Evo Morales has interjected himself into the recent Colombia-Venezuela political crisis. Speaking to the Bolivian press, Evo underlined that Bolivia is a pacifist country but is prepared to defend itself if drawn into the Colombia-Venezuela conflict. This was an odd statement to make for a strictly pacifist country (as Bolivia’s constitution proclaims), but also because Bolivia borders neither country & is nearly a thousand miles away from the conflict.

I often use Singapore in class discussions of “modernizing authoritarian” regimes (and one more current than Mexico, Brazil, or South Korea). It also serves as an interesting case of semi-authoritarian, soft-authoritarian, or bureaucratic-authoritarian regime—and the relationship between such regimes & (possible) future democratization.

This video is a good launch pad for discussion. Although it was produced for a Dutch network, nearly all of the 10 mins is in English (just ignore the Dutch subtitles).

This Economist videographic is great for discussing the socioeconomic impact of fertility rates. In just over 3 mins, it makes one simple point: around the world, as incomes rise in, fertility rates decline.

But it also shows that these declines have been uneven across regions & time. So it allows for a more nuanced discussion—particularly one geared at asking why fertility rates would decrease as a function of improving socioeconomic conditions (or whether a decrease in fertility rates comes before socioeconomic improvements?). Either way, it’s a great way to sneak in some structuralism.

It took “only” 13 hours door-to-door from Chicago to Oxford, but we returned from our summer road trip adventures last night. Today we’re restocking pantry/fridge, unpacking/organizing, and decompressing. Tomorrow both K8 & I get back to work (she teaches a summer session that starts in a week!). I hope to post photos & a brief travelogue of our adventure across 8 states in 18 days.