While reading about the recent crisis in South Ossetia, Paul Krugman wondered if the second wave of globalization will share the fate of the first: world war.  A world in which the US isn't the only military force, argues Krugman, is a dangerous one.  Russia has proven itself willing to use gas as a political weapon, and China, emboldened by Russia's example, might invade Taiwan.  These nationalism-powered conflicts threaten the stability of our globalized world. 

I'm skeptical. 

Here’s a good article by Barbara Bodine, former US Ambassador to Yemen and director of the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative at Princeton University.  She argues that the next president should stop the practice of filling over 30% of ambassadorships with presidential appointees, those loyal to the party or to campaigns.  The positions should instead be filled by career diplomats.  I think her article makes some good points but I would also add a few things:   
 

WILTON PARK, UK—My introduction to London was four hours spent in the Gatwick airport, with a splitting headache, no Starbucks in sight (I was in the wrong terminal for that), and in a pair of shoes that I’ll never wear to travel again. It was 3 AM on my body’s clock, so I sipped on a sub-par latte, wishing desperately I had a British accent and all the sophistication it implies, and prepared myself for the week ahead by browsing the latest Economist. I had intended to read it on the plane, as well as a whole stack of intellectual material, but the screaming infant in front of me had other plans for our seven hours together.

Check out the debate over Energy Independence at Next America!

Is Energy Independence A Myth or the Right Goal for America to Pursue?

YPFP members should definitely contribute to this fascinating discussion. Here's my response to the commentary from their website:

While energy independence is a powerful rhetorical concept, and energy security is an important strategic objective, neither phrase has very much to do with reality. It is essential for the health of our economy, the welfare of our citizens, the safety of our environment and the independence of our foreign policy that we recognize we are indeed in on the brink of an energy crisis and take appropriate correctives, but most of the solutions being discussed suffer from two flaws:

The Bold
Serchilo is a new tool that allows a user to navigate several search engines at once and quickly be taken to the final destination. The website works by allowing you to place short commands before your search to tell the engine where to look for what you want. For example, users interested in searching wikipedia will type a "w" before their search terms, and be taken directly to the wikipedia page on that topic. The simple commands don't save you much more time than going to the website itself - Serchilo really shines when it comes to more sophisticated functions.  For example, someone wanting to quickly search an exchange rate need only type in "eur-usd 115," and they will get a currency conversion.

As I've written  before, our generation of 'digital natives' is also using the internet to change public service.  Here are some innovative non-profits I’ve come across recently.     

Creative Commons
Operating under the motto of "share, remix, reuse – legally," Creative Commons seeks to further idea sharing and creative thinking by providing an alternative to traditional copyrights.  Founded in 2002 while Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig was arguing Supreme Court case Eldred v. Ashcroft, Creative Commons licenses fall between the private domain (all rights reserved) and the public domain (no rights reserved).  By selecting the degree of restriction, creators are able to maintain their rights while inviting derivative works based on their own.