ASSIGNMENTS| Central America | North America | Southeast Asia and the South Pacific | Central and Northern Asia | Europe |
| South America | Africa | South Asia | Central and Southwest Asia |
Geopolitics 2017
ASSIGNMENTS
"An honest answer can get you into a lot of trouble....but trouble is exactly what we're looking for" - Anonymous
#0 Read Course Requirements
2/2 #1 Read: Geography Strikes Back (Robert Kaplan)
Answer: Write at least one paragraph that explains the extent to which you agree or disagree with Kaplan's essay.
Video: Revenge of Geography
The Asian-Pacific Century:
#23 Read
China's XiJinPeng moves from President to Emperor
Xi Jin Peng Makes Chilling Grab for Power in China
Xi Jin Pen Thought Explained: New Ideology for a New Era
The Geopolitics of China: A Great Power Enclosed
So Many Secrets in the East China Sea
Answer:
1. What are China's three geopolitical Imperatives? For each of these imperatives explain how China is attempting to address it.
Surf the China Daily and Global Times
Optional: America's Pacific Century
China's Naval Strategy and Shipping Routes
China's English Language Propaganda
The Song of the 13th Five Year Plan
Will China Colonize North Korea?
Modern China
Read: Renaissance!
#23 The Shatterbelt
1. Color and Label the countries on this blank map.....Europe
2. Read: Will Russia, Germany save Europe from war?
Full Exclusive Interview Vladimir Putin
Europe
East Asia
#21 Read and outline A Concise History of Islam and the Arabs. Pay particular attention to the terms listed below : (This will be collected!)
Kaaba
Muhammed
Khadija
Hijra
Abu Bakr
Ali
Caliph
Umma
Battle of Karbala
Ummayad
Abbasid
Safavid
Ottomans
Sykes Picot Agreement
Balfour Declaration
Pan Arabism
Hizbollah
Ayotollah
Muslim Brotherhood
Islamism
Sunni-Shia Split
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia:: How Charity Begins
House of Saud re-embraces Totalitarianism
IRAN
Read:
Iran: History and Culture (from Lonely Planet Guides)
Iranians ignore Sanction Pinch
An Oil Strategy In Case Iran Shuts down the Strait of Hormuz
Oil, geopolitics and war with Iran
It may be valuable to consider the distinction between "citizen" and - "consumers." We humans are referred to collectively as "the consumer". Have our identities been diminished to entities whose primary role is compulsive consumption of unneeded goods? What are the ecological, political, and cultural impacts of this shift in virtue? -
.....a related yet separate topic. Reflect on the question: what would it take to upgrade ourselves to CITIZENS again?
Create a Slogan, a jingle and a brochure for a product that fits into the concept of a Consumer Cultural Revolution for Sustainability.
Criteria:
What is the Product?
What are its benefits?
What does it Cost?
How is it Delivered?
Why should people buy it?
* Provide a Slogan, a jingle and a brochure
Resources
How are the World's Largest Petroleum Companies Operating in the 21st Century?
Geological Exploration
Reserves/Countries of Operation
New Technologies
Community and Charitable Outreach
Government Subsidies
Conflicts
Employment...What types of Jobs are available at the company? Where are these jobs located? What skills are required?
Chevron
Petro China
Petrobras
#19 International Media Sources Compare and Contrast: Surf: Mindshare World
Watch The Listening Post: Peering into North Korea
Read Al Jazeera or China Daily (or use google news). Choose a story that has been written by one of the newspaper's staff reporters (i.e. try not to pick a story that was written by a wire service such as Reuters, A.P. or AFP)
Choose a story from one American newspaper (NYPost, USAToday, Washington Post , Boston Herald, etc.) on the same event.
Write down your observations pertaining to the differences in fact, tone, quality of journalism, and perspective. Does one seem more credible than another? On what do you base your conclusion? Hint, you can use Google news to view hundreds of articles from different newspapers on the same story.
Divided Reading: National Security and the Threat of Climate Change The Encyclical (Pope and Climate Change)
Everyone Reads pgs. 13-18 and 41-43
Group One: read and outline pgs. 20-23
Group Two: read and outline pgs.24-27
Group Three: read and outline pgs. 29-31
Group Four: read and outline pgs. 31-35
Group Five: read and outline pgs. 36-41
#21 Energy
Migration
Rebuilding the Asylum System George Soros
Trans Humanism
International Drug Trade
Read:
World failing to dent heroin trade, U.N. warns
Meth flourishes despite tracking laws
View: Drug Intelligence Brief: Anatomy of a Southeast Asian Heroin Conspiracy
Watch: Fault Lines: The High and the Mighty
Space Report:
Find a company that is innovating for the space race. Report on the product (products) and how they will be used. This could range from Rockets, to Ships, to spaceports, to robotics, terraforming, mining, housing, energy, electronics.
Be prepared to show us images or video of the product and to answer questions regarding the economic prospects of the company. Below is an article that could get you started but I encourage you to find your own companies.
Spaceflight Companies look to R&D
CYBER POLITICS
Read: It's Time to Write the Rules of Cyber War
Choose one of the articles from the Related Stories column on the right of the page and write a review. Be prepared to read the review to the class.
kerseHacking News
When the Whole World Has Drones
Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus
Anonymous: We Can Change the World
\/\The Conscience of a Hacker/\/
by
+++The Mentor+++
Written on January 8, 1986
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager
Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...
Damn kids. They're all alike.
But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain,
ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what
made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
I am a hacker, enter my world...
Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of
the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...
Damn underachiever. They're all alike.
I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers explain
for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms.
Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it in my head..."
Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike.
I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is
cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I
screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me...
Or feels threatened by me...
Or thinks I'm a smart ass...
Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...
Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike.
And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through
the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is
sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is
found.
"This is it... this is where I belong..."
I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to
them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...
Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike...
You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at
school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or
ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us will-
ing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.
This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the
beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying
for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and
you call us criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek
after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color,
without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals.
You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us
and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.
Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is
that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like.
My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me
for.
I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual,
but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.
+++The Mentor+++
POPULATION
Read: War of the World
Answer:
1. According to the article above, what are three obstacles to population control
2. What are the ways in which those obstacles can be overcome?
Optional: The Coming Anarchy (199
The Only Way to Stop Population Growth
Optional: Thomas Malthus: Essay on Population and William Godwin Responds
Answer: 1. What is the general view toward human behavior and economy in the writing of Thomas Malthus?
2. Why does William Godwin disagree? What is his reasoning?
Optional: The Coming Anarchy (1994)
Urbanization:
Time and Google: Time Lapse Climate and Development
Urbanization: Best Practices presentations
Be prepared to tell us the best practices associated with your urbanization category.
Below is a list of possible resources.
Dhaka: Fastest Growing Mega-City
How do we Build the Cities of Tomorrow?
Jakarta: Bursting at the Seams (video)
Cities May Sprout Vertical Farms
Tianjin: The Future of Cities?
Cities That Are Running out of Water
VI. Outer Space
Read:
Space Law: FAQ (United NAtions: Scroll down for brief explanations)
#24 Read
Star Wars: Lawmaker Touts Soldiers in Space
Air Force War Game Highlights Space Deterrent
Lack Of Space Assets Limits Chinese Military
#25 Space reports:
Write a brief report on your assigned area. Include current and future projects. Assess cooperation with other agencies and/or states. Also include the overall policy goals (as best you can).
Europe
Russia
China
United States
India
Japan
Private Enterprise
Search the Resources our main page for info, also, the following may get some of you started:
EIACountry Analysis Briefs , The Strategic Space of International Transportation,
More:
VII. Geopolitics of the Future
Unmanned drone attacks and shape-shifting robots: War's remote-control future
WATCH: Halfway Human
WATCH: "The New City" and Future States (PBS) and The Most Peaceful World Ever
Read:The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse
The Next 100 Years George Friedman
Watch: Fighting in the Fifth Dimension
Answer: One Page: With which of these predictions do you agree. Explain. Which do you find fanciful. Explain
Turkey Takes over the Arab Spring
Turkey and Egypt seeking Alliance
Future Shock: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
Read: The Art of Selling
Scenarios: The Future of the Nation-State
The Future of the Nation-State
Civil Society and the Future of the Nation-State
Answer: Which of the Four Global Futures do you deem most likely? Explain why you believe this to be so.
Read: Four Alternative Global Futures
Millenium 3000 Scenarios (Excerpts from the State of the Future at the Millennium)
Conspiracy Investigation.
The Power of the Powerless (excerpted)
#16 What's Wrong With This Picture , The National Entertainment State Media Ownership The Death of Journalism
Choose one of the Media Companies below and answer the following:
a. What is the global reach of the company? How many countries do they broadcast to?
b. How diversified is media is the company i.e...... How many different types of media do they own?
c. What are some of the brands that the company markets?
d. How many people does the sum of the media's holdings reach?
The Top 200 Global Corporations: The Rise of Corporate Global Power and Business Doesn't Rule
1. In your assessment why would Sarah Anderson feel threatened by Corporate Power?
2. Explain two reasons why Philippe Legrain doesn't believe that corporations pose a significant threat to life as we know it.
3. Read: WORLD: Corporate Balancing Act (Financial Times); Corporate Leadership for the 21st Century: Sustainability Experience Required What questions does the article from the Financial Times raise about corporate power? To what extent do corporations bear responsibility for social problems? What responsibilities do you think corporations should have toward a society that government does not? Is it fair to blame corporations for poverty, disease, and environmental pollution? If so why? If not, who is to blame?
Corporate Reports:
Source: Fortune.com/CNN: Company Profiles
Complete a report on the company that you were assigned in class. Answer the questions below as best as possible. Use the resources provided as well as your own searches. Answer each question with a separate paragraph heading. (See example)
Answer:
What is the name of the company?
How old is the company?
What is the "home" country of the company?
What is the main business of the company? (What does the company sell)
What are the totals in Revenue, Assets, and Profits of the company?
How many people does the company employ?
In what countries does the company do business?
To what degree is the company involved in Philanthropy?
What is the company's status with regard to human rights and the environment?
Include any items of interest and items worthy of mention.
Resources: *Be sure to visit your company's website! (There are links through the Fortune.com site)
Politics of China's Rise:
Read
Read: Where the Yangtze Meets the Congo
China's New Leaders Ban Red Carpets
Surf the China Daily Here
Video: China The New Superpower
China Shapes the World (Choose one Article and write a brief review)
I. Economic Explosion
Read: The Next Big Future: Infrastructure
Chimerica: A Marriage on the Rocks?
Answer:
1. How does China's economic development compare to the economic development of European and American powers? Is there anything China lacks? Is there anything they do better?
2. How is China using economic policies to maintain and increase stability?
3. What is Chimerica? Do you see this as a positive or negative arrangement?
This is NOT Mao's China (or is it?)
Surf: That's Shanghai
China Bans Overly Entertaining TV
China and the United States
It might not be Asia's Century After all
Geography and Politics: Perspective and Power
MAP SKILLS: Central and Southwest Asia
On the blank map provided through the link above, Color in and label: Countries, Leaders, Capitals, Oil Reserves, Rivers of Significance, Straits, Canals, Oceans, Gulfs, Bays, Hydroelectric Dams, Population and anything else you deem geographically significant.
Helpful Link: CIA Factbook
Scientist Finally Know What stopped the Mongol Hordes
The Era of American Global Dominance is Over
2/5 #2 Geopolitical Perceptions II
Read: The Effects of Representations of Space (bring to class as well)
Answer:
1. Give your own example of each of the following ways that space is represented :
a. cartographic b. political c. Cartesian Perspectivalism d. optical e. transcendental f. biological
Maps Your Textbook Won't Show You
Animated Maps that will Change your Perspective
Geopolitical History and Theory
2/7 #3 The End of Geopolitics? Part I: Modern Geopolitics
Answer:
1. What is Geopolitics?
2. What are the three elements of Modern Geopolitical theory presented in The End of Geopolitics......
3. In your own words, write the Grand Narrative that O'Toal argues is the essence of Modern Geopolitical thought. Make it clear and simple.
2/13 #6 Read Geopolitics Reborn and In Defense of Classical Geopolitics and New Silk Road
Answer:
Define: State, Nation-State, Sovereignty
1. What is the Organic-State Theory?
2. Explain the Geo-Strategic ideas of Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sir Halford Mackinder
3. What is Geopolitik?
4. Explain the reasoning that Nicholas Speakman gives as to why the U.S. should project airpower across the globe.
Why We Fight: The Nazi's Strike
No joy in US or Chinese exceptionalism Mitt Romney: The Need for a Mighty U.S. Military
#7 Read, print out, and bring to class: Aristotle: The Politics, excerpts on State and Government
Answer:
1. How does Aristotle define the State?
2. According to Aristotle, what is a Citizen?
3. List and describe the three forms of government and their perversions.
4. What does he propose are the primary concerns/responsibilities of a government?
5. Which form of government does he think best? Why?
2/15 #14 Area Studies: CIA World Factbook
1. Use the links above and construct a bullet list of features about the country you choose. Be prepared to locate on a world map. Include the following information:
1. Land area 2. Coastline 3. Population. 4. Population growth rate and Life Expectancy 5. Arable land 6. Agriculture products 7. GDP, GDP per capita, and GDP growth rate 8. Exports 9. Imports 10. Export/ Import Partners 11. Current Account Balance and Debt. 12.Form of Government 13. Electricity Consumption and Production 14. Oil Consumption and Production 15. Natural Gas Consumption and Production 16. Primary language 17. Environmental concerns 18. Climate 19. Predominate religion 20. Literacy Rates 21. Internet Users 22. Neighbors of Note 23. Urbanization 23. Anything else you find interesting or of note.
2. On a scale of 1-10, ten being the best, rate your state on its success in meeting the criteria that Aristotle proposes as it pertains to Statehood. Comprehensive National Power Framework
#8 United States Geo-Strategy for the 21st Century
Answer:
1. What does the U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense document say are the regions that the United States will be most focused on in the 21st Century? What are the reasons given for this focus?
2. From the section in the document titled Primary missions of the U.S. Armed Forces, rank from 1-5 those missions that you believe are most vital to the United States in the 21st Century.
2/27 #9 Read: The End of Geopolitics? Part II: Postmodern Geopolitics; Postmodern Geopolitics in the 21st Century; If it Feels Right (nytimes) and Posteverything Generation (scroll to the comments as well)
Answer:
1. From your understanding of the reading, what is post-modernism?
2. Outline and explain the elements of Post-Modern Geopolitics.
2/28 #9A What is the new narrative? Who is the United States? What should we be?
1. What are the values we should seek to advance? Should those efforts be limited to within the borders of the United States?
2. What should we seek to achieve, even if not supported by other countries.
3. What should we seek to prevent, no matter how it happens, and even if alone?
4. What should we not engage in even if urged by multilateral groups or an alliance?
3/1-3/2 #10 What is Globalization?
Read:
Thomas Friedman: A Manifesto For The Fast World
Dont Just Do Something. Sit There (Friedman)
Watch: New World Order New World Order II
Trump vs. HillaryIs Nationalism vs. Globalism 2016
The Trump Doctrine: Crosstalk RT
Optional:
Watch: Obama Speech to UN Sept 25, 2013
Obama Speech to the UN. Sept 25, 2012
One World is Enough: The Police 1981
Listen: Ghost in the Machinenational Affairs??
3/12 #11 United States Geopolitical Strategy Read: The National Security Strategy of the United States 2017
Position Paper #1 (To be collected and graded)
What is the stated Goal of the United States National Security Strategy? Based on your understanding of the field of geopolitics, what is the geopolitical tradition from which the National Security Strategy of the United States is derived? Is it informed by modern (a.k.a. classical) geopolitics, post-modern geopolitics or some other geopolitical formula? Which ideas have influenced it most (i.e Ratzel, Kjellen, Mackinder, Mahan, Spykman, Haushofer, Kissenger, Rumsfeld, Brzezinski, Wolfowitz, Bush, Clinton, Cheney, Obama, Petraeus, Kaplan.....) Assess the Strategy based on your own vision for the future. Is it too strong, too weak, just right? Elaborate in your conclusion.
Use specific references from the assigned readings and from all of the homework to date (Two page maximum, typed and double spaced. )
Compare if you Dare :
The Struggle for Control
3/13 #12 Read: Propaganda Under a Dictatorship
Answer:
1. What attitude must the Dictator have toward human nature and politics if he is to succeed in gaining and maintaining control.
2. What is herd-poisoning? Why is it an effective means of power projection for the dictator? Can you give a current example of where herd poisoning occurs?
Optional:
Academic Dream Team Helped Obama's Efforts
The Arts of Selling, Aldous Huxley
3/14 #13 Read: Over Organization and if you have the time and inclination Propaganda in a Democratic Society
Answer:
1. What are the characteristics of the New Social Ethic that Huxley's describes in his essay Over Organization?
2. According to Huxley, how have Individuals been affected by technological advances in recent years?
3. Make a list of the following:
a. Television shows you watched on a regular basis as a young child...
b. Video Games you play on a regular basis
c. News Organizations you receive news from on a regular basis.
d. Websites/Social Media you visit most frequently.
4. How does the human "appetite for distractions" allow for an unforeseen type of manipulation?
Optional Readings:
The Arts of Selling, Aldous Huxley
Propaganda in a Democratic Society
13a In Class: Frontline Documentary: The Persuaders
Find an advertisement to play in class that appeals to emotion and seeks to gain "Loyalty Beyond Reason" (i.e. irrational devotion)
Optional: Apple is Obviously a Cult
#14 In Class: Frontline Documentary: The Persuaders NeuroPolitics
Advertisement Analysis: Choose two advertisements: One political and one commercial. ( TV, Internet, Embedded, Print....your choice.) Bring the ad to class.
Analyze:
1. What is the target market? i.e Adults, Children, Male, Female, Ethnicity, Socio/Economic class.....
2. To what extent does the ad seek to create Loyalty Beyond Reason? If so, how does it do this.
3. Is there a coded message? To what extent does the ad appeal to unconscious/ reptilian/ non-rational passions?
4. Read: What They Know
Optional Readings:
Academic Dream Team Helped Obama's Efforts
The Arts of Selling, Aldous Huxley
Advertising Code of Ethics: American Marketing Association.The Vatican's statement on advertising.
#15 Read: CIA and Data Collection
The Geopolitical Implications of Human Consumption
3/26 Read: The Long Descent Chapter 1 The End of the Industrial Age (pgs 1-34)
1. What is Hubberts Curve? What does it predict?
2. What are the arguments made by the book "Limits to Growth". Do you find them to be valid?
3. Why has petroleum been so important in modern civilization? Be specific. Explain the reasons why it will be so difficult to replace petroleum.
4. Do you agree with the authors supposition that the Ancient Maya are a relevant example to what is happening in our civilization now? Explain.
5. What is your Carbon Footprint? Calculate yours using one of the following sites.
Simple BP Carbon Footprint Calculator
Detailed Personal Emissions Calculator (US Dept. of Environmental Protection)
#20 Read: Anarcho-primitivism: Encyclopedia II
1. What is the main belief of the Anarcho-Primitivist?
2. What are the mechanisms of Domestication?
3. What is their attitude toward technology? Why?
4. Some have called Anarcho-Primitivist ideology Apocalyptic. Do you agree or disagree. Explain.
#22 Read
Welcome to the Third Industrial Revolution
The Third Industrial Revolution
Jeremy Rifkin at the HuffingtonPost
Capitalism Cannot Save Us From Climate Change
Optional:
Watch: TED : COLLABORATION
In Praise of Idleness (Bertrand Russell 1932)
Optional :
The Hunt For Black Gold (cnbc)
The Real Cost of Climate Change
The Secret of the Seven Sisters
Watch: The MOST Important Video You'll Ever See (9min)
North Korea Nuclear War
Watch: "Party Rock Anthem" North Korean Style
Frontline: Secret State of North Korea Jan 2014
Read: The Korean Enigma
Browse: Korea Times
Korea Video Clips
The New Technologies in South Korea
Where to Find the Worlds Fastest Internet
Lonely Planet History of Korea
#24: You Can't Understand ISIS if You Don't Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia Pt 1 Alistar Crooke
Middle East Time Bomb: The Real Aim of ISIS Is to Replace the Saud Family as the New Emirs of Arabia Alistar Crooke
Answer:
What is Wahabbism?
What has been it's goal in the Islamic World?
What had Saudi Arabia's role been in the development of Wahabbist Ideology?
What is the relationship of ISIS to Wahabbism?
FYI
