Globalization in the 21st Century: Blessing or Threat to Developing Countries

Despite the Utopian promise of globalization and the advantages of an information society, the benefits have not been universal and inequality in the world has grown. To some extent, globalization may have exacerbated the discrepancy between the rich and the poor (at the international, national and individual levels) by its relentless progress. In this article, Ryokichi Hirono, professor emeritus at Seikei University and professor at Teikyo University, examines the impact of globalization, focussing in particular on its affect on developing countries (in terms of economics, politics and society) and the environment. He shows how in the last 40 years, the gap between developing and industrialized economies may have been gradually decreasing. Nevertheless, he concludes that as the world faces difficult times ahead, the global integration of economies may mean that the casualties will be higher for developing countries.     

Structural Impedimentsto Economic Globalizationin the Middle East

Dr. Kamrava is professor and chair of the Political Science Department at California State University, Northridge. His latest book is The Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War (University of California Press, forthcoming 2005).     

U.S.‐Saudi Relations: Bump in the Road or End of the Road? Rockefeller Foundation Report

The following report of a Saudi-American dialogue held at Bellagio, Italy, June 2–6, 2003, was written by Clifford Chanin and F. Gregory Gause, III. Mr. Chanin is president of The Legacy Project and Dr. Gause is an associate professor at the University of Vermont (see participant list at end).     

Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski

Dr. Brzezinski was national-security adviser to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. He is a trustee and counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a professor of American foreign policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. The following interview was conducted by Middle East Policy editor Anne Joyce on April 20, 2005.     

The Carbondale Caper

Abstract

“In July, 1950, Wesley R. Fishel, then an assistant professor of political science at Michigan State College, met Ngo Dinh Diem, a Vietnamese politician out of power, in Tokyo, Japan. The professor and the politician kept up a correspondence and, in early 1951, Fishel had his friend made a consultant to Michigan State's Governmental Research Bureau.” With these words Robert Scigliano and Guy H. Fox begin “Technical Assistance in Vietnam: The Michigan State University Experience”. The authors, whose duties with the Michigan State University Group (MSUG) in Vietnam “spanned all but four of the project's eighty-six months,” describe a university activity, infiltrated by the CIA, which still sends shudders through professors across the country.     

The Kurds in Iraq

The following briefs are edited versions of papers presented at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Anchorage, Alaska, November 8, 2003. The editors were Hakan Yavuz and Michael Gunter, whose papers are included below. Why Kurdish Statehood is Unlikely , Michael M. Gunter, professor of political science, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee Transnational Networks: New Opportunities and Constraints for Kurdish Statehood , Denise Natali, visiting research fellow, Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI); director of WKI's transnational project Turkey and Kurdistan‐Iraq, 2003 , Robert Olson, professor of Middle East and Islamic history, University of Kentucky Could a Kurdish State Be Set Up in Iraq? , Nihat Ali Özcan, author of PKK (Kurdistan ýpçi Partisi) Tarihi, Ideolojisi ve Yönetimi (Ankara: Asam, 1999) Kurdish Reality in an Emerging Iraq , Khaled Salih, University of Southern Denmark Provincial Not Ethnic Federalism in Iraq , M. Hakan Yavuz, associate professor of political science, University of Utah     

U.S.-Saudi Relations: a Rocky Road

The following report was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. The meeting that generated it took place in Bellagio, Italy, July 19–23, 2004. The authors of the report are Clifford Chanin of the Legacy Project and F. Gregory Gause, III, professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont.     

Implications of the U.S. Reaction to the World Court Rulingagainst Israel's"Separation Barrier"

Dr. Zunes is a professor of politics and chair of the peace and justice studies program at the University of San Francisco. He serves as Middle East editor for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project ( http://www.fpif.org ) and is the author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage Press, 2003).     

Japan and the Middle East

Hirokazu Oikawa, a correspondent in Israel for Jiji News for nearly 20 years and former lecturer and fellow at Hebrew University, discusses the history of relations between Japan and the Middle East and shows how Japan's relative ignorance of the region has affected some crucial diplomatic and domestic policy decisions. He explains that potential misperceptions about the Middle East continue among Japanese policymakers, especially in the areas of energy policy and official‐development aid (ODA). Oikawa is currently a professor at Kyorin University in Tokyo.     

Hopeful uncertainty: Asia‐Pacific security in transition

Matake Kamiya chides Western security experts for taking an overly pessimistic view of the security environment in the Asia‐Pacific region. While admitting that there are many potential trouble spots, Kamiya asserts there are also many positive factors that point to peace, including the growing economic strength of, and cooperation between, countries in the region. The original version of this paper was prepared while Kamiya served as a distinguished research fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies, New Zealand, from August 1994 to March 1995. Kamiya is associate professor of international relations at Japan's National Defense Academy.     

Three major twentieth century trends and Japan's future role

Three trends—nationalism, industrialization, and egalitarianism—have been predominant in the twentieth century, according to Seizaburo Sato, professor of political science at Saitama University and research director at IIPS. Each of these trends has created its own unique problems that demand new solutions, Sato explains. In this new global environment Japan must overcome the trauma of World War II, argues Sato, and play an active international role that contributes economically, culturally, and even militarily to the strengthening and expansion of the security community and the promotion of sustainable industrialization.     

詹姆斯·威尔逊与美国宪法

詹姆斯·威尔逊是美国独立、制宪时期的著名政治家、法律家,曾担任大陆会议代表,签署过《独立宣言》,并参与了费城制宪,对制定1787年宪法贡献颇大。他还领导了宾夕法尼亚州批准新宪法的斗争,促使宪法顺利通过。宪法生效后,他又出任最高法院大法官,担任费城学院法学教授,解释和传授新宪法。威尔逊在苏格兰长大,深受苏格兰启蒙思想影响。从他对宪法的理解可以看出,苏格兰启蒙思想也是美国宪法的重要思想渊源。     

China's nuclear arms development and arms transfers to the Third World

China's increasing military expenditures are often cited as a main cause of concern for China's neighbors. The fact that China's military buildup has not been limited to conventional forces — it has been developing a nuclear arsenal since the early 1970s —exponentially increases the unease felt by other nations in East Asia. Shigeo Hiramatsu, professor of China Studies at Kyorin University, here explores China's advancing nuclear arms program and the issue of arms transfers to the Third World.     

The impact of the information age

The Internet era of the twenty‐first century will be one of unprecedented information exchange on a global scale, but there is potential for the cultures and values of certain nations to overwhelm and erase those of other nations. Toru Nishigaki, professor at Tokyo University's Information Center for Social Science Research on Japan, argues that a multilingual information processing environment is essential for ensuring a stable order in the twenty‐first century. This paper was originally presented at the IIPS 10th Anniversary Symposium, “Transforming the Global Order for the 21st Century,” held in Tokyo on 18–19 May 1998.     

Why we need the US‐Japan security treaty

There are a number of arguments that opponents of the US‐Japan security treaty have used over the years to explain why the security treaty is either unnecessary, unfair, or both, and should be scrapped. These arguments are unreasonable at best and dangerous at worst, says Daizo Sakurada, associate professor of international relations at the University of Tokushima. He examines and responds to each argument, showing why the security treaty is necessary for peace in the Asia‐Pacific region. An earlier version of this paper was published by the Centre for Strategic Studies in New Zealand as CSS Working Paper 7/97, entitled “For Mutual Benefit: The Japan‐US Security Treaty from a Japanese Perspective.”     

Should Japan participate in UN peacekeeping operations?

With the end of the Cold War, the UN has increased the number of peacekeeping operations that it undertakes, and many voices call for Japan's participation. Hisako Shimura, a professor in the International Affairs Department at Tsuda College, analyzes Japan's new Peace Cooperation Law, its Constitution, and the traditional principles that govern UN peacekeeping operations. Shimura finds that Japan's law contains safeguards to ensure that Japan could participate in peacekeeping missions that uphold traditional UN principles, and she also suggests that such participation would be constitutional.     

Sino‐Japanese relations: A Japanese perspective

Although Sino‐Japanese relations seem much improved in recent years, Tomoyuki Kojima, professor of political science at Keio University, still sees numerous problems that Japan must come to terms with before the two countries can develop a truly close relationship. Points of friction include Japan's past aggression in China, Chinese nuclear testing, regional security issues, and China's criticism of Japan. This paper was presented at the conference, “China and Japan in the Asia‐Pacific region since the Pacific War and Prospects for the Future,” held in Beijing on Nov. 12–13, 1995, by the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations and the Australian National University.     

Japanese foreign policy: Inaction and reaction

Japan's tendency to simply react to international trends rather than to formulate its own policies is as prevalent today as during the Meiji period when the country was trying to catch up to the West, says Gerald Curtis, professor of political science at Columbia University. When international trends are murky, such as before World War II, this tendency can easily lead to disaster, Curtis says. Japan must break with the past and define its international role in the post‐Cold War era, Curtis argues, but the public debate required to achieve this is unlikely until Japan's domestic politics become more sharply defined.     

Women in Iran: An Online Discussion

This debate on the role of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran was conducted early in 2001 as part of the Gulf/2000 project at Columbia University, directed by Gary Sick. Normally these online discussions are reserved for members, but this topic is of such general interest and aroused such intense emotions that two of the participants were asked to edit the discussion for a wider audience. The final version was edited by Nikki R. Keddie, professor emerita of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, based on the selection and organization of the texts by co-editor Azita Karimkhany, alumna of Columbia University and researcher in Middle Eastern studies. For additional information on Gulf/2000, see the project website at http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/.     

Perils of pork‐barrel politics: The birth of the Murayama government

In August 1993, Morihiro Hosokawa's coalition government brought an end to the “1955 Regime” of Liberal Democratic Party‐dominated politics in Japan. Since then, Hosokawa himself has been brought down, as has his successor Tsutomu Hata. After years of stability, Japanese politics are now marked by confusion and indecision that show no signs of abating. In this article, IIPS Research Director Seizaburo Sato, who is also professor of political science at Keio University in Tokyo, points out that whatever happens to the not‐so‐strange bedfellows of the present governing coalition, Japan as a nation is at a historical crossroads, and the decisions it makes in the next few years will have far‐reaching implications.