Generation Y sets its rules
DeepDipAs Generation Y enters the world of higher education, it lays down for itself rules of good behavior. Below are the “safe space policy” rules of the Edinburgh University Student Association, as updated in 2014.[1] They stipulate good behavior…
What is segregation?
DeepDip“Identity politics is back,” opines a comment to 362. I admit to having difficulties with the concept of “identity.” To put my queasiness into perspective, let me take a roundabout way and reflect on “segregation” instead.
The article:…
The baneful role of gerrymandering in US history
DeepDipIn the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan-advantaged districts.[1]
Of…
The Trump swerve
DeepDip Where minds differ and opinions swerve there is scant a friend in that company.
Elizabeth I
Donald Trump, a New York based businessman, formally announced his candidacy for the presidency in the 2016 election on June 16, 2015. Trump said,…
On the limits of international law
DeepDipAnalogies allow us to illuminate issues from a different point of view and break out of our self-regarding Einstellung – the belief that, having “done the right thing,” we can move on secure in the success and contented.
Analogies, then,…
What is “best practice?”
DeepDipI have kvetched often enough against “best practice.” The term is an oxymoron. Praxis may be adapted or un-adapted - we only know by the consequences. It is never a priori “best.” It is a useful heuristic for the perplexed though we…
What is virtue?
DeepDip(My readings tend to be peripatetic, whimsical, and the prey of serendipity. I had started exploring the concept of virtue, which had come across my path,[1] when another book[2] - published in 1987, bought in 1996, and never read, fell on the…
Is IT transforming democracy?
DeepDipRandom legislative amendment generator
A two-column headline in an Italian newspaper has reminded me this morning of the hidden transformative powers of IT for our political process.
A far-right politician has devised a “random legislative…
Three outstanding US diplomats
DeepDipI have often expressed a dim view of the state as “unitary diplomatic actor.” It is a recipe for diplomatic disaster.
For one, it never happens in practice. It is not a good strategy for the turnkey to assume and assert that it can fly.
…
The US Presidential elections: A preview from the past
DeepDipShigeru MIZUKI has published a three-volume manga: History of Japan Showa. It is a mix of both micro-history (his growing up in that period) and macro-history: Japan during the first part of Hirohito’s reign.
The following quote may apply…
Time out for a bit of mischievous fun
DeepDip
Each year, since hundreds of years, a group of Incas rebuilds a bridge across a canyon. They are experts at using ropes – in fact, lines and knots were used to record and calculate before Westerns came with paper, ink and abacus.
Here…
Is there “diplomatic theory”?
DeepDipThe diplomat, so the theory, is the agent of the principal – the state. The diplomat is tasked to pursue the goals of the state with respect to other states in the framework of international relations. In the best sense of the word, diplomats…
