Group items tagged

Both Japan and France rank in the top 50 for Global Peace Rankings-- Japan 8th and France 48th. The biggest difference in their rankings comes from France's possession of heavy and nuclear weapons. The Japanese have limited possession of heavy and nuclear weapons as a result of the pacifist constitution they were forced to adopt following WWII which limited their ability to arm for war. Furthermore, France is involved in more conflicts and exports more weapons than Japan, which is also heavily related to the restrictions placed on Japan following WWII. However, Japan has a worse record when it comes to relations with neighbors which may be related to actions from WWII and rising tensions between Japan, China, and South Korea. Yet, perhaps unrelated to WWII and relating more to culture of society, France has a higher level of violent demonstrations and internal organized conflict than Japan. Japan has a homogenous population that has a main focus of work and a culture that accepts the social and economic hierarchy, but France has a more heterogeneous population with many disenfranchised groups that were once colonized that continue to face discrimination.

Russia has recently shifted from policies designed to preserve self-sovereignty ideologically to more practical policies geared toward economic growth and security. Russia is now seeking to improve relations with the E.U. for these reasons, but Germany has requested concessions in return, mainly help in helping Transnistria, a region governed by a pro-Russian movement. It would be interesting to see how far Russia is willing to go in order to solidify relations.

It will also be interesting to see what comes from the talks both today and tomorrow between Russia, France, and Germany, and how France and Germany feel about Russia's involvement or if they feel that there are certain things that Russia must acheive to gain involvment on the level it wants.

This article is super interesting to me because it's the first time I have ever seen someone who isn't government related directly reach out to the ISIS and challenge them so well. I like how she studies Islam and tells Mr. Baghdadi that he is going directly against what his own religion preaches which I find super interesting. All in all great article and I hope Mr. Baghdadi responds well to her plea.

This article is super interesting to me because it's the first time I have ever seen someone who isn't government related directly reach out to the ISIS and challenge them so well. I like how she studies Islam and tells Mr. Baghdadi that he is going directly against what his own religion preaches which I find super interesting. All in all great article and I hope Mr. Baghdadi responds well to her plea.

. Directly, this article is a psycological analysis scientists have done about how misinformation affects peoples actions and decisions, but I also think that it plays a role in the election, foreign relations, and the turns the economy takes.

Relates to Story of Stuff where Annie Leonard says "According to companies setting up shop in the third world, the locals "don't own these resources even if they've been living there for generations, they don't oven the means of production and they're not buying a lot of stuff.  And in this system, if you don't own or buy a lot of stuff, dou don't have value."

The results of this leadership conference is positive, an improvement in relations between the North and South Koreas could be achieved.

Russia is starting to open up to better relations with the West, especially a security alliance like NATO because they have common security interests. Russia has finally withdrawn its troops from Georgia, allowing the dialogue to take place. I wonder whether Russia intends apply for NATO membership within a few years.

I believe this article is highly pertinent to our discussions on globalization. Historically, there was an East-West divide, exemplified by the Iron Curtain. However, Russia's attempts to improve cooperation and communication with NATO signifies the start of deconstruction of this divide. Even if the NATO summit does not itself improve relations, I wonder if it will still serve as a precedent for future talks.

This article is about the growing strength of China. China is run by the Politburo, a 9 member committee. In 2010 there will be a new era of leaders on the Politburo because seven of the members will reach retirement age. No one knows yet if this transition will be smooth or who will take over as the next Premier. Another interesting thing to note is that there are many divisions within the communist party.

It would be interesting to see if China's leadership transition will cause changes in its political system and culture. It could be an opportunity for better relations with the West, if the new leaders are more open-minded to change. China's current government is concerning, as the highest-ranking foreign relations minister is ranked only 50th in power in the Chinese government.

Disagrees with Samuel P. Huntington's thesis

Not for my final project but a very interesting article related to several of our recent discussions regarding random shootings and their prevalence in the world today.

US/China relations continue to be tumultuous.

China has poured $900 billion toward revamping Serbia's infrastructure. Serbia will be along the New Silk Road: a transport corridor running from China to Western Europe. The Chinese initiative is an example of their growing sphere of influence. The EU is concerned since its relations with the West Balkan countries is already weak. 

I thought this was a little funny how seemingly petty the gov seems to be...also there is a post colonial analysis here showing how their foreign policy relates and interacts with their former colonists

Aren't India and Britain allies on the world stage now? I wonder how little jabs like this boost rivals like China and Russia in the public eye, or in other cases, economically.

While not directly related to the freedom and equality paradox, I think this article is related. As freedom is going down with government restrictions on speech in Hong Kong, equality is too (as human rights abuses are more likely to continue). So maybe the freedom-equality inverse relationship is only the case in terms of economics.

yup, I think so.

Ok bare with me...I saw the new James Bond movie and aside from the overt misogny in the earlier movies I really love this character as well as the revamped modernized Bond in this movie. When filming these high budget movies the crew has a few choices...build a set in LA or go to fun and exotic parts of the world supporting their local economies...because of this I felt like this article relating to some of the locations where the movie was shot would be good for a diigo post. If you take a look at Jamacia tourism and on scene filming comprise a hefty chunck of rev for the gov.

This is an interesting and entertaining article. One interesting thought relevant to comparative politics that struck me as I was reading was this: as globalization has increased, it seems like the more movies have actually been filmed in sets. Maybe this is because an increase in technology allows both -- or maybe certain industries are just growing more isolated.

After a previous failed vote, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union charged Amazon with illegal misconduct and called for a do-over. A hearing officer from the National Labor Relations Board confirmed the decision.

Okay...this is not very COPO related but there are a lot of large trials going on...including Ghislaine Maxwell (Epstien's former wife charged with dozens of sex crimes) and Elizabith Holmes (former owner and CEO of scam sham Theranos)

I've followed this story since the break in 2018...its quite sad to see it end in this way but more shows still the problems of major US allies. We just watch as human rights violations poor in from Saudi Arabia to maintain our oil relations. Khashoggi's death should stand as a desplay that freedom of the press, even internationally, does not exist.