Final Post: Iran Nuclear Talks

Final Post: Iran Nuclear Talks

Iranian Nuclear Talks brought up various subtopics worthy of discussion.  “Talks” are implicative of the Iran’s negotiations with the U.N. that have historically taken place in Vienna. As we delved into the historical aspects of this issue, we uncovered that Iran and the Western World have been in dispute for quite some time.  For many decades, the U.N. and the United States, in particular, have forbidden Iran’s pursuit of developing nuclear energy.  Western nations have for many years, expressed their anxieties about Iran’s intentions with nuclear power as the U.S. (along with Israel and other non-Muslim nations), believe this poses a threat to the rest of the world.  Trade restrictions have been implemented to discourage Iran from developing nuclear power and as a result, Iran has economically suffered.  Recently, the U.N. developed a treaty which by restricts Iran from practicing certain methods of creating nuclear power.  Iran has managed to stay in the confines of that treaty and lately, many of the trade restrictions between Iran and the Western World has been relieved.  There is plan of further talks between both parties in the near future, whereby the U.N. will either revert to trade restrictions or continue liberating them.    

            The entirety of our research was internet-based which is both good and bad.  On one hand, we were able to obtain various sources of information off the internet, each having different takes on the issue.  On the other hand, internet articles are limited because most of them have a political agenda, particularly pertaining to a western ideology.  We tried our best to have a neutral standpoint but it was difficult finding information that was really authentic.  For example, I found an article that elucidated on the Russian perspective of the Iranian Nuclear Talks, however, the problem was that the article was written by an American.  Another example: one article discussing Iran’s economic future expressed that removing trade restrictions had a positive effect on the rest of the world.  However, another article argued the opposite opinion, stating that looser trade restrictions would allow Iran to build nuclear weapons.  It appeared that every story we read had some aspects of political propaganda.      

There were many interesting themes that popped up during my research process.  For starters, I learned that Israel has been the strongest adversary of Iran’s goals toward nuclear power.  I also found intriguing, that Russia takes a neutral approach to the issue because Russia is a nearby neighbor that has stronger economic ties with Iran.  One article compared Russia’s relationship to Iran to our relationship with Pakistan (both are relatively neutral).  Now as far as working with a group; I had some restraints for this project because it was hard for us all to communicate with one another.  I wish that each of us wrote separate smaller blogs rather than one person having control of the entire blog for that week, because as a result; only a part of the group contributed.  Although, I want to make clear that it was not the fault of the group members because when one has control of a blog for that week, it’s too difficult to organize everyone’s thoughts into one.  Overall, I enjoyed the learning process throughout and I can truthfully say that I now have a more insight on different perspectives of this issue.  I do however keep in mind that it is a very complicated matter and that I must acknowledge that I do not have a whole grasp on the matter just yet (perhaps I would have a better grasp if I was employed by the U.N.).       

Final Post: Catalyst for Change

Over the course of this semester my group and I covered the issue of sexual violence upon women in India, and how recent tragedies have brought forth a large movement for the rights of women throughout the country. We began by discussing different cases of sexual violence within India like the New Delhi case which had gained worldwide attention because it was so horrific. Then we drew on a variety of issues that ultimately lead to sexual violence towards women. These issues include a mentality in which women are seen as property instead of humans and how this mind set is caused by a culture that always places women inferior to men. However, more and more attention toward these cases against the rights of women have led to changes within India. Citizens unifying against sexual violence upon women have created movements that have pushed for laws that punish these offenders. Though actual enforcement is an issue, especially in rural areas, we can see that the citizen's of India are gradually making progress in the fight against sexual violence and for the rights of women altogether.

I think it is important to note that many of us in the group did not know much about the movement in India because this in turn helped us with our approach toward the topic. First, we outlined what an audience (us included) would need to know in order to understand the complexities of sexual violence and specifically in India. By asking our own questions about the topic, we were able to break down our material into the most important parts. Working in a group allowed us each to become responsible in thoroughly researching each section needed to be covered. We kept in contact with each other to be sure that we were all using different sources and were finding new information about the topic. Spreading out the work not only helped with time, but it also gave each of us different a perspective on the topic which in turn allowed us to analyze sexual violence in India from several viewpoints.

From this project, I learned how important it is to work together especially when dealing with a heavy topic like sexual violence. I remember that at first my group and I had been so excited to take on the issue in all parts of the world, but we then realized that it was broad and far too complex to deliver in one assignment. Working in a group also became difficult because of our conflicting schedules but luckily researching and communicating can easily be done online. Throughout the semester I have learned about sexual violence in India and how movements have became a large cause of social and political change for women. It also continues to remind me of the privileges I have here, and how I should not forget that the movement for complete women's rights is far from over.  

East Asian Territorial Disputes Final Post

 Throughout the semester my group covered East Asian territorial disputes, particularly those involving the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands (China/Japan) and the Spratly and Parcel Islands (China/Vietnam). Both of these disputes are as mired in historical claims as they are in nationalism. China and Japan have been snipping at each other's heels over incidents involving the islands, such as when the Japanese government bought three of the Senkakus from a private owner, sparking massive protests and calls to boycott Japanese products in China. China has also drawn ire for declaring an air defense identification zone around the East China Sea, which includes the Senkakus and other islands in that region that China claims are theirs. The tensions between China and Japan on this issue are so thick that another World War is feared to be eminent. In the South China Sea, China has repeatedly imposed fishing bans and expelled foreign ships, especially those from Vietnam.

We mainly used newspaper articles for our research; the articles came from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and BBC News. We also used the foreign policy blog The Diplomat. In the first post, we used a Congressional Research report (“Maritime Territorial Disputes in East Asia: Issues for Congress”) that broadly covered the East Asian territorial disputes, including each country's historical reasoning for these claims, the islands that are under claim by various countries, and ways to (peacefully) end the disputes. As for creating a post, we collected a bunch of relevant articles that we found, read them for relevancy/quality, and summarized the best ones. For the second post, each group member wrote a paragraph on at least two articles out of the collection. I think this approach made sure that everyone had a hand in the research and writing process, as well as a general idea of what was happening with our topic. Usually, our group met every Tuesday at 5pm, either to find articles or draft up a post.

From our topic, I learned that the disputes mostly revolve around history- who laid claim to which island first, who took which island from whom, how an island was present in a country's history, etc. China also seemed to be the common link to all the disputes, which is possibly a reflection of its increasing military power. I also found that writing the post together (with one person typing and the others dictating) made more sense than each person editing and adding to the post by themselves at home. It gave the posts a consistent tone. The same could be said of all the parties involved in the East Asian territorial disputes, but hopefully the tone will change from one of belligerence to one of cooperation.

Final Post: U.S./Mexico "War on Drugs"

Our group covered the "war on drugs" and how it has and is affecting both Mexico and the United States. We briefly covered the history of the "war on drugs", how and why it started, and more current issues. The drug economy, organized crime and violence have plagued both the United States and Mexico for many years; Mexico suffering from horrific violence and the U.S. drug problem fueling an illegal economy. Our most recent blog post focused on a joint operation between the two states that led to the capture of infamous drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. Although the arrest was championed by many as a victory for those involved in the "war on drugs" it sadly has had little, real effect for decreasing violence or hindering the drug economy.

Working with a group was incredibly helpful for such a complex topic. We each took a different jobs and approaches when building our posts and researching. It was imperative for us to find a variety of sources in both English and Spanish because of the inherent bias that takes place in the media. Our group was well organized and each member believes this to be an important topic which made our work both interesting and enjoyable. I found the most enlightening part to be hearing different opinions in regards to our subject and bringing all of the information together for the blog.

This issue is both complicated and overwhelming. Both Mexico and the U.S. have suffered from the violence and corruption that comes with the illegal drug market. Although both countries have declared "war on drugs", spent enormous sums of money, dedicated military, police and others to fight the "war", there has been little progress. The Unites States drug users supply the demand. The U.S. with its relaxed gun laws and prevalent gun culture is also responsible for (mostly inadvertently) supplying the majority of the weapons used by cartels to fuel violence in Mexico. On the other hand Mexican cartels grow, create and smuggle the drugs. Like any other wars there are many innocent civilians caught in the middle. After being part of this project it has become clear to me that the status quot is unacceptable. It is time that the two states decide on a different way to put an end to the crisis.  

Final Blog Post: Iran Nuclear Talks

            Over the course of the semester, my group covered the history and the progress of Iranian nuclear projects. We began by going back to the 1980s, when Iran first announced it had been secretly developing nuclear weapons under Ayatollah Khomeini. As tensions increased between the United States, Iran, and Iraq, the US took actions to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state. These actions were based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran had signed in 1968, promising to never acquire, or conspire to acquire or build, nuclear weaponry. Iran and Russia, however, set up a deal in the 1990s, allowing Iran access to Russian technology and oil by-products to build light-water reactors. The UN joined the US in imposing sanctions and restrictions on Iranian access to nuclear technology in 2006, when the Security Council proposed economic and political incentives for Iran to shut down its nuclear program. These sanctions increased over time, and the US and her allies have worked to deter other countries around the world from providing Iran with knowledge or products that would aid in its nuclear weapon proliferation. Since then, there have been numerous diplomatic talks between Iran and UN members to solve these concerns. As recently as January of this year, Iran has agreed to decrease its supply of enriched uranium while maintaining its nuclear program—albeit with a promise of transparency and honesty with the program’s developments.

            When we researched our topic to write the entries, we all pitched in to add information and valuable sources to a common Google doc. This way, we could all participate and have our opinions heard. While other groups had trouble coordinating and finding a common time/space to meet, using an online resource to communicate made it simple and much less time consuming. Our sources included news outlets, government websites, and other politically minded blogs. It was helpful to work in a group setting when researching, because there was always someone who caught bits of the story that the other members had missed. Having multiple points of view on the same topic made the process interesting and informative.

            From this blog assignment, I learned how important it is to share your own thoughts and opinions, but also to listen to those of others. Without proper communication, this blog probably would have been one-sided and straightforward, whereas the issue of Iran’s nuclear proliferation is extremely controversial and complicated. I think everyone in the group learned to accept each other’s opinions and recognize the validity of a point of view, even if it disagrees with our own. Concerning the topic, I learned quite a bit of new information about Iran’s history of nuclear programs, and the tensions they caused between world powers like the US and Russia for decades. From doing all this research into the history of Iranian nuclear proliferation, I learned that, even today, Iran’s actions would have significant repercussions around the world whether they were to develop full-fledged nuclear bombs or dismantle the project completely. All in all, the Iranian nuclear talks are an example of what we have been discussing in class all semester: the fact that every event has multiple perspectives and motives behind it, and the interconnectedness of global politics.

East/South China Sea Dispute: Final Post

During the length of this semester, my blog covered the conflict in the East and South China Sea involving China, Japan, and Vietnam. China claimed that the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea were theirs and Japan claimed the same. This dispute caused high tensions between both countries and had the U.S. involved as a peacekeeper trying to settle the dispute without violence. Ethnic tensions and memories of past crimes surfaced in the minds of China and Japan, making both countries prideful and steadfast on their refusal to resolve the issue. It grew out of proportion with both countries sending armed forces to patrol the islands. With the help of the U.S. and other events and issues surfacing, the islands have now become a minor issue that has not been resolved, but neither has it grown into a violent conflict. Down in the South China Sea, a similar dispute has been going on for 45 years. Before 1968, the control over the South China Sea wasn’t very important and fishing vessels roamed freely. But in 1968 the United Nations stated that there could be resources found in these waters, and the control over the South China Sea grew very important. Since then the Spratly and Paracel islands have been disputed with clashes between fishermen and Chinese military ships that patrol the waters. Vietnam had held some of the islands from the Paracel Archipelago and China the rest. This led to a confrontation in 1974 between the South Vietnamese Navy and Chinese Forces. The Vietnamese were defeated and the Chinese took control of the Paracel Archipelago. Since then there have been confrontations and no resolution to this conflict. China’s control over these large areas of waters is being observed by other countries waiting to see what the next move will be and worrying that these small territorial disputes will boil over into something far worse.

My team and I were lucky to have Guen who is Vietnamese and Yukun who is from China in our team due to the different points of view in these disputes. They were able to get news reports from both countries that would help us show both sides of the issue. Japan was easy to research as well being an ally of the United States; there were a lot of news articles on their side of the issue. We found that our way of researching and working was very successful. We researched individually and wrote 1 or 2 paragraphs with the information we found and placed the link of the news article we each used in a Google document so everyone could see which article was already taken and not have multiple paragraphs of the same source. We then got together and revised everything and decided the order based on what each paragraph talked about and we wrote the introduction and conclusion together. We would then research together anything we might have missed and explained what we found while making the last touches to the finished blog post. Our sources were local Vietnamese and Chinese newspapers that Guen and Yukun found, BBC world news, The Diplomat, The Wall Street Journal, and others.

I was fairly ignorant when it came to political affairs in eastern Asia. My knowledge of their disputes and alliances was close to zero. Throughout the semester I learned of the past conflicts between China and Japan and their ethnic differences. I learned of the tensions between Vietnam and China and how much China has been expanding its borders by sea. I was also fairly ignorant of the array of global media. I had assumed that BBC and CNN were the only reliable news sources with New York Times as a small competitor. I was sadly mistaken and learned to find the media bias in all the articles I researched from them and all the other news sources available. I learned to read in between the lines and understand the most important things in the news articles I read. Working in a team with a flexible schedule and distribution of work was also something new to me, which I found to be very helpful with my personal schedule. All in all, I feel I left the blog much more knowledgeable than when I started it.

Climate Change: Final Post

              Throughout the semester, my group covered the current hot issue which is climate change and focused specifically on biomass fuels. We did a research on whether biomass fuels such as wood pellets are really a ‘green’ energy and if wood pellets are the next best green alternative energy. During the research process, we discovered that wood pellets are not the ‘green’ source of energy it claimed to be. Wood pellets, which are made through a process that turns waste from wood manufacturing (for flooring, construction and other purposes) into tiny compressed pieces.  These small pieces, or pellets, are then, in turn, burned as fuel to create energy (either heat or electricity). At first glance, wood pellets seem to be a more environment friendly energy source than fossil fuels such as coal. However, wood pellets actually caused more harms than benefits to the environment because of its production and transportation processes involved. In our last blog post, we concluded that the world’s communities need to reconsider about the usage of wood pellets globally and whether it is worth for the technology and resources devoted to this not-so-green energy. Besides that, we also think that the usage of wood pellets should stay domestic and be regulated to prevent deforestation and further harm to the environment.

            After we decided the topic for our blog posts, we divided the work within ourselves so that every member got to work on areas they are best at. For example, Zarine who has more knowledge on biomass fuels specializes in doing research about what are wood pellets and how wood pellets function as source of energy and also the production of wood pellets. Anne and Jody organize and compile the information we collected while also try to analyze and applied the theory we learned in class into the blog entries. I was assigned the task to do the introduction and summary of the topic which were wood pellets and the effects of wood pellets on environment. I did my research on the topic by looking at several articles such as news articles from The Guardian and The New York Times and also scholarly articles by scientists who did and published their research on the impact of wood pellets on environment. Besides that, I also gathered information from government organization’s website such as United States Environmental Protection Agency about effects and causes of climate change. I think that working as a group had influenced my approach by influencing me to become more open minded and accepting towards other people’s ideas. For example, my approach in a group changed and became more acceptance of the difference of ideas between group members. I recognized that my own ideas were not necessarily the best and I need to listen to other people’s opinions too.

            I learned many things from doing this project throughout the semester. For example, I learned more information about biomass fuels especially wood pellets. I had no knowledge about wood pellets previously and now I know more about it through this project. I learned to be more environmental conscious and be more aware of the energy we use in daily life. Moreover, I gained the skills of doing research through this project. For instance, I learned to look and analyze critically at the articles such as where did it came from and who was the author for the articles. I also learned to cite the sources correctly using APA format and how to apply the theories we learned in class into this project. Working in a group had also taught me many things such as the importance of cooperation between people. Cooperation between group members is important to ensure that the blog posts are up on time and also fulfilled the requirements for the posts. Besides that, I also learned how to communicate effectively with my group members and how to present my own ideas to them. The most important thing that I gained from this project is to look and learn from other people’s strengths and also try to accept their weaknesses.