McG Comparative Government

“Russian Spy? Maybe so. TV darling, Absolutely.” In June of 2010, a Russian spy ring was uncovered in the U.S. The spy ring consisted of ten individuals living under fake names and identities with the purpose of infiltrating what they called the “circles of U.S. policy making.” Of these ten spies was a young, attractive [...]

On Christmas day, Qian Yunhui was rolled over by a truck in the middle of a busy street in Yuequing, China. Although the Chinese police and state media reported that the incident was a traffic accident, their strong front has not been able to silence suspicions. The internet has allowed Chinese citizens to voice their [...]

Tension and excitement is mounting within the United Kingdom’s Labour Party as their Leadership Elections rapidly approach. The Labour Party takes a centre-left political position and goes by a democratic socialist ideology. Unlike our system in the US, there are several parties within the United Kingdom, so the Labour Party faces opposition from the Liberal [...]

China Fortifies State Businesses to Fuel Growth Michael Wines The Chinese government’s role in their economy can be summed up in four words: “guo jin, min tui”. This simple phrase has become a saying in China, meaning “the state advances, the private sector retreats”. Similar to the US, China has suffered from an economic recession. [...]

By Tori http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/20091230104542881809.html (from al jazeera) Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Iran for pro-government rallies. Protestors fill the squares of Qom, Tehran, Shiraz, and Arak. These demonstrations were not only designed by the state to show the strength of the government, but also to rally against the Iran’s political opposition, which had [...]

By Sam This article first explains that three Britons and one Columbian were kidnapped in the Nigerian Delta. It has been about a week since they were kidnapped; however, all four have been freed. The men that were kidnapped were working for the well-known Shell oil company. The Nigerians who kidnapped the men were looking [...]

“The Chinese tradition of families favouring boys over girls has led to a worrying gender imbalance that could see millions of men unable to find marriage partners…” When the Chinese adopted their family-planning policy in the 1970s, they envisioned a reduction in the steadily increasing population by limiting families to one child; they did not, [...]

Nigeria Rebels ‘Attack Pipeline’ Summary             Nigerian militants claim that they have recently destroyed an oil pipeline important to the companies of Shell and Chevron as a “warning strike” to the Nigerian Government for delaying improvements of better oil distributions to the local Niger Delta communities, yet there is no clear evidence if the event [...]

Nigerian Amnesty Program Viewed With Caution Summary The 60-day amnesty (the obliteration of an illegal act performed by a large amount of people) involving the fighters who have hacked away at oil pipes, oil companies, and employees (oil is the greatest resource for Nigeria) set forth by the Nigerian government has come to a close [...]

No state faces ultimate failure through one issue. Instead, the states in the most critical state of failure have reached that point via a combination of problems, each with its own consequences for the state.   And no failed state is the same as another—combinations and different levels of categorized problems, such as economy (and [...]