Of Creating Your Own Budget

Citizens of the World,

You think governing is easy? Try creating your own budget (for Australia, at least).


World Facts and Figures:

Item 1: "Out of Africa" by Francis Fukuyama

- Sub-Saharan Africa's fundamental problem not as one of resources, human or natural, or as a matter of geography, but, rather, as one of bad government.
- Natural resources, whether diamonds or oil or timber, have quickly turned into a curse, because they greatly raise the stakes of the political struggle
- A phenomenon like Nigeria, which took in some $300 billion in oil revenues over a generation and yet saw declining per capita income during that same period
- Dambisa Moyo - Were it not for the continued availability of concessional loans, she argues, African countries would be forced to get their acts together and meet international governance standards so as to be able to access global bond markets
- Civil society is ultimately a complement to strong institutions and not a substitute for them


Item 2: "The Threat Mongers Handbook" by Stephen Walt

- US spends about as much on national security than the rest of the world combined and nearly nine times more than the No. 2 power (China)
- How to Scare Your Fellow Citizens for Fun and Profit:
i. Emphasize that small decisions can mark the difference between victory or defeat.
ii. Everything is connected
iii. Emphasize threats that are inherently impossible to measure
iv. Portray allies as a liability rather than as an asset
v. Whenever possible, depict opponents as part of a strong and highly cohesive movement, and preferably one united by strong ideological convictions
vi. We must act now
vii. Always describe opponents as irrational, unalterably aggressive, and impossible to deter
viii. When it comes to national security, there is no such thing as opportunity costs
ix. Assume that opponents are able to do anything they say they want to do
x. When challenged, immediately question your critics' patriotism, credentials, or seriousness


Item 3: "Our Western Moment of Feminist Leadership is Over" by Naomi Wolf

- The core theory with which emerging feminists in more traditional and religious societies are working is far different from that of Western feminism - and, in some ways, far more profound and humane - family centred rather than self-centred, and that valued service to community rather than personal gratification
- Simone de Beauvoir, whose seminal book The Second Sex laid the groundwork for postwar Western feminism, was an existentialist who was neither a wife nor a mother nor a woman of faith - her work naturally posited female freedom in a secular, solitary and individualistic context


Item 4: "Indonesia as a Democracy Model" by S.P. Seth

- Hillary Clinton - If you want to know if Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights can coexist, go to Indonesia


Item 5: "Don't Forget About Foreign Aid" by Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell

- Hillary Clinton - the "three Ds" of U.S. foreign policy: development, defense and diplomacy
- Initiative for Global Development (IGD) -- an organization whose leadership council we co-chair. At the IGD National Summit in Washington, D.C., on May 6, business and government leaders will gather to advance new strategies for reducing global poverty


Item 6: "Unstable Trio Endangers the World" by Greg Sheridan

- Pakistan, Iran and North Korea are the three critical states, all likely to come to some sort of crisis in the next year or two
- The Pakistani military is designed for only one thing: fighting India - It is one of the most incompetent counter-insurgency forces in the world
- Iran is fired by three factors: a sense of historic destiny and opportunity; rampant nationalism; and authentic religious fervour