WASHINGTON, April, 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Is technology making it a small world after all? In the Spring 2012 issue of The Wilson Quarterly, Ethan Zuckerman says the Internet has yet to break down the habits of mind that drive nations and peoples apart, but he has some ideas that could change that. A century ago, Tom Vanderbilt recalls, it was the telephone that promised to alter our personal and working lives—and ultimately it changed little. Christine Rosen appreciates the potential of email and social media to weave lives together but points out that important forms of contact are vanishing along with the handwritten letter. 

Also in the issue:

• Left, Right, and Science: Science rarely offers answers to political questions, argues Christopher Clausen. But that doesn't stop both sides from insisting otherwise.
• The Torture of Solitary: Stephanie Elizondo Griest traces the peculiar history of solitary confinement in America, from its origins as a redemptive strategy to its use and abuse today.
• Japan Shrinks: Nicholas Eberstadt examines the shrinking population of Japan, where, in the not-so-distant future, centenarians may outnumber newborns.
• A Manifesto at 50: Daniel Akst finds in the Port Huron Statement—and its oft-forgotten conservative counterpart, the Sharon Statement—ideas and longings that still resonate in America today.

To request review copies or PDFs, contact assistant editor Cullen Nutt at (202) 691-4127 or wq@wilsoncenter.org.

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Notes to Editors

1.      The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the national, living memorial honoring President Woodrow Wilson. The Wilson Center provides a strictly nonpartisan space for the worlds of policymaking and scholarship to interact. By conducting relevant and timely research and promoting dialogue from all perspectives, it works to address the critical current and emerging challenges confronting the United States and the world. Created by an Act of Congress in 1968, The Wilson Center is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and supported by both public and private funds.

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Contact: Drew Sample
Phone: (202) 691-4379
drew.sample@wilsoncenter.org

SOURCE Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars