On good government

I'm about halfway through Francis Fukuyama's The Origins of Political Order, one of the best books I've read in several years. Starting in prehistoric times, Fukuyama traces the development of political systems in cultures around the world including China, India, the Middle East, and Europe. One thing I'm really loving is how he integrates various disciplines such as evolutionary biology, economics, and comparative political science. The book has already led me to reconsider my notions about the historical role of religion and has dashed my hopes that the current Republican fixation on reducing taxes at any cost is a temporary aberration.

A quote on good government:

The rule of law and political accountability are desirable in their own right. Sometimes, they can get in the way of good, effective government, as when an Indian state is unable to make a decision on a major infrastructure project due to litigation and public protests, or when the U.S. Congress cannot bring itself to deal with pressing problems like entitlements due to the influence of lobbyists and interest groups.

But at other times rule of law and accountability are necessary to preserve good government. Under the right conditions, a strong authoritarian system can produce extremely effective government. Political systems need to be able to endure changing external conditions and changing leaders. The checks on state authority provided by rule of law and accountability serve to reduce the variance in governmental performance: they constrain the best governments, but they also prevent bad ones from spiraling out of control.

From what I've read so far, it's clear to me that we're in a period of "political decay." I think we could use a good psychohistorian right now...

Factoid of the day

The U.S. gives Israel about $2.8 billion a year in aid.

There are roughly 310 million people in the U.S. and about 7.5 million in Israel.

So that's about $9 out of each American's pocket each year and about $375 showing up for each person in Israel.

ON A RELATED NOTE: Apparently the mood in Israel is gloomy according to the New York Times.

My political views

I saw this political spectrum quiz over on the Life of Brian, and here are my results:

My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 4.93, Libertarian: 3.38


My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -2.5


My Culture War Stance
Score: -4.83

Political Spectrum Quiz

The significance of Georgia

The republic of Georgia has a pipeline which serves as an important route for getting Central Asian petroleum to the U.S. and Europe without having to pass through Russia.

After reading this article about the pipeline, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand why we continue to tie our future to oil. We will never again produce a majority of our petroleum needs domestically. The only path to energy security leads away from depending on the stuff.

Here's a Q&A on Georgia.

Tracing the path from D.C. to Georgia

Andrew Sullivan has written a passionate piece about the Russian invasion of Georgia and what eight years of Bush and Cheney have done to American standing in the world. A must read.

Obama's statement on Georgia

Obama has issued another statement on Russia's military action in Georgia; read it here.

What is Russia up to?

They've opened up a second front in Georgia.

We are hypocrites

Having the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. chastise Russia for engaging in "regime change" in Georgia is rather hypocritical, no?

But having said that, I'm just as opposed to Russia's actions in South Ossetia as I was opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

And while I didn't back Bush on Iraq, at least he made an attempt to garner some international support. He wasn't very successful, but he went in with some cover from the U.N. (Illegitimate, perhaps, considering the deceptive tactics he used.)

Russia hasn't, to my knowledge, even made that attempt. Their behavior is eerily reminiscent of Nazi Germany's as described in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

Not that I think Russia has any plans to pursue global dominence Soviet-style. Rather, I'm simply noting the similarities I see in their behavior to historical precedent.

UPDATE

Some background on the conflict here (scroll down past the reports of early fighting to get to the historical notes).