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Great Decisions 2017 Discussion Date: Thursday, March 2
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The complexity of maritime and territorial disputes in the South China Sea is nothing short of mind-numbing. They involve six countries--Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam--hundreds of tiny land features, and a body of international law that is both contested and complicated to interpret. The result has been decades of impasse.- Gregory B. Poling for the Center for Strategic and International Studies
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Welcome to Great Decisions 2017 at the Jacksonville Public Library! You are receiving this newsletter because you have shown an interest in the past about this discussion series or you have requested information about library programming. The program will be held on selected Thursday evenings 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Southeast Regional Library located at 10599 Deerwood Park Ave., close to the intersection of Gate Parkway and J.Turner Butler Boulevard. Great Decisions 2017 Briefing Book, the companion book to the series, is available for purchase online for $25 from the Foreign Policy Association, but is not necessary for participation in the program.
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February 2: The Future of Europe February 9: Trade and Politics March 2: Conflict in the South China Sea March 9: Saudi Arabia in Transition March 16: U.S. Foreign Policy and Petroleum March 23: Latin America's Political Pendulum March 30: Prospects for Afghanistan and Pakistan April 6: Nuclear Security
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Winter Updates Check our Winter Update for the latest developments in foreign affairs as well as our Topic Resources pages for additional materials.
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Week Four - Conflict in the South China Sea
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The South China Sea is a locus of competing territorial claims, and China its most vocal claimant. Beijing’s interest has intensified disputes with other countries in the region in recent years, especially since China has increased its naval presence. Despite rising international pressure, including an unfavorable ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, China staunchly defends its policies in the region. Preventing tensions from boiling over is a matter of careful diplomacy. - Foreign Policy Association
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Lt. Col. Michael Brady, USA (RET) Lieutenant Colonel Michael Brady, USA, (RET), earned his MS in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University in Washington, DC in 2003. LTC Brady is a 1990 graduate of The Citadel, Marine Corps Command and General Staff College, Joint Forces Staff College, US Army Airborne School and US Army Ranger School. His areas of expertise and research include threats to the homeland, intelligence collection systems and programs, intelligence analysis, and intelligence support to national policy making. Michael currently lives in Charleston, SC and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at The Citadel. He also lectures at FSU, a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina. Michael spends most of his free time in Jacksonville, Florida.
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Give your opinion on the current list of topics in the 2017 National Opinion Ballot - now available online. Make your voice heard in Washington's policy-making circles with the click of a button.
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News and Analysis Articles
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Asia's cauldron : the South China Sea and the end of a stable Pacific
by Robert D. Kaplan
A well-respected travel writer and foreign policy expert, explaining Chinese dominance over the South China Sea, reveals the conflicts brewing between the nations surrounding the body of water that multiple countries claim and what they could mean for the United States.
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Pirates: Terror on the High Seas from the Caribbean to the South China Sea
by David Cordingly
The popular image of pirates today-the combined effect of three centuries of books, plays, operas, films, cartoons, and children's games-is extraordinarily powerful.Pirates have become the mythical equivalent of giants, vampires, wizards, or witches, and they no longer seem quite real. Yet they definitely were real-as this first comprehensive, worldwide historical survey makes abundantly clear-and considerably more frightening historically than Long John Silver or Captain Hook. (amazon.com)
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We Were Pirates: A Torpedoman's Pacific War
by Robert Schultz
A sailor’s extraordinary experiences on an American submarine in the Pacific are candidly reported in this eyewitness account of war from a torpedoman’s perspective. Robert Hunt managed to survive twelve consecutive war patrols on the submarine USS Tambor. During the course of the war, Hunt was everywhere that mattered in the Pacific. He stood on the bow of the Tambor as it cruised into Pearl Harbor just days after the devastation of the Japanese air raid, peered through binoculars as his boat shadowed Japanese cruisers at the Battle of Midway, ferried guns and supplies to American guerilla fighters in the Philippines, fired torpedoes that sank vital Japanese shipping, and survived a near-fatal, seventeen-hour depth-charge attack. For “exceptional skill and proficiency at his battle station” Hunt received a commendation from Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. This WWII torpedoman’s account of the war offers the rare perspective of an enlisted seaman that is not available in the more common officer accounts. (amazon.com)
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