Political Theory Daily Review

News Room - 1/27/2012

[May 31] From Monthly Review, a review of A People's History of the World by Chris Harman. Robert J. Shiller on the myth of "superstar cities". A review of Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization by Nayan Chanda. Will Robert Zoellick be able to get the World Bank back on its feet after the failed presidency of Paul Wolfowitz? Kenneth Rogoff investigates (more from Financial Times and more from The Economist and more). From Newsweek, why another face-off between Washington and Moscow isn?t as impossible as you might think. From Foreign Affairs, Barack Obama on Renewing American Leadership and Mitt Romney on Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges. Henry A. Kissinger on the lessons of Vietnam: Iraq desperately needs a political solution in the short term to make the war more manageable for the next president. Fred Kaplan on Bush's failed campaign to rebrand America: The administration believes public relations is a synonym for diplomacy. A look at what Bush and America have in common with another overreaching hegemonic power: The New York Yankees. From The Guardian, America was in uproar last week when Jimmy Carter described George Bush's foreign policy as the worst in history. He broke an unwritten rule: Past presidents don't attack incumbents. Gaby Wood finds him unrepentant. Democrats beware: Attacking the incompetence of the Bush administration is too easy. Republicans have no answer to such criticisms, but they do not need one. Presidential Scouting Reports: A libertarian fan's guide to the World Series of politics. As America's presidential campaigns seek fresh sources of finance, hedge fund and private equity executives are finding their political voice. The thespian's new clothes: Actor Fred Thompson's bid for the Republican presidential candidacy has supporters deluded into believing he is the next Ronald Reagan. If you promise not to squeal to his bosses, Andrew Glass will tell you how to run for vice president. From Rolling Stone, an interview with Grover Norquist. Jonathan Chait on white-collar crooks, dictatorships, and other conservative causes. Can conservatism be realistic about its own popularity too? George Will investigates. John Berlau on why Rush Limbaugh should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And now that Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter has presented him with a grandson, maybe it's time for Grandpa to join PFLAG

Town Square - 1/27/2012

[May 31] A review of The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad by Tariq Ramadan. Middle class, mainstream, murderous? Cathy Young on what the polls tell us about American Muslims. The evolution of daft ideas: Islamic creationism is growing and the movement is now repackaging ideas from reactionary American Christian groups. Senator Sam Brownback on what he thinks about evolution. An interview with Peter Irons, author of God on Trial: Dispatches from America's Religious Battlefields. Signs From God: Doree Shafrir on the curious history of church marquees. From Skeptic, an elemental impulse: Religion is so powerful that even Soviet antireligious policy failed. A review of The Atheist Manifesto by Michel Onfray. More and more and more on God is Not Great. Christopher Hitchens debates Chris Hedges in a battle of wits and faith over the meaning of religion in our lives and politics today. A review of Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers. A review of Jon Savage's Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture. Who Cares? Why young progressives should embrace charity. Why is the stock market still bullish? You can thank leveraged buyouts and corporate buy-backs of stock -- and understand that this can't last. Is Wal-Mart too cheap for its own good? A confidential report concludes that the chain?s reputation for discounts has worked against its efforts to move upscale. More on Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole by Benjamin R. Barber. A review of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage by Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston. A review of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future By Bill McKibben. Two billion cups are sold daily in a �40bn global industry, but now a controversial documentary showing the plight of growers asks whether there is such a thing as ethical coffee. Combining libertarianism with green values might be a pragmatic way to convince some of the worst polluters to cut back by essentially bribing them with cash. Clive Hamilton in Scorcher: the dirty politics of climate change says that Australia rather than the US is the major stumbling block to a more effective Kyoto Protocol. Energy Incrementalism: An article on a good (but not great) alternative fuel policy. A Full Tank of Hypocrisy: Higher gas prices may be the best way to slow global warming. And George Monbiot on Alexander Cockburn and the corruption of science

Ivory Tower - 1/27/2012

[May 31] From The New Atlantis, Adam Keiper on The Trouble With Nanoethics; Leon Kass on The Right to Life and Human Dignity; and an essay on Brave New World at 75. A new issue of Edge is out. A review of From Epicurus to Epictetus: Studies in Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy by A. A. Long. A review of A Theory of Virtue: Excellence in Being for the Good by Robert Merrihew Adams. A review of Appearances of the Good: An Essay on the Nature of Practical Reason by Sergio Tenenbaum. A review of The Ethical Imagination: journeys of the human spirit by Margaret Somerville. A review of The Flight from Reality in the Human Sciences by Ian Shapiro. From Seed, if we're serious about building a society that makes scientifically informed decisions, then science needs to figure out a way to get its message across effectively. From Salon, Inside the Creation Museum: Adam and Eve frolic amid the dinosaurs in the new $27 million museum that demonstrates Darwin has nothing on the Book of Genesis. Travelling via the US is a bit of a trial for Richard Dawkins, thanks to security gone mad. But later, he goes on to encounter another, lovely, kind of booby - and a terrific eco-friendly sports car. A review of The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould. A review of Wild: An Elemental Journey by Jay Griffiths. A review of A Guinea Pig's History of Biology: the Plants and Animals who Taught us the Facts of Life by Jim Endersby (and more). Life decisions separate "hawk" from "dove": The way animals decide how to live their lives, and when to reproduce, may control their "personalities", according to a new model. Animals differ strikingly in character and temperament. Yet only recently has it become evident that personalities are a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom. Research finds children can perform approximate math without arithmetic instruction. A review of The Poincare Conjecture by Donal O'Shea. A review of Flat Earth: the History of an Infamous Idea by Christine Garwood (and more). Thomas Fleming reviews Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors by Nicholas Wade. Evidence from ancient European graves raises questions about ritual human sacrifice. A review of The Great Pyramid by John Romer. And a review of Scenting Salvation: Ancient Christianity and the Olfactory Imagination