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The subtext of this extended commentary for the 2024 Policy Studies Yearbook in Politics & Policy is the crucial role that liberalism and civil rights must play in U.S. foreign policy if America is to be on the right side of history. Our explicit subject is the conflux of elite and populist forces that constantly work against such liberal‐democratic engagement. It is no secret that today's MAGAism ("Make America Great Again") wears many of the same antiliberal stripes as did postwar McCarthyism, which was its direct progenitor. Thanks largely to the center‐right resistance of President Eisenhower, McCarthyism was ultimately held in check domestically. Unfortunately, that was not the case on the side of U.S. foreign policy, where tenacious strains of antiliberalism had a very long shelf life. Thus, McCarthyism ended up having its most durable impact in the developing world, where cozy relations with highly reactionary regimes were considered necessary in the face of communist inroads. At a time when liberalism was hitting its full stride on American soil, U.S. foreign policy was exporting a very different America abroad, and especially in Asia. Even domestically, the waspish virulence of McCarthyism was never eradicated. It simply hibernated, and in 2016, it came back with a vengeance in the even more truculent form of Trumpism. Once again, xenophobic populism is laying claim to U.S. foreign policy and savaging liberal internationalism. The entrenched progressivism that stood its ground against McCarthyism has long since eroded. MAGAism faces no obstacle comparable to the dynamic liberalism of the 1950s or the counterculture of the 1960s. Seen from the perspective of January 6, 2021, the old McCarthyism looks tame by comparison. Related Articles: Craig, Stephen C., and Jason Gainous. 2024. "To Vote or Not to Vote? Fake News, Voter Fraud, and Support for Postponing the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election." Politics & Policy 52(1): 33–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12577. Haar, Roberta N., and Lutz F. Krebs. 2021. "The Failure of Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs in the Trump Administration." Politics & Policy 49(2): 446–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12399. Skidmore, Max J. 2023. "Abortion—Reactionary Theocracy Rises in America, While Declining Elsewhere." Politics & Policy 51(3): 437–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12534. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government collapse and massive displacements have left Afghanistan totally dependent upon outside aid and only the Bush Administration could call this as victory. In the name of stability, the United States and its allies pledged unconditional aid and loans to Afghanistan, commenting that Afghanistan has gone from being a failed state ruled by extremists and terrorists to a free country with a growing economy and an emerging democracy.

Growth failure in zinc-deficient animals is associated with decreased DNA synthesis; zinc deprivation of 3T3 cells, by use of diethylenetrinitrilopentaacetate (DTPA), impairs thymidine incorporation when the cells are stimulated with fetal bovine serum (FBS). The purpose of this study was to determine the step of cell cycle progression that is affected by zinc deprivation. Swiss murine 3T3 cells were cultured for 3 d in complete media and then for 2 d in low serum media. Cells were then placed in serum-free media and stimulated in sequence with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF; 3 h), epidermal growth factor (EGF; 0.5 h) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I; 16 h). The combination of growth factors stimulated thymidine incorporation to the same extent as 10% FBS, and DTPA or EDTA (0.6 mmol/L) inhibited thymidine incorporation. Inhibition was prevented by addition of zinc, but not calcium, iron or cadmium (0.4 mmol/L). When DTPA was present during all stages with no addition of zinc, or zinc added during the competency-priming (PDGF and EGF) step, the IGF-I step, or both steps, the zinc effect occurred at the IGF-I step. Zinc addition 4 h before the measurement of thymidine incorporation had no ameliorative effect, but the presence of zinc during the prior 12 h increased incorporation. Thus zinc exerts its major effect on DNA synthesis during the IGF-I stimulatory phase of the cell cycle. The total zinc concentration of 3T3 cells treated with DTPA for 16 h was not different from that of untreated cells; hence only a small compartment of the cell is affected by DTPA. KEY WORDS: * zinc * 3T3 cells * DNA synthesis * insulin-like growth factor-I * diethylenetrinitrilopentaacetate

The economic theory of exceptionalism has impacted many East Asian cultures. Based on the notion that economic dynamism is attainable if unfettered by Western environmental or human rights, exceptionalism requires authoritarian politics to be implemented. Its application in Korea, however, has replaced authoritarianism with a more democratic structure that acknowledges the interrelationship between citizens and the state.

Epidemiologic data and animal models have demonstrated a correlation between dietary fat composition and colon cancer risk. We have previously found that dietary fat alters cell proliferation in rat colon, which may influence the risk of colon cancer. Growth factors, including insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I and II, regulate the cell cycle in most mammalian tissues. Hence, we measured IGF-I and IGF-II receptor expression in colonocytes from Sprague-Dawley rats fed diets containing either beef tallow (BT) or corn oil (CO) at 12, 30 or 37% of energy for 4 wk. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using an internal standard was used to examine the relative expression of both IGF-I and II receptor mRNA in three sections of the colon. The IGF-I receptor protein was also measured by Western immunoblot. In the distal colon, IGF-I receptor gene expression and protein increased significantly as the percentage of CO increased. In both proximal and middle colon, an increased percentage of BT resulted in significantly increased IGF-II receptor expression. In the proximal colon, IGF-II receptor expression decreased with increasing CO concentration, whereas in the middle colon, rats fed 37% CO had significantly higher IGF-II receptor expression than rats fed 12 or 30% CO. IGF-II receptor gene expression in proximal colon decreased with increased fat quantity, independently of fat source, whereas in the middle colon, increased fat quantity resulted in increased IGF-II receptor expression. Thus IGF-I and IGF-II receptor mRNA and IGF-I receptor protein level in colon mucosa were significantly altered by dietary fat source and quantity, thereby suggesting a potential influence of dietary fat on the endocrine regulation of colon cell mitogenesis. KEY WORDS: dietary fat insulin-like growth factor receptors rats colon cancer gene expression

An experiment was conducted to characterize the effects of postruminal administration of casein, glutamine, cornstarch, and water on protein turnover and in vitro muscle cell proliferation. Four MARC III steers (205 kg) were fed a protein-restricted bromegrass hay-based diet (2.86 Mcal of DE/kg and 13.6 g of N/kg). Using a 4 x 5 Latin square arrangement balanced for residual effects, casein and glutamine, equal to 50% of basal dietary nitrogen intake, cornstarch, isocaloric with casein infusion, or an equal volume of water was continuously infused into the abomasum of steers. Blood samples, collected every 2 h for 24 h after 7 d of infusion, were tested for the effect on cell cycle kinetics and myotube protein turnover. Urine and feces were also collected for 4 d after blood sampling for nitrogen balance and fractional skeletal muscle degradation. The mitogenic activity and ability of serum to influence rate of myoblast proliferation in a dose-dependent manner was influenced (P < .05) by infusate: casein > cornstarch > glutamine = water. Abomasal infusion of casein and cornstarch increased (P < .05) in vitro muscle protein synthesis and decreased (P < .05) in vitro muscle protein degradation, whereas abomasal glutamine infusion only increased (P < .05) in vitro muscle protein synthesis. Abomasal glutamine infusion decreased (P < .05) fractional skeletal muscle protein degradation and synthesis; however, fractional muscle protein accretion tended to increase due to a greater decline in fractional muscle protein degradation. In contrast, abomasal casein infusion increased (P < .05) fractional skeletal muscle protein synthesis, breakdown, and accretion. These results suggest that muscle hypertrophy may be regulated by serum constituents whose activity is affected by postruminal amino acid flow. Key Words: Bovine, Cell Growth, Protein Turnover, Protein Intake

Holstein steers fed protein-restricted diets were used to evaluate protein realimentation and site of serum collection on the ability of calf serum to affect proliferation, protein synthesis and degradation in L6 myoblast cell culture bioassay. In Experiment 1, five steers (average weight 227 kg) received continuous abomasal infusion of 4 L of water or casein (50% of basal dietary nitrogen intake) in a switchback design. Serum was collected 2 d before and after 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 d of infusion. Abomasal casein infusion increased serum mitogenic activity, nitrogen retention (119%) and total post-ruminal amino acid flow (78%). In Experiment 2, serum was collected from the jugular and femoral veins and the carotid artery before and after 7 d of abomasal casein infusion. Serum from calves abomasally infused with casein increased myoblast proliferation (jugular > femoral > carotid) and protein synthesis and decreased protein degradation in cultured myotubes. The addition of test calf serum inhibited the mitogenic activity of control calf serum. Results suggest that post-ruminal amino acid flow and site of serum collection alter the ability of serum to influence cell culture bioassays.

It is often charged that the will to represent the past, whether in fiction or nonfiction, is a cloak for the will to power. This caveat, however, should be balanced [...]

The terrorist attacks of 11 Sept 2001 that took place on the United States highlighted the ever-present insecurity and unipolarity that existed in the U.S. and made the U.S. the winner as well as the loser in a revised New World Order. The union of other countries with U.S. in fighting against terrorists indicated an end of the globalist end of history and the arrival of the combative neoglobalism and heralded a new world where history could be scripted and wars could be made.

The U.S. lavish support to the Taliban's mujaheddin and contribution to the Taliban's rise in the past is highlighted. The political origins of what is passed as hard-line Islamic traditions are discussed.

The aftershocks of the Asian war on terrorism are analyzed and conclude that it was the wrong war. The insecure local regimes invite the U.S. to give them political support, even though they know that the U.S. prevents the right kind of war by funding and equipping the wrong kind of war, in the name of fighting terrorism and security fears.

Consumption of soy foods is ecologically associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. On the basis of animal experiments, the phytoestrogen genistein is suggested to be one component of soy that provides protection. Recent evidence suggests that the estrogen receptor interacts with growth factor receptors in several cell types to mediate cellular function. In cultured cells, genistein inhibits tyrosine kinase activity, which is an essential component of the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) signaling pathway. Hence, we examined changes in serum IGF-I in wild-type (WT) and estrogen receptor-[Alpha] knock-out (ERKO) mice fed genistein. WT and ERKO mice were fed a semipurified diet containing 0 (control) or 1 g genistein/kg diet beginning at age 3 wk. The objective of the study was to examine the protective effect of genistein on breast cancer development; hence two medroxyprogesterone pellets (40 mg each) were implanted subcutaneously into each mouse at 6 wk, and DMBA (1 mg/dose) was given orally at 9, 10, 12 and 13 wk. The mice continued to receive their respective dietary treatments for 14 mo. Body weight gain was slightly less in mice fed genistein than in controls throughout the study because of reduced food intake. Tumors developed in all of the WT mice between 29 and 45 wk, but none of the ERKO mice developed tumors. In the WT mice, no protective effect of genistein on breast tumor formation was found. Serum IGF-I concentrations were 199 [+ or -] 69, 512 [+ or -] 98, 262 [+ or -] 60 and 252 [+ or -] 85 ng/mL in the WT control, ERKO control, WT genistein and ERKO genistein groups, respectively. When analyzed as a 2 X 2 factorial by ANOVA, there were no significant differences by diet or genotype; however, there was a diet-genotype interaction. The range of serum IGF-I concentration in the WT mice was 13-281 ng/mL and in the ERKO mice was 127-935 ng/mL, including two mice with very high levels. The trend for higher IGF-I in the ERKO mice fed the control diet, which was suppressed by feeding genistein, suggests that genistein influenced serum IGF-I concentrations in these mice. We are continuing to examine the relationship between genistein consumption and the IGF-I axis in both WT and ERKO mice. This animal model provides a useful tool for examining the relationships among estrogen receptors, the IGF-I axis and dietary phytoestrogens. [Funded by Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station Interdisciplinary Regional Research Grant.]

China's return to hard-power strategies in Asia represents more than a geopolitical sea change. It is not just Xi Jinping rejecting Deng Xiaoping's soft-power foreign policy, but the whole ethos of Dengism as the West has sorely misunderstood it. A generation of Western observers has taken this putative Dengism as the abiding essence of the China model. Its 'win/win' blueprint for China's rise became a central pillar of 'Washington Consensus' globalism, which is now giving way to the Sino-globalism ofXi's 'China Dream'. There is still talk of the peaceful rise', but Xi conditions his vision of Asian 'harmony' on the acceptance ofChina's regional supremacy. To comprehend the full implications of this hard-power shift is to recognise that the era of irenic globalism has ended and a new age of power politics has dawned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]