work visas these immigrants hold actually restrict them from working for the companies they start.
Seeing Like a Slum: Towards Open, Deliberative Development
Kevin P. Donovan
Making information more transparent in international development initiatives is most promising when accompanied by changes in the institutional arrangements of power, such as those supported by theorists of deliberative development.
Wallerstein's Eurocentric World-System
J. R. McNeill
A review of The Modern World-System. IV. Centrist Liberalism Triumphant, 1789-1914 by Immanuel Wallerstein.
Thanksgiving in a Place Called Chiapas (PDF)
Michael Meaney
Enlightened by his research work and travel in Chiapas, Mexico, Mike Meaney explores the consequences of free trade agreements such as NAFTA on cultural identity. Highlighting the unique identity of Mexican indigenous groups, Meaney wrestles with the complex relationship between free trade and the preservation of native ways of life.
American Aid and Human Rights in the Philippines (PDF)
Christian Pangilinan
The Philippines suffers from continued systemic human rights violations. The author, who has worked for a non-governmental organization in the Philippines, argues that the United States should use its leverage to compel the Philippine government to combat human rights abuses.
On Political Virtue: A Discussion of Prudence and Fortitude in U.S. Governance Interview with Chuck Hagel
The Journal sits down with former Senator Chuck Hagel to listen to his perspective on a number of the current pressing issues of U.S. foreign policy: the 2012 presidential elections, engage- ment in the Middle East, and the ongoing debate regarding the obligation of the United States to protect civilians across the globe.
A Changing Game: Politics and Foreign Affairs Interview with Madeleine Albright
The Journal talks with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about her views on the present progression of U.S. foreign policy and the understanding her career has brought about therein.