![[F]](../_images/site.gif) New York Times on the Web Forums  Science
Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans
for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be
limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI
all over again?
    (7498 previous messages)
rshowalter
- 11:15am Jul 27, 2001 EST (#7499
of 7502) 
Robert Showalter
showalte@macc.wisc.edu
It seems to me that, in some essential ways, we're going through
a paradigm shift in international relations.
A key issue is fact checking - which ought to be morally forcing,
so we can get some key things straight.
MD6103 rshowalter
6/25/01 4:05pm
http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/361
is posting #307 of Paradigm Shift .... whose getting there? a
Guardian TALK thread that I'm very proud of, that is well connected
to reasons for "morally forcing" checking.
A person with academic, especially dean duty experience (Rice,
for example) might find the following passage especially
interesting.
" If "civility" means "deference to established
intellectual property rights, and territorial divisions" then
"civility" is the death knell of certain essential kinds of
progress. Checking can be deferred, and discussion can be deferred
indefinitely, especially according to the standard academic and
diplomatic patterns described by John Kay in http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/highlights/essay_kay_lostcause/index.html
When it is important enough, there needs to be mechanisms to get
questions of fact and logic in science (or military matters)
CHECKED. When the stakes are high enough, that checking needs to be
morally forcing.
The idea that checking should be morally forcing seems new, and
is a distinctly minority position. But for want of that ethical
stance, some really terrible choices have been made in the past, and
will be made in the future.
***
Here are some references, to the Riley-Showalter "paradigm
thread, that I think describe, in a new and clearer way, how
paradigm conflict works.
306-310: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/360
313-317: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/367
166-167: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/209
Here are more links to the Riley-Showalter "paradigm" thread" --
of lower priority, but perhaps useful:
26: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/33
93-95: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/118
215-217: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/259
221-222: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/265
261-262: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/310
273-274: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/324
and something for academic folk: 295-297: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/349
lunarchick
- 11:25am Jul 27, 2001 EST (#7500
of 7502)
lunarchick@www.com
It's been an interesting week Showalter .. the board buddies may
have had time to read, but, not to post :)
Wonder if Condi got to ride in the Zill ;)
Nite!
The flower's symbolic significance stems from Mugunghwa's root
word, "Mugung," meaning immortality. This word accurately reflects
the perseverance and determination of the Korean people that has
been demonstrated throughout their long history. Mugunghwa also
means "endless" and thus represents the permanence of the Korean
nation
lunarchick
- 11:33am Jul 27, 2001 EST (#7501
of 7502)
lunarchick@www.com
WTO China http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/china/accession.html
http://www.itd.org/links/acwlintro.htm
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/editorial/html98/brod_19991219.html
rshowalter
- 11:35am Jul 27, 2001 EST (#7502
of 7502)
Robert Showalter
showalte@macc.wisc.edu
A lot has happened on missile defense. And if you look at the
situation, it does look like things that could be consistent with a
safer, better, and more honest world are coming into place.
China, like other nations, often knows what the right thing would
be, even when it evades it.
" Daring to Shoulder Historical Responsibility:
Way to Become Big Political Power" http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200104/18/eng20010418_67992.html
" WHEN LIES KILL: In China, the Right to Truth
Meets Life and Death by ERIK ECKHOLM http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/17/weekinreview/17ECKH.html
On human rights, and on the suppression of ideas, directly and
indirectly, China knows better than it does,
On military matters, Americans, very often, know what the right
things to do would be.
Telling the truth is often helpful, and it would be helpful here.
If some key facts could be established - we'd be a long
way along toward a safer world. And some progress in that direction
is being made.
   
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