The Foreign Service Journal, September 2007

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 lion, to underscore concerns that long-term development programs were being sacrificed to short-term exigencies. Further, he argued, the reform has so far left the tangled confusion of foreign assistance legis- lation, objectives and agencies largely untouched. Another witness, Steven Radelet of the Center for Global Development, pointed out that the new director of foreign assistance manages barely half of the assistance budget (55 percent), with DOD controlling 19 percent and other agencies the remaining 26 percent. Radelet argued the admini- stration has failed to take advantage of the opportunities to tackle the broader challenges of restructuring and strengthening foreign assistance. A number of proposals to get the reform process back on track were fielded, including establishment of a Cabinet-level position to head U.S. development programs. — Susan Maitra, Senior Editor New Seven Wonders The list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olym- pia, the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria) has been around for more than two mil- lennia. On 7/7/07, appropriately enough, a new list of seven wonders was an- nounced. The new wonders were chosen in a thoroughly modern fash- ion: Internet voting and cell-phone text messaging. In no particular order, the new wonders are: The Great Wall of China; the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan; the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Machu Picchu, in Peru; Chichén Itzá, in Mexico; the Roman Colosseum; and the Taj Mahal. The Great Wall, begun in about the 3rd century B.C., is the oldest of the wonders (the founding date for Petra is unclear). The newest is the Christ the Redeemer statue, erected in 1931. The New Seven Wonders project was launched by a private foundation in 1999. Any monument in an “accep- table” state of preservation and built before 2000 was eligible for consider- ation. By 2005, 177 had been nomina- ted. After a panel of experts narrowed the list to 20 sites, voting was opened to the general public on the Internet. More than 100 million votes were cast, but the voting process has been criticized because it was possible to vote more than once. For more information visit http:// www.new7wonders.com . (Nom- inations are now being accepted for the New Seven Wonders of Nature.) — Anna Wong Gleysteen, Editorial Intern On Again, Off Again: China and the Internet While it is always a good idea to be careful when sending an e-mail or posting on the Internet, Americans do not have to worry that their words may get them sentenced to a labor camp. In the PRC, this is a very real concern. In April, the wife of a Chinese blogger made headlines when she sued Yahoo, alleging that the company abetted the torture of pro-democracy writers by releasing their private data to the Chinese government. The blogger, Wang Xiaoning, was sen- C YBERNOTES 50 Years Ago... [The FSJ ] should give free expression to the hopes and fears, the aspirations and the constructive criticism, of the entire Foreign Service in order that this body of professional specialists in foreign affairs may build a better Service, united behind the foreign policies of the United States. … This does not mean that the Journal should become a forum of opposition. … However, there is no organ of the Foreign Service at the present time other than the Journal which can ventilate honestly-felt differences of opinion on matters of professional interest. — Editorial by Robert McClintock, chairman of the Editorial Board, FSJ , September 1957.