Si vis pacem, para bellum
Towards a general xGW framework |
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xGW theory has been under scrutiny in the Twitterverse, and by the usual suspects. Although xGW theory has seemed to progress in the past few years it is still a solution for a problem that we cannot seem to figure out. I have even asked what use is xGW?
Selil offers his drawing skills to find a unified generational warfare theorem. His visualizations are very inspiring — so in fact, that they motivated me to think about my own diagrammatical solution to the xGW problem. (more…)
Japan Passenger Ferries and the Joys of Boat Travel |
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“I sailed from one continent to another over open seas, yet the voyage was short enough that I barely slept. I experienced the progression of the ship eastward, rather than going to bed and waking up in a different place… I never felt far from the calming embrace of civilization.”
– Robert D. Kaplan, Mediterranean WinterThe more you travel, the more you need to become excited by the experience. Of the many places I’ve had the pleasure to visit on the globe, few have been as enjoyable as the joy of travel by water. Boats permit the traveler to feel the distance, an experience that has become lost in an age where airplanes can zip us to every corner of the globe within a matter of days and hours. Traveling by boat means that a journey can last days, weeks, or even months. Yet in this, the individual feels the distance, and in the quote above, Kaplan was writing about the joys of boat travel and the glorious new landscapes that can be experienced through this slow and steady travel.
I’ve had the pleasure to travel by ship to and from all parts of Japan—Shanghai to Osaka, Osaka to Beppu, Fukuoka to Tsushima, Shimoda to Kodzushima, Aomori to Hakodate, and many more. Boat travel is second to none when it comes luxury distance travel. You can enjoy the sites, feel the distance of the globe, and meet new and often interesting people. Plus it’s a great way to see a country and witness the landscapes.
International and Major Domestic Ferry Routes in Japan
The website Fune.co.jp (available in Japanese only) is the online resource for all information on passenger ferrys going to and from Japan, whether the trips be domestic or international. The domestic information is complete, with updated information on the hundreds of ferries that travel across the country, from Tokyo to Okinawa or from Ibaragi to Hokkaido, and to the smallest of inhabited islands (such as Toshima, part of Tokyo prefecture, which has just 309 inhabitants). The international information is also updated, but not entirely complete, missing such trips as the ferry between Tsushima island and Pusan, Korea. But it nonetheless shows the options available if one wishes to travel from Japan to visit China, Korea, or Russia.
I personally believe boat travel is an experience that can be appreciated even more by Americans. The United States is a continental country where cars and planes are the norm, and boats dock at ports to deliver goods instead of transporting people. For those experienced travelers, the joy of travel becomes harder to summon as one grows older. As more chapters of life accumulate, experience crowds out raw feeling, and even new experiences can feel recycled. Boat travel helps renew the joy of travel, and is strongly recommended by this blogger for anyone looking for a fun way to travel, or to make a familiar place feel new.
On the potential Japanese naval dispatch to Somalia |
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My first reaction to hearing about prime minister Aso’s push to get the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force in the Gulf of Aden helping to combat piracy was bandwagoning. Here is a typical example of Japan showing international leadership… six months late1. That elusive seat on the UN security council does require that Japan show some leadership.
Still, the timing seems odd and there is already a whole swack of countries2 with a military presence in the Gulf of Aden. Why now? As the Asahi notes “deliberations are unlikely to start in earnest until April at the earliest, after the passage of the fiscal 2009 budget.” Prime minister Aso will have a hard time pushing anything through before then. Aso is suffering serious confidence issues. With the concerns of the electorate focused solidly on the economy and pensions, I would hope Aso would know not to go the route of Shinzo Abe. (more…)
______________________- The UN passed Resolution 1816 last June, and Resolution 1838 in October ↩
- Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Indian, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. ↩
Tokyo Blogger Meet-up |
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For those readers in Tokyo,
On the evening of January 17th, Saturday, Transpacific Radio is hosting a gathering for bloggers and readers. Bloggers from Observing Japan, Shisaku, Global Talk 21, Mutant Frog, neojaponisme, Our Man in Abiko, Trans-Pacific Radio and more will be amongst the crowd, including yours truly.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP with an email to transpacificradio@gmail.com before January 8th. The planned location is either Shibuya or Shinjuku.
The Earth in 14,112 megapixels |
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Everybody needs a 84,000×168,000px hi-res image of the Earth right?
Via boingboing.net
Which Alexandria? |
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Previously: Which Iberia?
If you see a reference in a history book to a place called Alexandria, don’t assume the reference is to the famous city of that name in Egypt. When Alexander the Great conquered the known world 2500 years ago, he left in his wake a string of cities, towns, and forts known as “Alexandria.” Some of those cities exist today, others are archaological ruins, while others are only rumored to have existed. One complete list can be found here, and an approximate map is below.
Alexandria Settlements in the Ancient World
Note that some of these may have been founded by Alexander’s heirs, and some modern cities such as Kabul have taken the name from the old Alexandria, even though the actual location is somewhat different.
There are other places by the name of Alexandria in the Old World unrelated to Alexander’s conquest. There is Alexandria in Romania, Alexandreia in Greece, Alexandria in Scotland, Oleksandriia in the Ukraine, and Alessandria and Alessandria del Carretto in Italy, among others.
Alexandria Settlements in the Medieval World
Then with the 18th and 19th centuries, colonialism brought new Alexandrias across the globe. There is an Alexandria in South Africa, two places by that name in Canada, three in Australia, and more than a dozen such places with the name in the United States.
Alexandria Settlements in the New World
Still need a Calendar for 2009? |
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Order the Royal Geographic Society 2009 calendar online, here! Unfortunately it can only be purchased online by RGS members and fellows, but it is also sold in bookstores in the UK, Europe and Australia, and I just picked one up for myself. Priced at under US$10 at most stores after the New Year, this bargain contains twelve unique maps from the 16th through 18th centuries.
Dr. Samuel Huntington, RIP |
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Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard University passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 81. He was most famous for his publication of the article and book The Clash of Civilizations, among many other works, and for regularly eviserating the sacred cows of accepted wisdom in the political science realm. This was especially the case in the aftermath of the Cold War when liberal internationalism and general optimism were the sacred doctrines of the day.
Huntington was also the subject of an almost hagiographic article by Robert D. Kaplan in 2000, which you can read at the Atlantic here. The article was written before, but published after, the events of 9/11. In the article, Kaplan praised Huntington as one of the key strategic thinkers of the day, who despite being ridiculed and vilified by fellow liberal academics, his writings were read by people who mattered and had a major impact on US foreign policy. Kaplan also wrote that Huntington was a dying breed: “someone who combines liberal ideals with a deeply conservative understanding of history and foreign policy.”
Media outlets have generally praised Huntington in their reviews. Obituaries can be seen at The Economist, The Atlantic, New York Times, and the National Review. Some seem to think that Huntington’s viewpoint on the world has gone out of style and that he is the last of his kind, but there are many writers and analysts who have followed in his analytical footsteps. Robert Kaplan is one such writer.
I’ll close with a line from Huntington that he wrote on the post-Cold War world. Keep in mind that this was written long before 9/11, before the War on Terror, before Afghanistan and Iraq, and well before the random acts of terror threatened the world from Bali to London, from Madrid to Mumbai:
[The post-Cold War world] is a dangerous place, in which large numbers of people resent our wealth, power, and culture, and vigorously oppose our efforts to persuade or coerce them to accept our values of human rights, democracy, and capitalism. In this world America must learn to distinguish among our true friends who will be with us and we with them through thick and thin; opportunistic allies with whom we have some but not all interests in common; strategic partner-competitors with whom we have a mixed relationship; antagonists who are rivals but with whom negotiation is possible; and unrelenting enemies who will try to destroy us unless we destroy them first.
Requiescat in pace.
Mark your calendars! |
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Happy New Year—and mark your calendars for these fun events of 2009.
- – January 1: Czech Republic takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from France.
- – January 20: Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, at 12:00 noon EST.
- – February 14: Lithuania will celebrate the millennium of its name.
- – April: Albania and Croatia are expected to join NATO.
- – May 30: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be rededicated in a ceremony that will recreate the program from the original May 30, 1922 ceremony.
- – July 1: Sweden takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Czech Republic.
- – July 22: The longest lasting total solar eclipse of the 21st century.
- – September: The Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE will be completed. It is already the tallest man-made structure ever built.
- – October: The United Kingdom will replace the House of Lords with a new Supreme Court as the highest legislative body of the land.
- – October 2: The host city of 2016 Summer Olympics will be announced at the 121st Session of the International Olympic Committee to be held in Copenhagen. The final candidates are Tokyo, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid.
- – End of the year: The East African Community will implement a common currency called the East African shilling.
ComingAnarchy in 2008: Contributor’s choice |
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In 2008 we produced more than 450 posts at ComingAnarchy. Nearly half a million visitors left 2800 comments over the year. We also defended against over 84,000 spam comments. An amazing amount of activity. Taking a look back over the past year we gathered some of the posts that we thought were particularly significant. See below for our year in review.
Younghusband
In 2008 my apparent topic of choice seems to have been religion. There were 11 posts tagged religion this year and I wrote all of them. That is quite a feat for an atheist.
As for specific writings, this year I tried my hand at philosophical argument in Deny his citizenship, considered some of the biggest threats, critically assessed Kaplan’s craft and broke with the other members of CA in my presidential endorsement (nobody can accuse us of being a uniform bunch by any means). However the single most important post by me was by far Behold! The War Tuba!. The War Tuba post (which had three follow-ups featuring Russian, British, and Canadian war tubas) was the post with the most hits not only of 2008, but since we have been tracking stats on the site! Crazy.
Curzon’s top 5
- Planning for Doomsday: Agricultural Backup for the Human Race
- Hostile Takeovers or Good Corporate Governance?
- The Gods at Nikko
- In the words of King Henry VIII…
- Greenland Independence?
Chirol’s Choices
- The Terrorist Threat Environment Today
- Deterence And the Missile Shield
- Iran Policy Options Part VII
- Tunisia 2008 Travelogue
That was our 2008 in review. Thank you for your patronage and here is to another successful year in 2009!
Happy New Year from us at ComingAnarchy.com
