Journal Review in Current Events and World Affairs

It is difficult to stay up on all the current events in world affairs, as there is always some conflict going on or some negotiation between nations. And then there are the rogue nations, and the United Nations, and groups trying to get together to figure out a solution which is fair for all concerned, that won't lead to problems of unintended consequences. This is easier than it sounds, and it's easy to get lost in the political international rhetoric.

Yes the United States is involved in that rhetoric just as much as any other nation and each nation tries to serve its own self interests, or the interests of their leaders. One way to stay up on all the current events and happenings is to take a professional journal which discusses these topics, where the editors pour through articles which appear in all sorts of other publications, and they pick the best ones out for you to read. There is such a journal which I'd like to recommend to you. It's one that I often read through, as there are quite a few good articles. The name of the Journal is;

"Current - Required Reading Recommended by Leading Opinion Makers," published by Routledge - Taylor and Francis publishing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ISSN: 0011 - 3131.

Let me give you some for instances, in the October 2010 issue; number 526 there were several great articles. One was "Too Bad Not to Fail," by William J Quirk, which questions the CDO markets and the derivative markets. And the rest of the journal focused on China, which has been in the news quite a bit lately one article took us looking pretty far ahead to the year 2020 with an article titled "The Gathering Storm - America in China in 2020" by Ian Bremmer.

The next article was "China Turns on the Charm" by Helle C Dale. Both of these articles also appeared in world affairs magazine in the July August issue of 2010. You see, it's not easy to go and read all the various magazines, and writings from all the top universities on such topics, but it is even better to see that someone else has gone through all the articles and picked out the best ones for us to read. There is a lot of value in that, especially for someone who runs a think tank like I do. Thus, I would like to recommend this particular journal to you, if these topics are of interest. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.worldthinktank.net/ - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

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Book Review - The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

In our turbulent world, it is tempting to view America as surrounded by enemies intent on our destruction. Everywhere we look, we can see signs of American influence waning. Often-and especially in a time of economic turmoil-our mounting troubles can seem insurmountable. But sometimes merely looking at the world through a different lens can help us gain some perspective. And if that lens is held by one of today's most perceptive observers of the world scene, it might even help us all take a deep breath and relax.

In Post-American World, best-selling author Fareed Zakaria takes a look at America's place in the world and explains why we have reason to be optimistic. Zakaria, who was born in India, came to this country as an awkward and naive eighteen-year old in the depths of the recession of the early 1980s. What he found then-and what he still sees all around us today-is a vibrant and expansive country, open to fresh ideas and eager to show the world what it has to offer. What has changed in today's world, he explains, in not America: rather, it is the merely rest of the world, racing to catch up with us. And while this new era-where American ideas and aspirations have inspired the world to follow us into the future-may pose unique challenges, they need not be as frightening as the pessimists and nay-sayers make them out to be. In his view, the key to understanding our changing world is to realize that America is not really lagging behind; rather, it is the rest of the world that is rising. And if we are tempted to respond by retreating-withdrawing into Fortress America, secure in our belief in our own superiority-then we are playing a game that has failed other civilizations in the past, and would likely surrender our leadership for the future.

Among the cautionary tales the author cites from history is the example of China, another great country that once stood at the pinnacle of greatness. Nearly a century before Columbus, in the early 1400s, a series of expeditions set forth from China, with several hundred vessels, each larger than an Spanish galleon, carrying thousands of men. They sailed eastern shores, down coast of Southeast Asia and into the Indian Ocean, impressing they met with majesty and might of Chinese civilization, and returning with treasures including precious stones, exotic plants and animals. Yet by the middle of the century, all this stopped: a new emperor had come to power-one who viewed these excursions as needless and expensive extravagances of little use to China. Before the end of the next century, building similar ships was forbidden on pain of death, and vast tracts of forests were burned to make similar ventures impossible in the future. And so China, convinced of its own superiority, turned firmly away from outside contact to withdraw within itself...and before long, the rest of the world had passed the stagnating Chinese culture in all manner of accomplishments. It has taken them six centuries of struggling to approach the pinnacle again; and now, having learned the lesson of history, they seem determined not to repeat the mistake.

Today, though we are beset by dangers on many sides, Zakaria reminds us that we often fail to appreciate just how lucky we are to live in an age of plenty and an era of discovery and adventure. Now that America has led the way, the rest of the world is racing to catch up to us. But, he cautions, we should not treat their efforts with suspicion or disdain, but we should embrace the future envisioned by our own ideals-for it is those very ideals that have long inspired the world.

Foremost among our many resources are the American culture and people. Both are filled with resilience and optimism. The American spirit of innovation derives from the openness of our culture, and our embrace of the off-beat and heretical-as well as the welcome we have shown to the best and the brightest from around the world. And despite the imperfections of our much-derided educational system, the author demonstrates that most of our problems stem from disparities within our own country: there is, the author notes, a greater disparity between students from our typical, middle-class schools and those from poverty-stricken, inner-city schools than there is between our best, and the best from the rest of the world. And while we bemoan our own lagging test scores, others are actually coming to the US to learn our techniques. And what impresses them most are the things we take for granted: the willingness of our students to challenge teachers; their courage to speak out in class; and their ability to be creative in applying what's taught to their everyday lives. While the rest of the world may beat us at teaching their students to take standardized tests, our system seems to excel at producing people who can be innovative, willing to challenge convention. Our culture seems drawn to the heretical and oddball; and since our schools don't quite squash this out of our students as well as some countries do, these same oddballs help keep our culture fresh.

Comparing us to the British Empire in its heyday, Zakaria notes that Britain, though blessed with gifted statesmen, was saddled with a dysfunctional economic and cultural system that stifled creative impulses of British society. In many ways America's challenge is just the reverse: we have a vibrant, dynamic culture that remains the envy of the world-but one that is saddled with a political system that often seems more intent on gaining temporary partisan advantage than moving the country forward. And where our culture benefits from the influx of immigrants-bringing energy, ambition, and new ideas along with them-we often mistake the challenges they bring as well for danger, rather than viewing them for what they are and have always been: a priceless source of renewal.

Insightful and well-written, filled with a global perspective often lacking in today's commentators, The Post-American World offers hope as well as perspective. It is written not in the lofty tones of academics, but with a precision born of thought and deep understanding. Those interested in understanding America's place in the world-past, present, and future-would do well to read it carefully. The world, after all, needs an America-embodying the free spirit and sense of adventure we have always taken for granted. That is, the author concludes, this country's real role in the world-and the reason that most people across the Earth still look to the United States with good will. It would be a pity if, through misguided attempts to hold back the future, we squandered the America we have...and forced the world to go looking for a new one.

Jeffrey Caminsky, a veteran public prosecutor in Michigan, specializes in the appellate practice of criminal law and writes on a wide range of topics. He is the author of the science fiction adventure novels, The Sirens of Space and The Star Dancers, the first two volumes in the Guardians of Peace science fiction adventure series, as well as The Referee's Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating, and The Sonnets of William Shakespeare a book on Elizabethan poetry, all published by New Alexandria Press, http://www.newalexandriapress.com/books.html.

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The World Without Us

The World Without Us is the most recent work by famed environmentalist and futurist Alan Weisman. Set in what amounts to a fairly familiar situation now, the world after humanity is wiped out (he makes no guess what causes it, just assumes that it has happened) Weisman goes through a number of different aspects of civilization and how they will change without human intervention.

One aspect of Weisman's writing and conclusions which I enjoyed was that he didn't take the easy answers. He didn't simply say that nature would improve and that everything would go smoothly once humans stopped existing. Far from it, in fact. He talks at some length about what happens to plastic when it is does not end up in landfills. We've all seen plastic bags floating on the water at the beach, or blowing in the wind, but what happens when that plastic is broken down by ocean currents over many years? Weisman estimates (no one can know for sure, plastic hasn't been around long enough for anyone to know, even in a laboratory setting) that the plastic simply is literally pounded into microscopic parts and those parts are going to be digested by small, incredibly small organisms. Will they be able to use them for food, or will this additional plastic reek havoc with the entire ecosystem? Again, no one knows but Wesiman isn't all doom and gloom on the subject, even suggesting that he feels an animal will eventually evolve with the ability to digest these plastic particles as food.

Any novel on this topic wouldn't be complete without a chapter on our current domesticated animals, Weisman's work is no different here. Clearly, as many of us would expect animals like cows and even the family dog are so adapted to humans taking care of them that they don't have much hope in a world without humans. The family cat is another story though as it has never totally surrendered to human control, as evidenced by the fact that the average house cat will still hunt even when well fed.

If you're looking for a novel about the future, even one without us, The World Without Us makes for an enjoyable read and I believe finds a nice middle ground between favoring human intervention and natural selection in the wider world around us.

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The World Is Flat 3.0 - A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

Thomas Friedman's THE WORLD IS FLAT is one book that must be read if one desires to improve or change your life for the better. The book begins with an examination or analysis of the various factors that play a major role in creating a smaller world with the leveling of the "global competitive playing field" which is responsible for creating a more integrated community.

The part that follows is a convincing explanation of the crisis that the countrymen of America face after the 9/11 tragedy. The book presents a bare and distasteful view of the dangers of this period of time in which we live yet it also brings along its share of hope. Friedman states that nation that has more memories than dreams is more likely to face trouble as in the case of America. The nation that was once characterized as a nation of dreams and their realization was reduced to one that lived and died on its memories after the 9/11 attack.

This has drastically changed the course of the nation and the lives of the people as they now feel weakened and hopeless when they look back at the terrible memories of 9/11. The author does stress that although the situation looks bleak it is never too late to change everything that has gone wrong but in order to do so, one must take matters into his own hands and start acting from the present moment.

The most touching sections of the book have been the stories of real life individuals who make a difference in today's "flat" world. For example, he writes about a Harvard Business Graduate who sets up a company in Cambodia to conduct data entry and a businessman in India who funds a school to teach the untouchables. A moving incident occurs when Friedman asks one of these untouchable children what they would like to become in the future. Instead of merely surviving in the world as would be expected, these children actually dream of becoming doctors or astronauts. Therefore we should be able to reflect on our own roles that we need to play to make a difference in today's world so as to give back to our nation and to our world.

A must read for everyone of all backgrounds and ages. Friedman has churned out a masterpiece and one that will benefit future generations as well as ours immensely.

Friedman is dissatisfied with the current apathy from our politicians and culture around this subject, but he is very optimistic and excited about this new flat world and would like to empower and equip people with the knowledge to be able to prosper in it.

If you would like to read a chapter of this important book click here

For your chance to win a free ipad or amazon kindle do check out http://powerfulreviews.com/ thanks.

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SHALOM (Peace in the World)

"Israel was not created in order to disappear. Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom" John F. Kennedy

Shalom is what we all want
God blessed Abraham and his family
Shalom is true authentic peace on Earth

It is the dream of every child in this world
It is the dream that God gave to Abraham
It is the dream that King David envisioned of everlasting Kingdom

Psalm 127

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat.
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Children are a heritage from the LORD,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court."

The State of Israel is to prosper the entire world.
The State of Israel is to be filled with the wisdom of King Solomon to have peace and prosperity for all 6 billion people on Earth.
The State of Israel was, is, and will be emerged blessed for eternity.
The State of Israel will be prosperous and last forever under God.

A poem dedicated to Mr. Isaac Shemesh, future Prime Minister of The State of Israel.

Jose Angel Manaiza Jr. The New All-American Boy is an American contemporary author.

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Third World America by Arianna Huffington, Current Affairs Book - Middle Class USA Economic Meltdown

Arianna Huffington, founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, the sixth most popular online news source, details the state of the nation's middle class. Her new book is entitled, "Third World America: How Our Politicians are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream." Read her perspective and see if you agree.

Third World America presents in five sections, where Chapter One echoes the book's title. It's replete with stories and statistics highlighting the decline of America's middle class. How do you define "middle class?" It resorts to self-definition says Huffington. "If you consider yourself middle class, you are middle class."

The nation's vanishing industrial base, eroding educational system and decaying infrastructure, are decline contributors; as is high unemployment, where one in six Americans is either out of work or underemployed. Meet Dean B., who, at age 35, was laid off from his IT job in February 2009 and is still jobless. Kimberly B. sold her wedding ring on Craigslist to pay her family's utility bills.

Huffington further explores the plight of the middle class, citing fear as a predominant emotion. Obliterated 401(k) s, dwindling pensions, prolific foreclosures, and hints of future Social Security collapse; feed the anxieties. Many now believe that achieving middle class is luck of the draw, not unlike a prize on a scratch-off lottery ticket.

America's infrastructure is unraveling, Huffington declares, with insufficient remedial state and federal funding. Highways, electrical grids, waterways, railroads, and bridges, are a few of the casualties. Some water pipes, originally laid during the Civil War, are perilously operating.

Think August 2007, when the Interstate 35W steel truss bridge over the Mississippi River, in downtown Minneapolis collapsed; killing 13 people and injuring 145. Previous patchwork repairs proved insufficient.

The nation's school system is anemic, where the US ranks twenty-fifth in math and twenty-first in science among thirty developed countries; as ranked by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development. In 2009, America's broadband connection ranked fifteenth among industrialized countries.

Middle class America's downslide has been decades in the making. In the late 1980s, technology, outsourcing, and the loss of manufacturing jobs initiated a sputtering middle class economy with stagnant wages.

Ronald Regan's election saw the proliferation of free market beliefs: less governmental intervention could best determine society's winners and losers. Regan also ushered in the era of great divide between wealthy Americans and the middle class; which continues today.

Huffington says that an unregulated free market is sooner or later corrupted by fraud and excess. Witness the bank bailouts and Wall Street debacle of 2008.

American politics is broken, as powerful lobbyists and corporate America rule Washington. In 2010, three examples of regulatory failures due to corporate coddling, were the explosion at the Upper Branch mine in West Virginia; the BP oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico; and the ongoing aftershock of the financial collapse, including fraud charges against Goldman Sachs. The voice of the middle class is but an echo in the Capitol chambers.

Huffington writes animated analogies to make her points. When discussing influential lobbyists, she says, "And like a swarm of termites reducing a house to sawdust, moneyed interests and their lobbyists are making a meal out of the foundations of our democracy."

Each chapter concludes with a profile of a once successful middle class American, who is now economically struggling. Their stories offer gems of twenty-first century insight, including "Stability is long gone, so you better be doing something you love!"

Third World America's title is extreme, Huffington admits, used to emphasize our nation's possible future, without serious reform. She concludes optimistically, that our descent into a Third World nation "isn't a done deal."

Americans are known for being positive, forward-looking people with a can-do attitude. Stopping the descent to a Third World nation won't be easy. It will take daring initiatives from the private and public sectors and personal responsibility. Now, more than ever, we must mine the most underutilized leadership resource available to us: ourselves. We'll still need the raw power that only big government and appropriations can deliver.

Ultimately, change happens on a local and personal level. Today it's up to us to help each other and ourselves. She advocates breaking up with your big bank. Executives took the governmental bailout, paid themselves record bonuses; yet are unsympathetic to those Americans facing foreclosure. Work instead with community banks and credit unions. The greatest antidote to despair is action; and resiliency is key to survive and thrive in the twenty-first century.

Huffington mirrors Robert B. Reich's message, told in his concurrently released book, Aftershock: The NextEconomy And America's Future. Reich, former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, also endorses Third World America.

One book, presents one voice. Although some will argue Huffington's perspective, Third World America is a thought-provoking read on the present and future state of the nation.

To stay updated on Huffington's Third World America viewpoint, visit, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/third-world-america/

Timothy Zaun is a blogger, speaker and freelance writer. Visit him online at http://timzaun.com/.

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