scholarly journals The Shi'ites, the West and the Future of Democracy: Reframing Political Change in a Religio-secular World

1970 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John A Rees
Keyword(s):  
Iraq War ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
The West ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Secular World ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Religious Actors

The present article critically reviews Paul McGeough’s important analysis of the most recent Iraq war within a broader consideration of secular-religious relations in international affairs. The thesis of Mission Impossible: The Sheikhs, the US and the Future of Iraq (2004) can be summarised around two ideas: that the US strategy in Iraq was flawed because it wilfully bypassed the traditional power structures of Iraqi society; and that these structures, formed around the tribe and the mosque, are anti-democratic thus rendering attempts at democratisation impossible. The article affirms McGeough’s argument concerning the inadequacy of the US strategy, but critically examines the author’s fatalism toward the democratic capacity of Iraqi structures, notably the structure of the mosque. By broadening the notion of democracy to include religious actors and agendas, and by an introductory interpretation of the Shi’ite community as vital players in an emerging Iraqi democracy, the article attempts to deconstruct the author’s secularist view that the world of the mosque exists in a ‘parallel universe’ to the liberal democratic West. Reframing the Shi’ites as essential actors in the democratic project thus situates political discourse in a ‘religio-secular world’ and brings the ‘other worlds’ of religion and secularism together in a sphere of interdependence. Such an approach emphasises the importance of post-secular structures in the discourses on democratic change.

Searching for new Sources of growth. Are the Developing Countries Catching up with the Developed ones?

2015 ◽  
pp. 30-53
Author(s):  
V. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
The West ◽  
Catching Up ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Divergence ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Relative Standing

This paper examines the trajectory of growth in the Global South. Before the 1500s all countries were roughly at the same level of development, but from the 1500s Western countries started to grow faster than the rest of the world and PPP GDP per capita by 1950 in the US, the richest Western nation, was nearly 5 times higher than the world average and 2 times higher than in Western Europe. Since 1950 this ratio stabilized - not only Western Europe and Japan improved their relative standing in per capita income versus the US, but also East Asia, South Asia and some developing countries in other regions started to bridge the gap with the West. After nearly half of the millennium of growing economic divergence, the world seems to have entered the era of convergence. The factors behind these trends are analyzed; implications for the future and possible scenarios are considered.

scholarly journals Where Does the World Historian Write From? Objectivity, Moral Conscience and the Past and Present of Imperialism

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Drayton
Keyword(s):  
Iraq War ◽  
Imperial History ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Academic Subject ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Ethical Responsibilities

The contemporary historian, as she or he speaks to the public about the origins and meanings of the present, has important ethical responsibilities. ‘Imperial’ historians, in particular, shape how politicians and the public imagine the future of the world. This article examines how British imperial history, as it emerged as an academic subject since about 1900, often lent ideological support to imperialism, while more generally it suppressed or avoided the role of violence and terror in the making and keeping of the Empire. It suggests that after 2001, and during the Iraq War, in particular, a new Whig historiography sought to retail a flattering narrative of the British Empire’s past, and concludes with a call for a post-patriotic imperial history which is sceptical of power and speaks for those on the underside of global processes.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Mark Regnerus
Keyword(s):  
Religious Faith ◽  
The West ◽  
Career Expectations ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Over Time

Marriage has receded dramatically in much of the West; given their historical and theological esteem for matrimony, are Christians faring any better? Not by much. Christian marriage, too, appears to be experiencing a recession. How do modern Christians around the world look for a mate within a religious faith that esteems marriage but a world that increasingly yawns at it? Some of the challenges facing them are mathematical—more women than men in congregations—while others are ideological, such as the penchant for keeping one’s options open. Economic and career expectations counsel delay. Do Christians wait on marriage? Not as long as the irreligious: being active in church predicts marrying earlier in most countries. Over time, this gap in marriage between the more religious and the less religious adds up. The future of marriage is becoming more religious, not less.

The Unity of the West and Free Trade: A Report From Washington

Worldview ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 14-16
Author(s):  
Lionel Gelber
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The United States ◽  
Common Market ◽  
The West ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Common ◽  
De Gaulle

When the United States fostered the recovery and underwrote the security of Western Europe she had more than sentiment to impel her. That salient zone is a pivotal sector of the world balance, and while she may station fewer of her own troops upon its soil, she can entertain no total disengagement from it. But there is another West European item, the future of the Common Market, which calls for a fresh American scrutiny. The West will be better off if Western Europe acquires more of an ability to stand on its own feet. Gaullism, however, revealed a less modest goal, one that was not confined to France and did not vanish with the departure of General de Gaulle. On the contrary, it may have gained new leverage from his downfall.

The ET column. Will Chinese take over from English as the world's most important language?

English Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Graddol
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
The West ◽  
Absolute Size ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Global Language ◽  
The Uk ◽  
China’S Economy

Whenever I've given a lecture on the future of English, the question I am most frequently asked is ‘Will Chinese take over from English as the global language?’. With China's economy continuing to grow fast, whilst those of the west slow down in recession, China has been rising up the world economic rankings and has overtaken other economies faster than predicted. It seems no time since it overhauled the UK economy to become the world's number 4 (2005), and then Germany (2007) to become number 3. During the summer of 2010 it edged past Japan to become the world's second largest economy. It may take another 20 years to overtake the US economy in absolute size, though it may already have become the world's largest exporter (overtaking Germany), and has already overtaken the US in energy consumption. Next year, China is expected to take over from the US as the world's largest manufacturer – a position the US has held since it overtook the UK in the late 1890s.

9/11 as a European Event: the Novels

2007 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
KRISTIAAN VERSLUYS
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The West ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
French Novel ◽  
Common Destiny

At the time of writing, more than 20 novels have been written that deal directly or indirectly with the events of 9/11. In broad outlines, they fall under four categories: the novel of recuperation, the novel of first-hand witnessing, the great New York novel, and the novel of the outsider. It is the last category of novels – written by non-Americans – that demonstrates the extent to which 11 September has penetrated deep into the European psyche and thus has become a European event. What is surprising is that the gap between the continents seems smaller in fiction than in politics. Even Luc Lang's onze septembre mon amour, a strident anti-American screed, is characterized by a sense of solidarity for the victims and for an alternative America, antithetical to the official one. In Frédéric Beigbeder's Windows on the World (a French novel with an English title), Europe and the US remain united in the overarching concept of the West, sharing a common destiny. In Ian McEwan's Saturday, finally, the events in the US have become part and parcel of the protagonist's existence, even though he lives thousands of miles away in the posh part of London.

scholarly journals Narratives of the future: immersive stories / indigenous roots

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Swift
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
The World ◽  
Specific Manner ◽  
The Future ◽  
Performance Challenges ◽  
The Way

The way we tell stories shapes what we are: it articulates the way we position ourselves in relation to the world. This article explores how immersive practices, as used in virtual reality and intermedial performance, provoke novel dynamics between artist and audience that no longer fit within Western traditions of aesthetic exchange and furthermore challenge our understanding of narrative production and reception. It proposes that new ways of reasoning are needed to allow audience agency and the evolving role of the artist to be explored more fully than is currently possible in mainstream theatre scholarship. One source that can provide a model for considering the dynamics between audience and performer in immersive performance is the Indigenous story systems of Australia. There is a significant synergy between the structure and operation of First Nation songlines and contemporary immersive performance. This is explored with reference to the work of contemporary anthropologists and Indigenous scholars and to recent immersive work from the companies Kaleider and Theatre Conspiracy. The article considers how both ancient narratives and contemporary immersive practices require people to engage with data/ physical space in a specific manner in order for stories to be realised. Furthermore, both bestow creative responsibility and the role of custodian on the user, through whose actions narrative is manifested. Immersive performance challenges assumptions about how information is generated, processed, and passed on, and the power structures involved in such exchanges. This research explores how non-traditional narrative practices can assist the debate about the future of storytelling.

“Palm Beach” on the Curaray River

2019 ◽  
pp. 9-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn T. Long
Keyword(s):  
Young Men ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Tribal People ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Us ◽  
Amazonian Ecuador ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Evangelicalism

This chapter presents the history of an event in January 1956 that gave birth to an iconic missionary martyr narrative with a lasting impact on American evangelicalism and on the future of the Waorani people in Amazonian Ecuador. It began with five young men, representing evangelical faith missions. They were determined to make peaceful contact with the Waorani (aucas), a violent and isolated tribal people who had never heard the Christian gospel. The five men used aviation as an innovative technology to locate a Wao clearing and attempt to pacify the inhabitants by dropping trade goods from the air, followed by a face-to-face encounter. After the apparent friendliness of this first meeting, the Waorani returned two days later with spears and killed the missionaries. News of their deaths was publicized in the US and around the world.

Two circuits: China defined with globalization

2021 ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Alexander I. Salitsky
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
External Resources ◽  
Domestic Markets ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade War ◽  
To Come

China has made achieving technological independence its top priority for years to come. China has turned a "crisis into an opportunity" in its response to the US trade war. China's industrial capabilities have been fully confirmed during the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. The emergence and adoption in China of the concept of “two circuits” (dual-circulation”) means the predominant reliance on the internal circuit compared to the external. The old strategy focused on external markets and external resources helped China to become a "global factory". But times and China have changed: the domestic market of the country has huge potential, and tendencies towards de-globalization have spread abroad. The economic activity of the PRC turned towards the internal market and internal regions of the country. The state came out in defense of the market - against large international monopolists, no matter domestic or foreign. This posture opposes the sluggish economic dynamics in the industrial centers of the West caused by the monopolization of domestic markets by large and super-large transnationals, who overwhelmed governments, other branches of state power, many international and non-governmental organizations by narrowing and exploiting the market space. "Two circuits", as well as "self-reliance" in China, have a pronounced socialist orientation.The escalating US campaign for technological pressure on China is backfiring. The country is committed to further strengthening its growing technological prowess. China has thrown a strong challenge to Western domination, which has more than just an economic dimension. China has an increasing impact on the world and - less dependent on it.

Cities of the Future: Implications for the Rise and Relative Decline of the Cities of the West

1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 162-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barclay G. Jones ◽  
William F. Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
The West ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Relative Decline

The prospect for enormous urban growth in many regions of the world outside of Europe and North America is examined. Huge urban centers that must be built in the next generation will be in these regions and will be vastly larger than anything that ever has been built in the West.

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