Blog Group 0302

       After the Second World War ended with an Allied victory in 1945, the United States and the other Western nations that made up the Allies began to put systems in place that would guarantee, not just stability, but also a deterrent to the ever increasing threat from the Soviet Union and other Communist nations. One of these organizations was GATT or the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade. This organization and its successor organization, the World Trade Organization or WTO, functioned to eliminate trade barriers and ensure that trade flows freely between member nations. Alongside GATT, the US and its allies started the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO, a security organization that was designed to deter the Soviet Union and its allies from attacking member states. While NATO and GATT, later the WTO, were started for different reasons and serve different purposes, they were both instrumental in helping the United States and its allies to win the Cold...

  Russian Autonomy In the Global Economy The integration of separate national financial systems into one global system has shown that autonomy is one of the greatest forms of power that an actor can have. In the current global economy each nation is reliant on others for their own successes, so when there is a disruption relating to one of the contributors, the entire market is affected. This embedded liberalism within global capitalism has proven its true strength in light of the Russia-Ukraine War. The United States has frozen the U.S. assets that Russia’s central banks currently possesses, their Treasury Department has placed sanctions on Russian banks and their subsidiaries,  and it has expanded restrictions on purchasing Russian debt. These actions were an effort by the U.S. to increase Russia’s economic vulnerability using their relational power. Not only were they using their relational power, but the U.S. also utilized the structural power given to them from the worl...

    Does China have a Monetary Advantage over the United States? In his article “The International Monetary System: Diffusion and Ambiguity,” author Benjamin Cohen introduces the concept of China having a monetary advantage in the global marketplace. Cohen introduces this idea by stating, “Influence might be increased directly through the use of newly acquired reserve stockpiles to threaten manipulation of the value of stability of a key currency such as the dollar. There is nothing complicated about this option.” The manner in which China could take advantage of the United States in this scenario would be simply by refusing to add American dollars to Chinese reserves for the future. Currently, China’s reserves hold roughly 3.25 trillion dollars of American currency. Foreign exchange reserves are an extremely important aspect of a country’s stability, and outreach, they provide balance, and a sense of stabilization for any given economy. What Cohen is theorizing, is that Chi...

A Broken But No Battered Global E Russia’s first McDonald’s store opened in 1990 months after the end of the Berlin Wall, which was a symbol that the Cold War was ending and there was going to be a more ideological peace globally. However, after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, every McDonald’s in Russia is closed which is one minor consequence that Russia faces after choosing, what writer Flavio Macau argues is either “territorial hegemony over global trade”. War against ideology is something that is at the front of everyone's mind.  Despite gas prices spiking after Russia’s fossil fuel exports were interrupted. However, there have not been any significant disruptions to Russian exports. The US and UK have placed bans on Russian oil exports; however, other Europeans have imposed sanctions on Russian energy producers but are still buying their products. Russia has a 12% global share which makes not Russia’s oil challenging and finding a replacement in Russian gas even more difficult. ...

I found Margaret M Dequzman’s position on the I.C.C to be most persuasive to me. In her statement titled “The I.C.C Deserves Our Full Support”, she states she believes that the world shouldn’t give up on the I.C.C because of current failures or inabilities of the court. Instead, we should look at the accomplishments of the court so far. I agree with this position most. Considering the I.C.C is an institution that is fairly new, being created in 2002, with all things considered, the court has been able to do a considerable amount of legal work. I believe like anything else in the legal and law enforcement field, that faith and work need to be put into the I.C.C for it to be fully effective ( and even this takes time and work). However, I do not believe getting rid of the I.C.C would benefit anyone. Even at the level of work, it does now, I believe that some work towards a better world globally is better than no work done. I think the I.C.C just calling expel in power out is a step towar...

POLS 170  Bucknell University Evan G.  I found the most persuasive argument to be the one by Professor Daniel Abebe. I agree with his position that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a waste of money and that the money that was allocated to the court could have been used in other, more productive manners. I think that providing a population with the essential elements of a secure life, including vaccines and food security, goes a much longer way than spending massive amounts of money on a system that has not achieved a great deal in its stated mission. I think that with the amount of bad actors and crimes against humanity perpetrated daily, across the world that, as Professor Abebe says, “ Two convictions hardly constitute a serious deterrent and one wonders if it is money well spent.” Also, because the court does not have its own enforcement arm to apprehend those who were convicted, powerful leaders have the ability to evade the reach of the court with ease. Most rece...

      I am most swayed by the arguments made by Anne Maria Goetz and M. Karmari Clarke. While each position poses very valuable perspectives to take into account, I ultimately believe that the law alone is vulnerable to becoming hallow. A law without support can become an expectation with no backbone- ultimately it might crumble to its foundation if it stands alone. In both Clarke's and Goetz's statements, they present the idea of steadiness, and a need for building this law up rather than hammering it down.      Something that really resonated with me from Clarke's statement was when she stated, "justice cannot be misunderstood as law alone". Thinking about this more conceptually, laws are established to maintain social order and achieve justice. The law itself isn't justice, it is a device created in order to morally attain it. Clarke speaks on the need to address the structural inequalities, promote human security, and establish economic, ...

I found myself being persuaded by all of the different positions taken on the ICC reading. I can understand why deGuzman feels that the I.C.C. deserves our full support due to the fact that they are at minimum, setting the principle that no one is immune to repercussions for committing genocide or crimes against humanity. In contrast, I can fully agree with all the flaws pointed out by the other positions taken on this matter in regards to their effectiveness, budget, and lack of true power. The position that I thought presented the most compelling argument was made by Anne Marie Goetz. She presented the idea that more funding of the I.C.C should go to helping the victims of genocide and war crimes, instead or arbitrary prosecutions.  Goetz expresses that there is still a great need for the I.C.C, to ensure that leaders know that they will be held accountable for their actions. She points out that one major flaw within the I.C.C. is how neglected the budgeting is for the Trust Fu...

Is Breaking The Tradition Inevitable?   I recently researched the history of what has been considered a taboo against nuclear arms for my analytical paper. In doing so, I ultimately came to the conclusion that a taboo was too definite and absolute of a phrase used to define this long standing resistance against the use of nuclear use, finding “tradition” a better suited term. A lot of my research was focused on the consequences that would follow if a national power were to instigate nuclear warfare, and how opposing nations would react to such violence. This hypothetical was sequential to defining this universal adoration and resistance against nuclear warfare, however the hypothetical has recently been brought into a more realistic circumstance. Contrary to a statement made less than a year ago where Biden and Putin issued a statement during the Geneva summit agreeing that a nuclear war was not winnable, on February 27th Putin alerted his top military officials to incorporate nu...

Blog 2 Comparison of the war in Afghanistan and the Vietnam War Evan Goldstein  Our discussion in class on the Afghan War and the recent pullout and capitulation of the Afghan government reminded me a lot of the Vietnam War, which had been a major focus of mine in high school. From what I remember from my classes, as well as additional projects and reading that I had done on the conflict, initial US involvement in Vietnam started out very similarly with initial US involvement in Afghanistan. In Vietnam, the US supported the French, an occupying power, against the Viet Minh, a guerilla group. While in Afghanistan, the US armed the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union, who had invaded the government in support of its Communist government. While the US supported the occupying power in one war and the guerilla movements to overthrow them in the other, initial US involvement in both nations began with aid being delivered, rather than conventional military actions. Furthermore, in both ...

                                               Russia & Ukraine: Is Nuclear Warfare a Real Possibility  The idea of nuclear weapons being used in war is a concept that seems so foreign, given the last time that nuclear warfare had been utilized was during the final stages of World War II. Concerning the recent events surrounding the Russian and Ukrainian War, it is no longer guaranteed that nuclear weapons will not resurface in battle. War is preventable through a balance of power and with the help of NATO, being a defense of alliance. Putin gained power throughout his rule by gambling in politics, in hopes that the rest of the world will play into his power games. This produces a country whose success hinges on luck and deception, rather than true effectiveness. The balance of power has been upset by Putin’s aggression and Trump's questi...

                                                  War Crimes: Russia- Ukraine War Emerging in the late 19th century, the modern legal concept of war crimes was developed. In the midst of World War 2, the concept of war crimes was codified into international criminal law. During this era, the Geneva Conventions and Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts were produced which were several treaties aimed to outline how civilians, prisoners of war, and soldiers who are incapable of fighting should be treated. Furthermore, the Geneva Conventions and Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts aim to provide “minimum levels of protection, standards of human treatment, and fundamental guarantees of respect to individuals who become victims of armed conflicts” ( Legal Information Institute). A war crime is any violation of the laws of war, many of which derive...

  Has the Ukraine Conflict Proved that Russia is a Declining Nation? Russia has begun to show signs of immense weakness and insecurity in the past year, depicting how fragile the country is. The conflict occurring in Ukraine is a prime example of how quickly the fragility of a nation can be tested and is going to be a significant test for both the Russian and Ukrainian governments. When current Russian leader Vladimir Putin replaced Boris Yeltsin in 1999, the country experienced a complete economic turnaround, creating new jobs within the middle class, increasing GDP, and reestablishing the nation as a premier world power. However, in recent years, Putin has shown new desperation to reinforce Russian dominance on a global scale seemingly. His main outlet in doing this is by waging war against Ukraine, attempting to recapture what he believes should be a Soviet territory, something he already did in 2014 by annexing Crimea. Due to the current invasion, major global powers are imposi...