GPHC 2019-2020

John Mazziotti Mr. Roddy GPHC September 30th, 2019 Turkey Gets Shipment of a Russian Missile System; US and NATO don’t agree In July 2019, Turkey received a shipment of the advanced surface to air missile systems from the Russian Federation. The US strongly opposes Turkey’s purchase and installation of this newly bought system. This purchase put advanced Russian technology inside a NATO-allied country. Some strategists from the US government even think that this is Vladimir Putin’s plan to divide NATO. This is a great example of the realist power theory. Russia giving Turkey their latest and most strategically advanced air defense systems was definitely a way to get on good terms. This gesture fits the ideology of realist power by “competing for power bases” and attempting to bring Turkey to Russia’s side. On a side note, this can easily be seen as “Smart Power” based on the strategy of Russia’s advanced military influence to Turkey. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/20...

Crimea has been a part of several different countries throughout history, Russia and Ukraine having had control over it the most. In recent history, up until 2014, Crimea was part of Ukraine. Due to the passing off between these countries over the years, Crimea was made up pretty evenly of both Russians and Ukrainians, and split into Eastern and Western sides of Crimea. The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine started in 2014, when Ukraine agreed to a new trade deal with the EU. There were many violent protests against this deal as Russia and the Russians in Ukraine did not want to integrate more into the EU. Russia threatened to sanction this deal, and then brought their military into Crimea and took over a large portion of it. They claimed they wanted to protect the rights of citizens who did not want to integrate into the EU, but they also wanted more access to the Port of Sevastopol and other ports in the Sea of Azov, and Crimea was the best route to it. More recently, Rus...

Theories of Power: Korea and Japan The relationship between Korea and Japan is rapidly deteriorating which could impact both countries' economy, tourism, and trade, according to a recent article from the Guardian. For many years starting at the end of WWII Korean workers have been going to Japan to work in mines, but things started to heat up when last year South Korean courts made the Japanese companies compensate the Koreans' work. This is slowly turning into a trade war, and as a result there are many aspects of power that can be analyzed. Although no physical conflict between the two, there have been instances of hard power between the two. Japan has recently put some trade sanctions on South Korea, and they are both not on each others' white lists. This means it will be harder to trade with Korea, and many Japanese companies will have to go through other countries instead. Transportation costs will rise as a result. But, when looking at realist or liberalist ...

John Mazziotti Mr. Roddy GPHC September 30th, 2019 In Class Interdependence  Any UN Organization: UN Food Organization The United Nations Food Organization declared the third month in a row for the current dipping food prices at the beginning of September. The Food and Agriculture Organization measured how food in the world slowly started becoming more abundant. This is equated to less of a demand for food, allowing prices to drop. Global Cereal rates rose by 23 million tonnes of cereal in the last 3 months. This can seem concerning that we may be producing too much food, but it turns out that we made about 4 million tonnes less than predicted this month; when predicted in October. Any IGO: NATO Recently, the Saudi-Arabia oil fields were attacked and blown up via Iranian drone strike. Nato is currently not prepared to fend off more attacks from happening in the near future. Nato has agreed to concentrate counter-attack forces in the Saudi-Arabia oil regions. Nato is...

The Ukraine crisis started in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea illegally. It also violated a treaty that Russia signed during the 50s which gave Crimea back to Ukraine after Stalin had done some shady stuff. This treaty was signed to help Russia, especially the leader at the time, Nikita Khrushchev, look better in the eyes of Ukrainian leadership. The invasion of Crimea has displaced 2 million people, mainly people called Tatars. Tatars are people of Turkic descent who were apart of the Ottoman Empire until Catherine the Great added it to the Russian Empire. This is not the first time the Tatars have been displaced either. In 1944, Stalin forcefully exiled over 200,000 Tatars to places in East Asia and Siberia, and brought ethnic Russians in instead. This still has consequences today because many of the people in Crimea are of Russian ethnicity and support Russia in this conflict. This conflict is clearly one of a realism approach, which is very typical of Russian power. In fact, some p...

Justin Patera Mr. Roddy GPHC 9/29/19 China & United States Trade War Earlier this month, the United States and China have imposed a number of tariffs on one another which led to a trade war between the two superpowers that has been ongoing for the past year. Essentially this trade war started because of unfair trade practices according to President Donald Trump. Among those unfair practices were; the growing trade deficit, the theft of intellectual property, and the forced transfer of American technology to China. The goal of the United States was ultimately to use these tariffs to force China to address/change these unfair trade practices. This did not work. China retaliated by placing tariffs on the United States and this has been a recurring issue since last year. In the process the two superpowers relationship has reiterated greatly leaving both countries at odds. However, both countries are supposed to continue talking in search of a resolution. This is both a l...

I decided to focus on the conflict between Palestine and Israel. The theory of power that I found most relates to the conflict they have currently is the theory of realist power. Realist power is the theory that power is and should be the end of political action. And, the same thing applies whether it is taken out domestically or internationally. Palestine and Israel are in conflict because Palestine has taken control of Israel's land and wants to be considered their own state, but Israel doesn't want that. Palestine is very violent with their efforts, which then causes them to get retaliation from Israel, which just keeps the feud going. This would be considered realist power because Pakistan is doing whatever they can to get their land, and won't stop till they do so. They also believe that by having all of that land, they will get more power, which also plays into the conflict. 

In August 1975, Indonesian president Suharto met with Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger in Jakarta, discussing his plans to annex East Timor. Kissinger and the American delegation made clear that they would not object. One day later, Indonesian forces invaded. By the time the "pacification campaign" was through, an estimated one to three hundred thousand East Timorese were dead, roughly a quarter of the entire population. What were the circumstances that led to this atrocity and how could it have been averted? Before the invasion, East Timor was controlled by the left-populist Fretilin party. This contrasted with Indonesia's far-right government, and with the ideologically similar if slightly less extreme United States. In short, Indonesia was one of America's most crucial strategic allies. Now unclassified documents show that the State Department adopted a "policy of silence" on East Timor for decades on end, in spite of a litany of credible reports of huma...

In 2011 NATO interfered on behalf of Liberian citizens in an act of liberalism because they believed that Libya had failed to exercise it's rights as a sovereignty properly. The country was being led by a man named  Muammar Gaddafi, an  eccentric  new wave leader with bold ideas. His leadership sparked rebellion in Libya, and the country seemed to be on the brink of Civil War. Gaddafi was ruthless, and vowed to hunt down anyone who opposed his leadership and authority. An international report stated that Gaddafi's forces: "fired indiscriminate rockets, mortars and artillery shells as well as cluster bombs into residential neighbourhoods, killing and injuring scores of residents. On several occasions they fired live ammunition or heavy weapons, including tank shells and rocket- propelled grenades (RPGs), at residents who were fleeing – in what appeared at times to be a policy of “shoot anything that moves." This act of hard power received global attention, and ...

It's no secret that Siberia has been getting the short end of the stick from Russia for a while, mostly being used for it's vast resources but being just a bit too tundra-y to get any real settlements. Back in the early to mid 20th century, during the Soviet Unions reign over most of Asia, Siberia was used as not only fuel for the super nation but also as a form of garbage dump. Figurative garbage of course, what I'm talking about is the kind of stuff that the country didn't want in it's major cities, mostly criminals and victims of ethnic cleansing. Joseph Stalin built tons of Gulags in Siberia, sending thousands of prisoners to their icy gates. For the latter group of people, they served a similar fate, the exile settlements in Siberia were populated with people of certain nationalities that the soviets feared. They were getting ready for full on war, they didn't want the risk of a nationality acting as a fifth column. These people were technically deported, b...

In light of the numerous discussions regarding Greenland and Denmark that have been held in our GPHC class as of late, I will be discussing the views that Denmark retains in regard to their power over Greenland, the world's largest island, which is variously described as either a territory or constituent country (a state that has it's own degree of autonomy but is part of another, larger nation) of Denmark. The interesting thing about Greenland is that it possesses all of the requirements necessary for it to be considered a fully independent nation (permanent population, define territory and borders, effective government, legitimacy and capacity for at least basic diplomacy), yet it is still considered a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Interestingly, although Danish settlement had been present on the island since the middle ages, the island wasn't officially considered part of the Kingdom until 1953. This idea of a "kingdom" of Denmark (which includes the mainland...

As China has risen in recent decades, there has been lots of concern among realists as to whether or not China is a threat. Some say that China will be competing with the US for maximum power. This is particular to Beijing. As China has risen economically, Beijing has become more and more powerful which is causing tension between them and other regions around China. The thing that is happening with China right now is that generally, when a country does not yet have enough power to dominate its home region, it will generally target certain states within the country, and either reward or punish states, depending on how prepared they are economically. The US is the only other country to reach regional hegemony (which means total dominance), and China could be competing with them. On the other hand, there is also a conspiracy of how going after certain regions would be counterproductive and not actually help China economically. The other argument is that China would rather take ...

Taiwan's Sovereignty Ever since China first regained ownership of Taiwan after WWII, there has been a dispute about how much sovereignty Taiwan has and how much power mainland China has over them. Throughout their many negotiations and disputes, they have both adhered to both realist and liberal views of power. In 1992, an agreement was made between the mainland and the ruling Taiwanese government called the 1992 Consensus to lessen the tension between the two countries. It is from this consensus that the term “one China, two systems” comes from. The consensus was able to stop each country from threatening the other with military force and allow for amicable trade and travel between the two. However, the mainland and Taiwan have different ideas as to what “one China” means which has been leading to more controversy as of late.  In 2000, the newly elected leader of Taiwan began backing Taiwan’s independence. In recourse, the mainland passed an anti-secession law which would a...

Realist power is all about being stronger than everyone else. It also relies on military strength. They’re interested in military power and economic sanctions. Liberalists recognize military power but they're more concerned with finding common grounds and common interests to gain power through laws, international institutions, human rights, and global trade.  Hong Kong was leased for 99 years and it doesn't feel like its a part of China anymore, but legally it is and China wants it back and under their control. When the lease was up, they made a deal one country two systems with Hong Kong. China is using liberalist power to try and control Hong Kong again. For example, one law they're enforcing is that anyone who is charged with a criminal offense in Hong Kong, is legally required to be sent to China to serve their time. Laws in China are disqualifying pro democracy legislatures. In 2014, China allowed Hong Kong voters to choose leaders but it had to be from an approve...

        A current conflict in Syria can be used to explain the realist theory. The main concept of this conflict is statism, meaning, “that the state is the pre-eminent action and all other across in world politics are of lesser significance”( https://www.e-ir.info/2013/03/01/realism-today/ ).  Realists believe that states hold that highest authority in international systems. States are what form international organizations meaning that they have more of a persuasion on the actions made later. For example, China and Russia, both permanent members of the Security Council, disapproved UN resolutions that tried to punish the Syrian regime and stop violence. The states then had the influence to block the UN’s support of foreign military intervention in Syria. Russian political class impacted the importance of sovereignty and shows this by supporting Damascus.  “Through its decisions, “the Kremlin is telling the world that neither the UN, nor any other body or ...

Following a referendum in 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, but negotiations of the it are still underway. The European Union is considered to be more liberal, with its' goals being to connect it's member states to benefit the whole. Many of the policies in the EU blur the lines of sovereignty between nations, with member states having free trade, open borders, and a shared currency (Excluding the UK). This idea of sovereignty and controlling its own borders is one of the big reasons why Brexit was very popular. Brexit is a good example of defensive realism, because of how they want to break off from the liberalism of the EU, and prioritize their own self interests rather than that of the whole. Instead, they want to secure their borders, and enact their own laws without the EU being able to interfere. If Britain does leave the EU, there will be many sovereignty issues outside of Britain itself. The borders between Northern Ireland and...

GPHC HW: Blog Theories of Power: U.S. Sanctions on Yemen In 2017, the United States announced the implementation of economic sanctions on individuals as well as companies in Yemen. An example of one of the companies is  Al Khayr Supermarket. The did this to fight the actions of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The sanctions were implemented by the U.S. and other countries as part of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC). The FTC was created in order to stop the spread of terrorist financing. The TFTC is chaired by the United States as well as Saudi Arabia. Alliances of the TFTC include Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The objectives of TFTC include “identifying, tracking and sharing information regarding terrorist financing, with the ultimate aim of disrupting money flow to radical groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS.” The sanctions target radicalism and extremism in Yemen in order to protect the security of Yemen, the U.S. and the world....

Callista Wilson  Mr. Roddy Global Politics and Historical Contexts 28 September 2019  China’s Use of Realist Power In African Countries  Over the past few decades, the Chinese government has focused on creating trade connections with African countries in order to gain access to raw materials which will help to secure China’s ability to grow its domestic economy. The Chinese government’s actions have become so impactful that in 2009, they surpassed America to become the most frequent trade partner with African countries, by exporting many Chinese manufactured goods and communications technology to them in exchange for raw materials, such as mineral fuels and metals. Although, China’s actions may initially have the appearance of the liberalist theory of power, as China is cooperating with African countries through  global trade, they are actually following the realist theory of power because their intention for establishing this trade partnership is to exp...

       Within Latin America there have been many guerilla groups sharing different ideologies from those of their home countries.  One of the largest groups of these is the FARC in Colombia, who started in the late 50s after dissatisfaction with the way the government was being run. Since then, they have remained an underground force, and secretly run a large drug trade through the borders of Colombia. A secondary guerilla force is called the ELN. They share similar political ideas with the FARC, and consider themselves to be the voices of the poor in Colombia, additionally resenting the US's influence in that country. Because of the uncertainties with safety their members could face in Colombia, many ELN soldiers have been known to spend time in the neighboring country of Venezuela, resting and storing supplies. In recent times, the president of Venezuela has come under critique for allowing these rebels to stay in his country, and he has been accused by Colomb...

From what we read in our textbooks on page 7, we learn of the sanctions that were placed on Iran by the United States and the European Union.  The United States took action against Syria and the Islamic State, back in 2014. The book mentions soft and smart power were not options for an issue such as this one. This was a pretty serious issue and demanded the attention that it received. One major reason the United States and other countries were unable to use smart or soft power was that the Islamic State was in no way up for negotiation. The United States used military force in 2003 against Saddam Hussien. There are some varied opinions on this case: some weapon inspectors of the attack feel that there was not enough time given to prepare for this event. These investigators believe had their been more time for preparation there could have been a much smarter approach and use of smart power. These were placed in order to force Iran to reduce its nuclear weapon program. In 2012 the es...

George Larach 9/23/19 Global Politics GPHC Blog Power I will be analyzing the use of hard power in the conflict between the US and the Islamic State (IS) in 2014. Since the Islamic State was not prepared to negotiate and to employ soft power tactics, the US resorted to hard power in order to resolve the situation. The US organized an inter military coalition with 53 countries named the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR). They organized airstrikes against IS in mid 2014 and provided weapons, advisors, training, and supplies to Iraqi Security Forces and Syrian Democratic Forces. These attacks severely damaged IS infrastructure, killing numerous troops and severely damaging central bases of operation. IS refused attempts at negotiation, so immediately soft power and smart power could be ruled out. As of 2019, ISIS only retains two percent of the territory they previously held. 

Recently, a large topic of debate has been around Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Russian government has been accused of creating fake accounts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter pretending to be Americans, and posting anti-Clinton messages and promoting hacked material they had leaked. It is largely believed and accepted information that Russia's interference in the election strongly influenced voters and had a hand in Trump being elected as President of the United States. While it may seem like a silly notion that something as frivolous as Twitter could affect who becomes arguably the most powerful person in the world, these posts added fuel to already growing tensions between two increasingly polarized political ideology. As the internet and technologies advance, social media and cybernetic attacks will likely become a more actively used approach to influence and more powerful. While leaking information and cyber attack are a fairly recent phenomena from the p...

One major example of hard power from a few years back that I can think of, is the invasion and subsequent annexation of Crimea into Russia. This was carried out during the Ukranian Revolution of 2014, which caused the Ukranian president to be removed from office. During this time, there were many protests across Crimea, some calling for independence, others for Crimea to go back to being controlled by Russia. Around this time as well, Russian soldiers without insignias took over important spots in Crimea such as the port city of Sevastopol, which holds a Russian naval base. Along with this, they took over the Crimean parliament, and elected a pro-Russian prime minister for the area. On March 16, 2014, the Crimean government held a referendum, declaring independence, and was subsequently annexed two days later. The annexation has been condemned by the Ukraine and many other world leaders, who consider it to be a violation of international law, as well as several treaties. This condemna...

The Crimean situation is often understood only with hard power, Russia projecting its military might and claiming territory for itself. What is less understood is their use of smart power to retain their grip on the region. Crimea has had a complex history, one with numerous demographic shifts. It is these shifts that have allowed Russia to affect Crimean politics so easily. Crimea's indigenous population are known as the Tatars, and until the Ottoman Empire relinquished its land across the Black Sea, they have been the majority population. Soviet "resettlement" projects codified the Tatar population as traitorous for allegedly collaborating with Nazi Germany, something there was little proof of, as an excuse to move millions of them to central Asian Turkic nations like Uzbekistan, then under Soviet control. Russians then became the majority population, even through Nikita Khrushchev "gifting" it to the Ukrainian SSR in the 50s. Russia has used this majority Rus...