JHUSAISOCT6

THE BSERVEROctober 3, 2005 Volume 5 No. 1 The Newspaper of the Johns Hopkins University Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Four years after the events of September 11, 2001,perhaps the greatest and most horrific spectacle ofterrorist mayhem ever unleashed, terrorism seems

to have lost its symbolic and aesthetic edge. The acts andimages of 9/11 were almost operatic — even TheEconomist referred to the attacks as a “set piece” — andour obsessive attachment to watching those images overand over has diminished little since that surreal day. The24-hours-a-day TV drama that ensued was thoroughlyenthralling, for a time. Tony Blair cried on TV. The presi-dent stood on a mound of rubble yelling into a bullhorn.New Yorkers hugged each other.

In contrast, CNN’s new series “Hurricane Katrina” was abit of a dud.

Yet, in the wake of all that, the symbolic impact of terror-

ism is now diminished because the surprise element haslargely vanished. If terrorists were to fly planes into, say,the Eiffel Tower or the Houses of Parliament, we’d surelybe reeling with grief, but would we really be all that sur-prised?

The terrorists know this, and so if they really wanted to re-capture that surprise and surrealism, while at the sametime disrupting our lives in a slow and painful way, I canthink of only one overlooked and highly vulnerable target.

The moon.

I pick the moon because I can’t think of any other modern,man-made object left on Earth that exudes the permanenceand stolidity that those mighty Twin Towers did. Unlessterrorists managed to fill up the Grand Canyon with sand,

Continued on Page 9

One Giant Leap for Jihad

Sais profsstart newmagazineWa r - h u n g r y

neoconserva-tives write for

The American Interest. Sodo peacenik liberals.

Or do they?

The magazine’s founder,Francis Fukuyama, wantsto change your mindabout what those labelsmean. If they mean any-thing at all.

“A lot of thei m p o r t a n tissues anddebates are notones that caneasily be cate-gorized asright, left, real-ist, or neocon-servative,” saidFukuyama, who took overas director of theInternational Develop-ment program at SAISthis fall.

Frustrated with the rigidi-ty of existing politicalmagazines, whichFukuyama says foster thedevelopment of partytalking points rather thanhonest, constructiveideas, he founded themagazine with SAIS pro-fessors Eliot Cohen and

Zbigniew Brzezinski andformer SAIS professoriallecturer Josef Joffe.

“Too much of the debatein foreign policy is parti-san,” said Fukuyama in aninterview. “You almostdon’t need to read the arti-cles because you can lookat the cover of the journaland figure out whatthey’re going to say.”

Professor Cohen, head ofthe Strategic Studies

department atSAIS, lament-ed the limitingeffect of politi-cal labels.“Labels likeconservative orliberal, realist,neocon, hawkor dove are

profoundly misleadingand they really don’t cap-ture what are frequentlycomplex views of theworld. Since the world isa greatly complicatedplace it seems you shouldhave complicated views.”

The American Interest,Cohen added, would dif-fer from other publica-tions like The NationalInterest and ForeignPolicy by focusing on

Continued on Page 7

BY ERIC JAFFE

Herman J. Cohen, former Assistant Secretary of State forAfrican Affairs has said, “SAIS is the most importantthink tank among universities.” The statement is asprovocative as it is complimentary. According to Amb.Cohen, professor of American Policy to Africa at SAIS,the school not only provides an intense learning environ-ment in which students are being prepared toaccomplish career goals, it fills a role inWashington as a critical advisory apparatus indealing with the national security questionsfacing the United States.

What makes SAIS different from all otherschools?

For one, SAIS, by its remarkable placement at the heartof Washington, can invite policymakers from State,Defense, Congress and other parts of the federal govern-ment to join students for brownbag lunches. “Ha!” youmight chuckle, “who cares?” The truth is that this is oneimportant way that SAIS professors have been known tooffer guidance to leaders, whether asked to or not. Amb.Cohen states that professors at “SAIS might call on pol-

icymakers to come speak to a class so as to have someinfluence [on their thinking].” He notes that prior tocoming to SAIS, he was invited by Dr. Zartman for suchoccasions, often being publicly challenged by students,an experience he much enjoyed. The former AssistantSecretary recalls that while he was dealing with conflictresolution in the war-torn states of Africa, he often“looked to Prof. Zartman, who helped me with my

thought process.”

Still, other great minds at SAIS are not socertain that SAIS professors yield the influ-ence students think they do. For example,Dr. Eliot Cohen, Director of Strategic

Studies believes that the faculty primarily“teaches, writes serious books and articles, and

only then play[s] its role as public intellectuals.” Butin Cohen’s description of the ideal SAIS faculty, hemakes clear the value added of policy-minded academ-ics. “Our core faculty must absolutely consist of out-standing scholars and teachers – and I weight the latter asheavily as the former, believing that there need be nocontradiction between the two. But… they must be

Continued on Page 6

SAIS IN DC

BY NATE YOUNG

Two Cohens provide insights to school’s relevance

Could the Jihadists be aiming for a higher target?

BY SAUL GARLICK

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is just one of many dignitaries who visited SAIS last year.

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 2

LETTER FROM THE EDITORSDUMBO DIET DEPT.

ANCHORAGE, Sept 14, 2005(Reuters): Anchorage zookeep-

ers are installing a 16,000-pound(7.3-tonne) treadmill to keep an iso-lated elephant from getting fat duringthe long, cold Alaskan winters. The 20-foot (6-meter)-long treadmillwas designed specifically for Maggie,a 23-year-old female African elephantthat has become the subject of anational debate over the proper carefor captive pachyderms.

DEPT. OF VINDICATED EX-GAYMINISTRIES

THE animal kingdom’s mostfamous gay couple has split up.

Silo and Roy, the cohabiting penguinsof Central Park Zoo, are no longer anitem. The pair rose to prominence sixyears ago when they came out withtheir same-sex relationship. Sincethen, they have successfully hatchedand raised an adoptive chick (after anuncertain start that involved trying toincubate a rock). They blazed a trailfor six other gay penguin couples atthe zoo. But the affair ended whenScrappy, a new female penguin,moved into the neighbourhood andcaught Silo’s eye. “Silo and Roystopped spending as much timetogether or building a nest,” JohnRowden, the zoo’s head curator, toldThe New York Post. Silo promptlymoved in with Scrappy, building anew nest with her. Zookeepers are ata loss to explain Silo’s sudden con-version.The Australian, September 26, 2005

CORPORATE RELATIONSDEPT.

Aug. 23, 2005 (Bloomberg) —JPMorgan Chase & Co. officials

apologized to a 54-year-old grocerystore manager from California whowas sent a credit card offer thataddressed him as “PalestinianBomber,” ABC News reported. Sami Habbas, a naturalized U.S. citi-zen who was Palestinian heritage, haslived in the country for 51 years and

served in the U.S. Army, ABC Newssaid. He received an offer for a VisaPlatinum card earlier this month in aform letter that began “DearPalestinian Bomber.”

WHOLE LEG IN MOUTH DEPT.

You must understand the environ-ment in Pakistan. This has

become a moneymaking concern. Alot of people say if you want to goabroad and get a visa for Canada orcitizenship and be a millionaire, getyourself raped.” - Pervez Musharraf, WaPost.

DEPT. OF TOUGH GUYS INTOUGH PLACES

Former world heavyweight boxingchampion Mike Tyson has

received an ecstatic welcome fromfans in the southern Russian republicof Chechnya. He travelled to the eastern city ofGudermes as the guest of honour at aboxing tournament. — Reuters, September 15, 2005

HATS OFF TO THE ONION(AGAIN) DEPT. God Outdoes Terrorists Yet AgainHeadline in The Onion, September7, 2005

WHO YA GONNA BELIEVE?DEPT. #1

In the recording, al-Zarqawi said, “Ibelieve the devastating hurricane

that hit the United States occurredbecause people in Iraq or Afghanistan— maybe a mother who had lost herson or a son whose parents werekilled or a woman who was raped —were praying for God and Godaccepted their prayers.”CNN.com, September 11, 2005

WHO YA GONNA BELIEVE?DEPT. #2

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a formerchief rabbi and the spiritual

leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shasmovement, said on Tuesday thatHurricane Katrina was God’s punish-ment for U.S. President George W.Bush’s support for Israel’s Gaza pull-out. “It was God’s retribution. Goddoes not shortchange anyone,” Yosefsaid during his weekly sermon. Haaretz.com, September 7, 2005

ENTER THE DRAGO DEPT.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina(Reuters) — The ethnically divid-

ed Bosnian city of Mostar has agreedto erect a new symbol of unity — astatue of kung fu legend Bruce Lee,worshipped by Muslims, Serbs andCroats. A group of enthusiasts cameup with the idea of honoring thechildhood hero of the city’s ethnicgroups in 2003, on the 30th anniver-sary of his death. They launched theproject, found donors and waited ayear for the city’s approval.“We plan to erect the statue inNovember in the center of the city,”Veselin Gatalo, a member of theUrban Movement organization, toldReuters. “This will be a monument touniversal justice that Mostar needsmore than any other city I know.”CNN.com September 12, 2005The SAIS Observer

Editors-in-ChiefAlex KlimentKumuda DoraiFatima Ayub

ContributorsAnnaliis CantyMiriam ElderSaul GarlickTodd HollandLeslie Hough

Eric JaffeAdam Mendelson

Patricia MussiDelana Peregrim

Brice RichardJenifer RogersNikos TsafosJames WarnerChris WendellNate Young

The SAIS Observer is an international affairs news monthly written, edit-ed, and produced by the students of the Paul H. Nitze School of AdvancedInternational Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University.

SAIS students, faculty and members of the administration at theWashington, D.C. campus, Bologna campus, and the Hopkins-NanjingCenter are encouraged to submit articles, letters to the editor, photographs,cartoons and other items for consideration.

Material for consideration or inquireis may be submitted to :[email protected].

The SAIS Observer is an approved SAIS student organization. Opinions expressed in the SAIS Observer are not necessarily the views ofthe editors, SAIS, or the University.

Along with never mastering which way to turnfor the buttons in each of the Nitze elevators,

one of the great SAIS student traditions is casualcomplaining. Frankly, there’s an awful lot of grip-ing, grousing, caviling, carping, and outright bitch-ing around here-from picayune cafeteria grumbles toproblems with the administration and curriculum.

Yet when challenged to act on their complaints,many SAISers beat a swift retreat, fearing “black-balling” by professors or potential employers — asthough this were a vengeful police state and not agraduate school.

Frankly, we think that’s shameful. If you see prob-lems that compromise the quality of the SAIS edu-cation for us and for future students, you have amoral and intellectual obligation to raise your voice.Above all, Deans Einhorn and Wilson are extraordi-narily receptive to students' criticisms — addressthem directly and candidly.

Yet what if more public action is required?

While at The Observer our business is words, we’renot all talk. To prove it, we’ll throw down twogauntlets. First, we’ll publish any thoughtful, con-structive, and signed criticism of any aspect ofSAIS. Second, if you lack the temerity to speak outpublicly or engage official channels, send us a com-plaint signed by at least five students, and we’llwrite it up in a special section.

So if you have — as our agents tell us some of youdo — gripes about your department head, about thelanguage program, about Career Services, or aboutthe curriculum, put it in writing and send it to us.We’ll run it, and demand the administration’sresponse.

In so doing, we believe that The Observer can be aninstrument for improving the academic and organi-zational culture of SAIS.

All of us are part of that mission.

A Challenge to Students

The Observer welcomes accolades, denials, comments, critiques,

and hate mail at [email protected].

Deadliest weather disasterin U.S. history 1900 hurricane that hitGalveston, Texas

Estimated killed6,000 to 12,000

Current deathtoll fromHurricane Katrina1,069

Percent of Americans whothink New Orleans shouldbe rebuilt somewhere else41%

Fine charged to an Israelicouple for kissing duringtheir wedding ceremonyin Pushkar, IndiaRs 1,000

Financial incentive givento women in France as areward for having theirthird child$916 per month for oneyear

Rate of violent crime inWashington, D.C. per

100,000 residents1,627.7

U.S. national average446.1

Least stressful U.S. urbanareaAlbany, New York

Apple’s iPod productsmarket share in the digitalmusic player market92.1%

Number of Israeli settlersrecently removed fromGazaapproximately 8,100

Number of Israeli settlersliving in the West Bankapproximately 240,000

Voter turnout inAfghanistan’s recent leg-islative elections56%

Voter turnout one year agoin the legislative elections70%

Heaviest athlete in the

worldSumo wrestler Manny(Tiny) Yarbrough, whoweighs 704 pounds

Number of amendmentsproposed to the UNreform plan by U.S.ambassador John Bolton750

Number of stories Mr.Bolton suggested remov-ing from the 38 story UNbuilding10

Number of U.S. Senatorswho voted to confirm Mr.Bolton0

Percentage of Welshoffice workers who thinkthat information technolo-gy terms like “firewall”and “upload” are just asincomprehensible as a for-eign language68%

Average number ofAmericans using anInternet file-sharing net-

work at any givenmoment in time7 million

Increase over 2 years agomore than 100%

Highest proportion ofopium addicts in the worldIran (2.8%)

Cost of U2 tickets for theOctober 19/20 shows atthe MCI Center in D.C.$175 - $1500

Total wealth of the top400 wealthiest AmericansUS $1.13 trillion

GDP in 2004 for Brazil,Argentina, and Indonesiacombined:US $916.1 billion

Percent of statistics thatare made up on the spot69%

Todd Holland is a 2ndyear M.A. student, con-centrating in WesternHemi-sphere/ LatinAmerica Studies.

BY THE NUMBERSBY TODD HOLLAND

Observed...

DEPT. OF . . . . . .

Girl Throws Holy Quran ontoGround, Allah Transforms

her into Animal”June 5, 2005 (h.1426)Al-Nileen Newspaper, Sudan

Sinful girl, post transformation, ascaptured on camera by her sister.

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 3

THE NUT’S NOT THE ONLY STORY

Turkmenistan receives frequent media cover-age in the West because of its eccentricleader, Saparmurat Niyazov, also known as

Turkmenbashi, “father of the Turkomens.” We aretold, for example, about how he has renamed themonths of the year after members of his family;about how he has done away with public libraries andmade the Rukhnama, his book of personal musings,not only the centerpiece of the education system, butalso required reading in all churches and mosques;and about how he plans to construct a theater for hishorses. We know that Turkmenbashi has recentlybanned lip-synching and recorded music, the ballet,and opera, in order to preserve “traditional” Turkmenculture, and that unlike neighboring leaders who havefocused on anti-corruption reforms, Turkmenbashi’smodernization efforts have reached into the minutiaeof everyday life: no more gold teeth or beards,please.

Unfortunately, this gleeful coverage of the Turkmenpresident’s eccentricities, while making for a goodread, fails to address the fact that the country is, infact, in dire straits. The Western media misses themark chiefly in failing to realize that Turkmenistanis not just Turkmenbashi.

Serious reports about the government’s authoritarian-ism, and its effects on the people, are pushed aside infavor of more entertaining clips about the president’sattempts to establish a penguin exhibit in the CentralAsian desert. The next generation of Turkmen citi-zens, whom the Economist calls “nearly as brain-washed as North Koreans,” will have to strugglemightily to overcome the hurdles placed before themby their egomaniacal president. After all, this countryof five million people, endowed with significanthydrocarbon reserves and located in a politically sen-

sitive region, will still exist after Turkmenbashi.

The United States government sees Turkmenistan asa potential ally in combating the spread of weapons,narcotics, and human trafficking — three keyregional issues that require multilateral attention.

But before Turkmenistan can address these regionalissues, it needs to stop refusing to recognize thegrave problems within its own borders. Some ofTurkmenbashi’s policies have transcended thebizarre and reached the truly dangerous.

In the summer of 2004 he fired 15,000 healthcareworkers, replacing them with military conscripts,and declared all infectious diseases “illegal”, includ-ing AIDS and the plague, which spreads easily in theregion. Continued overuse of the Amu Darya River,which is one of only two sources of water for theshrinking Aral Sea, has serious environmental con-sequences. Rapid desertification is occurring region-ally, producing crop failures as water supplies aremismanaged.

Turkmenbashi’s image looms so large in Westernminds that it is difficult to see the people in his shad-ow. The international notoriety he has achieved is nosubstitute for the better way of life Turkmenbashi isstealing from his people, with his ice palaces andgolden statues that revolve to face the sun.

The media should use these anecdotes as evidence ofthe damage being done to Turkmenistan — toremind people that there is more to the country thanan eccentric leader — and not leave them as the storyalone.

Annaliis Canty is a 2nd year M.A. student, concen-trating in Russian & Eurasian Studies.

Why the Western Media is failing TurkmenistanBY ANNALIIS CANTY

Turkmenbashi styles himself as “father of all Turkmens”, but his headline grab-bing eccentricities are harming his people’s future.

Atwo-part conven-tional wisdom hasformed on the

peace efforts. First, it isthought, each country has along-term national interestin negotiating a peace.With a reliable peace overthe long term, tradebetween Azerbaijan andArmenia would resume,stability would allow forincreased foreign directinvestment, and each couldreduce its defense expendi-tures. Second, mostobservers believe that thechief obstacles to reachingsuch a peace are disagree-ments over details such asthe right of return for Azerirefugees, the final status ofN a g o r n o - K a r a b a k h(whether as an autonomouspart of Azerbaijan or as anindependent republic), andthe deployment and com-mand of peacekeepingforces.

Yet this framework ignoresthe fact that, given theinternal politics and eco-nomic structures of eachcountry, neither PresidentIlham Aliyev of Azerbaijannor President RobertKocharian of Armenia hasa personal or politicalincentive for peace. Sodespite the broader nationalinterests in a stable peace,the national leaders are atbest half-hearted partici-pants in the process.

Azerbaijan and Armeniaunderwent similar post-communist transitions. Ineach, economic wealth andpolitical power are highlyconcentrated within a smallelite. Each suffers from ahigh level of officiallysanctioned and toleratedcorruption. Each has heldelections that internationalobservers describe as“irregular”. Each hasmedia that actively prac-tices self-censorship underofficial intimidation. Thatsaid, both governmentswant to avoid the kind of“color” revolutions thatrecently took place inGeorgia and Ukraine.They do this by providing abare minimum of servicesto their people, and by tol-erating some activities bylocal NGOs. Maintainingthis status quo in Armeniaand Azerbaijan requires oftheir leaders a difficult bal-ancing act that has adverse-ly affected the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

A key barrier to peace inboth countries is the oli-garchic control of businessand politics. Nowhere isthis more apparent than inthe struggles over control ofcustoms and trade, whichform an important basis of

political and economicpower. In June of 2005,Anar Kerimov, writing forthe “Central Asia –Caucasus Analyst”, detailedan open struggle for controlover the customs depart-ment between twoAzerbaijani oligarch-politi-cians, which was ultimatelymediated by PresidentAliyev himself. In Armeniatoo, the government isclosely linked to businessesthat succeed based on theirability to monopolize trade.Eduard Agadjanov of theAssociation ofInvestigative JournalistsNGO of Armenia wrote inAugust of 2004 that, “thereare . . . spheres in Armeniawhere in order to do busi-ness it is necessary to get

the OK either from the gov-ernment or from the peopleor clans who have a monop-oly in thesespheres…These ‘elite’ andhighly profitable areas oftrade include oil, sugar,[and] liquefied gas.”Moreover, becauseArmenia’s borders withTurkey and Azerbaijan areboth closed, trade acrossthe open Iranian border ishighly regulated and pro-duces substantial rents.

A peaceful, open borderbetween Azerbaijan andArmenia would cause greatupheaval as business andpolitical elites struggle foreconomic power on amuch-altered political andeconomic terrain. Opening

the borders would set off astruggle for economicpower that would threatenadministration constituen-cies among the power elitein each country, and upsetthe delicate balance of per-sonal interests that supportseach president.

An equally large disincen-tive for Presidents Aliyevand Kocharian to makepeace is that the ongoingconflict serves as a continu-ous distraction from thepoor socioeconomic condi-tion of the Armenian andAzerbaijani people. Outsideof downtown Baku andYerevan, many families liveat or below the poverty line.Both countries strugglewith high levels of econom-ic emigration with Moscow,Europe, and the U.S..

In anticipation of an August2005 meeting betweenAliyev and Kocharian, theforeign ministries ofArmenia and Azerbaijanand the OSCE MinskGroup all raised interna-tional expectations that apeace was almost at hand.The Azerbaijani DeputyForeign Minister ArazAzimov even told reportersin July that, “we are closerto peace than ever before,”

according to Radio FreeEurope/ Radio Liberty.Similar statements byMinsk Group co-chairmanSteven Mann and Armenianforeign minister VardanOskanian reinforced theseexpectations. In the event,nothing substantive camefrom the meeting betweenAliyev and Kocharian.

We need not view the lackof a peace betweenArmenia and Azerbaijanwith surprise or disappoint-ment. The underlyingassumption of the negotia-tions over Nagorno-Karabakh is that both sidesview a negotiated peace asa positive sum game.However, until the personaland broader political inter-ests of President Aliyev ofAzerbaijan and PresidentKocharian of Armenia aremore closely aligned withtheir broadly conceivednational interests, and dis-entangled from their per-sonal and narrow politicalinterests, we will not seepeace over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Chris Wendell is a 1st yearM.A. student, concentrat-ing in ConflictManagement. He servedas a Peace Corps volun-teer in Armenia from Juneof 2003 to July of 2005.This article does notreflect the views of PeaceCorps or the U.S.Government.

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 4

BY CHRIS WENDELL

NO INTEREST IN PEACEThe failure of political leadership in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations

Refugees caught in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which continues with no resolution in sight.

BACKGROUND

From 1991 to 1994, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bitterwar over Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority-Armenian enclavethat, under the Soviet Union, had been apportioned toAzerbaijan. The fighting claimed between 17,000 and 30,000lives, and displaced nearly one million Azerbaijanis and350,000 Armenians. When a cease-fire was signed in 1994,Armenia had control of almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh, andoccupied an additional 8,000 square kilometers of Azerbaijaniterritory. Today, the border between Armenia and Azerbaijanremains closed, and tensions are high. Despite the efforts ofnegotiators from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the OSCE MinskGroup comprising France, Russia, and the United States, nopeace treaty has been signed.

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 5

BY ALEX KLIMENT

GO JUMPOFF A CLIFFThese days, there’s much to be

said for jumping off a cliff.And I don’t mean only for

the majority of pundits, politicians,lawyers, bureaucrats, and lobbyistswhose collective plunge into obliv-ion would greatly benefit us all. Inthis day and age, all of us could dowith a good leap. Yet for most peo-ple, the idea of hurling one’s self offa craggy rock face arises only inconnection with the lemming sui-cide myth, or in motherly sermonsabout the evils of peer pressure —“so if Jimmy jumped off a cliff,would you do it too?”

Well a few weeks ago, I put all thataside and pitched myself off a cliff.Several cliffs, actually, all loominghigh over a frigid and remote swim-ming hole at Shenandoah NationalPark. Clearly, jumping off of atwenty-five foot cliff into waterholds several advantages over leap-ing off the same onto dry land, themost distinct of which is that the lat-ter tends to make ex post factoretelling impossible.

But what of the retelling? And whythe exhortation to hurl yourself intoan abyss, watery or otherwise?

One of the defining aspects of mod-ern life is our estrangement not onlyfrom the places of nature — forests,rivers, trees, deserts, mountains —but also from the forces of naturethat act upon us and our surround-ings.

How often these days does naturemove us more than what dancesacross a silver-screen or flickersinto our living rooms? When wasthe last time you were seized by thekind of primal fear-cum-wonder atthe natural world that wells up fromthe deepest and oldest parts of yourbrain?

Critical followers of the HurricaneKatrina coverage will recall that asthe disaster unfolded, horrifiedobservers everywhere invokedcomparisons with the Third Worldto describe the battered, flooded,looted, and helpless Gulf Coast.

The subtext was that while weexpect nature periodically todestroy entire cities in teeming, hot,impoverished places, her rude intru-sion into the realm of the iPod, thesuburban cul-de-sac, and the SportActivity Vehicle was somehow anoutrage — to say nothing of some

people’s unforgivably dumbfound-ed realization that, in fact, there areparts of our country where thosethree things don’t exist at all.

The question on everyone’s lips,“how the @&$% could this happenhere?” was partly an indictment ofgovernmental incompetence, but itwas mostly an indignant reaction tonature’s barging into our modernworld and making a mess of theplace.

This is the First World, after all.After two hundred years on thiscontinent, we’ve served notice tonature that while we used to surviveon her terms, she now survives onours. Here we beat nature into sub-mission, cordon her off in nationalparks and preserves, and pay back-handed compliments — or condo-lences — to her legacy with plantedhighway medians and leafy corpo-rate atria.

As the accomplished Americanlandscape architect MarthaSchwartz once observed, “theAmerican landscape is no longer theromantically conceived‘Jeffersonian Wilderness’,” but “acommodity, and a cultural artifactthat exists only when, where, andhow we say it does.”

What is true for nature’s most splen-did locales is true too for her mostbasic forces. Consider the sterilizedphysical boredom of commercial airtravel. Hurtling through the sky atnearly the speed of sound, fourmiles above the earth’s surface, in ametal container weighing up tonearly a million pounds is todayabout as exhilarating as sitting on abus wheezing its way along anasphalt ribbon from some parkinglot in New Jersey to some parkinglot in Northeast DC. Frankly I relishmoments of extreme turbulence,because it takes just a moment ofheart-in-your-throat terror to realizethat there is something more goingon than just an in-flight movie, andto appreciate the almost magicalaccomplishments bequeathed to usby the Wright brothers at KittyHawk and the flyboys over Brescia.

So in a world with ever feweropportunities to experience nature’splaces and forces, jumping off acliff into a remote swimming hole issomething of a twin killing. Nomatter that there ought to be enoughof that purling darkness below tokeep you from being dashed topieces, to jump still requires a tem-

porary suspension of better judg-ment-a secular leap of faith, if youwill. And as you lurch outward intoa moment of weightlessness thatnearly pulls the breath right out ofyou, you’ll be seized by the kind ofprimal fear that bolts through uswhen the mind reminds itself thatthe body is, after all, merely a frag-ile object, subject to the brute forcesof nature, gravity, and violence thatgovern everything else living, life-less, and dead in the world. It’s thesame innate terror that the humancreature surely felt in the daysbefore the DVD and the camera-phone, before the freeway and theidiot box, before the airplane andthe suspensionbridge, before thesmokestack and thespinning jenny, beforeGalileo and Newton, beforethe temple and the court, beforethe wheel and the sail, before theirrigation of fields and the keep-ing of records, indeed beforethe advent of language altogeth-er and hence before we werereally human at all. It’s the samefear we’d have felt when wewere still so close to naturethat it was, presumably, almostimpossible to consider it somethingseparate from ourselves. That feel-ing is a connection to the time whenthe difference between us and allthe other nasty, hungry, hairy, scaly,feathery, and brutish critters outthere battling for another genera-tion’s worth of existence was twoopposable thumbs, an erect gait, anda good — if a bit flattish — head onour shoulders.

Of course, these days it’s difficult toengage with nature without theawareness that merely to do sorequires a conscious effort and, usu-ally, a motor vehicle. Nevertheless,we ought to take what opportunitiesand what risks we can in order topeek out of the bubble and rush ofmodern life, to pursue the sensationand contemplation of nature notonly for their own sakes, but as awindow into the deepest and oldestrecesses of our humanness.

So go ahead, hurl yourself off acliff. And if your mother gets windof this, tell her that yes, if Alexjumped off a cliff, you would too.

Alex Kliment is a 2nd year M.A.student, concentrating in Russian& Eurasian Studies. He is co-Editor-in-Chief of the SAISObserver.

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 6

SAISLIFE BRICE RICHARD

Brice Richard is a 1st year M.A. student concentrating in China Studies.

America is for me,” a class-mate from Bologna calledacross the Nitze Courtyard

the other week, gyrating his pelviswith glee, “The men at the gym allshower aroused and they loooove mehere.” The implied causal mechanismnotwithstanding, I asked Klaus whyhe thought this was the case. “HereI’m the European. Apparently, thismakes me exotic,” he played up hisTeutonic accent, “All I have to do isask for a sigarette and I get lucky.”

While I assume that few of us havebeen lured into the field of interna-tional relations solely by the prospectof dinner dates with diplomats, mis-sion hook-ups in five-star hotels, andproposals of marriage in languagesmore enticing than our own, in myexperience such things tend to be theindirect consequence, if not valueadded, of the work we’re getting our-selves into with a SAIS degree.

Sorry to take on the tone of an expert,but I’ve found that my own romanticrésumé seems to lengthen exponen-tially with every job I take abroad.Since college my relevant experienceincludes, but is not limited to:advancing post-Cold war relationswith an Estonian farmer, engaging ina marital confederation with a for-mer-Soviet Georgian rock star and,most recently, fending off Serbianand Albanian aggression in Kosovobars while maintaining an ambivalentalliance with a young British diplo-mat.

Much like my professional résumé,however, my romantic résumé isnotably less interesting and expansivewhen it comes to domestic affairs—and it seems I am not alone.Unofficial data from the 2006Bologna class reveals a strong trendtoward cross-cultural dating.

Bologna-formed unions that havesurvived the transatlantic transitioninclude six Americans paired, respec-tively, with an Austrian, a German, anItalian, two Serbs and a Norwegian;two Brits dating two Italians; aCanadian-German couple and onenew Austrian-Italian pair. Contrastingthis with only two fully Americanrelationships and not a single union ofEuropeans from the same country, wefind that 83% of monogamousBolognesi are dating others fromanother country.

Do we really see gains from tradewhen we tear down barriers in theglobal dating market?

Perhaps, but like globalization andfree trade, this phenomenon can alsohave unforeseen consequences.

I remember meeting a friend over thesummer at Small Bar, Pristina’s pre-mier see-and-be-seen scene, in thehope that we would run into her latestparamour, “the Bosnian.” She bracedme as we scanned the crowd, “he’snot what you expect. He’s not classi-cally good-looking—he’s kind ofNeanderthal-ish and our friends don’treally get on with him well.”

“So what you’re saying,” I eyed hersuspiciously, “is that he’s unattractiveand no one likes him?”

“Yes, well, yes,” she conceded, look-ing no less eager to see him. I had lit-tle room to criticize, as she’d just got-ten me to admit that the Serb I wasseeing, while unbelievably attractivein my mind, dressed like MichaelHutchinson in billowing shirts unbut-toned to his navel and leather pantspotentially tailored when INXS wasstill at their prime.

The truth is, it’s much easier to be tol-erant of aberrant fashion and irritatingidiosyncrasies in people from other

countries. Within our own culture,how we dress, which neighborhoodwe live in, what we do for a living,lock us into a particular identity. Wenote our differences and stick to oursub-groups, excluding a large per-centage of the potential dating popu-lation with superficial partitions.

Dating people from other culturesbecomes a way to make ourselvesilliterate towards exterior cues, to getover embedded snobberies, and toseek out the more resonant common-alities on the interior.

Any flaw I’d be unwilling to abide inan American is easily dismissed bythe convenient scapegoat of culturalrelativism. The Brit isn’t emotionallyunavailable, he’s just British. TheRussian isn’t an alcoholic, he’s justRussian. But this, as I learned frommy marriage to a Georgian at the ten-der age of twenty-three, is a slipperyslope.

In many cultures, Georgian included,hitting women is still a valid means ofconflict management in the home.

But is it at this dire point or wellbeforehand that absolutism must winout? Is cross-cultural dating, andglobalization itself, ultimately sus-tainable? Will most of these cross-cultural relationships become trainingwheels for an inevitable settling downwith someone more culturally famil-iar? Can we create a global tribe orwill we always revert to nationalismin the end?

With the school as my data pool, Ihope to find answers or at leastadvance our collective learning on thesubject by the end of the year.

Leslie Hough is a 2nd year M.A. stu-dent, concentrating in ConflictResolution.

Continued from Page 1people who can engage with the policy world and areinterested in it, and they must be people who are notscholastic or pedantic or confined within the boundaries oftheir particular disciplines.”

If the faculty does not have a direct line to the Oval Office,then what is all the hype? According to Amb. Cohen, itstarts with the name. “SAIS began with the great advan-tage of having the name Paul Nitze” emblazoned upon it.With the credibility that rides on Nitze’s long coattails,policymakers who are “looking for intellectual support”for their arguments do not have to look far. It’s not thatpolicy comes directly from the intellectuals at SAIS, but“experts exist who are listened to,” and provide necessarysupport that legitimizes policy decisions.

Fouad Ajami, Paul Wolfowitz, John McLaughlin and DonOberdorfer are just a few of the other policy gurus andadvisors on campus. Looking further into the litany ofways SAIS professors make their mark in the beltway, thelevel of their policy-related accomplishments are by nomeans negligible.

In spite of his modesty, Dr. Cohen sits on the DefensePolicy Board of the Department of Defense along withRuth Wedgwood, Director of the International Law andOrganizations Program at SAIS. Wedgwood is also anactive member on the Secretary of State’s Committee forInternational Law and a US member of the UN HumanRights Committee. Professors Francis Fukuyama,Zbigniew Brzezinski and Francis Deng also currentlyadvise both domestic and foreign governments. Fukuyamasits on the President’s Bioethics Board, and as forBrzezinski, he currently holds a spot on the President’sForeign Intelligence Advisory Board. Amb. Cohen todayadvises the government of Mauritania on a regular basisand Francis Deng is a representative of the UN Secretary-General on internally displaced persons. This of course isa small sampling, but the point is overwhelmingly clear:SAIS attracts a faculty that does matter in Washington,and that is part of what makes it influential. While SAISdoes have a “deeper collection of experts” than similarinstitutions, it is also, according to Amb. Cohen, “the aca-demic place to go if you’re looking for big policy think-ing.”

Perhaps the quality of SAIS’ faculty does not derive sole-ly from their relevance to the policy making world – orperhaps it does. But Dr. Cohen sums it up best.“Ultimately what makes this institution important here isthe extent to which it provides those who pass through itan education that improves their skills and opens theirminds.”

Saul Garlick is a 1st year M.A. student, concentrating inAmerican Foreign Policy.

Two Cohensgive insights to school’s relevance

LOST INTranslationBY LESLIE HOUGH

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 7

Continued from Page 1both domestic and interna-tional policy, noting that,“In a way, the premise of alot of writing on foreignpolicy in the past is that it’ssomehow distinct fromdomestic policy. And that’sclearly untrue.”

Even though the magazinewill feature a variety ofopinions, Fukuyamaemphasized that the articleswill “be based on seriousempirical arguments.”

In a representative article,Glenn Loury, an economicsprofessor at BrownUniversity, asks, “Howmany Iraqis equal oneMarine?” He maintainsthat, in the eyes ofAmericans, Iraqi lives maybe “cheap.”

Fifty pages later, RobertKaplan, a correspondentfor the Atlantic Monthly,extols the virtues of thewarrior, and notes that“wanting to fight is an ordi-nary emotion for those whochoose combat arms asprofession.” He concludesby admonishingDemocrats, saying theyshould “act more likemen.”

When two educated peopledisagree so fundamentallyin their approach to foreignpolicy, can they have a con-

structive dialogue?Fukuyama says that itmight be hard, but it can bedone. “The whole point ofa symposium is to haveinteraction and to developideas.”

If two people don’t findcommon ground, Cohensays, there is still an oppor-tunity for others to learn.“Even if [Kaplan andLoury] don’t speak to eachother directly, the rest of uscan look and wag our headsand try to figure out wherewe stand.”

One particular focus forThe American Interest,according to Cohen, will beto advance the debate overthe war in Iraq. “My view

of the Iraq War – which Ifavored – was that it wasone that reasonable peoplecould disagree on,” saidCohen. “One thing thattroubled me was howquickly highly intelligentfriends of mine began talk-ing past each other.Hopefully, The AmericanInterest will be a placewhere civilized discoursecan take place and peoplecan courteously disagreewith each other.”

Though the foreign policydebate in America has tra-ditionally been dominatedby the so-called “wisemen” – the old, white,male, Washington, DC,establishment - Fukuyamawould like to give other

voices an opportunity to beheard.

Many non-Americans areaffected by the actions ofthe United States,Fukuyama said, and arefrustrated that they can’t

vote in American elections.“The idea is that they can atleast write in The AmericanInterest. “I think it’s notjust up to Americans todetermine how Americashapes its interests and itsobjectives.

Non-Americans aren’t theonly establishment out-siders Fukuyama has invit-ed to join the discussion.The American Interestwebsite (http://the-ameri-can-interest.com) featuresa blog that Fukuyamahopes will appeal to ayounger audience who“may be turned off by theexisting debate over for-eign policy.”

It’s an ambitious plan:access new readerships,publish thoughtful andsober analysis, plungeheadfirst into the turbulentblogosphere, and maintain

credibility. Fukuyama didnot have to search far forthose who would take onthe challenge.

“We’ve hired a couple ofSAIS graduates, so SAIShas its fingerprints all overit. But I think that’s areflection of the overlapbetween what we want todo and the kind of trainingthat SAIS provides.”

Cohen added “it sayssomething good about theschool that this is the kindof place that can give birthto that kind of magazine.”

The autumn issue, the firstof five to be published eachcalendar year, can be foundat Books-a-Million book-store on Dupont Circle.

Eric Jaffe is a 1st yearM.A. student, concentrat-ing in Strategic Studies.

Sais Profs. Launch New Magazine

Professor Eliot Cohen at the launch of The American Interest.

MILITARY AGONY && EECSTACYOctober 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 8

“Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most tobe dreaded, because it comprisesand develops the germ of everyother. War is the parent of armies.From these proceed debts andtaxes. And armies, debts, andtaxes are the known instrumentsfor bringing the many under thedomination of the few … Nonation could preserve its freedomin the midst of continual war-fare” (p. 7).

So wrote James Madisonmore than two centuriesago. But today, some

would find this statement politi-cally heretical. In the run-up tothe Iraq war, when Robert Kaganremarked that “Americans arefrom Mars and Europeans arefrom Venus,” he struck a chordthat made him an instant celebri-ty: Americans were warlike, heargued, mired in a Hobbesianworld of anarchy, whileEuropeans inhabited a post-mod-ern Kantian paradise where warwas unthinkable and unnecessary.

Kagan’s view was widely sharedamong peaceniks who deploredAmerica and warmongers whoscorned Europe alike. But howhad America come to that? Howhad Woodrow Wilson’s vision ofending war morph into aWilsonianism whose focus is

m i l i t a r ypower andbrute force?This is the questionthat Andrew Bacevich,a professor at BostonUniversity and retiredU.S. Army Colonel,takes up in his newbook, “The NewAmerican Militarism:How Americans areSeduced by War.”

The narrative begins with theend of the Vietnam War, as amotley group of military offi-cers, intellectuals, religious lead-ers, politicians and purveyors ofpop culture set out to restoreAmerica’s strength and sense ofmasculinity. Consciously andsubconsciously, they weavedtogether a counter-revolution tothe 1960s and 1970s that evolvedinto neo-conservatism. A milita-rized American foreign policywas their brainchild.

There were two turning pointsthat brought military power to thetop of America’s problem-solvingtoolbox. The first was the Iranianrevolution; Professor Bacevichwrites, “critics might cavil thatthe resulting militarization of USpolicy in the Persian Gulfamounted to a devil’s bargain,trading blood for oil. Carter sawthings differently. The contracthad a third element. On the

surface the exchange might entailblood-for-oil, but beneath the sur-face the aim was to guarantee theever-increasing affluence thatunderwrites the modernAmerican conception of liberty”(p. 183). The second was the GulfWar of 1990-1991. This was pur-

gatory for the military, orrather the point where

purgatory leads intoheaven. It is

only after theGulf Warthat Americawas able toregain itsfaith in them i l i t a r ye s t a b l i s h -ment.

And so itw a s :A m e r i c ahad foundits modus

ope rand i ,the military,

precisely as theCold War was ending

and America’s attentionswere shifting to the Middle

East. The strategic imperativeto preserve the American way of

life would interact with a form ofcrusading democratic idealism toproduce a mindset whose outletwas increasingly militaristic.

At the same time, the militarydoctrines that had contributed tothe restoration of the militarywere falling apart.

The Powell doctrine was beingpushed aside, as its emphasis on“overwhelming force” and an“exit strategy” was being sup-planted in favor of open-endedhumanitarian commitments and“force protection” to minimize

casualties. Military success hadbred a political appetite to deploythe military more often and morewidely.

But while America’s kaleido-scopic perception of the militarywas simultaneously demandingthe resort to force but without theheavy casualties and costs thatwars entail, the nature of waritself was changing America.“Rather than safety,” writesProfessor Bacevich, “the posses-sion of military might withoutprecedent has in practice yieldeda heightened sense of vulnerabil-ity” (p. 97).

It is a pity that the author refrainsfrom analyzing this idea further;for no nation can be “seduced bywar” without changing the way itsees itself.

There is no doubt that Americanscan reference their Clausewitzand explain that war is politics byother means. But, onceunleashed, war takes on a life ofits own—the emotional toll ofwar is unpredictable and makeswar itself unpredictable since thelimits of the human passions areever harder to gauge, both on thefighters and those who peer fromafar.

That is why it is impossible tobelieve that war is just like anyother tool in America’s foreignpolicy. Americans, it seems, havefallen for war and its promise inresolving disputes without fullyappreciating either its implica-tions or its limits.

Nikos Tsafos is a 1st year M.A.student, concentrating inInternational Energy Policy &Middle East Studies.

THE NEW AMERICAN MILITARISM: HOW AMERICANS ARE SEDUCED BY WAR

by ANDREW J. BACEVICH

Oxford University Press 270 pages, $28

B O O K R E V I E W

BY NIKOS TSAFOS

Before meeting myfiancé, the oldbumper sticker

summed up my attitude tothe military: “It will be agreat day when ourschools have enoughbooks, and the military hasto hold a bake sale to buya tanker.”

I appreciated the courageand integrity with whichgood men and womenserve, but I harbored avague stereotype of—anda hostility toward—themilitary as one big war-mongering machine.

Though a naïve and igno-rant view it was hardly anunreasonable one, consid-ering the extent to whichthe military monolith isremoved from mostAmericans’ daily lives.There are roughly 1.5 mil-

lion active-duty servicemembers in the fivebranches of our military:the Army, Navy, Air Force,Marine Corps, and CoastGuard.

The numbers translate toapproximately one out ofevery 200 Americans serv-ing in the Armed Forces.By contrast, in 1970 aboutone out of every 67Americans was in the mili-tary (excluding theNational Guard andReserves, which totalabout one million servicemembers today). But howmany of us know a soldier,sailor, marine or airmanserving overseas?

This column is a noviceattempt to demystify themilitary community andmilitary affairs, from theperspective of a lay-woman. Some of youhave made the military

your profession. Some inour student body may oneday be decision-makersentrusted with soldiers’lives. Many of us will beworking with people in themilitary, whether settingpolicy or deliveringhumanitarian aid halfwayacross the world. In atime of war it is our civicobligation to know some-thing about the men andwomen fighting and dyingin our name, regardless ofwhether we agree with thereasons or not. Confusingthe warrior with the war isa pitfall America knowstoo well.

Tensions in U.S. civil-mili-tary relations have a longhistory. The drafters of theUnited States Constitutiongreatly feared a standingarmy. This unease had its

roots in the British distastefor powerful armies: in theeighteenth century, theBritish opted to lodge theirnational pride in theirunparalleled Royal Navy,and to limit the strength oftheir land forces.

Early colonists broughtwith them this ethos. Atthe end of theRevolutionary War,President Washingtondrew down the newly vic-torious American Army toa grand total of 82 soldiersmanning the nation’s onlyfort, where which storedall the nation’s weapons atthe time.

That site would laterbecome our first militaryacademy, at West Point.America was wed to thenotion of the citizen sol-

dier, as opposed to a largestanding army. Thisdynamic has persisted, invarious forms, to the pres-ent day.

What this column is and isnot: it is personal, but it isnot a therapy session forthe author. It will mostcertainly not speak to U.S.defense policy, but ratherwill address technicalquestions about the mili-tary, providing some basictools with which you canbetter understand what youread in the newspaper (e.g.how big is a brigade?).

It will also explore a rangeof political issues, particu-larly the question ofwhethermisperceptionsabout the military prolifer-ate on the right andleft…or not? If so, doesthis detachment haveharmful implications forthe politics of U.S. nation-

al security policy?Assumptions and stereo-types deserve honestscrutiny. The column willdraw on the history of U.S.civil-military relations. Itwill delve into ethicalquestions around the useof force, and why “justwar theory” is unfashion-able in policy circles.

Although it will focuschiefly on the U.S. mili-tary, I hope that the ques-tions raised here apply toall within the diverse stu-dent body at SAIS. Inshort, the column willexplore all things militaryfrom the perspective of anoutsider.

I invite and look forwardto your stories andthoughts.

Kate Turner is a 1st yearM.A. student, concentrat-ing in South Asia Studies.

Demystifying the unknown soldierWHAT WE THINK WE KNOWBY KATE TURNER

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 9

Dear James – I fell off a boat this summer and almostdrowned, andhave been deathly afraid of water since,and so have not been able to bathe for two months. Isthere any way to fix this?- Pig-Pong, Gainesville, FL

Unfortunately, Pig-Pong, refraining from bathing willonly result in further aquatic trauma, because though youcan no longer smell your acrid waft, someone is soondue to tackle you, and – depending on their facilities –give you either the garden hose and lye, or a wire-brushscrubbing that will make Silkwood look like a spa treat-ment.

Unless you are prepared to face your fears, your onlyoption is to become a traveling hippy. Among the hippiesyou will find a grand community of folk who findbathing optional, from microbe-loving neo-Jains to hard-core environmentalists who exfoliate only with moltedbark as they roll in the dew. Also you will find plenty ofpatchouli oil and dogs on strings to make the strength ofyour personal odor a relative thing. But you’ll want tokeep moving, and as airing out your clothes is essentialto avoiding scabies, and your presence on a plane willlikely qualify as an act of biological terrorism, the bus isthe way forward.

Now, Europe is a great place for the creativelyunwashed, but the bus there is tricky, so may I suggestCentral America as the first destination in your pungentnew life? Let me specifically direct you to a town calledPanajachel in Guatemala, which has been shelteringyour adopted sort since the early 1960’s. Panajachel issituated on spectacular Lake Atitlán, but not to worry—no one will expect you to swim.

I specifically suggest Guatemala because almost no onethere knows how to swim, and so no one will fault youyour aquaphobia. I have seen grown women cry whenasked to put their face underwater and blow bubbles bya swim instructor. That said, if you can get over your fearof water enough to get on a boat, take a ride across thelake to San Marcos la Laguna, which probably has thehighest concentration of hippies in the WesternHemisphere.

There you will find Los Piramídes, a new age retreatwhere you can stay for months at a time among the sym-pathetic unwashed who will understand where you’recoming from and not judge you at all; even so, there youmight just find a solution to your fears – either throughmeditation and yoga, extended periods in the sauna toclear your pores and make you beg for cold water, or theexperience of living in close quarters for months at thetop of a pyramid-shaped house with others of question-able hygiene habits and bellies full of cabbage whichmight send you screaming for the Mr. Bubble and a tub.Or maybe, after months of staring out over sublime LakeAtitlán and fortified by countless plates of beans andtofu scramble, you’ll forget your fears and join the once-yearly Cross Lake Swim, just to get to the other side anda bus that will take you home.

Dear James, My picture in the SAIS Facebook is horrible! I look likea heroin addict! I don’t want everyone at SAIS thinking Ilook like that! What can I do?- Iggy Stop, Washington, DC

Dear Iggy,Not everyone photographs well, and you can take solacein that those of us who do look good on camera havelong tired of being hauled around parties to pretty upotherwise wretched group photos. I personally feel thatthere is far too much photographic verisimilitude thesedays; what with the proliferation of camera-equippeddevices, future generations are going to think that theearly Aughts were lousy shiny-skinned misfits with nos-trils the size of dinner plates. I am nostalgic for the daysin the early 20th century when a photograph was anoccasion for style and gravity; when photographic stu-dios were numerous and reasonably priced, and profes-sional lighting was available to all. Nowadays most of ushaven’t sat for a studio photo since grade school, and thepassport photo, once an item of status and glamour, hasbeen reduced to a showcase for the button-mashing skillsof a distracted CVS clerk. Indeed, modern Americans areforced to carry around a wealth of unflattering images ofthemselves—on our credit cards, library cards, driver’slicenses, and work ID’s—that can have only a detrimen-tal effect on our psyches, and are truly depressing giventhat they are the items most frequently consulted by arummaging near-stranger who has awoken without thememory of one’s name. But I digress. If you want toreacquaint yourself with popular studio photography,you need to go to a place where digital images are theexception. As your passport photo is likely no moresavory than your Facebook portrait, boarding an airplanemight be difficult, so I suggest following the rancid read-er above — staying upwind if you can — and take a busto Guatemala. Guatemalans, especially ruralGuatemalans, know how to get their picture taken. Theygreet the aperture of a camera like the eye of posterity.Take a tour of small towns there, and you will find thateach has one or more photography studios for the identi-fication photos that Guatemalans need to carry at alltimes — to attend school, or even join a soccer team.And as you’re waiting for the pictures to develop, an eld-erly man or woman might open the door to the studio,see you, smile, and invite you into the kitchen for a cupof atol. I suggest you accept, and look around. You mightjust see a framed portrait of a young man and a womanlooking back at you, a portrait that is not quite photogra-phy and not quite painting, but a heavily tinted print thatis vernacular in that country. You can ask to take it downand hold it in your hands, to regard the much youngerfaces of your hosts, but faces that never quite were, justas the face that serves you a hot drink will cease to beafter you leave. The tint on that photo does not cover upimperfections, and does not defer to vanity. It aims atonce to elevate and preserve, and to adorn in anunadorned way, quietly declaring that what is importantin that frame are the people who are contained in it, notthe lines on their faces—or the lack thereof—in the lightof that one day.

ASK JAMESQuest ions abound in our l ives.

We face moral quest ions, ethica lquest ions, fashion quest ions,

et iquette quest ions,rhetor ica l quest ions,

the Big quest ion, the Mars Quest ion,the Eastern Quest ion,

and myriad others to which l i fe, of course, provides

few easy answers.Yet there are those among us withsuff ic ient breadth of exper ience,

depth of feel ing, and c lar i ty of mindto guide us a long the path of the

wel l -examined l i fe.In fact , there is one such sage r ight

here at SAIS:JA MES WA RNER ,

second-year M.A. student concentrat ing in Strategic Studies.James’s ecumenical understanding

and wide-ranging inte l lectual interestand exper ience make him a valuable

resource for us a l l , and he has k indlyoffered to dispense his counsel to

any and a l l rest less minds.Oh, he a lso has a l ight interest

in Guatemala .

Please send questions for James to [email protected],with ASK JAMES in the subject line.

Continued from Page 1I certainly can’t think of any natu-ral landmark whose eliminationwould shock us more than the col-lapse of those clunky gray build-ings. We’ve expended a great dealon protecting our bridges, ports,monuments, and cities from ter-rorist attack, but why not onEarth’s only natural satellite? Forbillions of years, the moon hasplayed a vital role in the earth’sdevelopment, providing us withlight, ocean tides, and cheese.Haven’t Islamic extremistsalready hinted at their keennessfor the moon? While some schol-ars argue that Islam’s crescentmoon symbol derives from that ofthe Carthaginian goddess Tanit, Ican’t help notice its curiousresemblance to the Grim Reaper’sscythe. Why this has eluded theradar screen of our nation’s intelli-gence agencies for so long is amystery. Consider the followingscenario: terrorists obtain the

roughly 2,000 WMDs still rustingin Russia’s backyards, hop on aSaudi-funded “space tourism”voyage, and fly directly into themoon. Blowing up the moonwould be a far more striking spec-tacle than knocking over theWorld Trade Center. MuhammadAtta and his Hamburg gang wouldlook like a bunch of amateurs.

But think of the long-term conse-quences as well. Large chunks ofthe moon could collide with theEarth’s surface, kicking up giantdust clouds that would block sun-light, killing all plant and animallife and rendering the planetunsuitable for humans, were-wolves, and democracy. Haven’twe learned our lesson from thedinosaurs? Even if pieces of themoon didn’t hit the Earth, we’d

still lose oceanic tides, causingdwindling populations of plank-ton, baby sea turtles, and gnarlysurfers.

Even scarier, the loss of the moonand its vital gravitational fieldwould nudge the Earth out of itsorbit. Inch by inch the planetwould reel farther from the sun,causing wintertime gas prices tosoar and making our country’seconomy more dependent onArab oil. Or worse, the loss of themoon could spin our planet clos-er and closer to the center of oursolar system until eventually thesun swallows us. And if Earthcrashes into the sun, then the ter-rorists have really won.

Frankly, if I were a suicidebomber, I’d want the whole world

go down, not just America. Afterall, America is a global super-power, so one has to take a moremacro approach to destroying theGreat Satan and its Zionistcronies, even if this means get-ting other intergalactic orbitingobjects involved. Using our moonagainst us — who’d have antici-pated that?

Confronted with this nightmarishscenario, the BushAdministration would be wise toform a new Department of LunarSecurity (DLS). The U.S. coulddivert to DLS the $80 billiongoing annually to Iraq, andincrease much-needed militarysupport on the lunar surface byhaving troops perform atmos-pheric border security exercisesand intergalactic WMD counter-

proliferation operations.

Of course, if doomsday does comeand the moon vanishes, the DLScould compensate the Earth’smass by encouraging Americansto get even fatter through subsi-dized meals at Chilis and freeKrispy Kreme donuts. We caneven enlist the help of some avant-garde German architects to build abigger, better, and more asymmet-rical moon. We’ll call it theFreedom Rock. Orbiting in a skyof twinkling, freedom-loving starsthe Freedom Rock would be apowerful symbol of our resolve,even in the vacuum of space, toconfront transnational, transplane-tary terrorism.

We have precious little time.Failure is not an option.

Nate Young is a 2nd year M.A.student, concentrating inInternational Development.

One Giant Leap for Jihad

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 10

Men who livethrough turbu-lent times in his-

tory often seek solace andunderstanding in the simplethings in life – in fishingthe wild seas, in childrenplaying in fields, in womendevoted to the daily choresthat keep the days runningsmoothly. Winslow Homer,who spent the early 1860son the frontlines of theUnited States’ bloody civilwar, spent the later years ofhis life doing exactly that.Yet his paintings, sketchesand watercolors betray thesense of calm he sought tofind, infused as they arewith an underlying tensionthat allows you to see themas more than pretty pic-tures. This duality –human versus nature,modernity versus classi-cism –has made Homer oneof the masters of 19th cen-tury American art.

“Winslow Homer in theNational Gallery of Art” isa sampling of some fiftyworks from the museum’sextensive Homer collec-tion. The exhibit openswith a series of drawingsand paintings of the CivilWar. Homer was sent tothe frontlines as an illustra-tor for Harper’s Weekly,where he also cooked andcleaned for the Union sol-diers he was covering. Hissoldiers are not shown inthe heat of battle or glori-fied as protectors of anideal, but rather, caught inthe mundane tasks of theirdaily existence.

Upon returning from theCivil War, Homer devotedmuch of his attention to

depicting scenes fromAmerican rural life.Scenes that should infusethe viewer with a sense ofcalm – solitary women sur-veying their land, gatheringeggs, or calling for dinner –still inspire a sense of insta-bility that is indicative ofthe country’s inner conflict.

The exhibition includesone of Homer’s mostfamous works, BreezingUp (A Fair Wind), which,for all the buzz it elicitedamong his contemporaries,is a surprisingly unremark-able painting. In general,the oil paintings in thisexhibit are less intriguingthan the works Homer pro-

duced in other mediums.While his watercolors arelively and energetic, hispaintings can appear con-trived and static, evenlabored.

Breezing Up depicts fourboys on a boat leaning intoa stormy sea. Yet the imagelacks unity, as if its sepa-rate parts – each boy, ship,the sky and sea – werepainted separately andmerely lumped together onone canvas. Such attemptsby the artist to make seem-ingly grandiose statementsoften fall flat compared tohis delicate watercolorsand etchings — mediamore conducive to the

nuanced inquiries he wasmaking into human natureand mortality.

After Breezing Up, turn, forexample, to Eight Bells, onthe next wall. This detailedetching of two beardedsailors staring through theirinstruments into a turbulentsea is much more effectivein capturing the drama ofthe scene it depicts. Homeris primarily interested incapturing scenes of dailylife. The immediacy andfreshness of watercolor anddrawing, rather than theheaviness of oil, allow himto best capture the moreroutine scenes of Americanlife.

The remainder of theexhibit is filled with paint-ings and drawings Homerproduced while living inMaine, in a small fishingvillage in northernEngland, and during histravels to tropical islandslike the Bahamas. Theworks are crammed intothe last room of the exhibit,which is, perhaps, wherethey belong. Though pleas-ant and peaceful, they donot compare to the fascina-tion elicited by the otherworks in the exhibit.

Homer painted throughoutthe late 19th century, dyingat his Maine studio in 1910,at the age of 73. He is most

exciting in his ability tocapture the sense of anation through genrescenes that evoke the com-plexities of humanity andmortality and our relation-ship with nature. Thoughthe exhibit is by no meansan extensive exploration ofHomer’s contribution toAmerican art, it does pro-vide a solid basis for fur-ther exploration.

“Winslow Homer in theNational Gallery of Art” ison display until February2006.

Miriam Elder is a 2nd yearM.A. student, concentrat-ing in Strategic Studies.

ODYSSEY OF WINSLOW HOMERWild sseas, village iidylland hhouseholdchores....

MIRIAMELDERtakes aa ttour oofthe HHomerexhibit aat ttheNationalGallery

Calm amid conflict:(Top) One of WinslowHomer’s mostfamous works,Breezing Up (A FairWind). (Right) Two sailorsstare out into the turbulent seas inEight Bells.

One aspect of life thatchanges as we age isthe way that we multi-

task. Back in high school, whenmaximizing rebel coolness wasof the essence, you’d drink abeer and smoke a cigarettesimultaneously, forcing the nico-tine and alcohol to mingle inyour horrified adolescentinnards. Nowadays, with the cig-arettes and beer bit so familiar asto be an afterthought, we trainour multitasking attentions onsomewhat more mundane pur-suits —we eat on the go andInstant Message while in class.One of my newest, and mostproductive, multitasking arts isthat of fusing dinner and drinksinto a one-stop undertaking.Most SAISers face the twinchallenges of late dinners and 8a.m. classes. The followingrestaurants will have you well-fed, tipsy, and in bed at a reason-able hour.

BISTROT DU COIN

I wrote up Bistrot du Coin lastyear, but the five people who

actually read the article thenhave graduated and it’s definite-ly worth mentioning again.Located close to SAIS, this late-night French bistrot combines alively atmosphere with deliciousfare at reasonable prices. Thebest dish on the menu, and thebest value, is the mussels. I sug-gest a small $7.95 MusselsMariniers and a side of deli-cious Pommes Frites (for theDutch among us: you must askfor mayonnaise on the side,because it doesn’t come out onits own). Besides the mussels,the hanger steak is delicious andworth the $16.95. The greatestbit of Bistrot du Coin is thatmoving from the dinner table tothe bar is a natural progression(like going from SAIS To theWorld Bank), and you won’t bealone. Even as the typical week-day night briskly becomes deso-late on Connecticut Ave., youcan depend on Bistrot du Coin totransform itself into a lovelyParisian haunt, with its Frenchowner, Michel, bellowing outsongs at the top of his lungs untilclosing. However, if there’s adrawback to the Parisian ambi-ence, it’s the Parisian service.

CAFÉ SAINT-EX

I went to Café Saint-Ex on arecent Thursday, looking for

an atmosphere that would satiateboth my palette and my libido(figuratively speaking of course)and I was pleasantly surprised.Saint-Ex is hipster meets yuppie.For instance, they have an iPodnight (Thursday), on which any-one who wishes can play threesongs from his or her iPod forthe entire downstairs bar crowd.The food at Saint-Ex is alsospectacular, especially thedesserts. If you don’t want tospend $40 on dinner, get thescrumptious burger and fries,

the best in town, and splurge ondessert. I had a chocolate CrèmeBrulée of sorts, topped with adusting of chili powder thatnicely accentuated the flavor ofthe chocolate and is truly aSaint-Ex original. Of paramountimportance, the bar is but twosteps away from your table, soyou don’t even have to crankyour neck to get a drink.

ZAYTINYA

Zaytinya is the closest onecan come to eating stylishly

in The District, and the longlines on weekends testify to thereputation of this airy, Miami-modern style establishment.Zaytinya strikes an increasinglypopular balance between mezze-style restaurant and trendy barscene. Located in the lately up-and-coming Chinatown neigh-borhood, Zaytinya beckons adiverse crowd looking to mingle

while nibbling on a range ofboth traditional and uniqueMediterranean appetizers. Also,because most dishes are under$7, you should try a variety andshare (if this were a Weiss final,my answer would be “engage infree trade and maximize satis-faction based on attaining ahigher utility curve.Assumption: people maximize

utility based on a wide variety ofgoods to choose from”). I reallyenjoyed the shrimp with dill in adelicate lemon butter sauce, aswell as the lamb shank overhummus.

Adam Mendelson is a 2nd yearM.A. student concentrating inLatin American Studies andEmerging Markets.

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 11

Multitasking in the District

FRUGAL GLUTTON

ByADAMMENDELSON

RESTAURANTSREVIEWED

BISTROT DU COIN1738 Connecticut Ave., NW, justnorth of R StreetWashington, DCPhone: 202-234-6969

CAFE SAINT-EX1847 14th Street, NWbetween Swann and T StreetsWashington, DC 20009Phone: 202-265-7839

ZAYTINYA701 Ninth Street., NWAt G StreetWashington, DCPhone: 202-638-0800

Zaytinya, above, ups the District’s ante for stylish Mediterranean dining, while Cafe Saint-Ex offers unique dishesand an intimate ambience that draw a diversely hip crowd.

October 3, 2005 THE SAIS OBSERVER Page 12

GROWN MEN CRYING

Once upon a time/ I wasyour little rooster / butnow I’m just one of your

cocks.” The opening track of theRolling Stones’ 29th studio albumis programmatic; take a Mick-will-be-wagging-his-arse-to-thisriff, an unrelenting drum beatfrom Charlie Watts, and, ah,cocky lyrics — but then combinethat with a nostalgia for the goodol’ days and it seems a bit near thebone, given that the average ageof a Rolling Stone is 61.5 years.

The cover design of A BiggerBang evokes an association thatis downright morbid. The Stonesare sitting in the dark, crouchedaround a very bright light, pre-sumably the eponymous bang.But more than anything, thislooks like a dungeon, a sort ofpurgatory in which aged rockstars await their final destiny.Just to mention another dubiousfeature of the packaging: “all-songtitlesarewrittenlikethis”. Isgrandpa making a concession tothe dotcom-generation here?

But the music, wait until youhear the music! Actually, you'veprobably heard most of it beforefrom the Stones’ glory days.“itwonttakelong” is a variationon 1968’s wonderfully raunchy“Stray Cat Blues”, but with acorny chorus. “backofmyhand”is “Ventilator Blues” rehashed,and “rainfalldown” echoes thedisco beats of 1978’s Some Girlsalbum, with add-on TAFKAP*-guitars. So can the Stones musteranything more than not-so-subtlereincarnations of their classictracks? Should Mick Jagger beexiled to his Caribbean island,and Keith Richards to his hole inthe ground? Should we pay thugsto take sledgehammers to theStones’ studios to spare them theignominy of being doters skip-ping around in lurex leggings?

Alas, not just yet. A Bigger Bangisn’t exactly a bad album. TheStones still have fun, and thatthey’re proficient enough in thefine art they invented: getting yerya ya’s out. the second half of thealbum, particularly, features real-ly strong material, which, mostprovocatively, includes sweet-neocon — a song written for theDC audience? Lines such as “Butone thing that is certain/ life isgood at Halliburton” are guaran-teed to raise a smile. “infamy” isa very cool mid-tempo swaggerwith Keith on vocals and a ratherexcellent repetitive riff playedwith a lot of wah-wah. And on“streetsoflove”, Jagger funnelshoney into your ears as he croonsand swoons for a lost love.

With a few lame ducks inbetween, there’s lots of goodstuff here — all you need is theskip-button!

WHEN I’M 63

The main difference betweenA Bigger Bang and Paul

McCartney’s new LP Chaos andCreation in the Backyard is thatMacca is more openly nostalgic.On the cover, we see young Paulsitting in the backyard strum-ming an acoustic guitar — backin 1962 when he could makegirls faint by a toss of his mop-top.

In fact, Paul is open about every-thing here — meaning, that ifyou’re fairly certain that straight-forward declarations of love,accompanied by the soft tones ofa string section, will give you theshakes, leave this one on theshelf.

When Paul isn’t assuring hisaudience that he never thoughthe’d fall in love again — embar-rassingly personal, yet obviousstatements in the context of hisnew marriage following thedeath of his Siamese twin/wifeLinda — he bestows on his lis-teners the fundamental wisdomsthat come with old age: “There isa fine line/ between recklessnessand courage/ it’s about time/ youunderstood which road to take”are the opening lines of hisalbum.

Luckily, schoolmarmishness anddoe-eyes aren’t the only thingsyou’ll hear on Chaos andCreation. While Macca’s trade-

mark touch of “Lady Madonna”-piano and “Eleanor Rigby”-strings is omnipresent and ratherpredictable, there are a few realgems here, thanks in large part toexcellent production, courtesy ofNigel Godrich. “Riding to VanityFair” stands out in particular,with its dragging, wet-street

drum beat that makes you won-der if Paul McCartney listened toPulp’s “This Is Hardcore” beforegoing into the studio. “Friends toGo” is refreshingly honest andquite good fun: “I’ve been wait-ing on the other side/ for yourfriends to leave so I don’t have tohide”. At last, there seems to be a

segment in Paul’s mind that isnot occupied by violins andharpsichords. Though, speakingof which, one to steer clear of is“A Certain Softness”, a ballad toevoke a single, very powerfulwish: please get the pliers offPaul’s private parts!

Chaos and Creation in theBackyard is certain to upset thestomachs of those unaccustomedto Paul’s saccharine fare; for fansit holds some pleasant surprises.

PS: SEVENTH HEAVEN

The reason why EricClapton’s new album isn’t

mentioned in the subtitle is thatit’s simply not worth it. Thecover tricks you into expectingan earthy blues rock album, withits generic title of Back Home,and the drawing of a pair of feetstepping off a train in the rain,snake-skin guitar case included— Robert Johnson-style. But themusical content is enough tomake Johnson turn violently inhis grave: every single track onthis album is polluted by easy-listening style backing singers,Hammond organs and enoughhappyclappiness to keep tenfamily sitcoms going for a year.Rock stars aren’t supposed to behappy, Mr Clapton!

Patricia Mussi is a 2nd yearM.A. Student concentrating inEuropean Studies.

* The artist formerly known asPrince.

Clap Your Hands SayYeah – Clap Your HandsSay Yeah

The self-titled debutalbum by Clap Your

Hands Say Yeah is the bestindie album I’ve heard thisyear, hands down. TheBrooklyn-based quintetcombines soulful lyrics onlove and life with tight popinstrumentals and a pas-sionate singer whose voiceis hauntingly reminiscentof David Byrne. Ignore thesilly name and the bizarreintro song, and you won’tbe disappointed.

The best song on thealbum, The Skin of MyYellow Country Teeth, willhave you dancing. It’s a bitlike The Postal Service onspeed, with an infectiouslyplayful guitar riff. Eachand every song on thealbum has something funand different to offer.

Clap Your Hands SayYeah plays The Black Caton October 18.

- M.E.

RROOCCKKIINNGG FFRROOMM TTHHEE CCRRYYPPTTM U S I C R O O M

Last month, the two mightiest dinosaurs of rock released new CDs. How to justify the superlative? Well, it’s the Rolling Stones,

and (Sir) Paul McCartney, the only surviving Beatle who is not Ringo Starr. PATRICIA MUSSI takes a look at the gentlemen’s mature efforts.