Foreign Affairs on Kindle

Cover of the March/April 2011 Foreign Affairs

Other than having an enormous library of books in a single lightweight device, the best part of having a Kindle is the low price for those books. I thought that magazines would also be cheap on the Kindle. It makes sense. The publisher wouldn't have to worry about printing and shipping the paper edition, so the company could pass those savings to the customer. However, once I compared prices I realized that the Kindle version for many magazines aren't worth it. They're either the same price for a regular subscription or slightly more expensive. The best example is Economist, which costs more than $10 a month. For the same price customers can get a paper copy mailed to their address along with a lot of goodies that Kindle subscribers can't get, such as access to Economist's online materials and a weekly podcast. I was a bit disappointed with these prices because I really liked the idea of having news magazines automatically sent to my Kindle so that I could stay abreast of current events at a reasonable price. Also, I wouldn't have to worry about changing my address on the subscription whenever I move, which has happened several times in the past three years. I did find one news magazine that had a reasonable and cheap price for the Kindle, Foreign Affairs, which is only $2 a month.

I read the January/February 2011 edition and enjoyed most of the articles. The only article I didn't enjoy was a "A Leaner and Meaner Defense" by Gordon Adams & Matthew Leatherman. It's an article that pleas for a smaller military because Saddam's Iraq is no longer a threat, which seems silly to me because there are many ongoing threats across the globe that can explode at any given time. "The Political Power of Social Media" by Clay Shirky was good to read while watching the Egyptian uprising because the article described how websites like Facebook and Twitter may or may not influence global politics and how the United States should use the internet to further its agenda. "Small Arms, Big Problems" by CJ Chivers was my second favorite article from this issue. Chivers describes how insurgents use various guns from the past 80 years against major militaries. Even British Lee-Enfield rifles from the First World War are still popular in Afghanistan. Every time a modern military upgrades its small arms, the government will sell the slightly obsolete older guns around the world, and those guns often inflame civil wars or encourage insurgencies.

My favorite article by far in this issue was "The Dangers of a Nuclear Iran" by Eric S Edelman & et al. I haven't read much about nuclear security issues, so this article was an excellent introduction to post-Cold War nuclear politics. Many Western politicians and analysts have come to assume that they will have to live with a nuclear Iran at some point, but Edelman & et al explain how a nuclear arms race in the Middle East could be very dangerous. Israel has not clarified whether or not it has nuclear weapons, but they could very easily announce that they have weapons once Iran does. Other states such as Saudi Arabia or Jordan or someone else could then easily pursue a nuclear program. Many people in the region would have doubts about whether or not the United States would be willing to retaliate decisively against a nuclear attack against an ally. Would the Americans be willing to sacrifice New York for Tel Aviv once states in the region can deliver nuclear weapons to North America? The instability in the region would increase the chance of a nuclear exchange or preemptive strike. For instance, unlike in the Cold War when the United States and Soviet Union protected their nuclear missiles in heavy bunkers, the new nuclear powers in the Middle East would probably not have heavy infrastructure protecting their weapons. Thus, one side might launch a raid against another's vulnerable missiles and start a war. I already knew some of these theories and ideas, but the article was still a good explanation for why Iran's nuclear program makes relations in the region rather tense.

I really enjoyed reading this journal, and I look forward to the next edition. I'm trying to read more about global issues while looking for work so that I can remain sharp until a stable job comes around. Hopefully it pays off.