Welcome!

August 27, 2022

I had far greater ambitions for this site but I will no longer be teaching Global Politics after taking a new job so this is it.

I’ve taught Global Politics for a few years and created this site to post work that I’ve done with my students along with useful resources that I’ve found around the internet.

I owe a debt to other teachers and websites I’ve learned from (you will see their finger prints here). Please feel free to use what you find here however you want.

Please contact me with questions at TokTopics[at]gmail.com

You can also check out the work I’ve posted for other courses I have taught (and also no longer teach):

Theory of Knowledge

American Government

Economics

What’s Next for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

January 18, 2022

This story raises important questions around the enforcement of such laws. I really like that the specific logistical hurdles are dealt with rather than the broader idealized goals of such legislation.

Independent audits are impossible to conduct in Xinjiang, and due diligence remains difficult in other parts of China. The U.S. government has noted reports of auditors being detained or intimidated. In 2020, five audit organizations announced they would withdraw from Xinjiang, as the Chinese government’s oppressive conditions in the region made it too difficult to conduct the work.

https://uphill.thedispatch.com/p/whats-next-for-the-uyghur-forced

Edward Miguel on Collecting Economic Data by Canoe and Correlating Conflict with Rainfall

December 31, 2021

Great conversations on development economics along with methods for proving efficacy (with great connections to TOK).

He’s a pioneer of using randomized control experiments in economics — studying the long-term benefits of a $1 health intervention in Africa. Steve asks Edward, a Berkeley professor, about Africa’s long-term economic prospects, and how a parking-ticket-scandal in New York City led to a major finding on corruption around the world.

Edward Miguel on Collecting Economic Data by Canoe and Correlating Conflict with Rainfall

The Coming Carbon Tsunami

December 31, 2021

Developing Countries Need a New Growth Model—Before It’s Too Late

Citizens of the world’s least developed countries have the same aspirations for economic prosperity as citizens of China, Germany, or the United States do. Those who argue that the only way to combat climate change is to reduce economic growth miss the fundamental unfairness of global economic development, which has left a third of the world’s population behind. Yet if developing countries follow the “grow first and clean up later” pattern established by the United States, western Europe, and East Asian countries, the consequences for the climate will be catastrophic.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2021-12-14/coming-carbon-tsunami

Related images from the NYTimes

American power ($)

October 24, 2021

The global order that America helped to establish in the second half of the 20th century is changing fast. In this collection of commentaries, global thinkers examine the sources of America’s power and the forces changing it. They offer predictions and prescriptions for the future. The series looks broadly at America’s power, from its chaotic abandonment of Afghanistan to the rise of China. It also considers the internal forces at work in the United States.

https://www.economist.com/future-of-american-power

Judge throws out historic female genital mutilation case, calls feds ‘vindictive’

October 11, 2021

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the nation’s first female genital mutilation case, delivering a major blow to the prosecution and FGM survivors who had hoped the Detroit case would help end a practice that is still performed on millions of girls worldwide.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/09/28/judges-tosses-detroits-historic-female-genital-mutilation-case/5902782001/

In secret tapes, palm oil execs disclose corruption, brutality

October 11, 2021

Global Witness, an environmental and human rights organization, sent undercover investigators to get the scoop

Global Witness’s two-year investigation is a rare behind-the-scenes look at the corruption, labor abuses and destructive environmental practices in an industry that is clearing carbon-rich rainforests and emitting greenhouse gases at a rate that has become a growing concern for climate scientists. The world’s most common vegetable oil has spawned vast fortunes, while coming under scrutiny for its labor practices and environmental impact.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/10/09/png-palm-oil-undercover-sting/

HOW THE U.S. DERAILED AN EFFORT TO PROSECUTE ITS CRIMES IN AFGHANISTAN

October 7, 2021

“This just proves one more time to Afghans that international mechanisms do not value their life when foreigners are involved and international forces are involved,” Shaharzad Akbar, who chaired Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission until the Taliban took control of the country in August, told The Intercept. “This decision reinforces the perception that these institutions set up in the West and by the West are just instruments for the West’s political agenda.”

https://theintercept.com/2021/10/05/afghanistan-icc-war-crimes/