The 21st Century World

REMINDERS: Please take care of Blog Entry #12 by class time on Wednesday. Reading Chapter 13 for then would be a good idea as well...

To simplify things, we'll schedule these last four presentations one per day. Since groups are going 40+ minutes, that will just make things easier. We can talk some The World Is Flat on Wednesday and Friday with any remaining time.

Up Today:
Mexico - Jake, Mark, Tom

Wednesday, December 12th
Migration - Adam, Will, Ross

Friday, December 14th
Climate - Lindsey, Nicholas

Tuesday, December 18th
Central Asia - Kiley, Roz

By now, you are supposed to have read Chapter 12, “Globalization of the Local.” 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.

YOUR COMMENT SHOULD BE POSTED BEFORE CLASS TIME ON WEDNESDAY IN ORDER TO GET FULL CREDIT.

1. To what extent DOES "globalization mean Americanization?" Explain your answer with specific examples.

2. Is Friedman overly optimistic in his predictions for the coming "globalization of the local?" Why or why not?

3. "Globalization has empowering and disempowering, homogenizing and particularizing, democratizing and authoritarian tendencies all built into it." (page 482 in paperback - 510 in hardcover) You're almost than 500 pages into a book about this stuff. Which "side" do you think will ultimately prevail when "globalization" is evaluated in the history books to come? Why?

4. For you "techies" or anyone else - Ten years from now, we all get together and reread the sections at the end about iPods and podcasts. Will Friedman have overestimated their impact? Underestimated? Completely missed the boat? Explain.

REMINDERS: Please take care of Blog Entry #12 ASAP. Reading Chapter 13 would be a good idea as well, since I'll post that blog entry. I'll plan on posting all future blog entries before break, so people can get them taken care of earlier if they'd like.

Up Today:
Climate - Lindsey, Nicholas

Tuesday, December 18th
Central Asia - Kiley, Roz

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 FRIDAY, JANUARY 11th 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 Chapters 16, “The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention” and 17, "11/9 Versus 9/11."

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 FRIDAY, JANUARY 11th IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FULL 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?

REMINDERS: I'm in the process of posting all future blog entries and the second take-home exam before break, so people can get them taken care of earlier if they'd like.

We've got a couple of guests lined up for the week after break, and we'll make class time on Friday, January 11th the due date for all future work - exams, blog entries, etc.

Tuesday, December 18th
Central Asia - Kiley, Roz

Since we're almost done with our time together (sniff), I suppose it's time for one more of these. 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'm again thinking somewhere between 500-750 words on each. If you go beyond two single-spaced pages on a question, you're doing too much (or using a huge font...)

Let's have these due by FRIDAY, JANUARY 11th.

I should say that I really enjoyed reading what you had to say on the last set of these. The "fixing" MPA question that most of you answered was particularly enlightening for me. I look forward to sharing some of those recommendations with colleagues.

No choice in the questions you pick from, but plenty of wiggle room in terms of where you take them...

1. For most (if not all) of you, college will occupy the majority of the next five years of your life. I want you to project yourself ahead to your own college graduation day. Identify the three issue we covered this course that you feel will be most significant to your life at that time. In each case, please explain how you believe that issue will have changed during the intervening time between now and then. (Note that I am NOT requiring that the issue affect you DIRECTLY. For example, nuclear terrorism may well be very significant in your world without directly impacting you...)

To conclude this essay, please comment on whether you believe the 21st Century will be a more or less safe/desirable place from the perspective of the College Class of 2012 as opposed to the MPA Class of 2008...

2. We will have had seven "Great Decisions" presentations during the last weeks of the course. (Again, to spur your memory: Children, War Crimes, South Africa, Migrations, Mexico, Climate, Central Asia.) I want you to choose one of the topics THAT WAS NOT YOUR OWN. I'm not asking you to do outside research, but you might find the "Great Decisions" website useful.

Assume that you have been made "The Great Decider." I want you to make policy recommendations for the United States on the issue that you chose. Your recommendations need not be consistent with the views of the current administration. Tell me what you believe "we" should do on this issue. You can certainly draw upon Friedman or other sources we consulted for this. (In several cases, you can make recommendations for other agents as well. For example, we should encourage the UN to do A, B, C.)

Again, this is intended to be very open, and your answer need not cover every possible aspect of the problem. You can take a broad, "policy" type of approach, or you can lay out very specific actions. I'm more interested in "What should be done?" as opposed to "What is going on?" We've already heard about the latter in the presentations.

Again, please ask me if you have any questions...

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 FRIDAY, JANUARY 11th 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.

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 FRIDAY, JANUARY 11th IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT.

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?