Group items tagged

* Released December 2008 * Running time: 84 minutes * Description: This is a powerful documentary of the current state of freshwater ownership, privatization and distribution around the world. The film discusses the conflict between "predatory" corporations and engaged citizens over water rights and usage. For example, it discusses how companies like Coke and Pepsi use of water in India and Nestles use of water in Michigan for bottled water. This film also documents water wars in Bolivia, privatization in Africa, and issues of pollution of freshwater around the world. It promotes lively and emotional discussion in class. * Rating: Excellent * 7-Revolutions Section: Resources, Technology, Economics, Conflict.

Click on the water conflict map to see some of Al Jazeera's coverage of an issue which could define 21st century strife After droughts ravaged his parents' farmland, Sixteen-year-old Hassain and his two-year-old sister Sareye became some of the newest refugees forced from home by water scarcity.

In 1931, it was a question of passports. In 1998, it was a question of disappearing borders. And today, it is a question of economic growth and inequality. Globalization has made many richer but also poses a confounding question: What will it take for states to leave conflict behind and, instead, cooperate?

GOVERNMENT officials, aid workers and activists from dozens of countries converged on London this week to discuss ways to solve a horrible problem: the tendency of combatants in war and civil strife to commit sexual atrocities.

This is a new periodical from Scientific American that is ideal for a 7 Revs class. It deals primarily with issues of our future planet including well-written articles on water, energy, green-technology, biodiversity, population and even conflict. The graphics, images and charts are easy to understand. Articles present scientific interpretations of problems, many with a future focus. Excellent for use in all course topics.

* Released June, 2006 * Running time: 98 min * Description: Why We Fight features interviews and observations by experts on the military, including Senator John McCain, Gore Vidal, and Dan Rather. It begins with the prophetic speech by President Dwight D. Eisenhower's warning of the rise of the "military industrial complex." The film discusses the forces - political, economic, and ideological - that drive us to fight against an everchanging enemy? This film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Although it brings in experts from a number of different ideologies, the film does tend to have a left leaning viewpoint on the military and war. * Rating: Very good. * 7-Revolutions Section: Conflict

* Released January 2008 * Running time: 60 minutes * Description: The entire 60 minute video of "On Our Watch," which addresses the humanitarian crisis in Darfur that has been labeled the first genocide of the 21st century, can be accessed at the following web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darfur/view/main.html This video examines the emerging crisis in Darfur beginning in 2003 and continues to examine the dynamics of this complex situation as a UN official presses the world to act, the United Nations makes numerous ineffective efforts to intervene, and flickers of hope emerge in 2007. This powerful and informative video is supported by web links to additional information about the crisis in Darfur. (DVD also available for $30 from web site at http://www.shoppbs.org/) * Rating: excellent ; used selected sections in class, related to conflict revolution

* Aired: January 2009 * Running time: 38:47 * Description: A Fresh Air interview with P.W. Singer, the author of the book, Wired For War. He discusses how some military tasks previously assigned to humans are now being handled by machines, the technology behind the machines, how soldiers are affected by using these machines as weapons, and the future of war. * Rating: Excellent * 7-Revolutions Section: Conflict, Technology

* Released February 2007 * Running time: 240 minutes * Description: China from the Inside is a series of four documentaries that survey China through Chinese eyes to see how history has shaped them and where the present is taking them. Episodes include Power and the People which deals with the governance of China, The Women which talks about the past and future for Chinese women, Shifting Nature, a look at China's environmental challenges, and Freedom, an exploration of China's conflict between personal freedom and governance. Produced in 2006 with 240 minutes on one DVD. Description from web site at http://www.shoppbs.org/ Video available for $30. * Rating: very good * Used outside class as optional learning activity; related to several revolutions

* Released May 2008 * Running time: 270 minutes * Description: 9/11 and Al Qaeda, Afghanistan and Iraq, WMD and the Insurgency, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Fallujah and the Surge. For six years, FRONTLINE has been revealing those stories in meticulous detail and the political dramas played out at the highest levels. Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga will unfold in this special definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's history. 270 minutes on one disc. (Description from web site at http://www.shoppbs.org/) Video available for $30. * Rating: excellent; used outside of class as an optional learning activity, related to conflict resolution

In the wake of the financial crisis, the United States is no longer the leader of the global economy, and no other nation has the political and economic leverage to replace it. Rather than a forum for compromise, the G-20 is likely to be an arena of conflict.

This is a good article. Got a lot of play at Davos. We have been taking a deep look at the G20 for the New Seven Revs presentation, particularly looking at the top 150 words of G20 Communication. Here are some of the word clouds we generated, 1999-2007: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3036182/G20_Communiques_(1999-2007 and 2008-2010: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3036001/G20_Communiques_%282008-2010%29 You will notice that the tone has changed considerably. Globalization was not mentioned even once between 2008 and 2010.

Seems to me there are a couple of interrelated ways to approach the governance revolution: (1) challenges to individual states (including discussion of failed states) and to the state as the primary actor on the world stage, and (2) changes and challenges in global governance (e.g., rise of the BRICs, or maybe BICs now that Russia seems to be under-performing).

Despite the hype, cyberwarfare is a seldom-used, relatively toothless tactic that will not change foreign policy calculations anytime soon.