The Sydney Globalist

Click here to download the latest Global21 newsletter, which briefly outlines what’s currently going on in the Global21 network. This issue covers recent expansions in the network, the launch of the Global21 Blog, and information on several new Global21 Advisers. In addition, you will find a summary of recent and upcoming events and a link to online PDFs of recently published chapter issues.

Jahan Navidi explores the pivotal role that technology has played in promoting widespread social change in the aftermath of the disputed Iranian Presidential Election.

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For the past few months, the world has been glued to the television set, gazing in amazement as thousands upon thousands of Iranians have flocked to the streets, expressing their discontent and chanting: “Down with the dictator.” These protests – totally unprecedented in the last 30 years – demonstrate the people’s discontent with the current regime in Iran. Through their defiance of the ‘Supreme Leader’, Ali Khamenei, and in spite of his request for an end to the protests, many continue to risk life and limb in pursuit of freedom. [...]

Lukasz Swiatek examines power between global players in the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

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In a New Delhi hospital, Loon Gangte was waiting to collect HIV medication. The queue was long; the wait had lasted over an hour. When he finally reached the window and presented his prescription, the nurse on duty ordered him back to the end of the line. At first, Gangte could not understand why he was being discriminated against. “Much later I realized that my HIV-positive status compelled her to single me out and treat me differently,” he explains in an interview for UNODC. “During those days, if you were living with HIV, it [the prescription paper] was stamped prominently ‘HIV – Positive’.” [...]

May Samali exposes the Iranian Government’s denial of higher education to Baha’i students.

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The concept of power is fundamental to political science. According to American political scientist Amy Allen, power features three distinct senses: power-over, power-to and power-with. Power-over is the ability of an actor to constrain the choices available to another actor. Power-to is the ability of an individual actor to attain an end or a series of ends. Power-with is the ability of a collectivity to act together for the attainment of a common end. Each type of power relation represents a particular modality of power, which may be present in any one situation at the same time. [...]

William Han explores the evolution of the ‘war on terrorism’ in Afghanistan and Iraq and the dilemma of achieving victory on these battlegrounds.

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In November 2007, Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, presented the case for strengthening U.S. soft power and learning to integrate it with hard power, warning that “military success is not sufficient to win”. It was a moment of catharsis: a cleansing after years of failed unilateral foreign and military policies under Donald Rumsfeld. The patriarchal rhetoric about defeating “adversaries at the time, place and in the manner of our choosing” is gone. [...]