Summer 2005 Vol 29:2
The State of Democracy in Russia
While many in the West View Putin as steering his country toward dictatorship, Nicolai N. Petro and Alexander Rahr contend that the Kremlin leader is best understood as a consummate pragmatist, whose success is strategically vital to the West. (View)
Russia under Vladimir Putin may wish to join the Group of Seven (G-7) nations—the United States, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Japan and Italy—and create a new "G-8," but Tom Lantos argues to prevent this until Putin improves Russian democracy.
Vladimir Shkolnikov cautions Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine against wholesale acceptance of Western democratic models. Instead, he argues for local design of democratic reform agendas. He also highlights the recent Georgian and Ukrainian revolutions as positive influences on Russia's democratization process.
The Middle East and North Africa: Negotiating Reform
Michael Donovan explains how the United States is uniquely qualified to do what the Europeans wish they could do—stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons without resorting to military force. (View)
Muammar al-Qadhafi's decision to denounce terrorism and rid Libya of weapons of mass destruction has changed Libya's diplomatic status from a pariah to a responsible international player. Gawdat Bahgat thinks this will continue to affect Libyan foreign policy, as well as prospects for the Libyan oil industry.
Maryam Montague examines Morocco’s Equity and Reconciliation Commission, a panel established to review human rights violations perpetrated from 1956 to 1999, and to provide reparations to victims. Is there reason to be optimistic about the spread of such "truth commissions" to other countries in the Arab world?
Africa: Looking In and Looking Out
Peter Uvin, Andre Bourque, and Craig Cohen argue that national programs fail to address the complex dynamics undermining security in the Great Lakes region. Instead, a regional approach must be implemented if peace is to be established for good. (View)
Janeen Klinger revisits the UN peacekeeping mission to the Congo in the 1960s revealing some worrisome parallels with the U.S. mission in Iraq today.
Blair Rutherford rethinks mainstream media’s dominant narratives about Zimbabwean land politics. How will ongoing "territorializing projects" - land occupations that attempt to enforce ruling-party discipline on farmers and workers - affect the politics of land and the welfare of rural Zimbabweans?
Macharia Munene reminds readers that there are other avenues to international esteem besides economic and technological supremacy. He suggests that the leaders of African nations follow the example of Nelson Mandela, and exert their moral, ethical and logical abilities to garner increased international respect for their countries. (View)
India, China, and North Korea: A New Understanding
Sung-Yoon Lee investigates how the myths created by outsiders—by both hawks and doves—are obfuscating our understanding of an already mysterious regime, leading to poor policy choices and potentially disastrous outcomes.
In his detailed account of the forces driving these two dynamos, Wolfgang Schürer explores the effect China and India will have on the rest of the world in the coming century.
U.S. Foreign Policy
Louis Klarevas argues that foreign policy in George W. Bush’s second term will adhere strictly to the realist school of international relations theory. At the same time, Bush’s expansive foreign policy goals will be compromised by the United States’ dwindling financial and military resources.
Reviews
Reviewed by Lyn Debevoise (View)