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31. The China Card: Playing Politics with Sino-American Relations

Author:
Peter Trubowitz and Jungkun Seo
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Perhaps no country will figure more prominently in America's future than China. China's rapid ascent is already an issue on Capitol Hill, and with over 50 percent of Americans worried about the implications of China's rise for the United States, relations with China are a hot-button electoral issue. Indeed, the 2010 midterm election campaign witnessed a flurry of anti-Chinese television ads, linking America's economic troubles to China's emergence as an economic powerhouse. The most memorable of these was the so-called Chinese Professor ad, which depicted a China-dominated future in which confident Chinese intellectuals chuckle over America's relative decline. Alarmed by the spread of "Sinophobia," China responded in early 2011 by launching its own media blitz in the United States, hoping to soften its image among American voters.
Political Geography:
United States, China, and America

32. Skeletons in White House Closets: A Discussion of Modern Presidential Scandals

Author:
Brandon Rottinghaus and Scott Basinger
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Undoubtedly, we live in a period of media-stoked scandal. Actorsʼ and actressesʼ substance abuse, arrests, affairs, divorces, racially insensitive remarks, and indiscretions dominate entertainment news. Athletesʼ steroid abuse, drunk-driving arrests, extra-marital affairs, and extra-legal enterprises feature prominently in sports news. We should hardly be surprised to also find political news filled with scandals. Countless stories have addressed one governorʼs attempt to sell vacant Senate seats, anotherʼs international trips for extra-marital trysts, and anotherʼs penchant for escorts. Presidential candidates have been caught having affairs, fathering children out of wedlock, and raising “slush funds” of cash for personal expenses. Executive branch and judicial nominees have been exposed for cheating on their taxes, cheating on their spouses, sexually harassing their staffs, and hiring undocumented workers. Members of Congress have been caught accepting bribes, employing escorts, sexually harassing pages and staff members, and engaging in embarrassing communications online.
Political Geography:
United States and Washington

33. Identity Politics and Policy Disputes in U.S.–Korea Relations

Author:
Gi-Wook Shin
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Anti-American sentiments and slogans swept South Korea during its 2002 presidential campaign. These movements were not new for the country, but for the first time, they had a crucial impact on its alliance with the United States. A second North Korean nuclear stand-off had just occurred, and candidate Roh Moo Hyunʼs vows to continue engagement with the North, despite the crisis, were clearly at odds with the George W. Bush administrationʼs desire to isolate Pyongyang. In the past, such a threat would have led the South to consolidate its alliance with the United States for reasons of national security. Also preceding the 2002 election, a massive wave of anti-American sentiment had erupted in response to the handling of a U.S. military training accident that killed two Korean schoolgirls: Catholic priests went on a hunger strike, and tens of thousands of Koreans—not just activists but middle-class adults—protested against the United States.1 According to a 2003 Pew survey, aside from certain Arab states, France, and Russia, South Korea was identified as one of the most anti-American countries.2 A 2004 RAND report likewise showed that many South Koreansʼ previously positive views of the United States had become increasingly unfavorable.3 As new progressive, nationalist policy elites sought to reassess the U.S. role in inter-Korean relations and unification, the rationale for the alliance was being questioned and became a subject of intense debate within the South.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, South Korea, North Korea, France, and Korea

34. Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East

Author:
Elena Mastors
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Democracy will save the Middle East. This perspective was promulgated for eight years by the administration of George W. Bush, and because of it, the United States became embroiled in two long-term conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia, spent billions of dollars on the war on terrorism, restructured the intelligence and homeland security communities, and passed legislation at home that many believe negatively impacted our civil liberties. Because of this, we want to believe that it was worth the lives lost and the flagrant spending that had a significant impact on our economic situation today. In her scholarly book, Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East,Katerina Dalacoura asks whether "a convincing case can be made that Islamist terrorism in the Middle East has political causes stemming from non-democratic or authoritarian structures" (p. 23). The author presents a convincing argument that political causes are not the strongest explanation for Islamist terrorism.
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, and Middle East

35. Peace Before Freedom: Diplomacy and Repression in Sadat's Egypt

Author:
Jason Brownlee
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
The Egyptian – Israeli Peace Treaty of April 1979 capped four major wars and inaugurated a new U.S. – Egyptian relationship. Henceforth, U.S. presidents would regard the Egyptian – Israeli treaty as a cornerstone of American interests and values in the region. In 2003, President George W. Bush recognized Egypt as a trailblazer of peace and urged the country to “ show the way toward democracy in the Middle East. ” 1 The remark spoke to Washington ʼ s success reconciling historic adversaries and its ostensible hope for political reform in Cairo. Between the U.S. and Egyptian governments, though, peace and democracy had been at odds since the treaty ʼ s drafting. The autocratic prerogatives of President Anwar Sadat (r. 1970 – 1981) were a sine qua non of successful bargaining. Negotiators on all sides presupposed tight policing within Egypt. At this crossroads of diplomacy and domestic poli- tics, Sadat fused international peace and internal repression.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States, America, Middle East, and Egypt

36. How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle

Author:
Robert Litwak
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
“ Tell me, how does this end? ” General David Petraeus famously asked in 2003 as the rapid toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime by U.S. forces was giving rise to a deadly insurgency in Iraq. In his sweeping study of American wars from World War I to Iraq — an amalgam of history, “ neoclassical ” realist theory, and policy prescription — Gideon Rose elucidates how the country ʼ s leaders have not adequately met “ the Clauswitzian challenge ” of planning for the post-war period even as they are conducting military operations against an adversary.
Political Geography:
United States and Iraq

37. China, the United States, and Global Order, Rosemary Foot and Andrew Walter

Author:
Allen Carlson
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
China's relationship with the rest of the world is increasingly pivotal to the existing international order, and progressively more complex. Yet, academics and policymakers alike have found it exceedingly difficult to come to terms with these trends. In contrast, Rosemary Foot and Andrew Walter's remarkable China, the United States, and Global Order comprehensively elucidates the main dynamics within contemporary Chinese (and American) foreign policy, and does so in a manner that is both conceptually sophisticated and empirically rich. The book weaves together three broad issues: global governance, great-power politics, and international regimes. It asks to what degree China and the United States have contributed to the contemporary global order, how much both actors are constrained by this production (and its attendant international regimes), and to what extent their relationship with each other is both framed by, while at the same time constitutive of, such a construct.
Political Geography:
United States and China

38. Why Iowa? How the Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process

Author:
Christopher Hull
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
The 2012 presidential race is well under way, and with it comes a groundbreaking study of the Iowa caucuses and the U.S. nomination system. Why Iowa is fascinating, rich in new gems unearthed in its data that will substantially advance the U.S. presidential nomination literature.
Political Geography:
United States

39. Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq War

Author:
Loch K. Johnson
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Anything on intelligence written by Robert Jervis is worth reading. This volume is certainly no exception. In this instance, he takes on the difficult job of trying to understand why the United States, despite spending $80 billion on intelligence each year, still makes mistakes in predicting the trajectory of world affairs.
Political Geography:
United States and Iraq

40. Going Local: Presidential Leadership in the Post-Broadcast Age

Author:
Martin Johnson
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
This ambitious book focuses on presidential activities in the contemporary political environment that Jeffrey Cohen characterizes as marked by polarized political parties in Congress and fragmented mass media. Building on his own work (for example, the recent The Presidency in the Era of 24-Hour News) and the contextual theory that Samuel Kernell develops in the classic Going Public, Cohen connects presidential behavior to the organization of Congress and the mass media. As the shift from congressional institutional pluralism(which Cohen identifies as prevailing 1953–1969 [p. 43]) to individual pluralism (1970–1988) helps explain presidentsʼ increased emphasis on public activities covered by national media, so more-recent changes in political context have affected presidentsʼ public behavior. Cohen argues that congressional polarization and media fragmentation (1989–present) help explain recent presidential efforts to more narrowly target constituencies via interest groups and local media. As an example of this tactical shift, Cohen notes President George W. Bushʼs schedule of domestic travel to circumvent his “national Pooh-Bahs” (p. 2) and build support for legislative initiatives.
Political Geography:
United States, China, Israel, Soviet Union, and Egypt