Via ABC NewsGunmen Kill Six Including Three Police Officers in N Mexico: Mexico's oft corrupt police force bear the brunt of an increasingly emboldened cartel backlash as gunmen kill three high ranking police officials and some innocent bystanders (including the preteen daughter of one official) in Tijuana. An apparent revenge attack for recent arrests. Collateral damage in America's War on Drugs? And I'm a bit critical of Dr. Barnett's exclusion of Mexico when considering what constitutes the Gap. NAFTA aside, and in addition to the above article, Mexico is also reliant of exporting it's citizens to it's superpower neighbor and the funds said illegals send back to the homeland.
Kenyan Riots trap Obama's Uncle: Kenya, once considered a bastion of stability on continent of increasingly failed states continues to tear itself apart along tribal lines. A fellow by the name of Obama finds himself trapped in his home amidst violence in his hometown of Kisumu. You might be familiar with his nephew.
Zimbabwe at Risk of More Southern African Floods: As though the disastrous dictatorship of Robert Mugabe wasn't enough, Zimbabwe continues to suffer the wrath of mother nature as flooding has persisted since December with, of course, little relief from it's failed state infrastructure.
Egypts Problem and it's Challenge Bread Corrupts: State subsidized bread. Egypt's bread subsidy fuels corruption both in terms of black marketeering and economically motivated official kickbacks. Cairo's subsidies exceed what it spends on both health care and education.
Life in the Gap sucks.
7 comments:
An excellent round-up. Too bad the conclusion and title are so right.
I guess a positive side is that they do have cool hats in the gap.
I haven't read much of Barnett's work, but I just don't buy this concept of "The Gap", at least as it's drawn on his famous map. "The Gap" is all over the world - I think we can all think of "gaps" in our own countries, large or small. It's also striking how, on Barnett's map and other similar maps, the boundaries of "The Gap" etc conform to the boundaries of nation-states. Pretty artificial.
Munzenberg,
Agreed on hats.
strategist,
"The Gap" is all over the world - I think we can all think of "gaps" in our own countries, large or small. It's also striking how, on Barnett's map and other similar maps, the boundaries of "The Gap" etc conform to the boundaries of nation-states. Pretty artificial.
As presented in the book, the Core/Gap divide is a model for categorizing large units of area. Elsewhere it's been expanded to work in domestic settings, or even revised with different measures.
Does Zimbabwe recieve any outside aid for flooding (UN, China, etc.)?
Thanks for the links Dan.
Jacob,
Beyond the NGO, I suspect not.
Munz, plus a very cool (if a bit primitive looking) knife and a simply suave shirt.
Peter, what Dan said but in addition, you should read Barnett beyond his blog. Barnett's case has holes but it's pretty damn reasonable when one reads and attributes it to today's global situation.
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