Failed States

There were a few questions last Friday about failed states.  It just so happens that Foreign Policy, an excellent magazine, publishes a Failed States Index.  The last index was published back in July/August 2010.  According to them, the world's failed states are as follows:
1.  Somalia
2.  Chad
3.  Sudan
4.  Zimbabwe
5.  Dem. Rep. of the Congo
6.  Afghanistan
7.  Iraq
8.  Cen. African Rep.
9.  Guinea
10.  Pakistan
11.  Haiti
12.  Ivory Coast
13.  Kenya
14.  Nigeria
15.  Yemen
16.  Burma
17.  Ethiopia
18.  East Timor
19.  Niger
19.  North Korea

These countries are considered failed because of their demographics, refugees, illegitimate governments, brain drain, public services, inequality, human rights, economic decline, security forces, factionalized elites, and external intervention.

49th Street and Other Stories

Hi All,
In case you're bored and want a bit of entertainment tonight, you can check out the new 49th Street and Other Stories dance video starring my sister, Michelle Joy, at the following web address:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soundingline/49th-street-and-other-stories-a-new-dance-play

Pakistan - US Relations

Hi All,
In recent days, US-Pakistani relations have become quite tenuous and confrontational.  Attached is an article about the tensions and the possible repercussions for further alienation. This could have repercussions across Asia, including China-Pakistan relations.

See: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/23/us-pakistan-usa-idUSTRE78M7DY20110923

Proliferation

Most of you will take one look at the length of this attached essay and close the window, but as we discussed today in class, nuclear proliferation is a very pertinent issue today, given the growing number of nuclear states.  Our job in this class isn't to understand how one gets the bomb, but the underlying political reasons for why different nation states want the bomb.

This article goes a long way toward helping us understand how to answer that question.  If you can't access the link just let me know (joy@saintbernards.us) and I'll bring in a copy or two into class.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/print/66444?page=show

And here is a related post: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/print/65818

Daily Show with Mitch Daniels

Hi All,
Thanks for your hard work.  I encourage you to watch the Daily Show with Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor from Indiana.  Here's the link:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/281200/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-wed-sep-21-2011

I actually met Mr. Daniels at an Asia Society & AmCham Shanghai conference in September 2009 in Shanghai. He is conservative who isn't afraid of speaking up for his principles.  If that is something we are going to learn how to do, it is to our benefit to watch how others perform in those difficult circumstances.  When I met him he was debating Orville Schell of the Asia Society on the relative importance of tackling climate change as a national priority.  I believe it was his first trip to China.

The importance of Learning History

The Education Our Economy Needs

We lag in science, but students' historical illiteracy hurts our politics and our businesses.

By NORM AUGUSTINE

In the spirit of the new school year, here's a quiz for readers: In which of the following subjects is the performance of American 12th-graders the worst? a) science, b) economics, c) history, or d) math?

With all the talk of America's very real weaknesses in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math), you might be surprised to learn that the answer—according to the federal government's National Assessment of Educational Progress—is neither science nor math. And despite what might be suggested by the number of underwater home loans, high-school seniors actually fare best in economics.

Which leaves history as the answer, the subject in which students perform the most poorly. It's a result that puts American employers and America's freedoms in a worrisome spot.

But why should a C grade in history matter to the C-suite? After all, if a leader can make the numbers, does it really matter if he or she can recite the birthdates of all the presidents?

Well, it's not primarily the memorized facts that have current and former CEOs like me concerned. It's the other things that subjects like history impart: critical thinking, research skills, and the ability to communicate clearly and cogently. Such skills are certainly important for those at the top, but in today's economy they are fundamental to performance at nearly every level. A failing grade in history suggests that students are not only failing to comprehend our nation's story and that of our world, but also failing to develop skills that are crucial to employment across sectors. Having traveled in 109 countries in this global economy, I have developed a considerable appreciation for the importance of knowing a country's history and politics.

Enlarge Image

Associated Press

The good news is that a candidate who demonstrates capabilities in critical thinking, creative problem-solving and communication has a far greater chance of being employed today than his or her counterpart without those skills. The better news is these are not skills that only a graduate education or a stint at McKinsey can confer. They are competencies that our public elementary and high schools can and should be developing through subjects like history.

Far more than simply conveying the story of a country or civilization, an education in history can create critical thinkers who can digest, analyze and synthesize information and articulate their findings. These are skills needed across a broad range of subjects and disciplines.

In fact, students who are exposed to more modern methods of history education—where critical thinking and research are emphasized—tend to perform better in math and science. As a case in point, students who participate in National History Day—actually a year-long program that gets students in grades 6-12 doing historical research—consistently outperform their peers on state standardized tests, not only in social studies but in science and math as well.

In my position as CEO of a firm employing over 80,000 engineers, I can testify that most were excellent engineers—but the factor that most distinguished those who advanced in the organization was the ability to think broadly and read and write clearly.

Now is a time to re-establish history's importance in American education. We need to take this opportunity to ensure that today's history teachers are teaching in a more enlightened fashion, going beyond rote memorization and requiring students to conduct original research, develop a viewpoint and defend it.

If the American economy is to recover from the Great Recession—and I believe it can—it will be because of a ready supply of workers with the critical thinking, creative problem-solving, technological and communications skills needed to fuel productivity and growth. The subject of history is an important part of that foundation.

Mr. Augustine, a former under secretary of the Army, is the retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin.

World Bank Gender Equality

World Bank Gender Equality

In association with what we discussed today in class, the World Bank is hosting a 24-hour open forum online for interested participants.

Female Farmers: http://www.worldbank.org/wb/slideshows/kenya-famale-farmers/index.html

See: http://live.worldbank.org/open-forum-gender

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTGENDER/0,,contentMDK:22924405~menuPK:7947140~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:336868,00.html

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTGENDER/0,,contentMDK:22836972~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:336868,00.html

WASHINGTON, September 18, 2011 – Gender equality matters in its own right but is also smart economics: Countries that create better opportunities and conditions for women and girls can raise productivity, improve outcomes for children, make institutions more representative, and advance development prospects for all, says a new World Bank flagship report.

The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development details big strides in narrowing gender gaps but shows that disparities remain in many areas. The worst disparity is the rate at which girls and women die relative to men in developing countries: Globally, excess female mortality after birth and “missing” girls at birth account for an estimated 3.9 million women each year in low- and middle-income countries. About two-fifths are never born due to a preference for sons, a sixth die in early childhood, and over a third die in their reproductive years. These losses are growing in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in countries hard-hit by HIV/AIDS.

“We need to achieve gender equality,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.  “Over the past five years, the World Bank Group has provided $65 billion to support girls’ education, women’s health, and women’s access to credit, land, agricultural services, jobs, and infrastructure. This has been important work, but it has not been enough or central enough to what we do.  Going forward, the World Bank Group will mainstream our gender work and find other ways to move the agenda forward to capture the full potential of half the world’s population.”

The report cites examples of how countries could gain by addressing disparities between men and women:

·  Ensuring equal access and treatment for women farmers would increase maize yields by 11 to 16 percent in Malawi and by 17 percent in Ghana.

· Improving women’s access to agricultural inputs in Burkina Faso would increase total household agricultural production by about 6 percent, with no additional resources—simply by reallocating resources such as fertilizer and labor from men to women.

·  The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that equal access to resources for female farmers could increase agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 2.5 to 4 percent.

·  Eliminating barriers that prevent women from working in certain occupations or sectors would have similar positive effects, reducing the productivity gap between male and female workers by one-third to one-half and increasing output per worker by 3 to 25 percent across a range of countries.

“Blocking women and girls from getting the skills and earnings to succeed in a globalized world is not only wrong, but also economically harmful,” said Justin Yifu Lin, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President, Development Economics. “Sharing the fruits of growth and globalization equally between men and women is essential to meeting key development goals.” 

The report also notes that the world has made significant progress in narrowing gender gaps in education, health and labor markets over the past 25 years.  Disparities between boys and girls in primary education have closed in almost all countries. In secondary education, these gaps are closing rapidly, and in many countries, especially in Latin America, the Caribbean and East Asia, it is now boys and young men who are disadvantaged. Among developing countries, girls now outnumber boys in secondary schools in 45 countries, and there are more young women than men in universities in 60 countries. Similar progress can be seen in life expectancy where women in low-income countries not only outlive men but live 20 years longer than they did in 1960.  And in much of the world, gaps in labor force participation have narrowed with over half a billion women having joined the workforce in the last 30 years. 

Remaining gaps include the lower school enrollments of disadvantaged girls; unequal access for women to economic opportunities and incomes, whether in the labor market, agriculture or entrepreneurship; and large differences in voice between women and men both in households and societies.

The report argues that these patterns of progress and persistence in closing gender gaps matters for development policies. Higher incomes help close some gaps, as in education. As schools expand and more jobs open up for young women, parents see clear benefits to educating their girls.  But too often, markets and institutions (including social norms around house and care work) combine with household decisions to perpetuate disparities between men and women.  As part of this, gender gaps in earnings remain stubbornly unchanged in much of the world. 

The WDR 2012 calls for action in four areas: 1) addressing human capital issues, such asexcess deaths of girls and women and gender gaps in education where these persist; 2)closing earning and productivity gaps between women and men; 3) giving women greater voice within households and societies; and 4) limiting the perpetuation of gender inequalityacross generations.

“Focused domestic public policies remain the key to bringing about gender equality,” said Ana Revenga, WDR Co-Director.  “And to be effective, these policies will need to address the root causes of gender gaps. For some problems, as with high maternal mortality, this will require strengthening the institutions that deliver services. For other gaps, as with unequal access to economic opportunities, policies will need to tackle the multiple constraints –in markets and institutions- that keep women trapped in low productivity/low earning jobs.”

To ensure that progress on gender equality is sustained, the international community needs to complement domestic policy actions in each of these priority areas. It can also support evidence-based action by fostering efforts to improve data, promote impact evaluation and encourage learning.  The report recommends that policymakers focus on the most stubborn gender gaps that rising incomes alone cannot solve. It is by fixing those shortcomings that the payoffs to development are likely to be greatest, and where policies changes will make the most difference.

“Development partners can support domestic policies in many ways -- more funding, greater innovation and better partnerships,” said Sudhir Shetty, WDR Co-Director, “Additional financing for clean water and sanitation and maternal services, for instance, will help the poorest countries. More experimentation, systematic evaluation and better gender-disaggregated data can point to ways of improving women’s access to markets. And, partnerships can fruitfully be expanded to include the private sector, civil society groups and academic institutions.”

The report is available at: http://www.worldbank.org/wdr2012

Contacts:    In Washington: Merrell Tuck-Primdahl, (202) 473-9516, Mtuckprimdahl@worldbank.org 

For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, (202) 458-9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org