The Morningside Post

NATO to Georgia: Need A Time Out

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:41:11 -0400

By Christian Kim MIA 2009 An August 13 article from the Council on Foreign Relations entitled, "In Russia-Georgia Conflict, Balkan Shadows," asserts that "[t]he challenge for Washington and European Capitals...is what tack to take to restrain Moscow." This statement assumes, as does the Holbrooke article cited, that Europe and the United States can formulate a uniform Russian strategy in the Caucasus and Caspian region. In light of Europe's dependence on Russian energy, which Russia has deftly used to drive a small wedge between Europe and the United States, this assumption cannot stand. America has little leverage against Russia in the...

Lincoln Mitchell on the Georgia-Russia Conflict

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:13:08 -0400

By Courtney Doggart MIA 2009 Despite the recent cease-fire brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, reports of fighting in Georgia continue, with stories of continued Russian presence in cities such as Zugdidi, Poti, and Gori. Though the major news outlets have begun to drift towards other stories, the conflict in Georgia continues. This morning I sat down with Lincoln Mitchell, the Arnold A. Saltzman Assistant Professor in International Politics at Columbia University to discuss some of the background on the conflict and where things might be headed. Professor Mitchell focuses on democratic transitions in the former Soviet Union. He recently...

Death on the Quest for Truth in Georgia

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:15:55 -0400

By Courtney Doggart MIA 2009 Unsurprisingly, news coverage of the fighting in Georgia has been a confusing case of "he said, she said," as conflicting reports over cease-fire violations and occupation of cities such as Gori buffet followers of the conflict both in Tbilisi and thousands of miles away. Major network coverage was slow to arrive on the ground in Tbilisi and for quite awhile my best source of news was following the Facebook status updates and wall-to-wall messages of friends still in Georgia. Eventually the journalism has started to catch up to the events, and the events with the...

“Anti-Chinese” is Propaganda

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:28:45 -0400

By Thomas R Lansner Tom Lansner is adjunct associate professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, specializing in international media and communications. He covered conflicts in many countries over a decade as correspondent for the London Observer and other publications. His three-part e-seminar on war reporting is available at Columbia Interactive. “Anti-Chinese” is Propaganda Naming is Powerful: Opposing repressive regimes is supporting people suffering their misrule With this year’s summer Olympiad finally underway, it is for now athletes and not politics that are the focus of global media reporting from Beijing. But any new demonstrations in China...

A View From Tbilisi

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:51:15 -0400

By Courtney Doggart MIA 2009 By some stroke of luck (good or bad depending on how you look at it-- right now logic says good, emotions say bad) I left Georgia the day before serious fighting began. For those of you looking for an on-the-ground perspective, I'd like to suggest my friend's blog. He's been good about updates and the scene on the ground in Tbilisi.

50% of the Time, It Works Every Time...

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:33:06 -0400

By Jon Host MIA 2009 Is SIPA intentionally misleading prospective students about the amount of financial aid available? Last year, when I was admitted off the wait-list into SIPA, I was ecstatic. Even though I hadn't been awarded a fellowship for my first year, my admissions letter promised that if I "maintained satisfactory academic progress," I would "be eligible for a second-year award through the continuing fellowship program." I knew that funding was limited, and that the fellowships were competitive. But the letter also stated "approximately half of your class will receive awards in the second year."

Postcard from Beichuan, China

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:42:27 -0400

By Scott Wong MIA 2010 I have just returned from an emotional trip to Sichuan Province, the main epicenter of the recent May earthquake in China. I was invited by a close local Chinese friend of mine to see the earthquake damaged areas and to assist him in a few days of volunteering. He has been stationed there for over a month, overseeing a daily series of "outward bound" style programs and activities for the earthquake affected youth. A friend and I met up with Jia Guo Peng in Mianyang after flying 3 hours from Beijing. It took about 1.5...

Rothbury: A Music Festival With Some Suggestions

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:28:01 -0400

By Ben Colmery MIA 2009 In about a month everyone’s going to be asking each other, “So, what did you do over the summer?” Mostly, people are going to be interested in what internships everyone did, and just as importantly, where they did them. Sure, these are interesting questions for SIPA people. After all, some are out there working on climate change, food security, economic development, conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS, or human rights. They are doing it in places like Ghana, Uganda, Thailand, Brazil, and Nigeria. And so much of it is important work, in the name of helping others. I,...

Radovan Karadzic Arrested in Belgrade, Soon to be Transferred to The Hague

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:55:25 -0400

By Tanya Domi Tanya Domi is an adjunct professor at SIPA. She also works in the University Office of Public Affairs and Communications. The views expressed here are her own and do not reflect those of Columbia University. Radovan Karadzic, the former president of the breakaway Bosnia Serb entity that he led during the Bosnian War 1992 to 1995, was finally arrested Monday night by police security forces in Belgrade after 13 years on the lam as an international fugitive. Karadzic was apparently living openly as a physician practicing “alternative medicine” with identity papers that of Dragan Dabic, his alias,...

Missing People in Nepal: Surya Prasad Sharma

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:50:31 -0400

By Shubha Bala MIA 2009 Editor's Note: This piece is reposted from its original site which contains pictures and other posts. Jashoda Sharma. I heard her impassioned speech to political leaders, set against the backdrop of a village school. I witnessed her appearance as an honoured guest in the government office on International Torture Day. On both occasions she appeared as an advocate, a victims’ spokesperson. This evening, sitting on her daughter’s bed, sipping her Nepali tea, with a birthday card and Avril Lavigne plastered wall as her backdrop, the story I expected of poverty and injustice revealed instead a...

A different way of looking at the contents of this blog

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:18:06 -0400

I came across this site www.wordle.net. It scans the contents of a web page and creates a "wordle" (I know it's not a word!) I plugged in www.themorningsidepost.com and it created the "wordle" below. Does this give a good sense of SIPA recently? Just a friday afternoon thought for TMP readers out there. (Sorry, but to really read it you'll need to click on the image.)

Where to Intern? U.S. vs Georgia

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:40:34 -0400

By Courtney Doggart MIA 2009 Editors' Note: The post is one from the author's blog, Stalin, Not Peaches, which has additional posts about life in Georgia. One comment that I received multiple times from American friends and family in response to my coming to Tbilisi to work on renewable energy and energy efficiency policy was "we need that here." Which got me thinking—what am I really doing here in Georgia, and wouldn't my time be better spent working in the U.S., a country whose forays into renewables are most often left at the state level? How often have I cursed...

Meet Me and Malthus at Dinosaur BBQ

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:27:38 -0400

By Christian Kim MIA 2009 The recent spike in global food prices touched off a storm of violent protests in developing nations and unsettled those keeping close tabs on the global economy. Unbelievably, many economists failed to anticipate that an increased demand for biofuels would lead to more expensive grain, which in turn has had a deleterious effect on the purchasing power of the world’s poor and exacerbated their struggle for survival. Perhaps this food supply shock, in addition to the increasingly serious debate among analysts about the veracity of "peak oil" and concerns over the future supply of potable...

Can you say those 7 dirty words in the afterlife?

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:56:59 -0400

George Carlin, comedian extraordinaire and champion of free speech, it turns out, was born in Morningside Heights, the home (for a little while at least) of our fair institution. Here's a tale from Carlin's youth, some of which may have taken part in Morningside Heights: It's worth noting that Carlin is noisy and uses salty language. You might want to know that before you click on this video to watch it. And for those of you who want something a bit more filthy, classic, and oddly passe in this day and age, here's a recounting of those seven dirty words,...

Experiences From an Ex-UN Official in an Oil Company in Rio

editor@themorningsidepost.com (Dan McSweeney) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:28:31 -0400

By Tania Ortiz de Zuniga MIA 2009 I got to Rio de Janeiro 3 days ago, on a pouring Sunday that prevented me from seeing a single thing on my way to the house from the airport. I guessed the beach, bits and pieces of Ipanema and Copacabana and some streets of Leblon, the neighborhood where I have set my headquarters. It was cold and humid, the kind that gets into your bones and only leaves you when under a hot shower or a pile of blankets. Not the best day to get here I must say... and yet, I...