Ike,
I visited the FP website, and there are many options under which you and your son's response could be submitted. Here is one option:
Arguments
In FP’s Arguments section, authors are encouraged to take a provocative stand in less than 1,000 words. Think of these as thoughtful op-eds with some shelf life—topical, but not ephemeral. You should be able to distill your most salient point into one sentence. Just about any issue is fair game. Contact fpeditor@CarnegieEndowment.org.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The article will need to be edited down to under 1000 words, then I think with your history as a published author it would have a very good chance of getting in print.
I appreciate your nice reference to my post, but all that should be dropped and replaced by a chart of the KSE from '98 to present, and you can build in the reference to the KSE levels in your argument.
I would also like to see you take an apolitical approach by dropping the reference to 'liberal press' . This term has been used / abused so much here in the states that I think it may cause some readers to dismiss the whole of your argument...and the facts listed in your rebuttal speak for themselves.
Another approach would be to try to submit this under the 'feature article' criterion which allows for 2500 to 3500 words:
Feature Articles
Feature articles in FP are 2,500 to 3,500 words in length (although we occasionally publish longer essays of up to 4,500 words). You should also recommend ideas for sidebars (300 to 650 words) and provide data for charts, graphs, or maps that will bring value-added information and insights. Moreover, you are expected to provide a “Want to Know More?” narrative bibliography (350 words) that recommends specific books, articles, Web sites, and films as sources for further information. (Full bibliographic citations must be included.) Contact fpeditor@CarnegieEndowment.org.
--------------------------------------------------------------
I think there is one item you left out of the rebuttal, and that is the Gwadar Port project. I had never heard of it until I followed a link to one of your editorials published in Pakistan and saw it when I was looking around at that paper. It might be a good topic for the above mentioned sidebar:
...In 1978 one could go to the northern border of Hong Kong (Lo Wu) and look across the Sham Chun river at a little, sleepy fishing village of a few hundred folks....a town that had changed very little for hundreds of years....Shenzhen, now a city of 7 million.
...In 2000 one could go to the northern border of Pakistan and find a sleepy fishing village of Gwadar...
So in the year 2025, what will we find at Gwadar??
What other country in the top ten failed states has a single project of this magnitude (did I read 2.2 billion investment planned so far?) and strategic trading importance?
Here is a nice article on Shenzhen:
samsays.com
Maybe by comparing the two you could at least get some folks attention as to the possibilities and potential that the future may hold...
Here is the link to 'writers guidlines' at FP in case you have the time to pursue this project further.
foreignpolicy.com
I did see the former US ambassador to Pakistan wrote a rebuttal of his own, which can be found here:
dailytimes.com.pk\05\17\story_17-5-2006_pg3_2
He does not closely examine the methodology of the ranking, which is what you and Zach do such a good job of.
Jerry |
