Erkan's field diary

"Neo-Eurasianism," the Issue of Russian Fascism, and Post-Soviet Discourse

Andreas Umland: Increasing ultra-nationalist tendencies within the party landscape and youth culture are now partially acknowledged by the Russian public, and countermeasures are being debated. Despite such encouraging signs, the government has still an ambivalent stance towards extremely right-wing tendencies.

Yves Saint Laurent: Your reaction

The fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent - described as one of the most important influences of the 20th Century - has died. Were you influenced by his creations?

Yves Saint LaurentPerhaps the most important of all his contributions was not to design itself, but to how widely accessible design has become

Leading on climate change by Tony Blair

The climate change bill that senators are to begin debating next week is a hugely important signal of intent on behalf of US legislators. Yes, negotiations could still alter the legislation. But the bill's core proposition is correct: Unless the United States radically reduces its greenhouse gas emissions, along with other major emitters, the damage to the climate will be irreversible.

High time to ratify Kyoto by HALUK ÖZDALGA

Solar energy constitutes the very basis of the world's climate system. Today 30 percent of the light from the sun, whose energy totals more than 10,000 times the world's current energy consumption, is reflected by bright surfaces like deserts, snow and ice.

The Politics of Chaos in the Middle East by Olivier Roy

By Guy La Roche

It is reading time again here at AFOE. I am happy to invite you to read The politics of Chaos in the Middle East by Olivier Roy. If you like the world to be simple and easy to understand then you will hate The Politics of Chaos.

Olivier Roy offers his readers a descriptive overview of the many and ever moving social and political currents and dynamics in the Middle East. Understanding these will give a clearer insight into many of the conflicts in the region. Roy places the conflicts within their own context and separates them from the idea of ‘a clash of civilizations’. As the title of the book suggests, there is no single formula, or a ‘geostrategy of Islam’ as he calls it, that would explain everything that currently goes on in the Middle East. In the rather provocative introduction to the book, which you can read at the Columbia University Press website (pdf), Roy States:

found in Banksy @ The Cans Festival 2008

The Cans Festival, situated in a tunnel underneath Waterloo station @ London, is probably the largest gathering of public artworks in the world. And the works of the legendary Banksy are one of them. Click to see a great photo set, done by Romanywg. Bonus: see other works from The Cans Festival here.

Religion and Economic Development

By Reflection Cafe

Reading the historian Arnold Toynbee’s lectures on the British Industrial Revolution, it is quickly apparent that conditions in England prior to 1760 were in many respects similar to those in developing countries today: Poor infrastructure and communication, lack of technological innovation, no division of labor, a focus on local commerce, and a weak banking system.¹ Surprisingly, the modern study of religion and economics begins with Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), an examination of conditions leading to the Industrial Revolution. In his book, Smith applies his innovative laissez-faire philosophy to several aspects of religion. However, Smith’s fundamental contribution to the modern study of religion was that religious beliefs and activities are rational choices. As in commercial activity, people respond to religious costs and benefits in a predictable, observable manner. People choose a religion and the degree to which they participate and believe (if at all).

@ haha.nu: This cartoon by Clay Bennet won the 2002 Pulitzer prize for editorial cartooning.