Abstract
Welcome to the winter issue of World Affairs, which this time covers topics that span from China to the United States to Africa and Latin America—with a smattering of theoretical discussion to help us make sense of the policy issues involved.
Our first article joins a burgeoning body of work that problematizes the transnational, cross-cultural, and comparative application of methods and measurements in politics and international relations (see, for example, Armijo and Rhodes 2015; Johnson 2006). As Kinyondo, Pelizzo, and Bekanova show, this is particularly worrisome regarding the collection and interpretation of data in Africa (see also Entelis 1996; Kinyondo and Pelizzo 2018; University of Birmingham 2013). In “The Poverty of Data in Africa: Why the Continent Needs More Bacon,” the authors systematically discuss seven problems facing social science research in the global south. They range from culture-bound concepts to coding and interpretation difficulties. The authors then cover, with the help of Francis Bacon, some of the ways these issues could be resolved in future research—on the basis of which practical policy decisions will undoubtedly be made.
In “The Measure of Machiavelli? Fear, Love, Hatred, and Trump,” Brunello provides some valuable insight to Donald Trump’s leadership style. The piece is as intriguing for its rethinking of the concepts of power and leadership in contemporary Western democracies as it is for its rendition of what Machiavelli might have had to say about President Trump and his brand of populism (cf. Magcamit 2017).
Wu and Min-Wei Lin focus on the potential impact of Trump’s unpredictability regarding regional security issues in “The Certainty of Uncertainty: Taiwanese Public Opinion on U.S.-Taiwan Relations in the Early Trump Presidency.” Their empirical analysis offers a glimpse of the impact that the Trump Administration could have on U.S. relations with friends and allies as we assess how far Taiwan may be used as a bargaining chip between an increasingly belligerent China and an unconventional American presidency.
And finally, we linger with China in “What Led to the Boom? Unpacking China’s Development Cooperation in Latin America.” Malacaza defines Chinese development cooperation as a multifaceted instrument of economic diplomacy and offers a set of tools for better understanding the crucial role that development cooperation plays in a nation’s statecraft.
These articles further the journal’s aim of serving as a platform to foster spirited political conversation, disseminating detailed political analysis, and offering useful perspectives for policy practitioners. As always, I encourage you to continue to submit your original research articles, response papers, commentaries, and letters to the editor at the address below.