Walter Benjamin, a Methodological Contribution

This article examines the work and philosophy of Walter Benjamin as an important source of information for international relations (IR) and International Political Sociology (IPS) scholars, particularly in light of his methodological contributions, which could provide important ground for movements such as the aesthetic turn in IR and everyday life/popular culture studies within IR and IPS. Benjamin's contributions are examined in light of his most controversial, albeit unfinished, project— The Arcades Project , a recently published volume that focuses on a selection of documents from the Benjamin archive; and a study by Howard Caygill on Benjamin's attempt to create a "new philosophy," and along with it, a new methodology for studying "experience." The article focuses on three main elements that stand at the basis of Benjamin's unique methodology: (1) his process of selecting the object of study; (2) his treatment of temporality and processes of change/history; and (3) his focus on the visual as key to escaping the limitations of traditional "philosophical" text.     

A Premonition of Obama: La Raza Cosmica in America

Ryszard Kapuscinski, who died in 2007, was one of the 20th century's greatest literary journalists. He personally witnessed the dramatic post-World War II upheavals of decolonization and revolution across what we used to call "the Third World" and set down his reflections in such best-selling books as The Emperor , about the fall of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, and Shah of Shahs , about the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. He served on NPQ 's editorial board until his death.
When I last saw Kapuscinski for coffee at the Hotel Bristol in Warsaw in the summer of 2005 he was busy preparing a lecture on Herodotus, the ancient Greek traveler and historian regarded as "the father of journalism."
In 1987, NPQ brought Kapuscinski to Los Angeles to roam around and observe North America's largest "Third World city." He stayed at the New Seoul Hotel in the heart of Koreatown, venturing from there all the way down to Disneyland, Hispanic East L.A. and the wealthy Westside. At the end of each day, we sat down to gather his impressions.
Kapuscinski saw the United States as the place where the idea of "la raza cosmica"—the cosmic race—would be realized. For him, America was a premonition of the plural, racially mixed, culturally hybrid civilization the whole world would one day become. In a way, his insight was also a premonition of the presidency of Barack Obama, a self-described cultural and racial "mutt." In a world where the contamination of globalization has sparked troubling yearnings for a return to purity, being a nation of mutts, Kapuscinski understood, is America's competitive advantage.     

Democracy,economic crisis and the problem of governance: The case of Bolivia

This article examines the political context within which the Bolivian government of Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1985–1989) launched, implemented, and sustained a draconian neoliberal economic stabilization program. The article argues that the key to the successful economic program was the political skill and leadership of President Paz, in particular, his ability to negotiate a political pact with the main opposition party. Finally, the article ponders the tensions and contradictions between neoliberal economic policies and the process of consolidating democracy in a context of extreme economic crisis. James M. Malloy is professor of political science and research professor, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. He is the author of a number of books and articles on Latin America politics, includingAuthoritarians and Democrats: Regime Transition in Latin America (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987). He is presently working on issues of regime transition, economic adjustment, and the role of private sector interest groups in Latin America.     

Ancient Postmodernism

Takeshi Umehara, director general of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, is Japan's most famous philosopher, controversial for his idea of Japanese "uniqueness." Umehara, also a playwright, is author of such books at The Concept of Hell, The Exiling of the Gods and Japan's Deep Strata .
Back in 1990, I sat down with him in his office amid the bamboo forests that cover the hills surrounding Kyoto to get an Eastern view of the theme raised by Western thinkers from Arnold Toynbee to Lewis Mumford: the central role of the religious imagination in the rise and fall of civilizations.
Here, he sets out his ideas in an essay tracing his disillusionment with Western philosophy and his rediscovery of Japan's Shinto roots. Our conversation follows.     

The Shadow Our Future Throws

Because of his groundbreaking critique of mass industrial society in such books as Energy and Equity, Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health, Toward a History of Needs and Deschooling Society Ivan Illich was considered a founding thinker of the alternative and ecological movements, the prophet of an "era of limits."
This conversation took place at Illich's rustic retreat in Ocotopec, Mexico, in the spring of 1989. (The title of the second chapter of Al Gore's 1992 book, The Earth in Balance is taken from this interview—"The Shadow Our Future Throws.")
Illich was no armchair witness but lived what he preached. In the early 1990s he developed a large tumor that protruded from his right temple. Claiming the right not to be a patient but to "die without diagnosis" as part of "hygienic autonomy," he was never treated, smoking opium to ease the pain over his last years. He died—without diagnosis—in 2002 in Bremen, Germany.     

Isaiah Berlin: Russo-Jewish Roots,Liberal Commitments,and the Ethos of Pluralism

Isaiah Berlin contributed significantly to the study of the history of nationalist ideas in modern Europe, to the revival among political theorists (and others) of interest in nationalism as a theory, and to the articulation of theories of “liberal nationalism” in the 1990s. Berlin was also a life-long Zionist, whose reflections on the impulses behind nationalism owed much to his reflection on the condition of Jews in the diaspora. While Berlin’s views on nationalism have long claimed attention, and while there has more recently been excellent work done on his Jewish identity and commitment to Zionism, the connection between both his liberalism and his views on nationalism, and his personal background and experiences, remains to be more fully explored. Deploying biographical reconstruction and textual analysis, I here undertake to draw such connections, emphasizing how Berlin’s personal condition and the response to nationalism that it influenced in turn shaped his liberalism. I conclude that Berlin’s experiences coming from a specifically Russian-Jewish background, as well as his position in British society, his wartime service in the British government, and his intellectual formation, significantly shaped his views on nationalism. I also suggest that both his response to nationalism and his advocacy of a distinctive liberalism reflect Berlin’s commitment (never made fully explicit) to a pluralistic ethos, which itself may be seen as a response to the condition of Jews (and other minorities and migrants) in the modern world.     

The Myth of Ulsterization in British Security Policy in Northern Ireland

For many years, the term "Ulsterization" has been a byword for the cynicism with which British governments decided to transfer the responsibility (as well as the human cost) for law enforcement to the local population of Northern Ireland. This analysis, however, demonstrates that Ulsterization has generally been misunderstood. Given that the expansion of local security forces was limited to the police, it is perhaps more appropriate to use the term "de-militarization." Also, the label "Ulsterization" has prevented students of the conflict from understanding the most significant development to follow from the policy changes of 1974-75, namely, the professionalization of the local security forces.­     

The Dialogical Imagination

NPQ has never been a traditional journal. Rather we have engaged in a continuing conversation over the last two decades with the most interesting minds and authoritative voices anywhere that can shed light on the frictions and fusions of our globalizing civilization. Instead of reporting the dots, we have sought to connect them with perspective and draw correspondences between ideas. As one reviewer put it, "with its editor traveling from country to country around the world, NPQ cross-pollinates at a dizzying pace."     

Ernesto (Che) Guevara: The Last “Heroic” Guerrilla

We take the opportunity presented by the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Che Guevara to reexamine his life and revolutionary program and the legacy he left behind. Attention is given to the formative influences that led to his introduction to Fidel Castro and his involvement in the Cuban revolution. We take a close look at the stylized theory of revolution that emerged from this experience, his reflective writings on the subject, and his subsequent attempts to generalize and apply his revolutionary model in the Congo and Bolivia. This model is critically interpreted and evaluated through the lense of his eleven month Bolivian campaign. We conclude by examining the ‘paradox’ of Che Guevara. He was a failed guerrilla who remains an iconic symbol of the revolutionary Left. He was an authentic true believer who dreamed that it might be possible to one day forge a utopian society of ‘new men’ and yet, fifty years after his death, his revolutionary project is farther away from being realized than ever. His heroic image, in the meantime, has evolved to become one of the most successful capitalist brands in history.     

Jihadi Strategic Studies: The Alleged Al Qaida Policy Study Preceding the Madrid Bombings

This article analyzes an Al Qaida strategy document about Iraq that received considerable attention after the Madrid bombings because of its references to the Spanish elections. The current article discusses the origin, content, and significance of the document and argues that it represents a hitherto unidentified genre in radical Islamist literature, namely "jihadi strategic studies." The text, which is secular in style, analytical in its approach, and pragmatic in its conclusions, displays a level of political awareness that breaks with most preconceptions about religious fundamentalist thought. Moreover, it dispels the myth of a unified and coherent "Al Qaida ideology."‐     

Ratzinger Is Right

No sooner had John Paul II stepped across the threshold of Heaven than Cardinal Ratzinger, now elected Pope Benedict, declared the new mission of the Catholic Church would be to fight "the dictatorship of relativism."
To explore this theme, NPQ spoke with René Girard, the famous anthropologist and author of the seminal study Violence and the Sacred. We then asked Pankaj Mishra, one of the most exciting new non-fiction writers and author of An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World , to respond.     

Sprachpolitik: Some Socio-Political Effects of English in Germany

Language is a major component of identification for individuals and nations, and linguistic difference has manifested itself as an enduring political issue. This continues in the age of globalization when the presence of a powerful global force, the English language, now less attached to a particular national entity, is viewed as intrusive among language groups that are, including in the most economically and technologically advanced countries. Some groups and individuals within Germany's postindustrial civil society are conducting an ardent defence of German against the encroachment of English. The German state, meanwhile, is pressured to support the national language while adapting, like the private economy, to new imperatives that tend to magnify the presence of English.     

Migrants in a maelstrom

"The first victims of Asia's economic crisis are the millions of migrant workers whose labour is no longer required by the region's erstwhile ?tigers'. Their repatriation raises serious political, economic and social issues for citizens and states in both home and host countries.... The issue of economic migration needs to be assessed if the possible socio-economic consequences of the present crisis are to be fully understood."     

Turning Back the Clock? Violence against Women and the Trump Administration

ABSTRACT

The Trump Administration has engaged in a systematic rolling back of protections, regulations, and a host of other social safety net programs for vulnerable people, leaving over half of the population in dismay while others celebrate archaic triumphs. In this context, our focus is limited to the Trump Administration’s efforts—through law and words—to turn back the clock for women. We examine the reinforcement of overt forms of inequality rooted in patriarchy through domestic law as well as Trump’s misogynistic attitude and language toward women. Given that his words hold a greater significance now that he is President of the United States, he has a “gold-plated” pulpit to share and spread his misogynistic hostile rhetoric and propaganda: anti-women objectification, devaluing, and demonization through hegemonic “wordfare” while feeding and fueling sexism across the country. We conclude by suggesting that Trump’s rhetoric and that of other leading political figures are contributing to a darker time for those not in the white elite heteronormative order with short and long term implications and harm. We caution that the current dangers posed by these attacks are entering us into an endemic misogynist normal: retroactively moving the Country back in time at a dangerous speed.     

Dhiren Barot: Was He an Al Qaeda Mastermind or Merely a Hapless Plotter?

This article profiles Dhiren Barot, a convert to Islam who was convicted in Britain in October 2006 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder for planning terrorist attacks in the United States and the United Kingdom. Upon his conviction, much of the British press, and many other observers, claimed Barot was a high-level Al Qaeda figure whose plans were on the verge of execution. Other observers, and Barot's defense attorneys, however, argued that these allegations were exaggerated. Barot, they claimed, had done nothing more than sketch vague plans for which he had no funding and was merely being used by the British government as an example in the War on Terror. This article details Barot's life and terrorist activity. It argues that he was a committed jihadi, was likely an Al Qaeda member, and did indeed represent a security threat. Nonetheless, the lack of public information available on his life suggests that certain allegations about his status within Al Qaeda and the immanency of his plans should be treated skeptically. It concludes by considering to what extent Barot fits the profile of other Islamic terrorists.     

Brazil and Lula, 2005: crisis,corruption and change in political perspective

The election of Lula (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) as president of Brazil in October 2002 broke new ground: for the first time in Latin America a working man was directly elected as president of the Republic. Lula also came to power as leader of the Partido dos Trabalhadores, the Workers' Party, with its close links to ‘new unionism’, ‘liberation theology’ and mass social movements. The possibility of his election caused strong market reaction but, by the start of 2005, Lula and his government had reassured their critics on the right. They had also dismayed many supporters on the left, including members of the pt, by failing to tackle urgent social problems. Even so, on the basis of a strong economic performance and support in the polls, Lula seemed assured of re-election in October 2006. Suddenly, in May 2005, came the first revelations of a corruption scandal, leading to a crisis described as ‘the most extensive in the whole history of the Brazilian republic’. Lula lost some of his closest ministerial colleagues, and the pt most of its senior officers, with the threat of impeachment for Lula himself. That crisis is still unresolved, but has already severely damaged the pt, virtually paralysed government and made Lula's re-election seem ever more unlikely. This paper seeks to set the current crisis in wider political perspective and to reflect on its possible impact on a political system which in 2002, and even in 2004, gave evidence of supporting a robust and stable democracy.     

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AS STORYTELLING

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Articulating the Nexus of Politics and Law: War in Iraq and the Practice within Two Legal Systems

Does law rule foreign affairs in the democratic state? Basically, one might expect that democratic executives operate on the ground of what is called the Rechtsstaat, and that in a political system with checks and balances operations—especially those eventually dropping out of that ground—are subject to judicial review. However, legal systems are more often than not willing to abstain from a legal governance of its countries' foreign policy—because of "political reasons." Moreover, democracies obviously vary according to their legal operations. At least in the area of foreign affairs, the relationship of democracy and law does not take up a necessary character. Facing this contingency, the article engages in the discursive construction of a politics and law nexus in the course of the operations of two legal systems, in the United States and Germany. For that reason, it will proceed by deconstructing two legal decisions related to the war in Iraq. Building upon the premise that legal practices are intertwined into a larger web of (legal) text, the article argues that the possibility of a judicial abstention in cases bearing reference to foreign policy issues depends on meaning produced in the course of the signification and positioning of discursive elements like "politics" and "law." Thus, speaking law is a politico-legal practice.     

Rural migration and agrarian reform in Russia: a research note

This study focuses primarily on trends in rural-urban migration in Russia and the former Soviet Union. "New data suggest that a historic shift in migration patterns is underway in Russia, a change that may have profound long-term effects on agrarian reform and the nature of the Russian countryside. We begin with a short review of past rural migration trends and the rural demographic situation, in part using archival data for an oblast in central Russia. We will then present new data on rural migration. Finally, we assess the implications of rural migratory trends for agrarian reform in Russia."