I loved how similar this article revealed that china and the United states are in terms of the issue with veterans and providing for them after they have served. Regardless of government structure or system, this is an issue several countries are facing and don’t quite have the answer either.

This article made me want to look deeper into the Chinese military system. Do they operate off a draft? An obligatory service system? Purely voluntary? What is their recruitment like? I wanted to learn more context about the precursory events to this issue, but I was very intrigued by the issue this article discusses specifically.

It aligns very well with my national security thesis in that I am looking at the role social media plays specifically in policy reform. In their attempts, the veterans used a variety of outlets including digital media, but ultimately relied heavily on physical actions and movements. Overall the veterans have had mixed results. Compare this to the work of NGOs who have been very successful in creating environmental reform stemming from their online activity. Why is there a difference? This is the cross road I have reached and am trying to do more research on.  Is it because there is the presence of a formal NGO rather than the individual? Or is it the threat online is greater than offline, as articles out of Burma suggest, and so the government attempts to appease them first? Hopefully I can come back with answers to these questions.

Watching Trump’s State of the Union Address, I couldn’t help but compare it to Xi Jinping’s address. It was interesting that they both took similar approaches in really highlighting personal or individual stories that showed the success of their policy implementation. I think Trump’s was more specific in that he used individual’s names and even had them present, but nonetheless, they used the same approach. Where they differed, was in the dynamics of the speech.

First, Trump was surrounded by Congress and other government representatives, whereas Xi was alone in his office. This creates an interesting difference when they call on their party to take action – Xi is ‘calling out’ his coworkers, Trump is doing the same, except to their faces. Trumps speech was filled with a lot of applause, much of it coming from himself, and was clearly a scripted, but live speech. Xi, speaking alone in his office, very well could have prerecorded the speech and aired it at later date. There was little theatrics as he kept his stoic expression throughout the address.

Why are their such differences in their approach to their speeches? Is it the preference of the individual? Is there any influence from the different political backgrounds they come from? Is one more effective than the other? Could they be as effective in the opposite political climate?