Jay-Z: A Study in International Relations
What can Jay-Z teach us about Foreign Policy and International Relations? Quite a bit apparently:
It's sort of funny to me to be linking to a blog entry at Foreign Policy. Growing up it's the only magazine I every remember seeing at my grandparent's house and it was endlessly intimidating. Nevermind, as my mom pointed out in the comments, they subscribed to Foreign Affairs, not Foreign Policy.)
As Jay-Z got older and more powerful, the marginal benefits of such battles declined and the costs increased even as the number of would-be rivals escalated. Just as the U.S. attracts resentment and rhetorical anti-Americanism simply by virtue of being on top, so did Jay-Z attract a disproportionate number of attackers. "I got beefs with like a hundred children" he bragged/complained on one track.It's a really interesting piece from Marc Lynch who blogs at Foreign Policy. (
July 27, 2009