United Nations Tunes Up for First International Jazz Day – NYTimes.com

Important global meetings at the General Assembly.  Bring your own saxophone:

“Jazz is a great music that I feel has never been given its just due or recognition for having affected so many lives in various cultures throughout the world,” said Mr. Hancock, who was the driving force behind the designation and is a special ambassador for the organization.

“Unesco is exactly the proper setting to do that. With these musicians from various nations, we’re really showing a vision for globalization that’s a positive one.”Monday night’s concert follows similar shows on Friday night in Paris, once a home to expatriate American players like Dexter Gordon, Sidney Bechet, Bud Powell and Archie Shepp; and at sunrise Monday morning in New Orleans, considered the birthplace of jazz. Scheduled to attend all three events is Irina Bokova, a former Bulgarian minister of foreign affairs, who is now director general of Unesco.

“I think there is a lot of symbolism around jazz and the multiculturalism and diversity of which it speaks,” she said in a telephone interview from Paris. “If you ask what jazz is for me, I’d say it’s freedom, human dignity and boundless spirit, which makes it a very very powerful universal force. We say around here that jazz was born in the United States, but is owned by the world.”

via United Nations Tunes Up for First International Jazz Day – NYTimes.com.

Following the Crisis in Syria

Who are best sources to use if you want to follow the latest revolution in Syria?

• Syria Comment by Joshua Landis, University of Oklahoma with some of the most current and important ideas.  See also his Amazon reading list on Syria.
• The Syria Page by Camille Otrakji includes a number of articles on the current situation
• Marc Lynch, also known as Abu Aardvark on FP.com cover’s the Middle East widely but is a must read source for broader information–and Syria is definitely well covered in his posts.
• Nir Rosen on Al Jazeera is a journalist who has had a rocky career recently–but appears to be getting back to his on-the-ground roots.  His early work on Iraq (from Iraq) mirrors his recent reporting on Syria (from Syria).
• Beyond the Fall of Syria from The Middle East Research and Information Project

Who to Follow on Twitter?

Twitter is a great resources and so far the only list I can find that suggests who to follow is Social Media Chimps.  (Checking the Twitter account of people listed above, including for lists focusing on Syria, would be the next best bet.

Keep in mind that Syria is not Libya, nor is it Egypt.  As Steven Cook of CFR astutely observes:

I’ve been struck by the way in which proponents and opponents of intervention have used precisely the same evidence to marshal support for their claims.  For example, Moscow’s support for the Assads is leveraged in a way both to suggest that only force can stop the killing and  as a reason not to intervene because with the help of the Russian (and Chinese and Iranians) whatever force that is brought to bear will do little to bring Assad down while killing a lot of people.  This is not a function of muddled thinking.  (There are many very smart people who are engaged in this debate.)  Rather, we are dealing with a complex problem, with little information, faulty analogies, and fresh memories of a searing decade of violence and intervention in the Middle East.  Unlike Libya, Syria is hard.

via Syria and the Limits of Diplomacy – Steven A. Cook – International – The Atlantic.

The Failing State of Greece – NYTimes.com

Before we can fix Greece we have to understand the nature of the problem.  What is wrong with this nation-state?

What are we to make of Greece, which borrowed beyond its means and now has been pushed to the brink by its lenders? Is it the “problem child” of Europe, more corrupt and dysfunctional than its neighbors? Is it a special case, as the lenders are saying, hoping that after the write-down of Greek debt last week they won’t have to restructure other ailing euro zone countries’ large public debts? Or is it in fact a harbinger, a vision of how economic collapse transforms a country — or of what happens to democracy when banks become more powerful than political institutions?

While the mainstream political parties suffer under the weight of their own mismanagement and of the austerity they have pledged and reforms they have often struggled to enforce, unemployment and homelessness rise and the European Union inches toward transforming its institutions to get behind a currency battered by fast-moving market forces. Something profound and distressing is happening: the rapid dissolution of a democracy in plain sight. As I stood outside the Attikon last week, I asked myself: Where is the line between a weak state and a failed state?

via The Failing State of Greece – NYTimes.com.

Greece’s Tragedy

Best update on Greece on Diane Rehm yesterday–at least since I read the brilliant Vanity Fair piece by Michael Lewis.  What is clear:  The bailout will delay an inevitable default.  Greek citizens will suffer.  The country has been run poorly.  And as with the Wall Street bailouts, its not fair–but the larger issue is a downward, uncontrollable spiral that could wreck havoc on the Eurozone as well as the global economy.

Greece has finally secured a new $170 billion loan from its European landlords, and the terms are just as unrealistic and doomed-to-fail as you expected. The fact that the country requires a second bailout that’s practically the size of its economy — now crashing through $270 billion and still falling* — tells you what you need to know about the hopelessness of Greece.

via Greece Is Still Doomed: Why the New Bailout Is a Fantasy – Derek Thompson – Business – The Atlantic.

Jeremy Lin, international relations icon?

Jeremy Lin as a shared cultural moment in the US and China, a sports highlight (several, so far), and a chess piece in the world of diplomacy?  Shout out to Robert Wright at The Atlantic for that latter connection:

In any event, having heard a few interviews with Lin, my guess is that he’ll handle delicate questions gracefully, and that he won’t let international celebrity distract him from his on-court mission. And that’s all that’s really necessary; it’s not like he has to become a roving ambassador of good will in order to play a constructive role in international relations.

Of course, this whole conjecture about Lin’s diplomatic value presupposes that he’s the real deal–that he’ll be star for some time to come. My own guess (not that you asked) after watching last night’s game is that he will indeed hang on to star status so long as he gets better at hanging on to the ball in heavy traffic. So I’m cautiously optimistic that Jeremy Lin could wind up, so to speak, doing God’s work.

via Linsanity as a Diplomatic Asset – Robert Wright – International – The Atlantic.

For what its worth, the hype has met reality thus far–which is what makes this such an interesting subject for speculation.

The Syria and Iran Connection

Will sanctions  on Syria work, or backfire?  Their impact–especially on Iran–may be a key factor as to whether Israel might attack, according to Ronen Bergman who wrote a cover story for NYT Magazine this past weekend.

Today’s NYT explores the strategic connection between Syria and Iran:

Ali Banuazizi, a political science professor at Boston College and a co-director of its Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program, said, “To put it bluntly, if Iran is a threat, then one way to weaken that threat would be to weaken Syria and to help the anti-Assad movement in Syria.”The weakness of the Syria-Iran axis represents a stark turnaround from a year ago, when Mr. Assad’s grip on power seemed assured and Iran was describing itself as the inspiration for other Arab Spring uprisings and Islamist awakening that would subvert America and its allies. Iran even sent two naval vessels through the Suez Canal to Syria last February — for the first time in more than 30 years — in what the Iranians called a message of peace and friendship.

via Syria and Iran Feel Pressure of Sanctions – NYTimes.com.

Kagan: Against The Myth Of American Decline

A powerful, historical-based argument that the U.S. will chose when to decline–and then it will happen.  Otherwise, it holds the cards.

As many statesmen and commentators have asked, can Americans do what needs to be done to compete effectively in the twenty-first-century world?

The only honest answer is, who knows? If American history is any guide, however, there is at least some reason to be hopeful. Americans have experienced this unease before, and many previous generations have also felt this sense of lost vigor and lost virtue: as long ago as 1788, Patrick Henry lamented the nation’s fall from past glory, “when the American spirit was in its youth.” There have been many times over the past two centuries when the political system was dysfunctional, hopelessly gridlocked, and seemingly unable to find solutions to crushing national problems—from slavery and then Reconstruction, to the dislocations of industrialization at the end of the nineteenth century and the crisis of social welfare during the Great Depression, to the confusions and paranoia of the early Cold War years. Anyone who honestly recalls the 1970s, with Watergate, Vietnam, stagflation, and the energy crisis, cannot really believe that our present difficulties are unrivaled.

Success in the past does not guarantee success in the future. But one thing does seem clear from the historical evidence: the American system, for all its often stultifying qualities, has also shown a greater capacity to adapt and recover from difficulties than many other nations, including its geopolitical competitors. This undoubtedly has something to do with the relative freedom of American society, which rewards innovators, often outside the existing power structure, for producing new ways of doing things; and with the relatively open political system of America, which allows movements to gain steam and to influence the behavior of the political establishment. The American system is slow and clunky in part because the Founders designed it that way, with a federal structure, checks and balances, and a written Constitution and Bill of Rights—but the system also possesses a remarkable ability to undertake changes just when the steam kettle looks about to blow its lid. There are occasional “critical elections” that allow transformations to occur, providing new political solutions to old and apparently insoluble problems. Of course, there are no guarantees: the political system could not resolve the problem of slavery without war. But on many big issues throughout their history, Americans have found a way of achieving and implementing a national consensus.

via Robert Kagan: Against The Myth Of American Decline | The New Republic.

Making Davos Work

If you wonder what alternatives exist to the traditional diplomatic forms of summitry and multilateralism, consider Davos.  This annual global opinion-leader event mixes business, government, non-profit with thought leaders sprinkled liberally throughout in a unique, break-even model:

For government officials, Davos has the same allure that it does for business: a series of quick-hit meetings with their counterparts. It gives executives the chance to jockey for position on the other side of the table with a government leader who could have an infrastructure project that needs financing, deals that can be worth millions if not billions of dollars. Or executives will spend weeks before arriving trying to get a 15-minute meeting with Mrs. Merkel or Ms. Lagarde in the hope of influencing the dialogue over the euro.

That may help explain why the World Economic Forum brought in $157 million in revenue last year from its members and strategic corporate partners.

In case you’re curious, it spent virtually all of it: $156 million. How was it spent? The organization employs 337 full-time employees and 369 “full-time equivalents” annually that it says cost a total of about $69 million. The conferences it convenes — besides the meeting in Davos, it organizes another big event in China and four other regional events — cost about $60 million more for space, elaborate signs and furniture, meals, event planning and security. (The security costs in Davos alone are estimated to be about $8 million, which are borne by the World Economic Forum and the Swiss government.) The organization says it spent another $26 million on office costs.

via Free Pass for Matchmaking at a Setting in the Alps – NYTimes.com.

Its a tough ticket to get, however.

Christopher Hitchens has died.

RIP Christopher Hitchens, the Paine and Orwell of our time according to William Grimes in the NYT.  His best writing pushed further than a reader would expect–with good instincts, a historical lens, and an excess of argument.  Case in point, this Slate piece on the Armenian genocide pushed all the right buttons:

The occurrence of the Armenian genocide in 1915 “is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.” On the campaign trail last year, he amplified this position, saying that “America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that president.”

via Telling the truth about the Armenian genocide. – Slate Magazine.

Europe’s Real Puzzles Can’t Be Answered in a Crisis: Clive Crook – Bloomberg

Much talk over the EU summit this week.  The future of Europe hangs in the balance:

Yet this would leave vitally important questions about Europe’s future unanswered or even unaddressed. The depth of the crisis and the ineptitude of the EU’s collective leadership — if one can call it “leadership” — have conflated three distinct issues. Keep each separately in mind when asking, “Is this deal of any use?”

The first is how to stabilize Europe’s economy. The second is how to avoid a similar breakdown next time. Even more important is a third question, one that Europe’s leaders invariably ignore: how to secure the right of Europe’s citizens to hold their governments to account.

The nuttiest aspect of the current talks has been Germany’s insistence that the second question comes first. Conceivably, I grant you, this could make sense. You might say, for instance, that to lessen any future moral hazard, Italy’s debts should never be underwritten by the EU as a whole. That idea would be wrong, but it would at least be intelligible. And it would answer questions one and two together: no bailouts, now or in the future.

via Europe’s Real Puzzles Can’t Be Answered in a Crisis: Clive Crook – Bloomberg.