World Policy Journal

Pres Bill Clinton's African tour in the Spring of 1998 has taken American-African relations to a higher level. The trip was the longest of the president's overseas tours ever, and was also the most extensive visit to the region by any American president. The Clinton administration intended the state visit to raise Africa's profile as an effective player in the global economy and the global political structure.

Aid for peace: can international financial institutions help prevent conflict?

The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other international financial institutions (IFIs) are beginning to realize that economic development can help minimize the likelihood of civil war. While these institutions have long stressed the apolitical nature of their activities, they are now beginning to advocate reduced military spending and improved governance. In light of their new awareness of the link between aid and peace, IF...

America the menace: France's feud with Hollywood.

France has long resisted the influence of American culture. While the animosity between the two countries has recently centered on the flood of Hollywood imports, such hostility actually predates the cinema. The word 'Americanize' has had a negative connotation for the French since the 1800s. The Old World's problem with the emerging American culture has lain in part on the fact that America was at the forefront of modernity and posed a threat to the 'ancien regime.'

Democracy at risk: American culture in a global culture.

The Americanization of world culture poses a risk to democracy because it hinders the creation of a truly globalized civil society composed of free citizens representing different cultures. While 'McWorld' does not oppose democracy, it is indifferent to it in that its sole purpose is to promote a global society made up of consumers. If no action is taken, globalization will not result in global multiculture or international cooperation, but in the demise of variety and democracy in the face o...

Rethinking American grand strategy: hegemony or balance of power in the twenty-first century?

The US is only beginning to reexamine its future grand strategy years after the end of the Cold War at the start of the 1990s. Inpeacetime, this strategy includes identifying the state's security interests and possible threats and allocating resources to protect those interests. The American grand strategy is an enigma because it has not changed significantly even though the collapse of the Soviet Union has dramatically changed the world order. One possible explanation for this is that the US...

The 'disappearance' of capitalism.

The term 'capitalism' is disappearing in economic literature. Important works, such as 'Principles of Economics' by Gregory Mankiw and 'Economics' by Joseph Stiglitz, ignore the basic social and political aspects of all economies. This development may be attributed to the emergence of a new vision of economics that is now taking the place of numerous socio-political concepts. The new thinking is founded on Science, with economics viewed as a scientific explanation of the workings of 'society.'

The next thousand years.

Global challenges in 21st century The five major challenges facing the world in the 21st century all relate to the five innovations of the previous millenium. These are the emergence of the nation-state, the introduction of the corporation, the proliferation of crime organizations, religious pluralism, and the rise of the morally autonomous man. The problems they create, namely, the moral incapacity of nation-states, unrestrained corporatism, feudalistic crime, troublesome theocracies, and moral individualism, will require so...

The time of the primitives.

US role in world affairs Congress is holding the United States back from fulfilling its leading role in the international affairs. For instance, the Republican members of Congress have recently rejected the Administration's request for additional $18 billion to fund the International Monetary Fund, while Republican-dominated Congress has been hesitant in approving the $819 million that the country owes the United Nations. The extent of American participation in global affairs will depend on America's own sense of pow...

Therapy or democracy? The culture wars twenty years on.

The fact that the culture wars in America since the 1970s cannot really be considered wars is testament to the country's extraordinary luck. With cultural debates revolving mostly around issues such as school curriculum and the allocation of resources for the arts, it seems that the US remains virtually unaffected by the more serious concerns of actual survival rather than merely cultural survival. Nevertheless, although not as grave as an actual war, the radical changes in American culture h...

To End a War.