Tag Archives: President Obama

Commentary: Lyle Goldstein: Sunshine Returns to the Korean Peninsula?

By Guest PostDecember 21, 2012Politicsamerican strategists, axis of evil, Beijing, blue house, China, china maritime studies, cold war, east asian nato, east asian security, inter korean tension, iraq war, Japan, korean peninsula, lee myung bak, lyle goldstein, military contingency, naval war college, new president, north korea, northeast asia, park geun hye, pivot to asia, President Bush, President Obama, pro american, pyongyang, recent missile test, relief, republic of korea, seoul, south korea, strategic reassurance, strategists in washington, sunshine policy, superpower, trilateral alliance, united states, US, us china relations, yalu river

On Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, Park Geun-hye was elected South Korea’s new president, making her the first woman to hold the title. It’s a victory some say signals the beginning of a new era for the tension-riddled region. Lyle Goldstein, International Relations program visiting faculty and associate professor in the China Maritime Studies Institute of the U.S. Naval War College, comments on what Park’s election means for the future of South Korea and the country’s relationship with the United States and China.

Park Geun-hye’s election will come as a major relief to many strategists in Washington, given her pro-American credentials. Her opponent was inclined to fully reinstate the “sunshine policy” of a decade ago, a disposition that would have no doubt entailed a more discriminating look at the newly invigorated U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance. Irrespective of which candidate came to occupy the Blue House, South Koreans seemed to be looking for more sunshine and less inter-Korean tension. (more…)

Q&A: Assoc. Prof. Christopher Berry discusses rise of women in Congress

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2012Politicscharisma, Chicago, christopher berry, congress, congresswomen, federal aid, federal projects, female, fiscal cliff, harris school, healthcare reform, house, hurricane sandy, job performance, legislation, male counterpart, nov election, number, partisan gaps, politicians, President Obama, public policy, representatives, university, us senate, us senators, women

One of the most notable outcomes of the Nov. 6 election was the record number of women voted into Congress, including 20 women who will occupy seats in the U.S. Senate.

Christopher Berry, associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, recently discussed the effects of the increase in female U.S. senators. Berry co-authored a 2011 study that found congresswomen consistently outperform their male counterparts on several measures of job performance.

What implications will the increase of female representation have for the U.S. Senate?

Potentially of great interest to the constituents of the new female senators is our finding that they consistently bring home more federal projects and federal aid than their male counterparts. When you think about disasters like Hurricane Sandy, the ability to bring home federal aid for rebuilding efforts is really important. It is going to be good for their constituents and the states they represent. (more…)

Commentary: Sergei Khrushchev – The Cuban Missile Crisis, 50 years later

By Guest PostOctober 18, 2012Politics13 day, 50th anniversary, air strike, american, american mythology, balance, berlin, brown, Cuba, cuban, cuban invasion, diplomatic lesson, enemy, europeans, ex comm, executive committee, iranian republic, john kennedy, middle east, missile base, missile crisis, nikita khrushchev, nuclear exchange, nuclear weapons, october, power, president, president castro, president kennedy, President Obama, psychological crisis, resolution, russian premier, russians, secret, sergei khrushchev, slavic language, southern america, soviet bloc, soviet union, tense time, united states, victory, weapon

October marks the 50th anniversary of of the 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis, when President John F. Kennedy discovered that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba. Forgoing the option of a Cuban invasion or air strikes, Kennedy asked Russian Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev to remove all weapons from the island, and on Oct. 28, 1962, Khrushchev conceded, halting the standoff. Here, Khrushchev’s son, Sergei Khrushchev, visiting professor of Slavic languages at Brown, reflects on the diplomatic lessons.

The perspective of the crisis has changed over time and today the history of the crisis is more focused not on the confrontation, but on cooperation.

The Cuban Missile Crisis showed that two leaders decided not to shoot first, but to think and negotiate with each other. And today that is very unusual, because we think we can only negotiate with friends. Today, we impose unconditional surrender and nobody surrenders unconditionally until fully defeated. (more…)

New Study Analyzes Why People Are Resistant to Correcting Misinformation, Offers Solutions

By Guest PostSeptember 21, 2012Scienceautism, childhood, colleen seifert, decision, erroneous belief, fiction, global warming, health care, ideology, information, michigan, misinformation, norbert schwarz, President Obama, queensland, reform, rumor, stephan lewandowsky, ullrich ecker, united states, university, vaccine, western australia

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Childhood vaccines do not cause autism. President Obama was born in the United States. Global warming is confirmed by science. And yet, many people believe claims to the contrary.

In a study appearing in the current issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, researchers from the University of Michigan, University of Western Australia and University of Queensland examined factors that cause people to resist correcting misinformation.

Misinformation can originate from rumors but also fiction, government and politicians, and organizations, the researchers say. (more…)

Muslim Brotherhood Candidate Trails in Race for Egypt’s Presidency: UMD Poll

By Guest PostMay 22, 2012Politics2011 revolution, abd al menem abul fotouh, ahmed shafiq, amr mousa, arab league chief, arabs, Economy, egypt, egyptians, gamal abdel nasser, hamdeen sabahi, iran, islamic sharia law, islamist moderate, Israel, king abdullah, middle east, mohamed morsi, muslim brotherhood, nasserist, palestinians, parliamentary election, political scientist, presidency, President Obama, prime minister, recep teyyib erdogan, salafi, saudi arabia, shibley telhami, syria, turkey, umd poll, university of maryland

Majority of Egyptians Faults Brotherhood Fielding its Own Candidate

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – As Egypt prepares this week to elect its first president since the 2011 revolution, a new University of Maryland poll finds the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate tied for fourth place. Researchers describe the race as fluid.

The poll confirms the strategic damage inflicted by the Brotherhood’s decision to field its own candidate, after saying it would not. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed (71 percent) called the decision a “mistake.”

The poll also shows Egyptians approaching the race differently from Parliamentary elections, focusing more on personal trust and the economy over party affiliation. (more…)

New Book Says Financial Model For Higher Ed is Broken, Offers Ways To Overhaul

By Guest PostFebruary 22, 2012Economy2013 budget, american society, caucasian students, david w breneman, Economy, ethnic groups, financial model, harvard education press, higher education, hispanics, james b hunt, joni e finney, k 12 leaders, patrick m callan, paul e lingenfelter, postsecondary degree, President Obama, public policy, university of pennsylvania, university of virginia, university of washington, us system, william zumeta

Higher education, a jewel of American society and an engine of its economy, is under threat, and if the nation is to remain competitive the financial model must be overhauled, says a new book.

Authors of Financing American Higher Education in the Era of Globalization say reforming the model will take a long-term, top-level coalition composed of the president, the nation’s governors, college and K-12 leaders, and leaders in the business community. (more…)

IBM Announces Supercomputer to Propel Sciences Forward

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Technology10 petaflop system, 16 compute cores, aging nuclear deterrent, blue gene family of supercomputers, blue gene q, bob meisner, brian connors, Chicago, climate change, electric car batteries, energy efficient supercomputer, energy research, evolution of the universe, green500, grid and network management, high-performance computing, hpc, ibm, ibm powerpc, lawrence livermore national laboratory, llnl, mike papka, mira, multi threading for long code sections, national nuclear security administration, next generation supercomputing project, nnsa, powerful supercomputers, President Obama, sequoia, ultra scale technical computing platform, united states

*Blue Gene/Q tackles major challenges of the day, delivers up to 100 petaflops at peak performance*

ARMONK, NY – 15 Nov 2011: IBM today announced its next generation supercomputing project, Blue Gene/Q, will provide an ultra-scale technical computing platform to solve the most challenging problems facing engineers and scientists at faster, more energy efficient, and more reliable rates than ever before. Blue Gene/Q is expected to predict the path of hurricanes, analyze the ocean floor to discover oil, simulate nuclear weapons performance and decode gene sequences.

When it is fully deployed in 2012 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the system, named “Sequoia”, is expected to achieve 20 petaflops at peak performance, marking it as one of the fastest supercomputers in the world. The capabilities this system represents will help ensure United States leadership in high performance computing (HPC) and the science it makes possible. Moreover, Blue Gene/Q is expected to become the world’s most power-efficient computer, churning out 2 gigaflops per watt. (more…)

Yahoo! and ABC News Launch Premier News and Information Alliance

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2011Technologyabc news, ben sherwood, bill weir, christiane amanpour, digital media company, george stephanopoulos, good morning america, nightline, President Obama, ross levinsohn, web, Yahoo, yahoo news, yahoo news network

Powerful combination leverages Yahoo!’s massive reach, content breadth, and technology with ABC News’ leading brands, trusted anchors, and global newsgathering operation

Debut of GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo! offers audience new ways to continue the conversation before, during and after the broadcast 24/7

Yahoo!’s and ABC News’ new exclusive slate of original online video programming kicks off today when ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos interviews President Obama live from the White House

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)— Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, and ABC News today announced a strategic alliance that will enhance and transform the delivery of news and information across the digital landscape. This multifaceted relationship blends Yahoo! News’ unmatched audience, as well as its depth and breadth of content, with ABC News’ global newsgathering operation and unrivaled lineup of trusted anchors and reporters. Yahoo! News and ABC News reach a combined audience of more than 100 million people in the U.S. each month on PCs, mobile devices and tablets. (more…)