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It is scary that there is an increasing amount of support of political violence in this country.

Interesting analysis of the Jan 6 riot. There's a really in depth video on Violence and Protest by Abigail Thorne on the Philosophy Tube youtube channel that I liked. I would recommend checking it out if you're looking for more information on the subject.

I think this is a really scary insight into how people justify political violence. Hopefully, this widespread attitude starts to change soon.

I chose this article about the Israel-Palestine conflict because it talks about how this conflict is not an isolated battle between Israel and Palestine. The Op-Ed columnist David Brooks writes that because of all the conflict in the Middle East each country, group, or "political contour" that is striving for power influences the actions of either the Palestinian or Israeli parties. For example, Brooks mentions how Egypt blocked 95% of the tunnels that connected Egypt to Gaza, which costed Hamas $460 million a year. Hamas could not attack Egypt, so they attacked Israel instead. The public dissatisfaction caused Egypt to end the blockade. Thus, the external parties in the Middle East have a large effect on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and Brooks says that the conflict should therefore be analyzed from a different perspective: "It, like every conflict in the region, has to be seen as a piece of the larger 30 Years' War" (Brooks). This article shows us that we need to think a little more broadly when analyzing certain conflicts.

I think it's interesting that these outside countries are involving themselves by using all the deaths of the Israelis and Palestinians as leverage to get what they want. The violence in Gaza negatively influences all of its surrounding regions. Violence only brings more violence.

This article was a great way to clear the air on many misconceptions that have been floating around that make the Israel-Palestine conflict seem like a very straightforward conflict. This makes it clear that many of the warfare between Israel and Palestine isn't related to conflict between these two nations, rather in some cases it is attempts by Palestinian states and Muslim rebels to show dominance to other Middle Eastern countries and sects in order to make political and economic moves. With so much intertwining of conflict with the Egypt and the Islamists at the Arab Spring and the closing of the 95% of the tunnels being closed between Egypt and Gaza. The Brotherhood, ISIS, and other militant groups are vying for power throughout the Middle East and flexing their muscle on anybody and everybody to establish political dominance.

While Mexico is democratic and civil society is prevalent, corruption in the government and the danger posed by cartels mean big problems for activist who oppose either. Lacking government sovereignty has made it much easier for the country's cartels to carry out murders and corrupt judges have made the possibility of consequence slim.

Important article, Matteo. I'm not clear what you mean by "Lacking government sovereignty." I think you are referencing the fact that the cartels have more firepower than the police, so they can strong arm what they want? And corruption, of course, is rampant, in and out of government. How might a country with these problems return to a rule of law? It's an important question for the US as well, in the area of gun violence. Countries that have substantially lower levels of gun violence than the US have all sorts of (not necessarily the same) measures in place to keep gun violence down. Is there something about the political culture of the US that makes this impossible? Or is there a way to change the culture?

this article provides both historical context and present day circumstances without losing the reader with too much detail. I believe that the willingness of palestinians to risk their lives to rebel (but not in an organized fashion) really shows how chaotic and dire their situation is.

This story follows various rural Afghan women (most notably, one named Shakira) and tracks their life as Afghanistan has oscillated from regime to regime, each containing different improvements and violence. Parallel to this political pendulum are the women's different opinions on what rights they should have - traditionalism versus progressivism.

This is a beautifully crafted article.Centering Shakira's story and perspective in the larger historical saga of Afghanistan allows us to examine the intersection between politics and culture in the country. Many people have a tendency to see Afghan women as a monolith- defined by their current political regime- but this article puts into perspective how reductive this is.

Cole, good find! Audrey, I really appreciate your noting the tendency to say women in a country are all of the same mind.

"What Is Behind the Political Turmoil in Peru?"

Gang violence, particularly kidnappings and ransom demands, has become another threat to public safety in Haiti, along with natural disaster, political upheaval, and and crippling poverty. Now, gangs are targeting the church, as seen through the kidnapping of 17 American missionaries. The church has long been a pillar of support in Haiti throughout its impoverishment. Breaking this taboo is a sign of how bad the crime and violence has become.

I hope my annotations saved

Great use of Diigo annotation tool, Anay!

A deep "insider's view" into the civil war occurring in Syria. Reveals the brutal crimes against humanity that the Syrian government is inflicting upon its citizens including murder rape, and unprecedented violence.

It is really interesting to read an article from the point of view of a person in Syria. The author is clearly begging for help for Syria. I think the last line is incredibly powerful, where the author says that Syria is part of the world and the world needs to help. Unfortunately for the author, not every other country agrees.

This is an interesting perspective on what is going on in Syria. I found it pretty accurate how the author described western powers as masking their "political inertia with empty rhetoric about a 'political solution'". I had no idea that over 7 million people (1/3 of the Syrian population) were IDPs as a result of this conflict. It's truly a horrible story. It's also interesting how the author describes the western powers' switch from being against the rebels to seeing their actions as justified.

A letter from the vice president of the NRA to president Obama, he focuses on individual rights to bear arms and advocates for Obama to solve the problem of gun violence without stripping people of what he thinks is the right to bear arms.

Also, I don't know if this counts as comparative politics (it compares states within the U.S., not different countries), but I still think this is an interesting representation of how diverse gun policies are within the U.S. and how that affects gun violence.

The article reads as "karma" for the US supporting a number of coups in numerous other countries including Thailand.

I agree with Jalen's sentiment but I believe that the quick switch to certifying the election results by some republicans shows that it was nothing more than an attempt to buy political power with their constitutes.

I doubt that our countries leader's will see the irony in this situation, as most of them believe this attempted insurrection was anti-democracy, and all of the coups the U.S. supports are supposedly democratic.

In Athens, members of the neo-Nazi political party Golden Dawn are undergoing a trial for their alleged involvement in criminal gang activity. Many of the members have already been convicted of crimes and now the public is just waiting to see the sentencing results. Given that this hateful party has been able operate for such a long time, their conviction shows that Greece and their democracy no longer tolerate corruption or violence.

About 2,000 people have gathered between the US and Mexico border. Neither of the countries are willing to accept them currently, citing Covid concerns as a reason. However, recently, the frequency of migrants arriving at US borders has been increasing, and I am curious on how this administration will handle it.

Truly devastating. The United States needs better policies to accept immigrants and process asylum/refugee visas, especially from nations like Haiti, which have been ravaged by poverty, political violence, and natural disasters.I doubt these deportations will stop them from coming, and sounds like there are thousands more on their way.

And there's a super interesting connection with Chile. . . .

Haiti's growing gang violence didn't come from nowhere. The government of former President Moise used gangs to shore up its political power, arming the gangs in the process. This article detail the interplay between the police, the gangs, and the government

This is a demonstration of low capacity -- there's no governmental authority able to maintain order.

It seems like gang violence has become one of Haiti's greatest challenges among the natural disasters and political upheaval. Definitely agree it is a sign of a low-capacity country, that is unsurprising, however, given their president's assassination. Similar to Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, and Venezuela, who have all struggled with gang control of major portions of the country's territory. A common theme in this region of the world.

yup yup, thanks Sam, Anay and Ershai!

Haitians resort to participating in gangs due to extreme poverty.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will depart for a five-day visit to Africa to "support democratic principles," and especially to advance diplomacy aimed to prevent a potentially catastrophic civil war in Ethiopia, where there is already extreme violence, that would threaten the stability of East Africa. From my perspective, it isn't often the U.S. or other Western nations engage in diplomacy with African countries, but I could be incorrect. Anyhow, this caught my eye, especially to see if it's effective in heading off what seems to be an imminent civil war in Ethiopia.

My first reaction was to question why any outreach took this long to give. I've personally known about this conflict for months, which means the U.S. government certainly has too. One of the officials was quoted as saying "all the warning signs are flashing," but I feel like they've been more than warning signs for a while now. It just seems that this administration is just always in a defensive position when it comes to foreign policy - like it sweeps issues under the rug until they become too large to ignore. Afghanistan is a great example of this. Hopefully, Ethiopia turns out much better than that.