Fresh Thinking on U.S. Engagement with Africa: Probing the Limits of Engagement

The Biden administration faces the opportunity to reset U.S. policy towards Africa and possesses a variety of tools to use in doing so, including traditional diplomacy, economic statecraft, development assistance, and military engagement. With the increased militarization of U.S. foreign policy over the past few decades, there is an unfortunate tendency to default to military engagement when confronted with even remote threats to U.S. national security interests, and Africa is no exception. With vital security interests in Africa, it can be argued that military engagement should be limited in its application and targeted to those situations that do not lend themselves to solution through traditional diplomacy or development assistance.     

东盟:2020年回顾与2021年展望

2020年,国际形势复杂多变,COVID-19疫情在全球蔓延,对东盟各国产生冲击,加之面临愈发紧迫的非传统安全威胁,维护地区和平与稳定任重道远.东盟以"齐心协力与主动适应"为主题,致力于构建以人为本、共同发展的东盟共同体,并在多领域加强可持续发展,增强面对全球不确定性的能力.展望2021年,东盟将以"我们关心,我们准备,我们繁荣"为主题,增强成员国间的团结合作,共同应对国际形势中的机遇与挑战,深化公共卫生合作,促进成员国与外部合作伙伴之间的互联互通,推动东盟的可持续发展.     

The R and D contract and democratic theory

The purposes of this essay are to describe how federal research and development policy has altered authority relationships and to suggest a new concept of legitimacy in accord with the changed conditions. Research and development (R and D) creates an indeterminate future. Thus, the politics of research and development incorporates an apparent contradiction : political leadership demands that jobs be done which require creative and unpredictable actions on the part of private organizations, while it also demands that contractors be held responsible for fulfilling goals efficiently, avoiding deleterious secondary consequences, and refraining from abuses of power. The paradox can be resolved by creating norms of responsibility that allow for judgments on how a job is done rather than what is to be done. New institutions for technological assessment to check on unintended consequences of projects and citizen review boards to estimate the quality of life engendered by projects may provide such norms of responsibility.