International Politics

[Twig]

I dont think its right but there's this kind of urge to think that American people are arrogant and that they believe the world runs on their own clock.

Of course this is entirely unfair

As an American... it's really not unfair at all. This is definitely a thing that is all over American mainstream media. It might be one of those "vocal minority" types of situations, but they're very vocal.

[clyde]

Pretty much everyone that took those vacations came back impressed at how things over there are generally more efficient, ...

 

 

I think there's a kind of frustration people can have with the idea of an American person. I dont think its right but there's this kind of urge to think that American people are arrogant and that they believe the world runs on their own clock.

 

These two observations are related. Consumer interactions are more efficient because there is an arrogant expectation of professionalism (in the cities). I can see two very different perspectives emerging, one from visiting any place as a consumer and one from existing in the same place as a worker. I'm not defending it, I am interested in more leisurely work-environments where a person can enjoy themselves at their job rather than produce as much as they can as fast as possible. With that comes having to wait a week or two for an appointment and not being able to buy your favorite brand of dish-soap. 

[osmosisch]

The behaviour of the Troika in Greece has really been unconscionable.

https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2015/august/1438351200/christos-tsiolkas/greek-tragedy

[Cordeos]

The Saudi lead coalition is apparently deploying ground forces in Yemen. There is at least a United Arab Emirates tank brigade there now. Yemen is such a mess right now, this might not be the worst development. If the Saudi coalition can end the fighting by putting in troops than it will save civilian lives from their bombing campaign. I have been hearing discussion of Yemen dividing into North and South Yemen again. 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/world/middleeast/foreign-ground-troops-join-yemen-fight.html

[itsamoose]

Yemen has been a mess for years, but only recently seems to be spilling over the borders. I haven't kept up with it as much as I should have, but for something like a decade now the US has been conducting airstrikes in northern Yemen with the consent of the ... legitimate? Government. I've done some reading on it recently, but it's hard to get a sense of what the situation on the ground is like. In places like Syria/Iraq and Afghanistan there are distinct regions where the conclict takes place, but in Yemen, where the fighting happens seems to be spread out all over the country.

[Cordeos]

Yemen has been a mess for years, but only recently seems to be spilling over the borders. I haven't kept up with it as much as I should have, but for something like a decade now the US has been conducting airstrikes in northern Yemen with the consent of the ... legitimate? Government. I've done some reading on it recently, but it's hard to get a sense of what the situation on the ground is like. In places like Syria/Iraq and Afghanistan there are distinct regions where the conclict takes place, but in Yemen, where the fighting happens seems to be spread out all over the country.

 

The US was launching air strikes against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), but had pretty much been ignoring a ton of issues that Yemen has had for a long time. The US pulled out during the most recent unrest.

 

In the 60s North Yemen's civil war pitted the British Saudis and Jordanians against Egypt in what ended up being a huge quagmire for Egypt. All of which was happening along side Arab Israeli wars where the Saudis, Jordanians and Egyptians were on the same side. Since the end of that civil war and the reunification conflict Yemen's stability has been questionable at best.

 

Part of the confusion with who controls what and the location of the fighting is related to the large swaths on uninhabitable desert in Yemen (similar situation in Syria). Often the stronger side controls cities but the desert is open for the weaker side to move around in.

 

These maps do an alright job of representing some of the uninhabited spaces.

 

[clyde]

I wonder if the November election in Burma will make any progress. I just watched a documentary on the Saffron Revolution. It would be nice if those peaceful protests pay off.
 

[Cordeos]

Pretty astounding how different the current PM of Hungary is from the previous one:
 

"We don't want to, and I think we have a right to decide that we do not want a large number of Muslim people in our country," Orban said. "We do not like the consequences of having a large number of Muslim communities that we see in other countries, and I do not see any reason for anyone else to force us to create ways of living together in Hungary that we do not want to see. That is a historical experience for us."

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/3/hungary-prime-minister-says-muslims-not-welcome-amid-refugee-crisis.html

"the former Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsany, goes further. Mr Gyurcsany and his family take-in groups of refugees who spend a night or two at his home. It's all part of an initiative set up by a local volunteer group."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031g1qc

[seamus2389]

I started reading David Hutchinson Europe in autumn which is set in a future Europe where the EU is on it's last legs with the Schengen aggrement long gone due to

(1) economic collapse

(2) terrorism

(3) a flu that killed about 8% of the population 

 

and 

 

(4) paronia over aslyum seekers which seems precient since Denmark just closed  down rail links from Germany due to asylum seekers trying to travel to Sweden by train.

 

Throw in an ISIS attack by someone who claimed to be an aslyum seeker and I can see Schengen going bye-bye.

 

 

Pretty astounding how different the current PM of Hungary is from the previous one:
 

"We don't want to, and I think we have a right to decide that we do not want a large number of Muslim people in our country," Orban said. "We do not like the consequences of having a large number of Muslim communities that we see in other countries, and I do not see any reason for anyone else to force us to create ways of living together in Hungary that we do not want to see. That is a historical experience for us."

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/3/hungary-prime-minister-says-muslims-not-welcome-amid-refugee-crisis.html

"the former Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsany, goes further. Mr Gyurcsany and his family take-in groups of refugees who spend a night or two at his home. It's all part of an initiative set up by a local volunteer group."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031g1qc

 

 

The current PM of Hungary is a weaker version of Putin in terms of authoritarian nationalsim

[Merus]

It's been two years of this stupid-ass Australian government, and we have very few prospects for the next government being much better (although let's be honest, they'll probably be better than crypto-fascists). Unfortunately, both sides of politics have worked out that they can use wedge issues to force the opposition's hand.

[Cordeos]

Turkey's AKP government seems hell bent on bringing about a bloody civil war with the Kurds, possibly complete with ethnic cleansing. 

There has been nationalist (see fascist) attacks on the Kurdish political party HQ in Ankara.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34193733

 

There have been ground incursions into Iraq to attack PKK bases.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34183797

 

There is a city in Turkey that the military is essentially occupying/putting under siege.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34206924?post_id=10106190119912010_10106670816332530#_=_ 

 

All of this seems to have more to do with weakening Kurdish political power and shoring up support for the AKP than any actual security issues involving the PKK with who there has been a cease fire for 2 years now. But not anymore. There is also a continuing clamp down on press freedom in the country, usually for doing things like posting phonecalls implicating ruling party members in corruption.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34195807

[itsamoose]

Slavoj Zizek is still one of the greatest minds in the world today. Most of the article he spends talking about something I think we've long suspected--that the conditions of the middle East today aren't an aberration so much as they are the new normal.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/18385/slavoj-zizek-european-refugee-crisis-and-global-capitalism

[Mangela Lansbury]

Those who advocate open borders are the greater hypocrites: Secretly, they know very well this will never happen, since it would trigger an instant populist revolt in Europe. They play the Beautiful Soul which feels superior to the corrupted world while secretly participating in it.

This article inspired some uncomfortable introspection. Thank you for posting it. Even though I do unabashedly advocate for popular revolution in Europe, it still made me think about why, and I don't know that those reasons are unequivocally good reasons.

[itsamoose]

Even though I do unabashedly advocate for popular revolution in Europe, it still made me think about why, and I don't know that those reasons are unequivocally good reasons.

 

I had very much the same reaction to the article, as I have with almost all of Zizek's works.  He quite elegantly describes the problem of advocating for progressive change while at the same time subscribing to the systems that prevent it.  If you have the time I highly recommend reading Welcome to the desert of the real, and checking out the Pervert's Guide to Ideology (currently on Netflix).  In recent years, given all that has been going on in the world, I have found myself believing more and more in the urgent need for all of humanity to start not just thinking about policy, but of how to redesign our societies.  I don't know if the conditions of the world are significantly different today than they were previously, or we are simply more aware, but either way those conditions are not something we can simply continue to ignore or fail to foresee.

[Cordeos]

I have always had problems with Zizek, he spends so much time trying to make old theories on colonialism and capitalism fit the modern context using tired socialist rhetoric. I am also saddened by him spending far more time attacking the left than the right. There is a reason socialist parties are weak worldwide, they are so busy demanding ideological purity that they lose any allies they might have.
 

I usually agree with his points, but I hate how he makes them.

[Reyturner]

I have always had problems with Zizek, he spends so much time trying to make old theories on colonialism and capitalism fit the modern context using tired socialist rhetoric. I am also saddened by him spending far more time attacking the left than the right. There is a reason socialist parties are weak worldwide, they are so busy demanding ideological purity that they lose any allies they might have.

I usually agree with his points, but I hate how he makes them.

If your choice of targets are either hypocrits or rabid dogs, there's not a lot of point in foaming mouth shaming.

We're slipping into a new gilded age, only the masters don't even have to pretend to be worried about a general uprising. I'm drifting into the conspiracy thread's domain but I don't think it's a coincidence that, for the last 30 years, both right and left wings of just about every northern democracy have been slashing and burning financial and trade regulations while innovations in "security" and automation have been booming.

Basically, the power that props up the status quo is being decoupled from the parts of society that can impede it without massive blood shed, namely the 99%.

Why?

Climate change, water shortages, food shortages, could render the world unrecognizable before any workers revolt will ever get off the ground. Just so happens that when the threat of climate change was discovered, "we" started working furiously to ensure that the 1% will not only survive but also maintain a life style they are accustomed to.

Bah! Gah! Burn it all down!

What am I even talking about!?

Right. Zizek. He's always the kind of right that just makes me cynical and despondent. Yup! We can save the world! Just need to change every aspect of society from the foundations up, kill about 2 billion people and then just hope the next gang of bosses don't just do all the same shit that literally every gang of bosses have eventually done in the past (if they weren't bumped off).

[Cordeos]

If your choice of targets are either hypocrits or rabid dogs, there's not a lot of point in foaming mouth shaming.

We're slipping into a new gilded age, only the masters don't even have to pretend to be worried about a general uprising. I'm drifting into the conspiracy thread's domain but I don't think it's a coincidence that, for the last 30 years, both right and left wings of just about every northern democracy have been slashing and burning financial and trade regulations while innovations in "security" and automation have been booming.

Basically, the power that props up the status quo is being decoupled from the parts of society that can impede it without massive blood shed, namely the 99%.

Why?

Climate change, water shortages, food shortages, could render the world unrecognizable before any workers revolt will ever get off the ground. Just so happens that when the threat of climate change was discovered, "we" started working furiously to ensure that the 1% will not only survive but also maintain a life style they are accustomed to.

Bah! Gah! Burn it all down!

What am I even talking about!?

Right. Zizek. He's always the kind of right that just makes me cynical and despondent. Yup! We can save the world! Just need to change every aspect of society from the foundations up, kill about 2 billion people and then just hope the next gang of bosses don't just do all the same shit that literally every gang of bosses have eventually done in the past (if they weren't bumped off).

 

We successfully overcame the last gilded age, I have no doubt we can overcome this one. The world is getting less violent and less impoverished. We have new issues that seem insurmountable, we overcame a world where dictatorship was the only form of government, where most of the globe was controlled by brutal colonial governments, where the threat of total annihilation of our species was a constant threat. Humanity is becoming better, kinder, gentler and more connected all the time and I have no doubt that we will be able to overcome this new set of challenges, and whatever challenges come up next.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-decline-of-violence/

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21578643-world-has-astonishing-chance-take-billion-people-out-extreme-poverty-2030-not

[Reyturner]

1. what counts as "violence"? Does rotting in a refugee camp count? Does 0 job security, housing security, food security count as violence? Does gentrification? Boom and bust economics? Just because I don't have to worry about some mook mashing me over the head for my wallet doesn't mean i'm not at risk of having a riot cop mash me over the head if I'm not satisfied with the ever shrinking number of scraps the owners of the world deem to brush off their table. However, I would firmly agree that it's safer than it's ever been in history to be a plutocrat. 

2. forgive me if I'm skeptical of the Economist quoting Tony Blaire on what a great job neo-liberal capitalism is doing eliminating poverty by explaining how about how the "fireman's helmut" will rise all boats.

in conclusion

:waves arms furiously and goes out to buy liquor:

[itsamoose]

I'd be very skeptical of any claims that the world is less violent, namely due to the lack of accurate information and the re-labelling of what is violence. Even so, I don't think the problems of the world are necessarily the result of violence so much as they are a sundering of free expression, which leads to violence. Protest movements are regularly moved to places where they won't be as noticeable (free speech zones in the US for example) and propaganda is now virtually indistinguishable from the things it emulates. Things we used to see as clear evidence of corruption, or as undesirable are now either tolerated or moralized. Things people used to be jailed for have been codified in law, with no real push back because they are buried under a mountain of bullshit or don't have a face to them that people can recognize.

The NFL and FIFA are notoriously shitty organizations, but people like the sports so they are tolerated. I can't speak for other countries but in the US there has been a large, concerted effort to rewrite history that focuses on downplaying everything from slavery to the Native American genocide. We buy this nonsense on some nebulous claim that it furthers our interests or makes us more secure, but never ask for proof of these claims. Ultimately the article may prove out in the end, but what concerns me far more than anything else is that, undeniably, willful ignorance is at an all time high.

Edit: As an example of this, I came across this quote some time ago that I think bears repeating.

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/225444-more-girls-were-killed-in-the-last-50-years-precisely

[Cordeos]

Pinker is more focused on war, domestic violence, rape, murder. He looks are rates per population as opposed to raw numbers, because world population keeps increasing raw numbers have different meanings in terms of likelihood of any specific individual dying violently. But as these things decline so do the environments that allow sex slavery and refugee crisis to exist. I agree there are still huge problems in the world, but I have seen no good data that the lives of the majority of humans is getting worse and have seen plenty showing the opposite. 

 

"Objectively, there has indeed been an uptick in war deaths in 2013 compared to 2012 (it’s too early to have data for 2014), mostly due to the war in Syria. But the overall level of deaths is still far below those of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, when the world was a far more dangerous place. Even putting aside the obvious examples (such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the 3- million-death war in Vietnam), one sees that the conflicts of today are far less damaging than those of past decades. For instance, the 1980s saw an eight-year war between Iran and Iraq that killed more than half a million people and threatened to block the flow of oil from the Persian gulf, which would have brought the world economy to a standstill. A decade before, the Yom Kippur War killed 12,000 people (six time as many as died in Gaza in 2014),"

 

http://stevenpinker.com/files/pinker/files/has_the_decline_of_violence_reversed_since_the_better_angels_of_our_nature_was_written.pdf

 

more on the decline of poverty:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/opinion/the-end-of-poverty-soon.html

 

I have hope that a decline of violence globally and a decline of poverty globally will eventually result in a strengthening of humanism as it has in the past. 

[tberton]

Okay, so I'll admit that I haven't read Pinker's book and haven't read a lot of the stuff surrounding it, but here's my question: a decade taken in the context of tens of thousands of years of human history is completely insignificant, so how could we be sure that a decline in violence now relative to the 1960s is an actual trend and not a statistical blip?

[Cordeos]

Okay, so I'll admit that I haven't read Pinker's book and haven't read a lot of the stuff surrounding it, but here's my question: a decade taken in the context of tens of thousands of years of human history is completely insignificant, so how could we be sure that a decline in violence now relative to the 1960s is an actual trend and not a statistical blip?

 

20,000,000

He does a lot of work tracking violence throughout human history, not just in the 20th and 21st centuries. For example dueling is no longer legal or prevalent. The slave trade has declined significantly since the 1800s and is illegal in every country. Beating children is no longer acceptable in many countries. Torture and capital punishment have seen similar declines and legal sanctions.  

 

This article goes very in depth on a lot of his information and has graphs that go way back beyond modern times:

 

http://www.quora.com/What-was-the-most-devastating-war-in-human-lives-adjusted-for-world-population

 

"Here we see 2500 years of human history, with White's top 100 atrocities, which I have scaled by the estimated size of the world population at the time. As you can see, World War II just barely makes the top ten.... Now this funnel-like concentration of points in the last few centuries does not mean that in ancient times they only committed big atrocities, whereas now we commit both big and little atrocities. It's rather an artifact of "historical myopia": the closer you get to the present, the more information you have. The smaller atrocities in the past were trees falling in the forest with no one to hear them, or not even deemed worthy of being written down."

 

 

Another good article on this.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904106704576583203589408180

[osmosisch]

I have to say all that plot shows me is that we apparently have a ~400 historical memory for atrocities below a certain size.

[Merus]

It's been two years of this stupid-ass Australian government, and we have very few prospects for the next government being much better (although let's be honest, they'll probably be better than crypto-fascists). Unfortunately, both sides of politics have worked out that they can use wedge issues to force the opposition's hand.

 

How things change in four days: Australia has once again knifed a Prime Minister mid-term, although this time it was a dangerously incompetent one and not a merely unpopular one. The new guy is Malcolm Turnbull, one of the few relatively level-headed people in the current cabinet, and his deputy is Julie Bishop, who's done a pretty great job as Foreign Minister. He will continue to be surrounded by the kind of people who put Tony Abbott forward as an opposition leader, so he's probably going to be deeply disappointing, but I'll take what improvements I can get.

 

To commemorate the passing of one of our worst Prime Ministers ever, here's his greatest moment as an Actual World Leader.

[Brett E]

I dunno, I saw this earlier and thought it was pretty great: https://youtu.be/jfG-iY8uFig