For its entire history Argentina has been dominated demographically and economically by Buenos Aires. Poverty and relative inequalities in the hinterland have helped drive a massive internal migration to the city. A great portion of the resulting population of Buenos Aires consists of provincial Argentines who find interesting and innovative ways to negotiate urban life. This essay explores some ways that Argentine migrants use folk music parties, known as peñas, to create opportunities in the city. Importantly, many migrant accounts highlight the importance of folk music as Argentine, thus unifying folk music with other cultural representations of the nation. First person accounts show how migrants use this “entrepreneurial popular nationalism” in peñas to create their own entertainment, social networking and economic benefits. The paper presents a case for the peña, an innovative birthplace of nationalism, as a resource for a largely marginalized group.

Several inconsistencies can be observed between modern French political policy and its historical and cultural identity. More specifically, these inconsistencies represent a “divergence” from the embryonic principles of Liberté, Fraternité et Égalité to other less liberal values targeting l’autre, or “the other.” This divergence is illustrated by the contemporary adoption of Le Texte N˚2262, legislation banning the traditional Islamic burqa and niqab, and the amendments to Le Texte N˚2814, which are designed to revoke citizenship from those naturalized. But do these issues give substance to Samuel Huntington’s concept of a clash of civilizations? This paper argues that this shift in French political dialogue is much less deterministic than Huntington’s argument would allow, and arises instead from a myriad of causes. This French divergence is the next chapter in France’s perpetual struggle to govern its cultural space, and a result of collapsing frontiers in the European Union, geo-economic concerns and heightened “orientalism” as a result of terrorism.

Though NATO’s response to the outbreak of violence in Libya was initially critiqued as slow and unorganized, the mission has been successful in providing humanitarian aid and supporting rebel forces. However, it has proven to be a great challenge to the Alliance. If we take a look back at NATO’s involvement in the Balkans it is clear that when dealing with foreign policy problems, history can be instructive, and an ugly operation is not necessarily a failed operation. The NATO operation in the Balkans began with operational incompetence and counterproductive consequences; however, it is now viewed as a noteworthy success. If NATO can effectively apply lessons learned in the Balkans to the Libyan conflict, it is possible that what appears now as a feckless NATO policy in Libya may be seen, in years to come, as a North African reprise of NATO’s first experience in “winning ugly” in the Balkans. (Editorial Note: Since this article was written in the midst of the Libyan crisis in Spring 2011, we asked Gurian to offer a postscript analysis as of Autumn 2011. This can be found at the end of the article.)

On August 4, 2010, the people of Kenya overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, which citizens, politicians and international observers hope will usher in a new era of prosperity. But will these hopes be realized, or will Kenya continue to be plagued by hunger? This paper seeks to answer that question. The author uses Amartya Sen’s entitlement theory to illuminate hunger as an issue of poverty and not of food supply. Then the author takes a close look at the new constitution, particularly its provision for a devolved government, and analyzes the potential impacts of the recently ratified document on mitigating hunger in the coming years. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for the Kenyan government to provide for the successful implementation of the new constitution and the reduction of hunger in Kenya.