The Sydney Globalist

Christopher Beshara surveys Turkey’s cultural and socio-economic landscape.

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The jarring and often unanticipated effects of globalisation extend far beyond Turkey’s strained relationship with secularism. Around every corner is an affirmation that Turkey is very much a country torn between the retention of local culture on the one hand, and the limitless economic potential of a vibrant tourist market on the other, along with all of the compromises essential to its appeasement. One observes curious phenomena at these crossroads. [...]

Edward Cohen and David Robert Howell dissect the idea of a ‘league of democracies’.

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“History has returned,” writes Robert Kagan, “and the democracies must come together to shape it, or others will shape it for them.” This penultimate sentence in the first section of The Return of History and the End of Dreams not only forms the core premise of Kagan’s short book, but it also serves as a proverb for the Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain. Kagan’s concluding call for a league of democracies has become a major element of McCain’s foreign policy platform. [...]

Ignatius Forbes and Ilya Popov consider the difficulties facing Russia as it journeys towards a fully functioning market-based society.

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It was a moment in history that former Russian President Vladimir Putin called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century”: the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. There it was, a socialist, military superpower that in its last years had a non-existent GDP, chronic ethnic tensions, and an ideology that had failed to fulfil the prophecies spun by its creators. [...]

Christine Ernst speaks with Malcolm Cook, East Asia Program Director at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, about what the Olympics meant for China and the world.

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China is slowly closing in on the United States. Like an experienced long-distance runner, it has plenty of energy reserved for the final sprint. And when China finally catches up to its long-time rival, the ensuing battle will shake the very foundations of the global order. A resurgent China would seek to recapture lost territory, export the authoritarian model and avenge centuries of humiliation inflicted upon it by the West. [...]

Patrick Hurley examines the Campaign Finance Reform debate in the United States.

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Athletes at the Beijing Olympics were not the only ones to break world records this year. In the United States, candidates in the Presidential race have so far spent more than U.S. $995 million on their campaigns, making it the most expensive election in history. It is expected that the final two candidates will need to raise $500 million apiece and that the figure of total spending by all candidates will exceed one billion dollars. [...]