Croft Commentary

The Canadian Economy and the Core-Periphery Concept The Core-Periphery Concept is an economic model that has been used to explain the strong centralization of the Canadian economy around the Great Lakes – St Lawrence Lowlands region. Like a spokes of a wheel, the peripheral territories lead to the economic center of the country that stretches along the Windsor-Quebec corridor. This framework identifies the core region as a region having good agricultural lands, high levels of industry and urbanization along with a close proximity to markets. The Periphery, on the other hand, would be territories where the economies are focused on resource production with scattered populations and “weakly integrated urban systems”. With sixty percent of Canada’s population living within the “heartland” of the Great Lakes – St Lawrence Lowlands region, it is obvious that they have well developed urban systems and infrastructure. This region boasts possession of half the nation’s metropolitan areas and hi...

Ideology and American Foreign Policy This election year has brought foreign policy to the forefront of public attention. Many criticized the views of both candidates on world issues. Some said that Barack Obama was too idealistic and naïve in his approach when he said he would have presidential talks with controversial world figures. Others criticized John McCain when he spoke against hasty withdrawals from Iraq. How much of a role do each candidate’s ideologies play into their foreign policy decisions? What roles do ideologies play traditionally in American politics? American Liberalism has traditionally been more world-oriented, with emphasis on individual rights, while American Conservatism has been more nationalistic in its viewpoint, with emphasis on traditional social values. But this is an overly simplified analysis of American politics. Individual viewpoints for a whole populace do not fall on a simple, one-dimensional line from left-to-right. There are too many variables...

The history of China during the 20th Century has been defined by internal conflict: first with China falling under Japanese control before the Second World War, second with the nationalists and communist uniting to overthrow that Japanese control. Eventually Chiang Kaishek and the Chinese Communist Party engaged in a civil war in which the nationalist government was forced to flee to Taiwan, but the internal feuding did not end there. Within the Communist Party there were many disagreements, between those who agreed with Mao Zedong, and those that did not. It was those disagreements that eventually led to Mao catalyzing the 100 Flowers Movement, the Anti-Rightist Campaigns, and eventually the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The most effective of these campaigns - in terms of mass mobilization - was the Chinese Cultural Revolution of late 1965. The Cultural Revolution had four phases, according to Hong Yung Lee, the author of The Politics of the Chinese Cultural Revolution:...

Croft 1 James Croft 4/29/08 American Foreign Policy TR 1:30pm Power, Principle, and Insolvency American Foreign Policy is rooted in two distinct ideologies, realism and idealism. In the realist tradition of foreign policy there is no need or reason to justify the use of power morally. American’s however tend to require that moral justification before popular opinion gets behind the policies. American foreign policy cannot simply be defined as being one and not the other, however. Our political system is too dynamic to be dominated by one single ideology. Every time we elect new leaders, we put into power new policies and ways of thinking. Foreign policy instead is defined by the struggle between realism and idealism, or power and principle. It is when there is a good balance between the two that American foreign policy works the best. It is when we lean to far in one direction that the policies become insolvent, or when our actions do not accurately reflect ou...

James Croft Politics and Media 4/21/08 Journal 4: Hard Questions? The day after the debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Philidelphia, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh praised the moderators for their “tough questions”. He exclaimed how it was about time that Obama faced some tough questions in this campaign, and that Hillary was getting what she deserved. But were the questions really all that tough? Were they even relevant? So Hillary didn’t exactly dodge a bullet in Bosnia, who cares? I want to know about her health plan and how it will benefit myself, my daughter, and fiancé. So what if Obama doesn’t put his hand over his heart for “God Bless America” or wear a lapel pin of an American flag, I want to know his stance on plummeting housing markets and why real estate prices are still so high. The questions asked were on trivial matters and not on actual substance and policies. They were questions...

James Croft Politics and Media 4/21/08 Journal 3: Wedge Issues and Elitism I find it interesting how easy the media and politicians are to point fingers at each other. Recently, Obama made a PR blunder saying that blue-collar workers in Pennsylvania “cling” to their bibles and their guns, and that they are disenchanted with the political system. Because of these words, his opponents both on the democratic and republican sides have labeled and portrayed him as an elitist. With the way the media has portrayed the situation it is easy to assume such. In reality, Obama was talking about a real phenomena studied in political science circles. The phenomenon is the Wedge Issue. A wedge issue is any issue in which the public is emotionally attached to, and tends to polarize the electorate. Campaigners and politicians will often use these issues to build up a base of voters to their campaigns and bolster their support. Some issues identified as wedge issues include abortion, gun control, ...