Question

Terrorism really is a form of asymmetric warfare waged against the united states by groups that lack the military wherewithal to slug it out with the united states toe-to-toe. 9/11 was a violent counter reaction to america's geopolitical—and cultural—primacy. as richard k. betts presciently observed in a 1998 foreign affairs article, "it is hardly likely that middle eastern radicals would be hatching schemes like the destruction of the world trade center if the united states had not been identified so long as the mainstay of israel, the shah of iran, and conservative arab regimes and the source of a cultural assault on islam." u.s. primacy fuels terrorist groups like al qaeda and fans islamic fundamentalism, which is a form of "blowback" against america's preponderance and its world role.54 as long as the united states uses its global primacy [end page 69] to impose its imperial sway on regions like the persian gulf, it will be the target of politically motivated terrorist groups like al qaeda.

Answer 1

Clearly, for geopolitics, 2012 did not signal the world's end, but only its tumultuous continuity. Major economies of the world had seen their governments either replaced or reestablished - Barack Obama in the United States, Xi Jinping in People's Republic of China, and Shinzō Abe in Japan. Newsweek issued its last print issue, with the iconic hashtag sounding the death knell to non-online publishing. European Union remains to be stuck in a debilitating debt crisis. The UN General Assembly approves a motion granting Palestine non-member observer state status.