The Internationalization of the Sudanese Conflict

A playground for proxies: Iran and Israel may become more involved in the Sudanese imbroglio

Since an Islamist-backed military coup brought Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, to power in 1989, Shia-run Iran has seen Sunni-dominated Sudan as a useful ally in north-east Africa... Israeli ties to the southerners go back to the 1960s, when they first received arms and training. More recently Israeli security experts have reportedly been working with South Sudan’s revamped military.

Jake sent in this story about international involvement in the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan. What are the implications of this involvement for the region and for international security?

Questions and Considerations for Thirteen Days

Pres. Kennedy and Sec. McNamara

Think of these questions and issues while watching the movie and afterwards.

If you have any questions about the movie, or would like to put forward some answers to these questions (only one or two at a time, please) feel free to do so in the comments.

1. Keep track of the people who are involved in each decision and what their official jobs are. 
2. What methods did the Kennedys use to go about making a decision?
3. What are the different solutions that are put forward in Thirteen Days?
4. What are the pros and cons of the different solutions?
5. Who supports which options?
6. How unified is the administration in developing and choosing solutions?
7. Why are some are some members of the administration so worried about world opinion?
8. Why is it so important that the surveillance pilots lie about being shot at?
9. Why is MacNamara so concerned about the Navy firing “star shells?”
10. Which conceptual models (from Allison: Rational Policy; Organizational Process; Bureaucratic Politics) do you think best explains the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis? Why?
11. Are there certain episodes in the Cuban Missile Crisis that are better explained by one conceptual model or another? When and why?

How We Feel about Child Soldiers

The image above is a "word cloud." A word cloud (or tag cloud) is a visual representation of a set of words. In this case, the size of the words is in proportion to how frequently they appeared in the set (the colors are random). I drew the set from the responses you all submitted in response to the child soldiers presentation by Group #2 (Jeremy, Vishal, John & David).

To create the image, I used the Wordle tool. You can design word clouds of your own: just click on the Wordle link and enter a URL or a word list.

Feel free to share in the comments any thoughts you might have about this terrible issue.

A "Legal Coup" in Paraguay

Behind the Paraguayan coup

Following a skewed vote in the opposition-controlled Congress, Lugo was removed from office for allegedly encouraging land seizures. In an upset, Vice-President Federico Franco of the Liberal Party assumed the presidency... There's no evidence that the US played a role in the impeachment, though to be sure the US defence establishment had plenty of reason to be unhappy with Paraguay's left-leaning president.

What is it mean for a coup d'etat to be "legal?" Can you think of similar historical examples? What might this mean for democracy in Latin America?

Update and Materials Added

Update: review sheet for first assessment now available.

As you may have read in my email, I have set up a review session for tomorrow afternoon. I have reserved 1108 Tydings Hall beginning at 1:45 PM.

You should have a review sheet by then, and you're welcome to ask me and your classmates questions about the upcoming assessment.

If you had intended to meet with me during office hours, please let me know and we can meet before, after, or at another time by appointment.

I have also posted slides from yesterday's and today's classes. You can view them above under the Slides tab.

Who Holds the Power in the New Egypt?

Egypt: Who holds the power?

The dispute between Egypt's new President, Mohammed Mursi, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, and the Supreme Constitutional Court over the dissolution of parliament has raised questions about where power lies in the country.

So who really has the power in Egypt? Think about what power is, and where it comes from, before you answer that question. Also, is there anything the US could do to steer Egypt towards a more democratic course?

You may have noticed…

I have posted two slides from today's class on the blog. You can view them here.

Also, I officially changed my office hours to Monday and Thursday from 1:45 - 2:45 in 1115A Tydings Hall.

Don't forget to fill out the introductory survey—it's your class participation credit for Monday.

Finally, you'll notice that the post below this one is an opportunity to gain extra participation points. Constructive dialogue on the issue is welcome. Please leave your name if you comment, so you can receive credit.