POLS 170 Blog Group 0202

  Logan Deacetis Will we ever be able to correct climate change https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/16/is-it-too-late-to-prevent-climate-change/   Humans have been emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an alarming rate for a pretty long time now. This rise in temperature is causing an extraordinary amount of problems around the world. Some of which include sea levels rising, droughts, storms, heat waves, glaciers melting, and rise in ocean temperatures. All these problems are linked to cause other other problems. An example of this is warmer oceans can contain more carbon dioxide, resulting in more acidic waters. Ocean acidification is a phenomena that kills corals, clams, snails, and a variety of other marine species by dissolving their calcium carbonate shells and skeletons. You may be curious on why the rise of greenhouse gases is an issue, but this is quite simple to answer. There is no one thing that is causing it, it is today’s age all put together. What I mean by this is t

  Teaching about the “Discovery” of America After reading and discussing Todorov’s “The Conquest of America,”  I kept pondering at the thought of how Christopher Columbus and colonization were taught in schools–especially at a young age. For many students, schools taught about Christopher Columbus in a way that glorifies colonization at the expense of remembering Indigenous stories and communities. There has been a lot of controversy on the discussion surrounding how and if we should go about teaching the real history behind the “discovery of the Americas.” In my blog post, I plan to highlight both sides of the debate while incorporating my opinion on how the relevancy and skills acquired when teaching about the reality of American history can be beneficial to students learning it.  Relevancy Todorov’s analysis of Christopher Columbus and what happened in the year 1492 allows us to envision how we have dealt with the “other” since the beginning of the conquest of America. How we teach

  The recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine has left the other dominant nations in power, with no other choice but to impose sanctions on Russia. Although this makes Russia not obtain certain goods, it also affects the World Trade Organization (WTO) because Russia and Ukraine are responsible for a large amount of the world’s oil and European and African countries food supply. A fragmentation of the global economy has only begun because of the actions that Russia has taken against Ukraine. The chief of the WTO is wary that if fragmentation of the global economy continues, then some countries would experience higher transaction costs, balance of payments in distress, and it will make solving international issues such as climate change more difficult.  Fragmentation on the global economy will continue as long as the conflict in Ukraine continues. Right now African countries are having shortages on their food supplies because Ukraine is unable to export goods. Sadly the WTO is una

                                                    Global Justice The United States has always claimed a superior position in international issues. The power and influence of the US permits them to implement control in other countries. This is not a new practice, this began with imperialism. The white man has justified extending his power in other countries for the use of labor and resources. This practice was maintained through the belief that Americans were superior to others. This view was purely based on the theory that people who are different are inferior. The opposition in culture and ethnicity from Americans caused feelings of extreme patriotism, which was used to justify changing other people's lifestyles to mimic the west. The US has assumed a savior complex that is now ingrained into society. The US consistently inputs themselves in other countries' issues and tries to fix their problems to “save them”. Yet many of these problems are not problems at all. Som

            The United States’ recent democratic failures - specifically in reference to its elections, justice system, and legislative branch – threaten its global hegemony by making the state appear untrustworthy. This essay will examine the hazards that election controversy, justice system deficiencies, and legislative stalemate represent to the U.S.’s continued hegemony. The U.S.’s status as a global police force has previously been buttressed by its commitment to values such as equality, liberty, and autonomy. The U.S. has justified nearly all of its international conflicts through an interpretation of these values, including their interventions. However, when the U.S. falls short of these virtues on the domestic front, it loses credibility and appears both hypocritical and unreliable. This is a reputation that the United States cannot afford to sustain as the leader of the liberal world order.             A democracy “by,” “for,” and “of” the people, as Lincoln described the U.

                                             Above is an oil refinery in Germany, that gets oil from a Russian Pipeline (WSJ)         As of April 28th, 2022, Germany, one of the most influential and powerful members of the European Union said that it would agree to a ban on Russian oil. This comes only a few months after the nation said that would be impossible to cut off its reliance on Russian oil. They believe that they can ban Russian oil if they are given enough time to acquire oil from elsewhere. Oil reliance from Russia in the nation used to be much higher, at 35% percent, where today it lies at around 12%. EU Russian oil use is around 27% of all oil. Ultimately if the EU goes forward with this ban it will make oil and gas prices skyrocket all over the world, showing that a decision in today's world economy can have vastly negative effects. The damage to the economy is likely to be hurtful enough that US Secretary of Treasury,  Janet Yellen, said that it most likely would