Our March 2011 Issue: Isolated Regimes
Our March 2011 Issue
Despite the adage one often hears — that the world continues to become a smaller and more interconnected place through technological advances, increased travel, and greater sharing and availability of information — there still remain countries and peoples cut off from the rest of the world. The reasons are myriad, but invariably, it comes down to national leaders that willfully or negligently keep their people isolated – in turn making themselves a pariah on the world stage.
Isolated regimes are often characterized by despotic leaders, bloated bureaucracies, widespread poverty, and a lack of political, social, and economic freedoms for their citizenry. Since January, the world has witnessed unprecedented uprisings in the Middle East and Africa for some or all of these reasons. Expanding the scope, the March 2011 edition of Foreign Policy Digest takes a look at some isolated regimes and economies around the world.
With its exploding economy and its advancements in science and technology, China could hardly be described as isolated. However, the country’s support of North Korea and Myanmar — two of the world’s most repressive and secretive governments – reveals the regional, economic, and political advantages inherent in serving as a crutch for two nation’s repeatedly sanctioned and ridiculed by the West. Jacob Zenn analyzes China’s incentives for maintaining these relationships for FPD’s Asia Pacific section.
Perhaps the world’s most infamous isolated regimes, Cuba is the focus of this month’s Americas section. As University of Miami Professor Jose Azel argues, the government has willfully prevented the Cuban people from accessing the internet, thereby robbing them of the ability to be informed of the world around them. In particular, Dr. Azel criticizes the culture of groupthink within the Castro regime that has kept the country in a static position for over half a century, stifling the ability for any real reforms to take place.
The Middle East has been rocked by unrest from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, but ‘weathering the storm’, as David Bagby describes it from Cairo, is the Assad regime in Syria. The decision by President Obama to send an Ambassador to Damascus – after diplomatic relations were cut off six years ago – should not be read as a sign of passivity or indifference toward Assad, Bagby explains. Instead, it demonstrates that the U.S. has realized it needs to exercise leadership in all corners of the region to truly get a handle on the constantly-changing situation.
**Since publication, Syria has also experienced growing unrest**
After a global financial meltdown that brought national economies to their knees, is it possible for economists, regulators, analysts and elected officials to learn from their mistakes and make substantive changes to avert a future crisis? Not really, says Rahul Kamath in March’s South Asia section. The complexities of the world’s financial system are so intricate that it may be impossible to undo them, much less to prevent major problems down the road. Looking at some specific environmental crises in India and the U.S., Kamath demonstrates a modern moral problem of the global economy.
Foreign Policy Digest Africa Regional Editor Mohammed Mohammed focuses on the isolation of the Niger Delta from the world’s attention. Home to millions of people, it’s also home to oil-soaked waterways, gas flare ups, and smoky skies as oil extraction and distribution by multinational corporations continues unabated. In fact, Mohammed notes, more oil has been spilled in the area over the last few years than the massive Deep Horizon oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. But, Mohammed argues, the blame is not to be placed solely at the feet of oil companies.
Writing from Cairo, Thomas Plofchan offers a special contribution to Foreign Policy Digest this month about the Middle East developments that have taken the world by storm. But if academics, world leaders, policy experts, or others are looking for quick answers or a keen understanding, patience would be a strong virtue. As Plofchan notes, looking at the 18 days between January 25 and February 11, the dynamism and rapidly changing nature of the situation in the region prevents any kind of clarity for the future over both the short- and long-term. Instead, an understanding of Egypt’s history and certain institutions will help observers comprehend what is happening, how it will continue to change daily, and what it could mean for the rest of the region.
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Sean Bartlett is the Americas Regional Editor of Foreign Policy Digest
