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.

Regional multilateralism: The next paradigm in global affairs – GPS

What comes next as a model for dealing with global trouble spots?  Think about more Libya approaches:

In a world of diminished U.S. involvement and unsuccessful multilateralist endeavors, an alternative vision for global engagement is necessary. Instead we are faced with a reluctant China, an unprepared India, an European Union in the midst of a financial debacle and a host of regional powers that focus on their neighborhood rather than claiming a global role. Given these realities, regional multilateralism can serve as the way out from this dead end.

via Regional multilateralism: The next paradigm in global affairs – Global Public Square – CNN.com Blogs.

Liu Xiaobo’s Plea for the Human Spirit – NYTimes.com

Compelling insight into Chinese progress and problems:

Nothing escapes Liu’s scalpel. The economic reforms that have transfixed many foreigners who claim that China is on its way to being No. 1 were not the result, he insists, of top-down policies. They arose, he says, from demonstrations in Beijing and the countryside that began even while Mao was alive: peasants called for control over the crops they grew, and ordinary workers like Wei Jingsheng put their mark on Democracy Wall in 1978-79. Liu writes that Deng Xiaoping and his colleagues in the Chinese leadership granted a little more space to those who demanded to be treated like citizens — before stamping on them. “These spontaneous popular forces for reform were rooted in the human longing for freedom and justice, not some slogans of the rulers.”

via Liu Xiaobo’s Plea for the Human Spirit – NYTimes.com.

Rare Cultural Diplomacy US-China Relations Hearkens to the Past

Ever wonder what cultural and public diplomacy looks like?  These pictures of the “Jazz Ambassadors” will help, and a related NPR blog tells the story.  So will this story focusing on a successful and important Asia Society program that appears to be a rarity in this era of budget shortfalls and short-term thinking:

The event was part of the U.S.-China Forum on the Arts and Culture, which brought over such artists as Mr. Ma, the actress Meryl Streep, the director Joel Coen and the authors Amy Tan and Michael Pollan. It included an organic cooking class (in the land of MSG and pesticides), a discussion on media censorship (in a country with elaborately monitored Internet), movie screenings and, at the Friday night concert, the improbable sight of Mr. Ma and Ms. Streep mock-kowtowing to each other, ending up prostrate on the floor and leaving the mostly Chinese audience in stitches.

via Cultural Exchange Offers Respite in U.S.-China Tensions – NYTimes.com.

Don’t miss the observation of public diplomacy’s slow death by  Nick Cull, one of the top experts in the field at USC.

Obama Sees Economic Power of Asia-Pacific Region – NYTimes.com

Diplomacy amidst the white sand beaches and pineapple farms of Hawaii:

Underscoring the region’s importance to the U.S., Obama on Saturday, as expected, announced the broad outlines of an agreement to create a transpacific trade zone encompassing the United States and eight other nations. He said details must still be worked out, but said the goal was to complete the deal by next year. ‘I’m confident we can get this done,” he said.

On a day of heavy diplomacy, the president also was looking to contain deepening worries over Iran amid a fresh U.N. atomic agency report that Iran is working secretly on a nuclear weapon.

On the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific economic summit, Obama met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and was to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The timing of the meetings with the Russian and Chinese leaders was particularly significant as Obama seeks to increase world pressure on Iran.

via Obama Sees Economic Power of Asia-Pacific Region – NYTimes.com.

Another interesting quote on any China wasn’t invited to the ‘trade bloc’ dance:

In a sign of potential tension with China, Mike Froman, a deputy national security adviser who focuses on international economic matters, shrugged off complaints from China that it had not been invited to join the trade bloc. He told reporters that China had not expressed interest in joining and said the trade group “is not something that one gets invited to. It’s something that one aspires to.”

The Queen of Bhutan’s Fashion Surge

Consider this royal wedding, for a change:

Just when everyone thought the Duchess of Cambridge had the award for most fashionable new royal of 2011 in the bag, competition has emerged from an unlikely source: Bhutan. The fashion world is rapidly developing a new royal girl-crush on 21-year-old international relations student Jetsun Pema, who became queen of the tiny Himalayan country at her wedding last month.

As with the royal wedding at Westminster Abbey in April, the bride brought style to a ceremony steeped in tradition. The wedding procession was accompanied by elephants, drumming monks and clouds of incense, but the brides wedding outfit – a traditional ankle-length wrapped dress known as a kira – was made in mustard yellow, a shade anointed as a key colour for autumn on the catwalks of both Donatella Versace and Victoria Beckham. Whats more, in having taken more than three years to weave, the craftmanship of the kira outdid even the handstitched lace gown made by seamstresses under Sarah Burtons watchful eye for Kate Middleton.

via The Queen of Bhutan sparks a surge on fashions happiness index | Fashion | The Guardian.

North Koreans Woo Business to Rason Economic Zone – NYTimes.com

Wonder what life is like on the DPRK?  This artificially prepared town doesn’t answer the question, but does get you a peek inside the curtain.

Since designating Rason a special zone in 1991, North Korean officials have tried on occasion to attract investment here, with poor results. Some foreign analysts and businesspeople are skeptical, saying the country’s investment climate remains too unstable, but others argue that North Korea could be establishing here the kind of laboratory that the Chinese Communist Party set up in the fishing village of Shenzhen in 1980 to help move China

via North Koreans Woo Business to Rason Economic Zone – NYTimes.com.

The Battle Over Zomia – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Delegate from Zomia…..you have the floor.  (The newest country you haven’t heard of, that doesn’t exist, yet.)

Zomia does not appear on any official map, for it is merely metaphorical. Scott identifies it as “the largest remaining region of the world whose peoples have not yet been fully incorporated into nation-states.” Though the scholars who have imagined Zomia differ over its precise boundaries, Scott includes all the lands at altitudes above 300 meters stretching from the Central Highlands of Vietnam to northeastern India. That encompasses parts of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Burma, as well as four provinces of China. Zomia’s 100 million residents are minority peoples “of truly bewildering ethnic and linguistic variety,” he writes. Among them are the Akha, Hmong, Karen, Lahu, Mien, and Wa.

via The Battle Over Zomia – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Taiwan’s Ma Sends Message to China – WSJ.com

Following Taiwan’s elections?  You should, as it comes at a critical moment in Taiwanese/PRC relations.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou used the occasion of an important and politically sensitive date in Chinese history to call on China to embrace democracy, as Taiwan’s opposition ratchets up criticism of his closeness to Beijing ahead of elections early next year.

Mr. Ma’s call isn’t new, but it came on the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, when the Qing Dynasty was overthrown and China’s first republic was established.

via Taiwan’s Ma Sends Message to China – WSJ.com.

Also, Douglas Paal of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will speak at the Kennedy Center today.

Myanmar Needs U.S. Support for Reform – NYTimes.com

A plea for what needs to be done in Myanmar to move on reforms:

But monumental challenges remain — for example, even though the government agreed recently to a cease-fire with the country’s largest ethnic-based militia, deadly clashes continue with smaller militias fighting on behalf of minorities in the mountains to the north and east. It is hard to imagine a successful democratic transition while these longstanding and often brutal little wars continue.

Reformist voices are not the only ones in the new system, and a hard-line pushback is far from inconceivable. So the Obama administration needs to do three things, and do them quickly.

via Myanmar Needs U.S. Support for Reform – NYTimes.com.