Everything to do with IS – essays, outlines, policy documents – from all across the spectrum.
This is my midterm essay for my Grand Strategy exam. We had just under 75 minutes to complete the test, I wrote it out on paper. More or less, the grammar and structure is decent. Decent enough that I earned an A, apparently. There are some places that I missed elaboration, but I was told that some of the insights I provided were perceptive enough to win me the grade.
My American Foreign Policy term paper. Here’s the Intro:
On May 14th, 1948 at 6:11 in the afternoon EST, the White House released a short statement recognizing the de facto authority of the provisional government of the brand new State of Israel, which had only come into existence eleven minutes prior halfway around the world[1]. That world into which the new nation had thrust itself instantly exploded around it, as a day later the Arab nations surrounding it attacked. This was wholly expected. The swift acknowledgement and legitimization granted to Israel by the United States, however, was not. Even as Warren Austin, the chief American representative to the United Nations, delivered an address supporting UN trusteeship of the “Palestine Problem” instead of a partitioning of states, he was interrupted midway through[2]. Subsequently, he announced that his own government had in fact just recognized Israel, the state whose existence he had been refuting minutes earlier. He packed his bags and resigned his office on that same day[3]. His President, Harry Truman, had both alienated and humiliated the State Department by making the decision to recognize Israel “without even notifying the men who were in charge of executing America’s foreign policy,”[4] yet again, illustrating some of the complexities of Truman’s administration. Truman’s decision can be explained through all three policy-making models – Organizational Process Model, Rational Actor Model, and Bureaucratic Politics Model – but a combination of the three lenses is essential to showing the clearest explanation to why he ultimately chose to support Israel.
Here’s the reflective paper, as well as links to the three main papers I referenced, the Regime Type essay, the Women’s Protest essay, and the Brooks analysis essay, respectively.
I suppose I’m incredibly behind the curve on commenting on the loss of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, however, this quick comic seemed apropriate to be both an ironic snapshot of China’s interest in the situation and a segue into introducing one of my favorite webcomics, Scandinavia and the World.
Of the passengers aboard MH370, many were Chinese nationals. Since the loss of the flight on March 8th, and the subsequent fumbled search for the remains of the plane, the Chinese families of the passengers began protesting the Malaysian government’s handling of the situation. As the general attitude of the Chinese people soured, the Chinese government increased pressure on Malaysia’s government. China has been heavily involved in attempting to locate the wreckage of the flight, but still to no avail.
This CDT article reports on the protests outside of the Malaysian embassy, and the general attitudes surrounding the issue. CDT: MH370 Families Protest at Malaysian Embassy
What sparked my interest in commenting on the issue was this comic: LOST – SatW
Scandinavia and the World is a webcomic that follows the interaction of anthropomorphized countries, focusing on the viewpoints of the Scandinavian countries, namely Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The comic, written by a Dane, ranges widely from commenting on current events, cultural norms, and poking fun at anything and everything it can.
Here’s a quick video of President Xi Jinping casually strolling around Beijing’s Nanluguxiang district, notably without a facemask. Xi is apparently renowned for cultivating a “man-of-the-people” image, but his lack of mask is especially relevant given the current smog conditions in Beijing. The national media hyped this, praising Xi as “breathing with the people”, but even though Xi’s actions are emphasized more than the actual environmental issue, it remains impressive. I was honestly surprised to see him just walking with a small amount of bodyguards (of course there is greater protection following) just meeting the people. It’s not what I had imagined, really.
Original article: http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/02/netizen-voices-president-xi-breathes-people/
Further info on the smog issue: http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/02/netizen-voices-smog-fortification-pm-patriotism/
Here’s the first creative project, the explanation, and works cited
The repression of Charter 08 reflects the modern CCP’s attitude toward any kind of organized opposition. I can’t really analyze the document or the relevance of the censorship attempted by the CCP until I understand more about both the specific situation and the government structure in general, but Saich notes that the CCP allocated “significant resources… to preventing its spread on the internet.” (Saich, 100).
Naturally, posting it here for later review comes as a matter of course.
Below is a summary of the document and the surrounding controversy from the Congressional Commission on China, as well as a link to Charter 08 itself:
The Univeral Declaration of Human Rights
This post will be updated as I understand more about the subject.
This post, meant to provide a quick overview of important players in PRC history, will be updated continually.
Mao Zedong
Zhou Enlai
Zhao Ziyang
Xi Jinping
Hua Goufeng
Hu Jintao
Deng Xiaoping
Zhu Rongji
Jiang Zemin
The first two assigned chapters to the Saich book, Governance and Politics of China (GPC), cover China’s political history from the birth of the People’s Republic in 1949 to essentially the modern day in 2010. The background the book provides is dense but necessary to understand how (and why) the Chinese government exists as it does today.
I personally lack a solid historical background of Chinese history, so the chapters, while dry, were especially useful in establishing a basis of a kind. The timeline of the tumultuous path the PRC has taken since 1949 is still a little unclear, however.
The BBC’s profile on China has been useful to simplify the main events. The link below leads to a timeline of key events in Chinese history, including the important political actions and programmes Saich describes. The timeline includes landmarks not included in the book, this helps to separate political events from each other.
The BBC’s profile in general is a useful overview of the state.
