Spring Break Film Festival

Next fall, I'm teaching "Global Politics Through Film" as a section of our Department capstone course. Thus, in search of possible replacement movies for the films I've been using for several years, I've been trying to watch a number of important films on my list of unseen films.

In addition to "In the Loop," not long ago I finally saw "Lord of the Flies" (1990). The story is familiar to most high school English students, but I wanted to see how the film version might work in a contemporary college classroom. Cynthia Weber recommends using the film to illustrate a Hobbesian "state of nature" (anarchy), though she prefers the 1963 British version. Since I didn't find the 1990 version all that compelling, I hope to see the 1963 print before fall.

Monday, I viewed "Paradise Now" (2005), which is about two would-be Palestinian suicide bombers. The film addresses the Israeli occupation from the Palestinian perspective, but various characters make the argument for non-violent means to pursue their legitimate ends. Unfortunately, the version I saved from Encore was dubbed and the voice talent was not appropriate to the film. It seemed to be a fine film for student papers on various subjects, but I will likely not use it for class narrative purposes.

Though it's not really pertinent to my class, on Sunday I watched the politically-themed film "A Face in the Crowd" (1957). Andy Griffith is terrific as a rising media force -- kind of a 1950s Glenn Beck. This comparison to Lonesome Rhodes is common in the blogosphere.


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DVD Pick of the Week

This past week, I watched and very much enjoyed "In the Loop." The film is a political satire of the first rank. This quote is from the film's webpage:

With razor-sharp, truly laugh-out-loud dialogue the film pokes fun at the absurdity and ineptitude of our highest leaders. With everyone looking out for number one, and the fate of the free world at stake (but apparently incidental), the hilarious ensemble cast of characters bumbles its way through Machiavellian political dealings, across continents, and toward comic resolutions that are unforeseeable.

James Gandolfini is terrific in a significant post-Sopranos role as a dove in the Pentagon, but Scottish actor Peter Capaldi owns the film as a political flack for her Majesty's government.

If you don't know about the story, suffice to say that the U.S. and U.K. are headed to a war that seems to be favored by a crafty spin-doctor and a well-positioned neoconservative (plus his young followers), but is opposed by almost everyone else. The intelligence evidence for war is based on weak foreign sources or is simply fabricated whole-cloth. The "insider" war opponents are revealed to be weak-willed ineffective careerists.

Warning: if you remember former child actor Anna Chlumsky from "Uncle Buck" and "My Girl," then the movie may make you feel old. She's nearly 30 now...


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Film note: Red Dawn in Afghanistan

I've decided to start collecting instances of foreign policymakers comparing the real-world to film.

My most recent example comes from Matthew Hoh, the former U.S. Foreign Service officer who resigned his post in protest of American strategy in Afghanistan:

"We're not getting at the root issues," says Hoh, the former Foreign Service officer. "We don't like to admit that, in the case of Afghanistan, maybe our presence is making the situation worse. That maybe these people are fighting because they don't want to be occupied. ... Remember the film Red Dawn? All of us, we talked about it a lot, all of us always thought we'd be on the other side of Red Dawn -- we didn't think we'd be the ones with the attack helicopters. ... So it's a very humbling experience to realize, you know, we're the occupying power."

As the American Prospect article from March 2010 points out, the Obama "administration admits that fewer than 100 al-Qaeda terrorists remain in Afghanistan."

And whatever happened to that civilian surge?


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Is Yum! destroying Kentucky forests?

According to the Dogwood Alliance, an NGO devoted to saving Southern U.S. forests and promoting sustainable forestry practices, Louisville-based Yum! Brands does not practice responsible corporate citizenship:

When it comes to their paper packaging decisions they are contributing to large scale clearcutting and conversion of natural forests to sterile pine plantations which has disastrous impacts on the biodiversity of Southern forests and communities.

While countless other companies like Staples, Office Depot, Random House, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Starbucks and others have developed sustainable paper purchasing policies and taken action to help protect forests, to date, Yum! Brands lags seriously behind.

When it comes to paper packaging choices, Yum! Brands has no clear plans for increasing its use of purchases of post consumer recycled paper or ensuring that its paper is certified by FSC standards –the only independent global certification system in the world accepted by the conservation, aboriginal and business communities.

Yum! is a major sponsor of University athletics. The basketball/volleyball practice facility is named after the corporation.

In the world of corporate social responsibility, it's never good to be compared unfavorably to Wal-mart, McDonald's or Starbucks. Each of those companies has previously been targeted in specific NGO campaigns.



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Local stage

Friday March 5 at 7 p.m., Stage One will be presenting "John Lennon and Me" at the The Kentucky Center, Bomhard Theater. Lots of local school children are attending the show through weekday performances that are not open to the general public.

The reviewer who attended the preview loved it.

The play is about a small group of teenagers who have complicated lives because some of them have serious illnesses. The two lead characters "quickly learn to see past stereotypes and sicknesses and are able to develop a special friendship, teaching one another about everything from boys, to Heart House [a children's hospital] code, to lessons of life and death."

The reviewer has posted a couple of photos from the show -- the linked one features my youngest daughter.


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Climate blog updates

I finished teaching my climate class early last December and the Copenhagen summit concluded two months ago. Thus, I haven't been providing regular updates to my e-IR blog on "Climate Politics: IR and the Environment." However, after taking a break to complete some papers (including a chapter on climate change for a new edition of a textbook), I do plan to post there every week or two.

These are my most recent posts, encompassing everything since I last summarized my work there:

R20
February 13, 2010

The Copenhagen conference occurred during the final days of my fall semester. Then came the holiday break and several paper deadlines. Hence, I’ve been quiet here. Sorry about that.

This past week, however, I participated in a campus “Teach-In” on climate change. I offered an international perspective and covered many points familiar to readers of this blo…

The story of cap and trade
December 17, 2009

The ongoing negotiations in Copenhagen, which are slated to end Friday, are apparently at a “critical juncture” according to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The United States inched closer to the views of its European allies today by agreeing that it is “prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year to a…

The Danish Text
December 9, 2009

Should environmentalists and other progressives get worked up over the recently leaked “Danish text”? Todays Guardian summarized the key concerns raised by this alleged draft agreement among the rich states:
• Force developing countries to agree to specific emission cuts and measures that were not part of the original UN agreement;…
• Not allow poor count…

Climate “Reparations”
December 1, 2009

One of the critical issues facing Copenhagen negotiators is the amount of money (and technology) that will be transferred from wealthy states (who are responsible for the lion’s share of past and current greenhouse gas emissions) to developing countries so that the latter won’t burn fossil fuels and thereby create future emissions that could effectively cancel o…

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Ducks in a row

This has been a quiet week here, but I've posted several pieces at Duck of Minerva recently.

Today, I posted "Wilson's legacy," which compares the neoconservative argument about "democratic realism" to the pragmatic and limited version of liberalism Wilson advocated.

Wednesday, February 24, I posted "More ISA highlights," which constituted my second contribution to the post-conference reminiscing by the Duck bloggers.

Last Saturday, February 20, the first of those posts appeared: "ISA: Renewing my call for comedy." Yes, I presented another paper (or two?) for "the comedy project."

January 24, I posted "Hamiltonian Failure?" The posting explored whether the American state has perhaps gone too far in removing itself from global capitalism.

January 14, I blogged about the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Haiti. The post focuses on Pat Robertson's idiocy.


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KY: 49 of 50

The latest Gallup "well-being" index was released about a week ago:

Hawaii's residents had the highest well-being in the nation in 2009, pulling ahead of 2008 leader Utah, and coming in with a new high state Well-Being Index score of 70.2. Utah and Montana are also among the top well-being states in the country, sharing the same score of 68.3. Kentucky (62.3) and West Virginia (60.5) have the two lowest well-being scores, as they did in 2008.

The score reflects "an average of six sub-indexes, which individually examine life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and access to basic necessities."

Since I've lived in Kentucky for 19 years, I suppose the appropriate thing to do here is to disparage West Virginia -- rip them for something people in my state care about. Hint: it wasn't the Gallup poll that caused Gov. Joe Manchin to say recently: "I was so ashamed and so embarrassed for our state..."

Still, Kentuckians will take it.


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Is Nuclear Deterrence Dead as the Dodo Bird?

The title of this post is also the title of one of my papers for next week's International Studies Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans. I've been a bad blogger for weeks because in the past 6 to 8 weeks, I've completed a draft chapter on the Iraq war (from a critical theory perspective), a coauthored chapter on the politics of climate change, another ISA paper on "Teaching Global Politics Through Film: The Role of Comedy" and this paper.

Here's the revised abstract:

Supporters and opponents of nuclear deterrence are clearly engaged in a renewed “contest” about the status of a long-standing normative idea in international relations. While the reality and logic of nuclear deterrence is often taken-for-granted, recurrent debates about the meaning and effectiveness of the norm arguably reflect an ongoing legitimacy crisis. Academic critics of nuclear strategy have for the most part simply revealed and explained the many contradictions in deterrence theorizing and practice. Most of these critics seek to correct, perfect, and reinforce the fundamental logic of deterrence. In contrast, the primary concern here is whether the growing recognition of the contradictions, irrationalities, and even absurdities of nuclear deterrence might usher in the strategy’s demise—and potentially create the conditions for, and/or provide the impetus to, a world free of nuclear weapons. Empirically, much attention is directed at the anti-nuclear activism of numerous prominent former and current public officials and military leaders who have condemned nuclear weapons and called for a world without them. Alternatively, the paper explores whether the death of deterrence might merely assure the long life of preventive war strategies (like the “Bush Doctrine”)? In terms of international relations theory, this paper serves as an immanent critique of nuclear deterrence.

Comments welcome.

I'll try to be a better blogger in the near future.

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The Moon

George W. Bush's plan to revive the moon landing program is apparently dead. The NYT today::

President Obama is calling on NASA to cancel the program that was to return humans to the Moon by 2020, and focus instead on radically new space technologies.

Mr. Obama’s 2010 budget proposal for NASA asks for $18 billion over five years for fueling spacecraft in orbit, new types of engines to accelerate spacecraft through space and robotic factories that could churn soil on the Moon — and eventually Mars — into rocket fuel.

This is not directly related, but it seems apt
:



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Guns

The University of Michigan's Health System has a fact- and link-filled webpage dedicated to Gun Safety for Kids and Youth. Recent data revealed "3,385 firearms-related deaths for age group 0-19 years" in one year:

* 214 unintentional
* 1,078 suicides
* 1,990 homicides
* 83 for which the intent could not be determined
* 20 due to legal intervention

The overwhelming majority (2896) were teens aged 15-19.

Thanks to its liberal gun laws, the U.S. does not stack up well, internationally:

According to the CDC, the rate of firearm deaths among children under age 15 is almost 12 times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized countries combined. American children are 16 times more likely to be murdered with a gun, 11 times more likely to commit suicide with a gun, and nine times more likely to die in a firearm accident than children in these other countries

One recent study found that two-thirds of gun owners store their weapons unlocked and loaded.

For many, many years, researchers have reported these kinds of results:

The risk of dying from a suicide in the home was greater for males in homes with guns than for males without guns in the home (adjusted odds ratio = 10.4, 95% confidence interval: 5.8, 18.9). Persons with guns in the home were also more likely to have died from suicide committed with a firearm than from one committed by using a different method (adjusted odds ratio = 31.1, 95% confidence interval: 19.5, 49.6). Results show that regardless of storage practice, type of gun, or number of firearms in the home, having a gun in the home was associated with an increased risk of firearm homicide and firearm suicide in the home.

I'm very saddened to report that in just the past 7 to 10 days, at least two teenage boys in Louisville have committed suicide with a handgun.

I offer my most sincere condolences to their families.


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Feeling the weekend

This is Slobberbone, playing a song from nearly 10 years ago:




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Change?

With Scott Brown defeating Martha Coakley in Massachusetts, the Democratic Senate majority now stands at 59-41. In most legislative bodies, this election wouldn't matter at all since large majorities tend to get their way.

Republican exploitation of Senate rules, however, has made it virtually impossible to bring legislation to a vote because cloture requires 60 votes. Republicans won't agree to end debate to allow substantive votes.

At this point, I guess we'll find out if Barack Obama can deliver what he promised. Remember this?

We're up against decades of bitter partisanship that cause politicians to demonize their opponents instead of coming together to make college affordable or energy cleaner. It's the kind of partisanship where you're not even allowed to say that a Republican had an idea...

Of course, a lot of progressives would add that "It's the kind of partisanship where you're not even allowed to say that a Democrat had an idea..."

No President has all that much power in domestic politics -- aside from setting the agenda and employing the "bully pulpit." It seems apparent to me that Obama has to go on the offensive using one of his most effective weapons -- his own ability to frame issues in accordance with a populist understanding of preferences. In short, he should work to shape the agenda and pound the bully pulpit.

Many of the people telling pollsters they are opposed to the health care reform legislation are against it because they don't think it goes far enough (and it doesn't do enough for them). Obama has to convince a clear majority that it is a good idea. He has to fight for his ideas. Some key Democratic and Republican Senators have to feel that their own constituents want real change.

Most voters may have good health care coverage today, but millions are vulnerable in this economy. People understand that, at some level, but they need to know that the health care bill is for them -- not just the 30 or 40 million who are uninsured.

That aside, I suppose it's also possible that the House could just vote for the Senate health reform bill. Whatever the case, the country needs health care reform and then both branches of government should move on to topics that are clearly popular (and meaningful): limiting Wall Street's power, promoting jobs (perhaps via green energy, even if de-linked from the climate bill), etc.

A lot of people have been talking about deficit reduction, which most economists will report is a bad idea during a deep recession. Someone in authority needs to own that argument. Once the economy grows, tax revenues will increase and deficits will decline. Keynes 101.



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Technology, Talent, and Tolerance

Is it time to revisit Richard Florida's thesis about urban development? Over six years ago, I blogged about Florida's ideas about the "creative class." Cities that attract and/or keep top-notch talent succeed where other cities fail. Florida has long argued that the way to retain or lure people able to exploit the "knowledge economy" (built on using technology) is by showing tolerance -- towards gays, for example.

In January, American Prospect ran a piece on Florida that punctured many of his ideas. According to writer Alec MacGillis, Florida has abandoned his old thesis:

Florida has been arguing that the recession has so decimated many cities and regions that it's time for the country to cut its losses and instead encourage growth in places that are prospering, like Silicon Valley, Boulder, Austin, and North Carolina's Research Triangle. And the rest? In his much-cited cover story in the March issue of The Atlantic -- "How the Crash Will Reshape America" -- he delivered the harsh news: "We need to be clear that ultimately, we can't stop the decline of some places, and that we would be foolish to try. ... Different eras favor different places, along with the industries and lifestyles those places embody. ... We need to let demand for the key products and lifestyles of the old order fall, and begin building a new economy, based on a new geography."

I'm not really an urbanist, but I watched two movies last week that made me think about Florida's thesis.

The first was the classic "Last Picture Show" by Peter Bogdanovich (by way of Larry McMurtry). Young characters played by actors Jeff Bridges (Duane) and Cybil Shepherd (Jacy) clearly wanted to abandon their small (dying) Texas town. Even the more contented Sonny (played by Timothy Bottoms) seeks adventure and marriage elsewhere -- in Mexico and Oklahoma. It's difficult to say if any of these young people had talent, though McMurtry's story is supposed to be autobiographical and he presumably left town to pursue his art. The fictional Anarene, TX, seems to tolerate all kinds of sleeping around, but citizens are not especially sympathetic towards a couple of mentally challenged characters.

The far more recent "Happy Texas" can more directly be viewed as a demonstration of Florida's thesis. Set in another sleepy Texas town, escaped convicts played by Steve Zahn and Jeremy Northam pretend to be a talented gay couple who offer their unique skills to a surprisingly tolerant community. In a way, they also save the local economy. If I was teaching Florida's thesis in a class, I'd think about using this movie.


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Elsewhere

Today, at the Duck of Minerva international relations blog, I posted "Good news on Iran?" It concerns an apparent Iranian nuclear enrichment moratorium and a possible breakthrough in the ongoing negotiations.

Sunday, January 10, I blogged about "Gitmo." The post focuses on the Pentagon's somewhat dubious claims about what happens to detainees that have been released from the prison.

December 29, I posted "Kidnapping," which focused on Phoenix, Arizona as the "kidnapping capital" of the United States.

December 9, I blogged "Selling the Afghan Surge."

December 8, in reaction to a Steve Walt post, I wrote "Wal-mart Isn't Green."

December 1, you can find my post about the "2010 Grawemeyer Winner," Trita Parsi.

On November 22, I blogged "Praying for the end of time," about President Obama's then-delayed Afghan policy review.

November 20, I produced a call "Seeking Grawemeyer Nominations: 2011 Prize." The deadline, by the way, is January 15.



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Top Americana CDs of the Aughts

It looks like I've selected my top 20 Americana recordings of 2000 to 2009.

Ryan Adams, Heartbreaker and Gold
Dave Alvin, Ashgrove
Grayson Capps, Wail and Ride
Hayes Carll, Trouble in Mind
Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, Furnace Room Lullaby
Drive By Truckers, Decoration Day
Bob Dylan, Love and Theft
Mary Gauthier, Mercy Now
Jackie Greene, American Myth
Jayhawks, Rainy Day Music
Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose
Los Super Seven, Heard It On the X
Marah, Kids in Philly
James McMurtry, Childish Things
Tift Merritt, Tambourine
O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Soundtrack
Todd Snider, East Nashville Blues
White Stripes, Elephant
Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

As the links make clear, I sometimes blog about my favorite artists -- and their local live performances (or CDs).

I'm surprised the above doesn't include any Steve Earle or Lucinda Williams, but I like their earlier recordings more than their work in the 2000s. In blogtopia, I saw lists topped by Kasey Chambers, Gillian Welch, and a different Neko Case recording. Lists like this are inherently idiosyncratic.


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20 Best Movies of the Decade

Obviously, I have to begin with an important caveat: I have not seen very many movies from 2009. Moreover, scanning Metacritic's list, I apparently missed some of the best films of the past ten years, including their top two choices -- Pan's Labyrinth and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. I have the former on an old videotape somewhere and the latter is currently on my DVR, so I figure to watch them soon.

In any case, these are my top 20 movies of 2000 to 2009. I often picked films that I found especially entertaining -- typically good enough to watch again when they appear on cable. You'll also find plenty of IR-related films and one baseball flick:

Almost Famous
Black Book
Dark Knight
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fog of War
Good Night, and Good Luck
The Incredibles
Juno
The Lives of Others
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Lost in Translation
Man on Wire
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Sideways
Sugar
The Quiet American
Thank You for Smoking
V for Vendetta
The Visitor
Wag the Dog

As the links reveal, it turns out that I've often blogged about my favorites (and sometimes used them in class).

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Books of 2009

Last year, as I have annually since 2005, I posted a complete list of books I read in the preceding year. This is certainly a blog tradition worth preserving.

As usual, I will not list books that I reviewed, unless those reviews were published. In my academic job, I chair a committee that awarded $200,000 to the best "ideas for improving world order." Most of the nominees have written books and I read my share of the nominations. It is probably safe to acknowledge that I read the winning book, though I didn't read it until after the international jury had promoted it to the final round of our process.

Of course, since I'm an academic, I read multiple chapters and large sections of many books pertinent to my research and teaching. However, I'm not going to list those here unless I read them cover-to-cover. Save for the books I use in class or read for review, I often skim over some portions even of outstanding books. It's a time/efficiency issue.

So, what did I read this year, mostly for pleasure? (Some of the recommended books include a link to Powell's books; the blog receives a 7.5% commission on sales that begin via these links).

Non-fiction

Positively Fifth Street by James McManus.

The Film Club by David Gilmour.

Treacherous Alliance - The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States by Trita Parsi. This book won the 2010 Grawemeyer Award.

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It by Paul Collier.

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria.

21: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrick.

Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children, and Our Grandchildren by Joseph Dimento and Pamela Doughman.

American Empire by Andrew J. Bacevich

Seven Sins of American Foreign Policy by Loch K. Johnson.

Global Environmental Governance by James Speth and Peter Haas.

Poker Nation by Andy Bellin.

A Theory of Poker by David Sklansky

Biggest Game in Town by Al Alvarez

Read 'Em and Weep by John Stravinsky (ed.).

Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry Phillips

Sandy Koufax, A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy

Game of Shadows by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

Big Book of Baseball Legends by Rob Neyer.

Saving the Pitcher by Will Carroll

The Fenway Project by Bill Nowlin and Cecilia Tan (eds.)

Uncle Robbie by Jack Kavanagh and Norman Macht

Seasons in Hell by Mike Schropshire

A Short Guide to Writing About Film by Timothy J. Corrigan

I also read just about every word in Baseball Prospectus 2009, but not in cover-to-cover fashion. It was edited by Steven Goldman.

Of these non-fiction books, most were worth reading. I started out the year reading McManus's terrific book (recommend by Jeffrey Toobin on a private listserv) about the author's 2000 experience in the World Series of Poker. McManus was covering the participation of women in the event as well as the Ted Binion murder trial, which was indirectly related to the tournament. Ultimately, I found the syllabus for a class he teaches on poker writing and started making my way through some of his required works. Not all the poker books above are on his list and none of them are as good as Positively Fifth Street.

I ended the year reading Gilmour's wonderful memoir about the time he spent watching films with his teenage son -- a condition of father allowing son to drop out of high school. It's terrific reading in a genre I don't usually read.

The Collier book is likewise highly recommended and I adopted it in my fall class on Global Ecopolitics. I previously blogged about Zakaria's fine book and I would recommend it to readers generally interested in global affairs.

I would not place any of the listed baseball books in the pantheon of great baseball writing, but I enjoyed Leavy's bio of Koufax and learned a great deal about the steroids era in baseball from Game of Shadows.

Fiction

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Rabbit Redux by John Updike

Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik

Forgetfulness by Ward Just.

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene.

Burmese Days by George Orwell.

Lincoln by Gore Vidal

When the Light Goes by Larry McMurtry

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Devil in the Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

The Ivory Grin by Ross MacDonald

Ratking by Michael Dibdin.

Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Woman in the Dark by Dashiell Hammett

One Fearful Yellow Eye and Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. Macdonald

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley.

New Hope for the Dead by Charles Willeford

American Tabloid by James Ellroy

The Mexican Tree Duck by James Crumley

A Very Private Plot by William F. Buckley

Of these, I placed the best literature at the top of the list, then the remaining genre fiction with the least entertaining listed last. I really like Graham Greene and Larry McMurtry, generally, and these books are worth reading. In 2010, I'll likely be reading still more about Harry Angstrom, Updike's protaganist. It's unclear if McMurtry has anything left to say about his recurrent character, Duane Moore.

Months ago, I meant to blog about The Road since its post-apocalyptic vision might presume a prior nuclear war or climate calamity -- two frequent topics in my blogging. But I didn't. Forgetfulness was recommended by our new President, allegedly, though I cannot find the link now. The film "Fight Club" is faithful to the excellent book, but Chris Buckley's book is not as good as the recent film.

I read William Buckley's book because I read all his other Blackford Oakes stories years ago and want to complete the series. The last one is on my shelf for 2010 reading. I was fairly disappointed by the Crumley selection and won't be reading any more of Ellroy for awhile.

Thanks mostly to Bookmooch, I continue to read books by a diverse group of crime writers. As I've noted previously, John D. Macdonald's Travis McGee stories provide a pleasant diversion, but Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer books tend to have a harder edge. Both offer up a good measure of amateur philosophy.


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