tsw journal - winter 2011

8/3/2019 TSW Journal - Winter 2011

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The School ofWashingtonJournalVolume II No. 7 November - December 2011

A GWU Student PublicationSchoolofwashington.org

A Product of TSWCN


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- Table of Contents -

Economics & Finance

Science & Philosophy

Politics

Exploring Bankings Future........................................................................................................................4

The Economic Beauty of Two Cities...........................................................................................................4

Drug Courts: Perhaps Not the Best Solution...............................................................................................5

Why Libertarians Hate the Fed..................................................................................................................6

Determinism, Oppression and the Individual in Marxism: Sartre Contra Engels.......................................7

Reppin for the Team? An Odd Way to Show GW Pride...........................................................................8

A Step Back is a Step Forward....................................................................................................................9Feeling The (Desert) Heat: US Troop Withdrawal From Iraq....................................................................9

Is Ignorance Truly American?....................................................................................................................10

An Indictment of Dysfunction...................................................................................................................11

Sports

Will the NBA Lockout Ever End?............................................................................................................13

Predicting the Destinations of Major League Baseballs Leading Free Agents........................................13

The Misguided Coverage and Concern of Penn States Football Scandal................................................14


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The School of Washington Journal

Economics and Finance

Exploring

Bankings FutureBy Jiani Zong

The second round of the European debt

crisis, Occupy Wall Street, and the credit

downgrading of several developing coun-

tries have all been catalysts for the ongo-

ing transformation of the banking sector.

In addition to the macro environment that

leads to tighter regulatory control, rapid

technology growth, heightened customer

expectation, and reduction on entrance

-

cial service industry.

Several years ago, a scholarly journal

forecasted the trend under a increasingly

intense regulation control. It pointed out

that retail banks will most likely turn in the

best performance of all banks, given that

they provide a full range of services, even

-

time, the terms brokerage and invest-

ment banking/insurance will be used in

describing an activity, rather than a com-pany.

Now lets shift our attention to the real

assertion. Wells Fargo is one example.

Headquartered in San Francisco, it has

decade, and was recently ranked one of

the world by Forbes. For many, it has a

reputation of simply being a commercial

bank, while today, when one goes on its

offered. There are of course traditionalbanking practices such as the community

banking branch that deals with savings

with wealth management. The new Wells

Fargo Securities (after its acquisition of

Wachovia Securities) is the full service in-

vestment banking arm for the Well Fargo

Corporation and has greatly strengthened

the investment banking sector of the corpo-

ration. Similarly, M&T Bank, well known

for its commercial banking services, has

a continually rising investment banking

group. I happened to visit the companys

headquarters last week, and the biggest

take-away during my visit is that its real

estate investment department has an al-

lowance fund that is almost twice above

the market average. In a market where

borrowing rate is at a record low, a high al-

lowance fund would surely accelerate the

development of its investment sector.

One of the biggest reasons for this bank-ing-going-comprehensive trend is the

transformation of customers. With the

aging baby boomers entering retirement,

changing as their age increases as well.

compared to earlier years, which leads to

the fact that they have more free money

to lend to the bank for investment. For

the younger generations, technology has a

more central role. With a growing demand

-

needs. In summary, customers today tend

to favor a more personalized and value-

added service. They prefer stronger and

more personal relationships with the bank.

become more distinct and the gap between

demands from each group keeps growing,

institutions that provide more comprehen-

sive and personal services will succeed

and lead the industry.

The Economic

Beauty of Two

CitiesBy Julian Gindi

Cities are a true wonder of the economic

process. They represent the symbiosis of

Washington DC, we are deeply entwined

years have shown an increasing number of

people in both developed and developing

countries moving from rural areas to cit-

ies. The future will show only more migra-

tion and will highlight the role cities play

in global innovation. As we stare climate

change in the face, cities will also prove to

be the single most useful breeding ground

-tion.

The formation of a city is a sublime event.

It forms out of the simple necessity for

their costs by locating near inputs and

-

talize on the labor pool which will in turn

cause a reinforcing effect that will see total

population increase. Although this is an

elements in a citys formation. Much likethe world itself, cities have to make due

-

es. This reason, in itself, is why we must

look towards cities for ideas when moving

into the coming decades.

In addition to solving many practical en-

vironmental dilemmas, cities provide a

unique opportunity for developing coun-

tries. Cities provide jobs and wages that

are unrivaled by their agricultural coun-

terparts. While not true for every situation,

migration to the city usually increases ones

wage and life satisfaction. A key policy for

the government of developing economies

is reducing the cost associated with a move

to the city. Removing barriers to migration

will eventually increase overall GDP and

the livelihood of its citizens.

Cities face many issues that require out

November - December


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of the box solutions to solve. Everything

from the increase in demand for resources

to architectural problems such as build-

ing tunnels under lakes require innovation

while using as few resources as possible.

As stated previously, this mirrors a trend

we are observing globally. As the popula-tion rises and resources continue to dimin-

ish, we must learn how to accommodate

the increase while consuming less. While

cities themselves may represent the so-

lution to this problem, it will be equally

useful to apply urban innovations to the

world as a whole. Locating communities

near workplaces and resources will prove

to be a crucial concept to adopt. By reduc-

ing transportation costs and time, there

By creating economies of scale (the con-

progressively less resources) in every sec-

tor, we will be able to preserve our natural

resources and feed the world.

While cities are not the be-all solution to

our global problems, they do stand as an

example on how to deal with them. By fo-

cusing on easing the transition from agrar-

ian economies to their urban counterparts

in resource collection and distribution, we

will be able to access and solve many of

the problems we will face in the comingyears.

Drug Courts:

Perhaps Not theBest SolutionBy Paula Costa

While conducting research for a policy

brief on drug courts, I came across an

Economist article that surprised me. Its

title was Drug courts: Stay out of jail

clean, and its caption The best way

to keep drug offenders from returning to

prison was an assertion that I thought

could not realistically be defended. Af-

ter reading the article I understood whythe assertion was made: it defended drug

courts by citing absolute gains and by

leaving out comparative analyses on al-

ternatives to drug courts and prison.

In policy analysis, opportunity costs must

be considered when deciphering the ben-

gains of a policy absolutely because you

must weigh them against something rel-

evant. However, the author chose to com-

pare a prison sentence to a drug court com-mitment simply, failing to mention how

and where the two still overlap. Further,

the article failed to mention any health-

centered, and not punitive, approaches to

treating addiction. For this reason I dis-

credit the author for writing with blind-

ers on he or she wrote this piece for the

sole purpose of portraying drug courts

in a positive light, intentionally fail-

ing to offer the reader any perspective.

So now I write to offer some perspective.

Drug courts were created in the late 1980s

in response to the increasing number of

drug arrests. Their primary goal is to use

judicial supervision, mandatory drug test-

ing, escalating sanctions and treatment to

reduce the number of drug-offense incar-

cerations and to stop the abuse of alco-

hol and other drugs and related criminal

activity. However, the justice system was

designed to resolve legal disputes, not

public health issues. Drug courts, like the

justice system in general, take a punitiveand not health-centered approach to the

issue of addiction. For example: Relapse

of people dont complete drug court and

are sentenced for their original offense,

frequently in more severe terms. Further-

more, the average time spent in jail for opt-

ing out of drug court 55 days is nearly

identical to the average time spent in jail

for people who complete a drug court

program: 51 days. In essence, drug courts

bring more people into the justice system,

instead of preventing contact with it in the

But are they a cost-effective allocation of

state funds? Judicial supervision does not

lead to greater success in treatment, nor do

drug courts lower recidivism rates more

than intense supervision programs that

Catering to the Kempt, The Unkempt the Urbane

The Economist article also mentions that

for every dollar spent on drug courts,

is that intense treatment programs return

to offer treatment to those who most need

drug court: those charged with lesser of-

fenses, no criminal history, and no previ-

ous violence charges. People of color are

more likely to have a felony conviction at

the time of their arrest and are thus likely tobe excluded from the program. In this way

drug courts congest the justice system with

petty drug charges like marijuana posses-

sion (a substance that cannot cause death

by overdose and rarely causes addiction)

and exempt people more heavily involved

with drugs (and more serious drugs) from

the program. In other words, drug courts

cherry pick those most likely to suc-

ceed in their program in order to secure

future funding. In addition, African Amer-

icans are less likely to complete the pro-

gram than whites, and older participants

have the best outcomes in the program.

This data seems to indicate that drug courts

are actually not the best way to keep

drug offenders from returning to prison.


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November - December

Science & Philosophy

Libertarians, in general, do not like the

Federal Reserve. In fact, many libertarians

sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street

movement have turned up with signs that

read DOWN WITH THE FED. Interest-

position to be untenable and even extreme.I think with a proper understanding of the

theoretical links between the libertarian

commitments to certain basic legal prin-

ciples, economic principles and invest-

ment principles, this disdain would slowly

wither away.

The general libertarian criticism is aimed

at the central bank and fractional reserve

banking. Fractional reserve banking is a

form of banking that allows banks to create

loans and keep only a fraction of the de-

posits on hand. The amount of reservesrequired to be kept by banks is known as

a liquidity ratio in the United States and

is set by the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System. So if the liquidity

the deposits made by customers on hand to

ensure normal withdrawal is allowed. Thus

if the total amount of deposits a bank has is

to ensure its liquidity ratio obligation.

The general criticism is this: central

banks serve to facilitate the granting of

a privilege that allows property rights to

be superseded. When property rights areviolated through an institution, market dis-

tortions occur, which in this case result in

business cycles, uncontrolled expansion

of credit and the derivative malinvestment

and unproductive investment.

Let us unpack this a little. First let us begin

from the property right violation that oc-

curs when central banks facilitate fraction-

al reserve banking. We start with a young

man, let us call him Jarvis, putting money

into his bank account. He puts in $100 into

his bank account and the liquidity ratio is

$100 and loans out the other $80. How-

ever, the bank still has an obligation to Jar-

vis if he wants to withdraw all of his $100

initially deposited, and thus essentially,

the money supply has increased by $80 (so

from Jarviss initial $100 deposit, there is

now $180 in the money supply the $100the bank is liable to him for and the $80 the

bank loaned out).

Magic, right? Yes, in that this is a trick that

involves some kind of malicious decep-

tion. For a libertarian, there are two things

wrong with this picture. Firstly, when the

bank extends credit to some borrower (let

us call him Rob), the bank grants tempo-

rary ownership of the credited funds to

Rob whilst simultaneously guaranteeing

Jarviss ownership over his own funds. It is

simply impossible for both Rob and Jarvisto have ownership over the same resources

not in a legal sense, i.e., that Jarvis and

Rob did not agree to a contractual agree-

ment between each other of lender and

sense: nobody can have a property right

over the same thing at the same time. Even

when people share ownership of some-

thing, i.e., a dollar, they do not both own

the $1 dollar bill itself: they own, say, 50

cents each. The basic proposition that two

or more people cannot own the same thing

at the same time unless there is a shared

ownership is a presupposition of prop-

erty rights theory and forms a fundamental

metaphysical and ontological commitment

for a libertarian.

Furthermore, since the bank is only re-

quired to keep a fraction of the reserves,

dependent on a liquidity ratio, the bank

-

tors. In a free market where money is not

created out of thin air (which it essentially

is under fractional reserve banking), banks

or, in other words, they would be required

to fully meet their obligations at all times,

even in the event of a bank run. If a bank

cannot meet its contractual obligations

(which it cannot do without a central bank

under a fractional reserve system), then as

Hans-Hermann Hoppe points out, the bank

must be regarded (from the outset) as in-

herently bankrupt.

Note that even if Rob and Jarvis consented

to this kind of contractual agreement, i.e.,

that the bank would be allowed to take

rest, there would still be a fundamental vi-

olation of property rights. Simply because

two parties agree to a contract does not

make that contract valid if Rob and Jar-

vis agreed to exchange pink unicorns for

pretty blue baby dinosaurs, this would be

constitute a valid contract. Contracts must

-fer of property that exists and is able to be

transferred, legally, from one party to an-

other. Consent is not the sole criterion of a

valid contract.

The other thing wrong with this picture is

the increase in money supply created by

the lending activity of a bank. As I said

before, if Jarvis deposits into the bank and

the bank lends out $80 to Rob, since both

parties have some kind of ownership claim

on the resources, there is essentially $180

now in the money supply ($80 more than

there was previously). Since the $80 credit

extension to Rob was not accompanied by

a decrease in Jarviss $100 deposit, the ex-

tra money is created out of thin air. This

increases the amount of credit available in

the market not because a level of savings

has been attained to warrant investment

to a certain degree but simply because

Why Libertarians

Hate The FedBy Raj Patel


7/16

a banker decided to create money out of

nothing. With an increase in the supply of

money, the price of credit (interest rate)

as if there has been an increase in pres-

for future consumption on the part of thepublic and thus start to invest in projects

accordingly.

Yet, as the old dictum goes, ex nihilo nihil

there are no actual savings and the drop in

the interest rate is simply a consequence of

an increase in money supply, the interest

rates drop below a natural rate or equi-

actual savings and thus actual preferences.

This decrease in interest rate below a natu-

ral rate matters because it signals public

come from the ability for the bank to lend

beyond its capacity through fractional re-

serve banking. The banks ability to lend

beyond capacity is a privilege extended to

it by a governmental institution, namely,

the Federal Reserve. None of this would

be possible if the Federal Reserve did notprovide the bank with the necessary funds

(such as short-term loans) to meet its ob-

ligations. In a competitive free market,

fractional reserve banking would not be

would be required by law and a central

bank would not exist.

(or consumer) preferences to the investors

and thus plays a determinative role in the

structure of the investment activities. Thus

investment will necessarily be malinvest-

ment because those who are investing in

this or that production are misled by un-

naturally low interest rates. Since lowerinterest rates signal a high level of invest-

ment, investment tends to be directed at

capital-intensive production but since

actual levels of savings are much less than

is indicated by the interest rate, there are

not enough resources to complete such

capital-intensive projects. This is malin-

vestment.

What does this have to do with the Fed-

eral Reserve? All of these evils (malin-

vestment, excessive extension of credit,

violation of property rights, and so on)

to give vent to high moral indignation

at such infamies. Unfortunately all this

conveys is only what everyone knows,

namely that these institutions of antiq-

uity are no longer in accord with our

present-day condition and our senti-

ments, which these conditions determine.

Slavery, as Engels sees it, is just a form

of economic progress as well as social

progress. Slaves were taken in war after

economic and technological conditions

were such that the slaves could be fed,

have tools provided for them and so on.

Previously, instead of taking slaves, the

victorious side of a battle or war would

simply kill those remaining. Now Engels

would see a life in slavery as progress

over death but, he cannot do so subjec-

tively, since he is not the slave he is talk-

ing about, or objectively, since he has no

system of a priori values at his disposal.

Even if we granted Engels that slaveryis progress, he has not escaped the prob-

lem of his determinism because now hu-

man oppression is not a choice. Instead it

simply appears to an oppressor because of

necessary economic forces. The oppres-

sor does not choose to oppress but merely

technological conditions in which tak-

ing another human being as property and

using his forcefully appropriating his la-

bour is possible. This leads to yet a bigger

problem: now there is no class struggle.

Man no longer chooses freely in his situ-

ation, but is instead only a fact. There

is no longer an oppressor or one to op-

press, just an arrangement of facts.

We have erased any value in the prole-

tariats cause it is neither just nor unjust

and so now there is no class struggle,

simply sudden jolts at the moment when

the economic organization collapses inter-

nally. The responsibility of the bourgeoi-

sie in terms of their oppression has van-

ished, as it is simply the byproduct of the

economic and technical conditions of their

historical situation. Quite simply speak-

ing, the lack of human subjectivity and

strict determinism in Marxist thought is

a plunging anchor hindering its progress.

Marxism, in its determinism and gener-

alization of groups, has ignored the fact

that a persons historical situation helps

condition him but not every person un-

der the same conditions is the same, nor

is every generalized group the same across

history. As Sartre puts it in his Search


Determinism,

Oppression and

the Individual in

Marxism: Sartre

Contra EngelsBy Christian GeoghehanCoiled in the heart of Marxist thought is,

as Jean-Paul Sartre called it in his Note-

books for an Ethics, a perpetual oscil-

lation between mechanistic determinism

and dialectical materialism. To wit, it is

-

ism should happen, it is what will hap-

pen. Economic conditions are the motor

through which history is made, and the

constant progress of societies through dia-

lectical materialism necessitates both the

growth and decay of the epochs economic

order. This determinism, however, leads to

an important problem in Marxist thought

as it erases all consideration of values.

For example, as Frederick Engels writes

in his work Anti-Dhring, It is very

easy to inveigh against slavery and


8/16


for a Method, Valry is a petit bour-

geois intellectual, no doubt. But not ev-

ery petit bourgeois intellectual is Valry.

If Marxism can realize that oppression is

a subjective, human fact, that man freely

oppresses man in his situation, it cangain back the true struggle of classes,

which are composed of free individuals.

When Marxists realize that oppression is

other as the Other. This is scarcity: Scar-

city must be seen as that which makes us

into these particular individuals produc-

ing this particular History, says Sartre

in his Critique of Dialectical Reason.

A Marxism that incorporates a theoreti-

cal existential subjectivity will be betterable to answer the ultimate question posed

a subjective human fact and that tyrants

freely oppress masses, they can bring back

a far more realistic view of how history

proceeds. Furthermore, with class con-

free individuals, we now have another

theoretical tool to serve as an explana-

tory thesis as to why class struggles arise,

namely, what makes people see each

Reppin For the

Team? An Odd

Way to Show GW

PrideBy Jacqueline Drayer

Students at George Washington Uni-

versity arent known for our school

spirit. A quick glance at collegeprowler.

com tells you that. But whats really

strange about our university is the prolif-

eration of non-GW apparel on campus.

Sit in the Marvin Center any day of the

week and youll see plenty of people in

college sweatshirts and tees. Some areemblazoned with The George Washing-

ton University but many also advertise for

schools like Harvard, Tulane and Berkeley.

-

sumed the non-GW shirt wearers were

graduate students sporting clothes from

their alma maters. But Thurstons el-

same sweatshirts. Theory obliterated.

Then I asked my friends what they thought:

some suggested the clothes came fromfamily members (e.g. a parent who went

to Michigan or a brother at U Penn), while

others said they bought shirts as souvenirs

from schools she visited. The general senti-

ment was if you have it, wear it regardless

of how they acquired the collegiate gear.

There may be a different and more inter-

esting causal explanation at work. This

involves a psychological analysis of the

effect that the lack of a football team

has on the psyche of the GW student.

BIRGing and CORFing: these two funny

sounding concepts can be found in social psychology literature. The idea behind

Failure) is best illustrated via sports.

When you watch your favorite sports

team win a game, youre likely to say,

We won. This is BIRGing. If that same

team were to lose, youd be more likely

to say, they lost, which is CORFing.

In reality, of course, you helped the team

lose just as much as you helped them

win in other words, not at all. Yet you

include yourself only in the teams vic-tory. According to social psychology

theory, we want to identify with groups

that boost our self-esteem and social

status. Winning makes us look and feel

good. Losing makes us look and feel bad.

Researcher Robert Cialdini conducted

a groundbreaking study into BIRGing

and CORFing in 1976. Cialdini found

that not only were college students more

likely to use we after their schools

football team won, but the students were

also more likely to wear their universi-tys clothing in the days after the victory.

GW doesnt have a football team like

my own tongue-in-cheek t-shirt says,

were still undefeated. Could this some-

how relate to our lower rate of school

schools spirit is tied to their football team.

November - December

Of course, this doesnt explain all the Ivy

League schools shirts people dont wear

Yale or Princeton sweatshirts because of

the athletics. However, wearing such a shirt

associates you with an intellectual, high-

achieving organization still BIRGing.

Nonetheless, GW does have a basketball

team thats had its share of national at-

tention. Despite this, Tulane, which is not

ranked higher than GW in athletics or aca-

demics, still pops up on students clothing

including in the days following the GW

mens basketball victory at the home opener.

Could the truth be that we come to this

school for many reasons the city, the pos-

sibilities, the weather (is that last one just

me?) and dont necessarily feel a strong

There are other explanations of course:

maybe we as a school identify more with

Hunter rain boots than the place we come

to receive our education. Perhaps only the

optimist would concede we arent sub-

consciously trying to bolster our feelings

-

tion. Finally, maybe we really do BIRG

and CORF here, but instead of identify-

ing with our school, we identify with

political parties and candidates instead.

Though I still think it is bizarre that students

wear clothing from many other colleges, inthe end, it doesnt really matter. We must

like GW a decent amount after all, we

chose it over schools we wear clothing from

we just have an odd way of showing it.


9/16


Politics

A Step Back is a

Step ForwardBy Madison Noble

The current situation in Syria is reminis-

cent of the violence that occurred in Libya

in recent months. There have been protests

from civilians seeking a regime change, in

hopes of ousting a tyrannical leader and

ushering in a true democracy. President

Bashar al-Assad has violently suppressed

the uprisings, causing a multitude of casu-

alties in the guise of seeking to maintain

stability, when in fact he desperately wants

to retain control over his hemorrhaging

country. Activists in the city of Homs have

suffered the highest civilian death toll

since the uprising broke out in March, and

throughout the country activists are calling

on world leaders to impart sanctions on

Assads regime and to reject his legitimacy.

In a break from the Bush administrations

Middle Eastern policies, the Obama ad-

ministrations policies, led by Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton, have been more

thoughtful by allowing multinational or-

ganizations such as NATO, the UN, and

the Arab League to take the lead. The

United States has called for al-Assad to

step down and is using sanctions to iso-

late the current Syrian regime, reject-

ing direct intervention. Clinton cited a

variety of factors as reasons, such as the

perceived risk to US forces, the need to

defend American allies, and to keep for-

recalled its diplomatic personnel from

Syria for safety reasons, but has sought out

Arab League leaders to push Arab coun-

tries to use sanctions against al-Assad.

The Arab League, in a departure from

its usual non-interventionist ways, has

decided to suspend Syrias membership

and impose sanctions over its violent

eight-month crackdown on protestors. In

retaliation, al-Assad supporters attacked

the Turkish, Saudi, and French embassies,

infuriating leaders and strengthening their

opposition to the current Syrian regime.

While Saudi Arabia has long been a sup-

porter of Syria, for fear of the growing

power of Iran, it has been a leader in sup-

porting stronger measures against Syria.

The Arab League is planning on imposing

further economic and political sanctions

and has called for all its member states

to withdraw their ambassadors from the

country. While al-Assad enjoys supportamong minority groups, such as members

of the Alawite sect, to which he belongs,

and Christians, who fear sectarian violence

or a Sunni Muslim dominated govern-

ment if Assad were to be toppled, increas-

ing political and economic isolation will

President Bashar al-Assads regime is ex-

periencing internal turmoil coupled with

international sanctions and denouncements

of legitimacy, leading to an increasingly

unstable country. The US and its allieshave taken an active role in denouncing al-

Assad and as each day passes, al-Assads

grip on legitimacy and power loosens and

the future of Syria becomes more uncer-

tain. If al-Assads regime were to topple,

Libya, another country would be added to

the list of governments-in-progress, caus-

ing the USs precarious position in the

Middle East to become even more uncer-

tain. As the withdrawal date of American

troops from Iraq nears closer and the de-

crease of troops in Afghanistan continues,

the USs physical presence in the Middle

East will lessen and regional players

will be forced to take a more active role.

It is in the USs best interest to maintain

amicable relations with its current Middle

Eastern allies such as Saudi Arabia, and to

nurture emerging democracies in Egypt,

Libya and Tunisia, in addition to supporting

democratic activists in countries like Syr-

ia. The US needs to take a step back from

regional politics, allowing Arab nations to

take responsibility and control over their

a friend and ally to nations who respect

the rights of their people. It is imperative

that the US supports the Syrian protestors

without using force. Up to this point, the

USs stance on the situation in Syria has

been moderate and non-reactionary, prov-

ing that US foreign policy is moving to-

wards a soft power approach as opposedto the previous hard power approach in the

Middle East. This approach will hopefully

earn the US more international respect as

a facilitator of change and a supporter of

democratic movements, as opposed to an

intervening force when the climate in for-

eign nations does not match US desires.

As more dictators fall to popular move-

ments in the Middle East, the question re-

mains as to which regional nation will be-

come the dominant player, and the answer

will not be as obvious as it was before.

Feeling the

(Desert) Heat: US

Troop Withdrawal

From IraqBy Michelle Shevin-

CoetzeeSince the United States invaded Iraq in

consequential effects have been hotly de-

bated on both sides of the political aisle.

President Obamas recent announcement

of intention to withdraw all US troops

from Iraq by the end of this year has drawn


10/16


relief from servicemen and women and

their families. It has also drawn sharp criti-

cism from many others, including some

latter may speculate that a US troop with-

drawal is a premature move, it is important

to keep in mind that this deadline was set -

dent Obama is abiding by the US-Iraq Sta-

tus of Forces Agreement, which calls for

a full US troop withdrawal from Iraq by

of action should have been retained and

subsequent compromises achieved. Sum-

mertime Negotiations with Prime Minister

Nouri al-Maliki regarding whether or not

to have a few thousand US troops remain

in Iraq as trainers collapsed over the con-

dition of legal immunity for US troops.

Many analysts speculate that the suddendrawdown is a political strategy to re-earn

election. While Obama might be feeling

the heat from his own party about a war

that he once called dumb, it is imperative

that the US not renege on its commitments

until the objective of ensuring a secure and

stable Iraq has been accomplished. Al-

though there will no longer be boots on

the ground, the Obama administration

emphasizes that around 16,000 US diplo-

mats and contractors will remain in Iraq.

This will allow for American soft power

to assist the Iraqis as they make the tran-

sition from an observer to the sole actor.

It is too early, however, to predict the exact

future of Iraq. Many wonder about what

play in the country. In a recent interview

with CNNs State of the Union, Secre-

tary of State Hillary Clinton warned that,No one, most particularly Iran, should

miscalculate about our continuing com-

mitment to and with the Iraqis going for-

ward. The US had blamed Iran earlier

this year for a number of attacks carried

out by Shiite militia against American

troops in southern Iraq. For some time,

Washington has been concerned that Iran,

between the Iraqi Shiite government and

its Sunni minority. Those effects would

not only be felt in Iraq, but could also

serve as harbingers for further violencein an already tense Middle East fueled

that Iran sees Iraq as a stage on which to

mount attacks against American interests

and some suspect that Iran will therefore

try to take some credit for the withdraw-

al of nearly all 39,000 American troops.

The conclusion of a war should not be

dictated by a set timeline, but rather by an

assessment of the progress that has been

made in the securing and stabilizing of the

country. As of now, the US appears to be

relying on its robust presence in the region

to shield Iraq from possible threats. As a

response to the breakdown of negotiations,

the US has drawn up an alternative strat-

egy to keep a strong military presence in

the region in case of a collapse of the Iraqi

government or an intervention by Iran.

The US is looking to develop further mili-

tary ties with the six countries compris-ing the Gulf Cooperation Council Saudi

Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United

Arab Emirates, and Oman. Strategically, it

makes sense for the US to increase combat

troop forces in neighboring countries, par-

ticularly in Kuwait. This would allow for

a greater degree of sovereignty in Iraq, but

also serve as a reserve in case American

troops are needed immediately. The US is

trying to cultivate a new security archi-

tecture for the region which, if success-

ful, would have the ability to amalgamate

air and naval patrols as well as missile de-fense. This strategy will not only reiterate

the USs commitment to Iraq but will also

foster a strong and comprehensive rela-

tionship with crucial allies in the region.

What matters most is Americas commit-

ment to Iraq, both now and in the future. If

carefully implemented, this strategy could

serve as a framework for the future of Af-

ghanistan, as the US looks to wind down

concerns Iraq or another country, Americas

promises should always match its actions.

November - December

Is Ignorance Truly

American?By Parth Chauhan

everyone wants to get to know me, my

opinions are always appreciated, and Iam generally known as cool. However,

at the same time, our moniker of Ameri-

can brings with it negatives as well. In

the Netherlands, America is regarded si-

multaneously a promised land and a pa-

riah, a messiah and a murderer. There are

few Dutch people who would pass up an

opportunity to visit Washington, DC, and

yet the foreign policy formulated in the

city is almost always looked down upon.

It is our international relations that hurt us

the most. America is known as a nation

without regard for international law. Most

disturbingly, my fellow undergraduates at

the Universiteit van Amsterdam have the

horrible misconception that all Americans

know nothing about the world. To them

we are all a bunch of fat, ill-informed

capitalists, uncaring for the environment

and order. We cannot identify Iraq on

and we have no idea how negatively our

foreign policy affects the rest of world.

As a student from the United States, I am

looked at in a similarly polarized way.

Though my experiences with professors

and colleagues have been outstanding, I

Studies class. In a class of around eighty

students from all over Holland, the men-

tion of Bush or Cheney is always followed

by a class-wide chortle, and multinational

companies like Exxon-Mobil are similarly

ridiculed. And yet, it was in this class of

international affairs students that I found

out that the Dutch criticisms of Americans

were actually quite reciprocal (that is to say,

they werent so globally conscious either)!

Our discussions in class often revolve

around the War on Terror and Nike and

Wal-Marts corporate responsibility to its


11/16


12/16


Like many of you interested in European

politics, I have been frighteningly glued

to the political and economic breakdown

crisis our generation has witnessed on the

continent. Until now, Europe was seen as

a miraculous economic union that could

do no wrong. For obvious reasons, these

impressions were a miscalculation. But

for less obvious reasons, reasons that Eu-

ropean Union leaders would have us be

less aware of, the crisis we see today is not

exacerbated by poor crisis management

and just outright poor political leadership.

Let me explain by starting with the fatal

the crisis we face today. When the EU

began to take shape in debates across the

continent, leaders across Europe wanted to

but didnt want to face the consequences

of giving up the sovereignty of their main

economic instruments. As the continent

began to economically integrate, national

executives made sure to hold onto their

taxation and bond market (and debt accru-

ing) powers. These decisions left a situa-

November - December

European Union

Instability is SelfBy Taylor Sappington

tion that caused the crisis we face today:

Too many individual bond markets and

leaders of those bond markets tugging on

one currency, the euro. Nations like Ire-land, Portugal, Italy, and Greece were tech-

nically barred from amassing large debts,

but could get away with terrible budgetary

decisions with little effect on the currency

that is buoyed by Germany. What followed

were dangerous levels of debt and a lack of

accountability in the previously mentioned

nations. Though much can be said about

the decisions of the governments, this is

Fast-forward to today. For all of you study-

ing public relations or politics, be sure towatch the EU on how to not handle a cri-

sis effectively. Division and fear have won

the day, allowing Germany and France to

shift the discussion away from long-term

On Greece, instead of beginning the pro-

long-term goals in mind, Angela Merkel

and Nicolas Sarkozy declared a Holy

ordered Greece to implement severe and

dangerously deep cuts in order to con-

tinue receiving assistance from the EU.

The terms of these agreements would cer-

tainly not exist if the more powerful EU

nations had been the ones asking for help.

With every bundle of continued assistance,

Germany and France have done the same

and demand terrifyingly rapid cuts with

no consideration to the damage they are

causing politically and economically. The

Greek economy is expected to contract by

Greek political system has been ruptured,

causing the fall of the democratically

elected government, the rise in support of

extremely radical parties, and daily vio-

lence in the streets. Now that Germany and

France feel accomplished in creating the

crisis in Greece they meant to avert, they

are going at it again by hitting the panic

button on Italy, forcing out the elected gov-

ernment after a couple days of scolding.

All of this disorder and panic by the EU

from investors as markets swing wildly

and bond markets become unstable across

the Eurozone. The contagion that Ger-

many and France are trying to prevent is

being implemented by their punitive and

reactionary actions. EU and national gov-

ernment leaders have made wrong deci-

sions, and though the situation is bad, it is

not a catastrophe nor is it insurmountable.

If the EU is to be maintained a couple of

things must be done. First, Germany and

France have got to stop hitting the panic

button whenever something doesnt turn

out the way they expect. Ironically, this

instability is causing French markets and

bond markets to fall apart exactly the same

at. Second, Germany and France should

stop dominating talks and must bring all

voices to the table, including Italy and

you does not do so well because then the

coach might put you back in the game.

sidelined Republicans and put Demo-

after things had not been going so well

Democrats are hoping that the unpopular

aspects of Republican policies are elevat-

ed onto a pedestal and that the American

people will return to their side next year

problems with. But instead, party has been

put before country and the next election

has been put ahead of the next generation.

This is the root of the anti-incumbent mood

in our country. If politicians in Washington

cannot get their act together and address

the unemployment crisis we have in thiscountry, next November the American

people will show about as much concern

for incumbent politicians job security as

politicians have shown concern for theirs.

and put Republicans back on the bench.

While we are cheering for our replace-

ments to fail, we forget that we are all

on the same team. We forget that no one

party or ideology has a monopoly on truth

and good ideas. Ideally we all want whatis best for our country, we just have dif-

ferent means of achieving what is best.

In the midst of the worst economic crisis

since the Great Depression, that is the atti-

tude that we should have approached these


13/16

Greece. Its either got to be a team effort

or we must admit the EU cares much less

about a colorful discussion than they say.

Lastly, the EU must bring accountability

to each country. Either they must integrate

taxation and bond markets further so ev-

ery nation has a more vested interest in thesuccess of the euro, or they must break up


Sports

Thats when all hell broke loose,

in every sense of the phrase.

Students took to the streets, toppled

and committed various acts of vandal-ism. Several Penn State alumni couldnt

believe it and voiced their anger at the

boards decision. Some, whom Im

friends with on Facebook, even changed

-

came to be known fondly as JoePa.

While this outburst of love is admi-

rable by students and alumni from Penn

State, it is also disrespectful. It is, for

a lack of a better word, outright rude.

What students and alumni should be

talking about are the crimes them-selves. They should be talking about

the numerous victims and what theyve

had to endure and the trauma they

must cope with the rest of their lives.

Thats whats important and thats what

many people seem to have lost sight of.

It seems as though everyone, including

the self-proclaimed worldwide leader

in sports ESPN who has an army of

journalists at their disposal, forgot about

the victims. There was so much uproar

-

ries of those boys who were abused,

touched inappropriately, sodomized,

and raped were immediately forgotten.

What happened to Coach Paterno was

unfortunate, but necessary. While he re-

ported the crimes to his superiors, it was

just as necessary for him to report those

crimes to the authorities. Assistant Coach

Mike McQueary should have done the

to allow everyone to sink or swim on their

own. The debts of Europe can be contained,

many instances in their history. But if the

continent continues to panic at every turn,

economic growth will halt and contract, ex-

actly like predictions are beginning to pickup on. Without economic growth, govern-

ments will not be able to make payments

and then the world will face the true crisis

that the EU doesnt realize it is causing.

-

dent that Penn State University had more

lifetime, never has a school of such mag-nitude and prestige faced so much scrutiny

and gone through so much ridicule. Then

again, never in my lifetime has a person

or persons in such high capacity commit-

ted such heinous and unforgiveable acts

at a highly regarded academic institution.

What allegedly happened at Penn State

over a span of several years under the reign

of former Penn State football assistant Jer-

ry Sandusky is despicable in all senses of

the word. It is dirty. It is rotten. In truth, it

when looking up the word disgusting. It

should never have happened. But the factremains though still allegedly that it did.

In the proceeding fallout after San-

duskys arrest, the Penn State Board

-

sity President Graham Spanier and,

more importantly (or more controver-

sially), football head coach Joe Paterno.

The Misguided

Coverage and

Concern of Penn

States Football

ScandalBy Yogin Kothari

same as well as Athletic Director Tim

Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz.

What all of these men did is inexcusable.

The cover-up by the school is inexcus-

a brand should never happen again. Ev-

eryone around the world should learn

from the mistakes of these men when

a crime is committed, report it to the au-

thorities. Ensure that justice is served. In

the end, a persons life is always more

valuable than any type of institution.

Will the NBA

Lockout EverEnd?By Arjun Seth

The clock has run out. Invitations were

sent out to the National Basketball As-

sociation but unfortunately an RSVP was

cancelling a season. Recent weeks have

been eventful for sports fanatics across the

country, as all three major sports leagues(MLB, NFL, NHL) are squeezed together

on television broadcasts across the world.

The end of the year is fast approaching

and now with the World Series in the his-

tory books, half of the NFL season com-

pleted and the NHL season in full swing,

only one member is absent: the NBA.


14/16


November - December

Predicting theDestinations of

Major League

Baseballs Leading

Free AgentsBy Josh Grinsberg

Its that time of year again. Now that theWorld Series is over and the St. Louis

Cardinals are world champions, its time

to look at which teams will reel in the

top free agents. Here is a look at the top

9 free agents, their most realistic des-

tinations, and their probable contracts.

1. Albert Pujols: Arguably the best play-

er of this generation, Albert Pujols is the

-

and 99 RBIs, Pujols has had a batting av-

erage of over 300 with at least 30 hom-

ers and 100 RBIs since he was brought

spenders (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies)

next couple of years, I cannot see Pujols

leaving a city that loves him and where

he has won two world championships.

for franchises to keep signature players.

By writing these issues out, it seems the

goal is not too far away. All that is needed

is a few cool-heads in New York handling

the business, and we should a season in

no time. Still, with the recent disband-ing of the NBA players union because

no agreement was found, the NBA is

one bad PR stunt from becoming a de-

funct league. The only hope left is the

miracle of the holidays. I hope the play-

ers and owners were nice this year. May-

be Santa will surprise us all and give the

hopefully well have a season next year.

lockout as a collective bargaining agree-

ment (CBA) between the league and the

National Basketball Players Association

was not negotiated and billions of dollars

of revenue became questionable. NBACommissioner David Stern, the NBA

team owners, and players are experienc-

With player compensation and basketball-

related revenue at an all-time high, NBA

fans have been handcuffed and thrown in

a jail where bail is nonexistent and they

have no representation in the matter. All

the fans can do is watch, wait, and hope

Through the eyes of the fan, it seems as if

billions of dollars, an already inexplicably

In a country where money and sports have

been married for decades, an agreement

seems like a distant future in which either

the NBA management or the players must

take a fractioned paycheck. As part of the

share of basketball-related revenue. Own-

ers have clamored for an even 50-50 split,

while most NBA players have negotiated

contracts overseas and international play-

ers have joined their countrymen for FIBA

World Championship matches abroad.

Los Angeles Clippers) and Delonte West

(the Boston Celtics) have chosen different

best NBA player in the league according

to a mass ESPN.com poll, has begun his

internship with Will Ferrell-led comedy

site FunnyOrDie.com. West has taken a

position at Regency Furniture, the pre-

mier furniture retailer serving the greater

Maryland and Virginia area. Chris Bosh,

begun a recurring role on NBCs Law

and Order: Special Victims Unit in orderto bide his time throughout the lockout.

While some players may have found a re-

prieve, union members are meeting consis-

tently to no avail. It seems as if the path

to ending this lockout is hazy, layered in a

thick fog, and for reasons not even ESPNs

basketball demigod journalist Bill Sim-

since the CBA expired this past summer.

There are three clear issues that the players

and owners will have to muddle through,

even with the advent of a federal mediator.

Based on numbers David Stern releasedduring the last season, the owners lost

$340 million. Even after one of the high-

est attended, most watched, and best sea-

sons in league history, according to inde-

pendent research done by the Association

for Professional Basketball Research, the

owners still lost. Step one would be to curb

this loss by keeping it out of the media.

Issue number two is the now damaged

trust between the players, owners, and the

commissioner. This broken triangle needs

to be mended before any hope of recov-

ery can be achieved. Truth be told, thebroken pieces are in fragments so small at

this point that mending them has become

unfeasible. After the latest CBA nego-

tiations, and hours with a federal lawyer

poised to assist both the union and play-

ers in getting the deal they want and de-

serve, plans fell through again. The play-

ers refused the deal and plunged the league

into a nuclear winter. Even if a season

returns this year or next year, the busi-

ness side of the NBA has reared its ugly

head and the friendship between owners

and players has gone through the window.

Lastly, the owners are shooting them-

selves in the foot when they overpay play-

ers, underpay superstars, and cant cre-

ate franchise players. By offering up a

Gooden, an average, mid-sized power-

forward for the Milwaukee Bucks, you

set a standard for the league. When play-

ers like Josh Smith (the Atlanta Hawks),

Zach Randolph (the Memphis Grizzlies),

contracts, they will have no choice but

to demand two to three times more thanwhat Gooden is getting. This league-wide

-

stars and from being able to keep those

superstars. The answer is a hard salary

someone who is rewarded for his length

with one team, bonuses for consistent All-

Star appearances, thus making it easier


15/16


son, but at the end, I expect the Nationals to

add him to solidify a young start rotation.

Prediction: Washington Nationals (5

5. Yu Darvish: Yu Darvish has the high-est upside among any starting pitcher in

-

nated the Japanese Baseball League and

has the makeup to dominate in the Major

League level as well. Expect a couple of

teams to try to bid a posting fee to have

the rights to talk to him. At the end though,

the Texas Rangers will offer the most

money and ultimately have the ace they

need to compete for upcoming seasons.

Prediction: Texas Rangers (45 million to

6. Jimmy Rollins: The market is thin for

shortstops. This will help Jimmy Rollins

obtain a multiyear deal. Although he has

aged and is not the same player he used

to be, he is an above average shortstop. I

dont see Rollins moving away from the

Phillies especially with their mediocre

offense and what he means to the team.

Prediction: Philadelphia Phillies (4 years,

$50 million)

7. Carlos Beltran: Carlos Beltran is the

Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals (8 years,

2. Prince Fielder: Any team needing a big

bat will try to pursue Prince Fielder. Only

have a higher upside than Albert Pujols.

With the new Chicago Cubs team president

Theo Epstein trying to rebuild the franchise

to a contender and having money to spend,

I see the Cubs making a big splash by tak-

ing Fielder away from its division foe.

Prediction: Chicago Cubs (8 years, $190

million)

3. Jose Reyes -

tion of a catalyst. When healthy, there is

no better leadoff hitter than Jose. How-ever, the main problem in his career is

staying healthy and that will scare away

some potential suitors. The San Fran-

cisco Giants desperately need a bat and

Prediction: San Francisco Giants (7 years,

4. CJ Wilson: Even though CJ Wilson had

a dreadful postseason, it will not affect

teams from pursuing him. He is the best

starting pitcher in a thin market for pitchers

and at the age of 31, he is still in his prime.Expect a group of 5-6 teams to bid for Wil-

has had injured prone seasons within the

last couple of years, last year he hit .300

-

ly parks, Citi Field and AT&T Ballpark.

Prediction

million)

8. Roy Oswalt: Roy Oswalt was part of

perhaps the greatest rotation of all time:

34 and with a history of back problems,

Rangers could use a veteran and Os-

walt signing there makes a lot of sense.

Prediction

9. Mark Buehrle: Mark Buehrle is the

most durable and consistent pitcher on the

no signs of slowing downs. He cannot lead

a rotation but can be a perfect compliment

to a competitor. I can see the Yankees

signing him to complete their rotation.

Prediction: New York Yankees (4 years,


16/16

a

About The School of Washington Journal

The School of Washington Journalis a monthly publication covering business, poli-tics, culture & arts, philosophy, sports, and career advice. Balanced between qualita-

tive reporting and analytical essays, we wish to inform the university student on issues

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