The 21st Century World

Here are your choices for the ONLY take-home short-essay exam for this portion of the course. You do NOT need to use any resources outside of what we've referenced in class. (You can do outside research if you'd like, and you would, of course, cite any of them appropriately.) I want you to choose 2 of these questions to answer. I'm thinking somewhere between 350-500 words on each, but go beyond if you feel inspired.

Let's have these on FRIDAY, MAY 28th

Remember, you pick two questions from the list...

1. You're at least several hundred pages (hopefully) into Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat. Now it is your turn to "talk" to him. This is your chance to present your critique of any/all of his ideas and positions. It's your chance to articulate an alternative vision of the events and trends of the early 21st century. It's your turn. (Note that this is not intended to be an evaluation of Freidman as an author, but rather as a thinker or interpreter or whatever. And, no, you shouldn't simply rehash some blog answers here.)

2. This is your chance to show of your prognosticating abilities. Assume that you receive a copy of the 2014 Foreign Policy magazine's "Failed States Index" from me as a college graduation present. Tell me which three states you believe will lead the Index as "failing" or even "failed" states. Your answer should display both an understanding of some of the indicators of a failed state as well as some sort of explanation of what you believe will have transpired over those five years in those states.

3. It's the year 2020. You have your choice of sitting down with Samuel Huntington ("Clash of Civilizations") OR Thomas Barnett (The Pentagon's New Map) and telling him why you believe events in the world over that decade (2010-2020) have proven him to be either a prophet or a liar. Explain why.

4. Maybe you think Jared Diamond and/or Kirkpatrick Sale might be on to something, or maybe you think they are brilliant. Either way, you want to make a name for yourself. Establish your own set of 4 or 5 criteria that you believe can effectively differentiate 'civilizations' or states doomed to fail from those destined to succeed. Obviously, you should explain why you chose the criteria that you did.

5. Mr. Downs decides to take a well-deserved vacation, and he puts you in charge for the next two weeks. Assuming that you have a reasonable (not unlimited) budget, a cooperative faculty, and the power to implement changes quickly, tell me how you would change things at Mounds Park Academy to better prepare its students to succeed in the globalizing world of the 21st century. (Your answer should display an understanding of some of the issues/facts/trends discussed in "Lost in America," the Foreign Policy article.)

This will be the final "regular" blog entry. Here's what you need to know to survive your final week. The Great Decisions schedule is below. (We'll slip the Afghanistan/Pakistan group in one day this week.)

The final required blog entry is posted. (It's Blog Entry #15.) I have also posted the Extra Credit Blog Entry. You can get credit for doing that.

Take-Home Essay Exam #2 is due on Friday. You can either print that out or email it to me.

Great Decisions:
Monday, May 18th - Global Food Crisis - Amit, Andy and Waleed

Tuesday, May 19th - Cuba - Annelise, Jaya, Kelsey and Sonia
Wednesday, May 20th - Egypt - Dan, Lauren and John - Will and Andrew
Thursday, May 21st - Human Rights - Asha, Ben and Veronica

TBD - Afghanistan and Pakistan - Ann, Kathryn, and McKenzie

By the end of the course, you are supposed to have read Chapters 16, "The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention," and 17, "11/9 Versus 9/11." You have the option of doing one additional blog entry for extra credit.

I'll expect a comment of one good paragraph or more. (To me, that means 5-6 sentences at a minimum.) You do not need to worry about perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation, but they should be understandable. Remember that this is a public site, and you are responsible for the content of your postings. Assume that each comment is worth 5 points.

YOUR COMMENT SHOULD BE POSTED BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY ON MONDAY, MAY 25th TO RECEIVE THE EXTRA CREDIT.

Page references are from the paperback edition of the book...

1. "The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention" and "The Golden Arches Theory" (page 586) - Is there anything to these ideas? Is it simply Friedman being Friedman? Assess the validity of one or both of these ideas he has advanced.

2. How frightened should we be on the stuff Friedman starts talking about in the "Infosys versus al-Qaeda" section? (page 595) Do you agree with his conclusion that, "Hell hath no fury like a terrorist with a satellite dish and an interactive Web site?" Explain.

3. (Page 609) "In early 1999, two men started airlines from scratch, just a few weeks apart." What lessons should we take away from the comparison that begins with this line?

4. "When memories exceed dreams, the end is near." (page 617) Where is the balance currently for America? Are we in danger of having memories exceed dreams? Have they already? What is your prognosis for the future?

By the end of the course, you are supposed to have read Chapter 15, "The Unflat World." Answer one of the following questions. I'll expect a comment of one good paragraph or more. (To me, that means 5-6 sentences at a minimum.) You do not need to worry about perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation, but they should be understandable. Remember that this is a public site, and you are responsible for the content of your postings. Assume that each comment is worth 5 points.

YOUR COMMENT SHOULD BE POSTED BEFORE THURSDAY IN ORDER TO GET FULL CREDIT.

There's an awful lot of "good" stuff in this chapter. There are shocking statistics, great quotations, dire predictions, and a lot of material in which to sink your teeth. Choose the section that most interests you:

• Too Sick
  
• Too Disempowered
  
• Too Frustrated
  
• Too Many Toyotas

Your comment should react to some of the information and conclusions presented in that section. You can deal with specific examples, statistics and/or quotations, or you can deal with the topic at a more "holistic" level. You can be analytical, emotional, predictive or whatever combination of these that suits your fancy...

By the end of the course, you are supposed to have read Chapter 14, "What Happens When We All Have Dog's Hearing?"

I'll expect a comment of one good paragraph or more. (To me, that means 5-6 sentences at a minimum.) You do not need to worry about perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation, but they should be understandable. Remember that this is a public site, and you are responsible for the content of your postings. Assume that each comment is worth 5 points.

YOUR COMMENT SHOULD BE POSTED BEFORE CLASS TIME ON TUESDAY, MAY 19th.

Page references are from the paperback edition of the book...

1. Refer to the Paris taxi anecdote Friedman relates on pages 514-516. I want to know two things. What lessons should we take from this sort of anecdote? Have you had a similar experience? If so, share.

2. (Page 523) "What happens when we can all not only rant or whisper anything we want in our MySpace blog or podcast, but also hear everything ranted or whispered about us?" In other words, "How thick is your skin?"

3. Dov Seidman, a business ethicist, wrote (pp. 529-530) that "your reputation will follow you and precede you on your next stop. It gets there before you do. You don't get to spend four years of college getting drunk. Your reputation is getting set much earlier in life." Your thoughts? (No, I'm not asking about college drinking, but rather about the whole phenomenon Seidman discusses.)

4. Are you "net worried?" (Page 530) Why or why not?

REMINDERS: Try and get up through Chapter 15 by Monday in The World Is Flat. Friedman does some of his best analysis later in the book. Remember that Blog Entry #15 will be the final required entry, but I'll post #16 and #17 by Monday as extra credit/ replacement options.

Great Decisions:
Monday, May 18th - Global Food Crisis - Amit, Andy and Waleed
Tuesday, May 19th - Cuba - Annelise, Jaya, Kelsey and Sonia
Wednesday, May 20th - Egypt - Dan, Lauren and John - Will and Andrew
Thursday, May 21st - Human Rights - Asha, Ben and Veronica

TBD - Afghanistan and Pakistan - Ann, Kathryn, and McKenzie

We'll take a look at a couple of semi-random things today. In addition, we can certainly chat any Thomas Friedman since we haven't checked in with him for a while.

• Gapminder is a really neat way to look at statistics across the globe and across time. I'm not at all good at this yet, but I can give you a basic look at how it works.
  
  
• TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a site you should really take a look at. Basically, really smart and interesting people gather each year to share things. You might want to check out the Top 10 TEDTalks for some ideas.
  
  

• Here's an example of the Gapminder data in a speech by Hans Rosling. This is quite interesting: "The Seemingly Impossible is Possible."
  
  

• The Freakonomics blog had a link to the "Society at a Glance" 2009 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (You might remember they are the 30 "Western" industrial economies.) If you scroll down, you can access a bunch of really interesting data. Browse around a bit, and we'll take a look at some of what you find.

REMINDERS: Getting through Chapter #14 by Friday keeps you on track to finish before the end of next week. (You know you want to see how it all ends up...) Remember that Blog Entry #15 will be the final required entry, but I'll post #16 and #17 by Monday as extra credit/ replacement options.

Great Decisions:

Thursday, May 14th - Rising Powers - Meghan, Jack and Matt

Friday, May 15th - Afghanistan and Pakistan - Ann, Kathryn, and McKenzie

Monday, May 18th - Global Food Crisis - Amit, Andy and Waleed
Tuesday, May 19th - Cuba - Annelise, Jaya, Kelsey and Sonia
Wednesday, May 20th - Egypt - Dan, Lauren and John - Will and Andrew
Thursday, May 21st - Human Rights - Asha, Ben and Veronica

If we have time: The Freakonomics blog had a link to the "Society at a Glance" 2009 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (You might remember they are the 30 "Western" industrial economies.) If you scroll down, you can access a bunch of really interesting data. Browse around a bit, and we'll take a look at some of what you find.

By the end of the course, you are supposed to have read Chapter 13, "If It's Not Happening, It's Because You're Not Doing It."

I'll expect a comment of one good paragraph or more. (To me, that means 5-6 sentences at a minimum.) You do not need to worry about perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation, but they should be understandable. Remember that this is a public site, and you are responsible for the content of your postings. Assume that each comment is worth 5 points.

YOUR COMMENT SHOULD BE POSTED BEFORE CLASS TIME ON MONDAY IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT.

1. Perhaps you already consider yourself to be one, but I want you to "become" a social entrepreneur-activist for this blog entry. What would you do? How would you do it? Why?

2. After reading this chapter, I'm assuming you've developed some opinions about the efficacy and/or desirability of the sorts of efforts Friedman describes. This is your chance to "editorialize" about the whole phenomenon. Make reference to specific events as you see fit.