Delving Deeper Into the Surface of the World

With the current coverage of the recent atrocity committed by a man enabled by racist and nationalistic redirect, a few things have begun to appear. The first is the way in which media platforms have enabled the spread of terrifying ideals and information. Media, more specifically social media, allows information and false information to bear the same weight. It allows for the empowerment of people with the same supremacist ideals as that of the New Zealand terrorist. Due to this unfiltered nature, an inherent part of social media platforms, certain ideas, misinformation, and content can be spread with little to no consequence at all. One expert believes that streaming acts like the one committed just days ago, can act as a way of actively recruiting more members to a said cause. This is incredibly scary in what it presents for the future. Something often seen as a tool can falsely glorify a very brutal and real thing. However beyond this shortcoming of media lies the way in which acts...

Over the past couple of weeks in many of my classes, the events unfolding in Venezuela have been a hot topic of discussion. This led me to dig a little deeper into the situation at hand, after which I was shocked beyond words. Essentially President Maduro who has served one full term was re-elected to a second term. After being elected to a second term many Venezuala citizens and members of the National Assembly deemed the election to be illegitimate, which enables the President of the Assembly to take charge as interim president until fair elections are held. In this case, the president of the Assembly happens to be Juan Guaido. This has created a split in Venezuela in which the majority of citizens believe the election to be un-democratic and are in favor of a Guaido presidency, however, Maduro holds the support of the military creating a very tense environment. Protests have strewn the streets for weeks on end. This issue is one however that involves the international community ...

Ian's event which hosted Professor English was one of the most informative GIP events I have attended. Through his expertise, Professor English articulated many of the nuances which often go unnoticed when discussing foreign policy regarding Russia. He started off the night by helping the crowd gain a better understanding of Russia's recent history, and how that can affect the average Russian's outlook on life, but more concretely how President Putin may have been affected by Russia's tough history. After giving a brief synopsis of that history, he touched upon the domestic politics of Russia and Putin's rule. After which he analyzed many of Russia's foreign policy decisions from an American and Russian perspective, providing a better understanding of the reasons behind each decision. However what was amazing about this event was not the knowledge professor English brought with him, but rather the way he presented it. Throughout the night he was re-affirming a...

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of attending Aaron Fyke's presentation on Global Warming and Sustainability. This presentation was just as educating as it was enjoyable. He was an incredibly animated speaker that kept the audience engaged. He was also able to transform the heavy environment into a lighthearted one with clever jokes throughout the night. However, the most important aspect of that night was the content. As someone who knew a fair amount about the issues and mechanics of Global Warming already, I was happy to have learned more about the issue at hand. I was also received more clarity on how the issue worked and can now explain the importance of this issue using sheer logic. Although this presentation allowed me to become better informed it also opened my eyes to what nations and companies across the globe were already doing to combat it, all of which was new information. It was exciting to see the stats about the reduction of coal use, incr...

Today I happened to be walking down Lake St. and saw a young man who appeared to be homeless. After having a brief interaction with him, on the car ride home, I began to think. Imagine waking up every day knowing the society you live in and the system which it has been built upon, actively works against you. The world you live in, whether purposeful or implicitly, attempts to diminish your chances of success at every turn. Now I don't know the situation this person was in, or what he may have been thinking, but this very real scenario could make it incredibly hard to stay motivated and make your vision a reality. This is something I feel can tie easily into the modern climate with immigration. Families or individuals attempting to escape persecution or even a corrupt system in which they are much less likely to succeed. These are many of the people trying to get across the border to America where things are far from perfect, yet better in many regards. They simply want to...

November 11, 2018 was the 100th year anniversary to the end of WWI, also known as Armistice Day. During this day an array of Global Leaders, Citizens, and Presidents gathered to honor those who had fallen during this war, as well as celebrate its end. The leaders stood shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, and walked together in order to show a sense of unity between these nations. Yet, our President was nowhere to be seen. He along with the President of Russia both missed this show of unity. Something which is concerning especially with the President's recent comments about nationalism. This leads to the meetings second agenda which was to remind the Nations of the importance of working together to prevent such a devastating tragedy from re-occurring. The President of France specifically addressed this by making remarks, some of which were directed at President Trump's comments regarding his favoritism towards Nationalism. Nationalism is too often seen ...

After being fortunate enough to hear Ms. Jackley speak to us, I began to consider the purpose of NGOs. New NGOs have been forming rapidly over the past decade. More than likely as a result of the need to engage in issues typically not discussed in depth in the political realm. Instead of talking, NGOs do. They do the things that governments often hesitate to do because of its political repercussions. However is this right? Most NGOs are focused on a tangible goal which benefits people.  The role of the government is to help the people. So with that in mind should NGOs diminish overtime as Governments take on the role of helping the people? It's an interesting question, and undoubtedly one that we will find out the answer to soon.