- Cultural region (Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, or Latin America)
- MLA Citaiton
- Concise (no more than 5 sentences) summary with a clear thesis statement
Sunday, January 28, 2018
FI #49 - "Current History" Article Summary
To complete question #49 on the "Foundations Investigation," select an article from a PRINT issue of Current History. Your comment should include the following:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
East Asia
ReplyDeleteKlien, Susanne. “Recovering from Disaster, Reinventing Japan?” Current History, vol. 116, Sept. 2017, pp. 241-43.
The issues from the triple disaster - earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor meltdown - that occurred in March of 2011 affect the Tohoku region of Japan even after six years, but with this leaves the area open for new improvements. Japan has a strong urban-rural hierarchy in place, as shown by the fact that it is considered lucky that this region was hit rather than the Tokyo area. Despite the fact that over 26 trillion yen - equivalent to $235 billion - has been put into fixing the area, it has not has much of an impact for many of the local residents. Fortunately, the disaster has also been an opportunity for others to make the region into a more sustainable society by building a resilient social infrastructure and giving those affected by the disaster more opportunities. Although this triple disaster devastated the region, it allowed for new developments, which improve the society, to occur.
South Asia
ReplyDeleteFair, Christine C. “Pakistan’s Deadly Grip on Afghanistan.” Current History, 7th ser., vol. 116, no. 789, Apr. 2017, pp. 136-41.
More than fifteen years have passed since the United States launched operations in Afghanistan, ostensibly with the support of Pakistan. America’s new president, Donald Trump, is a reckless, boorish vulgarian; oblivious to the “one president at a time” rule, he began antagonizing China, undermining NATO, and courting Russia before he was even inaugurated. It is Afghanistan’s bad fortune that its future lies in the hands of this unpredictable and unsteady president. If there is one upside, Trump is so erratic and incalculable that he may be able to break with the past way of waging war in Afghanistan—even if by accident. His vituperative and vindictive temperament, along with his shrill rhetoric calling for ramping up the so-called war on “radical Islamic terrorism,” may persuade Pakistan that dangerous consequences could ensue unless it stops supporting militants in Afghanistan.
South Asia
ReplyDeleteThiranagama, Sharika. "Sri Lanka's Lingering State of War." Current History, vol. 113, no. 762, Apr. 2014, pp. 163-64.
Thiranagama expresses her thoughts on how Sri Lanka is still in a war environment, as well as explaining the deaths of masses of people caused by the government. In the beginning she explains that huge masses of bodies were being found from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and a battle between Sri Lanka and Sinhalese. Then explains how the Sri Lankan government has tortured their prisoners, as well as others that were not documented as prisoners, but spent their time in camps, and how this is what shaped Sri Lankan society to always be in a violent environment. After that, she explains that it is the state putting its own citizens in danger, which then leads people to think that actions such as, rape, torture and extrajudicial killing to become normal in war. At the end, Thiranagama describes how the state that Sri Lanka is in is causing them debt with the high living costs, along with how Sri Lanka has not done anything to improve the condition of the country.
Central Asia
ReplyDeleteKamp, Marianne. "Broken Ties in the Ferghana Valley." Current History, vol. 116, no. 792, Oct. 2017, pp. 285-87.
Borders in the Ferghana Valley, located in Central Asia, are the cornerstone of the conflict between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and serve as a division among the two countries as a result of previous leadership and ongoing violence. In 2010, the conflict expressed its importance when there was a violent outburst between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan resulting from territorialized nationalism which ended in the deaths of many on both sides, and proof that the power and symbol of the borders did not fall with the Soviet Period. However, it can be argued that the violence and power of the borders is a byproduct of previous leadership discrepancies which resulted in economic conflict, high security, a lack of unity, and the absence of ethnically inclusive ideology. Therefore, the violent and enforced borders in the Ferghana Valley are icons of past altercations which should be ignored to obtain unity.
Latin America
ReplyDeleteCruz, José Miguel. "The Root Causes of the Central American Crisis." Current History, vol. 114, no. 769, Feb. 2015, pp. 43-48.
Central Americans have faced many arduous obstacles in order to get where they are today and be the person they want to be. The continuation of crime, violence, and economic vulnerability have caused many issues. Many homicides are occurring by gangs and people are being treated unfairly, as one story shows that a girl was threatened to be raped and killed by police. Many Central Americans had fled to America to try and start a new life, as Latin American countries were becoming dangerous, and sought a change for humans to be treated with respect and fairness.
South Asia
ReplyDeleteThiranagama, Sharika. “Sri Lanka’s Lingering State of War.” Current History, Apr. 2014.
It is evident that during the 1980s, Sri Lanka dealt with major conflict that resulted in the disappearances and deaths of nearly forty-thousand people. This issue had become a major concern, and as Sri Lanka expanded, military mechanisms were also able to extend to a further area in hopes of diminishing the conflict. This, however, had little effect and the nation was unsure of how to deal with the violence that was not necessarily war, but had similar impacts and would not go away. Still, Sri Lanka has difficulty moving on from its violent past.
Southeast Asia
ReplyDeleteFong, Mei. “The Misconceived One- Child Policy Lives.” Current History, Sept. 2016, pp. 240-42.
China's one- child policy has created controversy throughout the people and the economy. One source states how China's one- child policy has boosted and advacned the economy, whereas another source believes that all of China should be shifted to two- child households. However, the controversy realting to this topic is late term abortion, ethnicity, and location. It is believed that the country's rise as a manufacturing powerhouse wouldn't have been made possible of it weren't for the baby boom in the seventies. In conclusion, many people have different opinions and reasons for China's one- child policy, and many factors come into effect when considering whether or not the policy should continue.
Latin America
ReplyDeletePosada-Carbó, Eduardo. “The Difficult Road to Peace in Colombia.” Current History, vol. 116, no. 787, Feb. 2017, pp. 74–76.
For an extensive amount of time, Columbia has been indeterminate over war or peace, and while many support peace, a recent (October 2, 2016), electorate has favored war, confusing many. It took several years to finally assemble a peace agreement between the government and a large movement group called Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on September 26 of 2016. However, while many thought highly of the truce, there was still a surreal amount of victims of crime between the groups, and the peace process failed again. President Juan Manuel Santos, along with trusted peers, quickly assembled the "No campaign", in hopes to return peace to Columbia. This quick-started the peace process, which involved steps like taking arms from FARC and electing a new Congress.
The Middle East
ReplyDeleteWaxman, Dov. "Is Israeli Democracy in Danger?" Current History, Dec. 2016, pp.
360-61.
For the longest time, Israel has proudly proclaimed itself to be the sole democracy in the Middle East. They consist of a functioning multiparty parliamentary system of government, regular fair elections, an independent judiciary, a free press, and a civil society. However, recent voices, such as Obama administration officials, the ambassador of the United Nations, and major American Jewish organizations have warned about threats to Israeli democracy. Nationalist parliamentary bills have taken aim at Israeli nongovernmental organizations and have began an uprise in stigmatizing dissent. Additionally, left-wing organizations and human rights groups in Israel have come under sustained political attack as well as creating more of an insistence on loyalty to their democratic government. Lastly, Illiberal political sentiments are gaining strength and focusing almost completely on and prioritizing Israel's Jewish identity rather than its democratic aspects.
Europe
ReplyDeleteHamilton, Daniel S. “The Transatlantic Pivot.” Current History, Mar. 2014, pp. 123-24.
The security-economic relationship between the US and Europe has evolved greatly since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and now the US has begun to shift away from seeing Europe as its foremost focus, wishing for Europe to handle more on its own. The Obama administration's change in foreign policy, which focuses much less on Europe, causes some concern among Europeans because it could disrupt the flow of their economies. Decidedly, the time has come for Europe to begin "rebalancing" its transatlantic security alliance and economic perimeters. To accomplish this, Europe should strive for stronger military capabilities and diffusing its economic power. Finally, the on road to really "rebalance" Europe, it should strive to focus on challenges affecting the whole world rather than just their own area.
Latin America
ReplyDeleteStarr, Pamela K. "Mexico's Problematic Reform." Current History, Jan.-Feb. 2014,
pp. 51-56.
The article "Mexico's Problematic Reform" by Pamela Starr explains the many issues with the attempted solutions for the country made by the government. When Peña Nieto took office in 2013, it turned from downward for the worst. Issues regarding corruption and economics still remained unsolved. The high number of criminal acts and violence just how weak the country's security was. Peña Nieto's year of 2013 proved to be disastrous to not only him but to Mexico, and whether or not 2014 will fair better.
South Asia
ReplyDeleteJasanoff, Sheila. "Small Lamps of Environmental Heroism." Current History, vol.
115, no. 780, Apr. 2016, pp. 157-59.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi worked to turn India into a manufacturing hub of the world, an economic powerhouse, and a lion among nations. India struggles with the devastating effects of too many people living on too little land in a country where the poor still far outnumber the rich. Meera Subramanian explains these issues in A River Runs Again, which teaches readers how to confront certain issues that may be occurring in a specific region in India. Several topics are addressed throughout her story and the factors that influenced her to share her opinion on several topics. Hope is spread that “India’s environmental heroes hold up a lamp that may yet light humanity out of a looming darkness. Let us hope so.”
South Asia
ReplyDeleteThiranagama, Sharika. "Sri Lanka's Lingering State of War." Current History, vol. 113, no. 762, Apr. 2014, pp. 163-64.
Thiranagama speaks of her concerns on Sri Lanka still being a war zone, speaking of mass killings due to the government. She begins by describing the violence from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and a battle between Sri Lanka and Sinhalese which led to the masses of dead bodies. She continued by explaining the violence the government tends towards by torturing prisoners or other undocumented people. She explains how the country is putting its own citizens in danger along with the dept due to high living costs, and how Sri Lanka has yet to show effort in improving their home country.