Globalization and Global Realization
Sanja Bahun, Rutgers University, Spring 2005
Assignment 1
Writing assignment:
How do we achieve objectivity if some states admittedly have a more prominent role in designing the international humanitarian law? What is the role of the USA in this process?
Food for thought:
In her complex essay, Mary Kaldor distinguishes between the so-called "modern war" (inter-state war, characteristic of the development of the modern states from the fifteenth century to the break of the Cold War) and its disintegration and ramifications (Netforces, New American Militarism, Neo-Modern Militarism, and Protectionforce) in recent history. The USA is assigned a specific role in the new warfare developments, the one that Kaldor describes as the New American Militarism. Discuss this phenomenon and Kaldor's supporting claims. Do you agree with Kaldor's view that America is the "last nation state" that still has the capacity to act unilaterally and if yes, what are the implications of such acting? The USA obviously partakes in other types of modern warfare which Kaldor delineates. Do you deem Kaldor's typology accurate and exhaustive? Most importantly-is her final solution of controlling war by the "extension and application of international humanitarian law" (Kaldor 395) satisfying?
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Assignment 2
Writing assignment:
What are, in your opinion, the consequences of the prominent economical, cultural, and military spreading of the USA on the world scene?
Food for thought:
Eric Schlosser takes up the complex question of the success of the fast-food industry as representative of the process of the spreading of American values, tastes and interests worldwide. Is the "cheap food" of poor quality a real paradigm of the American way of life? What other paradigms can you think of (country music, Hollywood movies, etc.)? What do they have in common? It is not incidental that McDonald's executives describe the company's ever-spreading presence in the world as "global realization:" "Americanization" of eating habits around the globe connects and equalizes people of different races, religions, and societal status, thereby emerging as a new and powerful lever of globalization. Schlosser seems to imply that the globalization thus achieved is mainly conducted by the USA. How does this phenomenon relate to Kaldor's idea of globalization and peacekeeping forces as its military articulation? Both Kaldor and Schlosser seem to suggest that globalization is inevitable. Who, Kaldor or Schlosser, views the process of globalization in a better light? With whom do you agree and why?
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Assignment 3
Writing assignment:
What are the ways in which the US can recuperate its image and reestablish itself as a positive role-model in the apparently inevitable process of globalization? Should the US try to do that at all? Combining all three readings, position yourself towards these issues and present your own argument in a persuasive manner.
Food for thought:
Kaldor, Schlosser, and Chua explore the role of America in present-day global military, economic and cultural changes. The authors delineate both positive and negative impacts of US dominance on the world scene and the consequences it has on the image of the USA in the eyes of other nations. Amy Chua, in particular, engages in the discussion of anti-American sentiment on the most immediate basis. She perceives in this recent phenomenon not only valid nation-based attempts to resist "Americanization" and humiliation in the face of a culturally and economically dominant state, but also a more complicated process of "demagogue-fueled mass resentment against a market-dominant minority" (Chua 231). The visible (and often terrifying) costs of the anti-American climate cry for a solution to this complex cultural and socio-political development.
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Assignment 4
Writing assignment:
Could a change of our "adversarial culture" into a "culture of dialogue" (with a concomitant change in political discourse) generate wider transformations in the economical, cultural, and political conduct of the USA? Would this shift in the model of interrelating lessen the amount of resentment other countries feel towards the USA as a "global economical minority" and how? Drawing closely on the work of Deborah Tannen and Amy Chua, please develop your own argument concerning this issue.
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Assignment 5
Writing assignment:
Drawing closely on the work of Deborah Tannen and Malcolm Gladwell, please respond to the following assignment question: could "small changes in context" (Gladwell) influence a wider transformation of an adversarial culture into one of dialogue (Tannen)? If yes-how? If no-why not?
Food for thought:
Think about Gladwell's concepts of the Law of the Few, the Stickness Factor, the Tipping Point, and the Power of the Context. How can these be utilized in conjunction with Tannen's plea for a "dialogized" culture? Which of them belong to the realm of debate and which are representative of the dialogue? If the "context-changes" can indeed impact the overall transformation of culture, what is to be gained by this shift? Refer to the writers and to your independent opinion.
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