Blog Group 0302

          When any sort of mass violence happens anywhere in the world, people resort to refering to it as “terrorism”. As Daniel L Byman writes in his article, Who is a terrorist actually? , “not all violence is terrorism, either. In many instances, even those who do actively promote and use violence don’t merit the label ‘terrorist’. The State Department definition of terrorism as being “ Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” is too broad and invites people to use the label of terrorist in a much less stringent manner than it should be used. This can lead to many different secondary and tertiary effects, such as a diminishing of the power of the word and an invitation for government overreach. In my opinion, the definition of terrorism should become much more narrow than it currently is and the use of the term “terrorist” or “terrorism” should not be used as much ...

   Blog #4 Max Gilbert Elon Musk and Twitter: An Unlikely, Yet Sound Partnership      As of recently, and specifically this morning, Elon Musk seems to be on the precipice of buying the social media platform Twitter for roughly 46.5 billion dollars, and taking the company private. In total, Musk is worth more than two hundred and eighty billion dollars, and is most known for electric car company Tesla, and space exploration venture "Space X." Amidst this corporate drama, there remains the question of why does he want to buy twitter, what's in it for Musk? To begin with, he has spoken about the platform's harsh moderation of content, and free-speech, and would most definitely lessen those restrictions if purchased. Furthermore, Twitter as a whole has not capitalized on it's larger than life user base, and is notoriously dysfunctional. Musk would bring a fresh mindset to the table, and provide a more in-touch view, and perspective of younger generations.  ...

                                     Debilitating Polarity: Will the Paris Accord Prove Successful?   The question must be asked why the Montreal Protocol successfully worked in reducing the amount of Chlorofluorocarbons that were emitted into the atmosphere, but the Kyoto Protocol failed in reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted in the atmosphere. In fact, the “greenhouse gas output has increased since 1997, not decreased” (National Geographic). Some would equate this failure to the structure of the United States Government, more specifically, the polarity that it fosters. This polarity, alongside a democratic government that was designed to represent the public, produces a nation that changes its political stances based on the majority party for a given presidential election. Considering that the U.S. is one of the most vital nations in the process of inter...

  International Politics: International Law and Global Justice I think the Russia-Ukraine War is an ongoing current event that discusses the topic of international politics in multiple ways. Since Russia first declared war on Ukraine by invading the state, politicians and citizens alike are aware that this is an illegal war being waged. Russia is in clear violation of the core obligation in the UN Charter that prohibits the “use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”  To make matters worse, the Russian military has clearly been guilty of committing war crimes throughout the country including targeting civilians. In addition to this, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, UN Security Council tried to pass a resolution deploring the Russian invasion and demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine , but Russia vetoed it.  This is why I find it confusing why not much more has been done to stop Russia from continuously actin...