War and Strife: Approaches to Managing Security and the F-35

Today the likely hood of a major war between any of the top nations of the world is very unlikely. These countries have reached the point economically and politically are intertwined to the point where it would be foolish to launch military action against the other. Then what is the point of building the F-35 fight jet.

 

The logical international relations answer to this is the security dilemma. The security dilemma is where one nation decides to build up its military because it feels its unsafe and wants to protect itself. In turn other nations see this and perceive it as a threat and begin to build up its own military. Looking at Canada this makes sense seeing how the C-F 18 hornet has been in service 1983 and many countries now have fighter jets that surpass the Canadian fighter. Canada now feels its not able to match other air forces and is now spending billions of dollars to match the air power of other nations by building and buying F-35 fighter jets.

If it makes sense for Canada to buy the planes because of updating its fleet to match today’s technology then why is the United States of America buying into the F-35 when it has the most advance fighter the F-22 Raptor sitting on runways not being used.

Comparing the United States Fighter capabilities to that of the next superpower, China, the US is far ahead. The F-22 is far superior compared to the current Chinese fighter, Chengdu J-10. The Chengdu J-10 gets compared with the US f-16 or f-15 which were replaced by the F-22 Raptor. At this current  moment the US is the leading nation when it comes to air superiority and right now its fighting a war, Terrorism , where the enemy doesn’t have any fight jets. So is it really necessary for the US to spend more money on the “next gen” of fighter planes when it already has the “next gen” fighter doing practice drills instead of being in combat. The US is constantly pushing for the next level of military superiority. This has a negative effect on the security dilemma because they are forcing other nations to match the US’ forces. The problem is within the US’ system is Capitalism and Capitalism forces industry to find any edge it can for obtaining profits. By building a “better” jet is their way of gaining more profits by roping in the US to believe they need this fighter when maybe they don’t.

More and more questions are surrounding if Canada should buy these fighters as costs for the planes rise and rise.

 

Chapter 10 Blog Scientist Engineers Avian Flu that Could Wipe Out Half of the Human Race

A big part of chapter 10 was referring to aids and a section talked about other diseases and viruses that threaten life and well being on the planet. The text referred to other things like SARS, the Ebola virus, mad cow and others. With mother nature throwing curve balls at the human race it doesn’t help when scientist are doing this. The website talks about how in a lab a scientist was able to engineer a version of the Avian flu that could potentially wipe out half the population of Earth. Even though he was only testing his enhanced version of influenza on ferrets, studies have shown that ferrets can pass along the influenza onto humans. After doing these experiments he was able to create an airborne strain of the Avian flu.

Even worse for creating something that can wipe out most of us out he presented his findings at the Influenza conference at Malta and wants to publish his findings. This is a big red flag to people, governments and nations because of the threat that the virus could be weaponized and used. Its like giving a fast car to a drunk driver. Anti-Terrorist agencies are arguing against releasing the procedure on how Fouchier came to his conclusions because of the ease of how Avian Flu could be used as a weapon.

We are at a dangerous phase in Human history. Many times the human race has faced an epidemic but now we are finding solutions to these problems. The Aids Crisis in Africa is something that must be kept in check in hopes to be able to contain the virus and not allow it to spread any further. We have been able to produce medicine and procedures to out dual mother nature but by aiding mother nature with an enhanced version of something that can cause harm is just well….dumb. Like the Cold War where we were at the push of the button to annihilation we are a petri dish away from our own destruction once again.

EU and Greece look at finalizing Second Bailout

The European Union is finalzing the details on providing a second bail out for economically hard hit Greece. Before 2010 the Greek government was running a complete deficit and was reporting misleading numbers to continue to borrow money. When the realization hit that Greece was in financial trouble the EU and the International Monetary Fund was forced to act to save Greece. They initially provided a 30 Billion Euro bailout in 2010 but a second bailout is needed. The Second Bailout for Greece hinges on private bondholders to accept and sign off on a “53.5% loss on their Greek bonds.” These private bond holders manly consisting of Banks are swapping their current bonds for new ones which entail a loss of about 50%.

With the Bond Swap being approved on March 13 EU leaders signed off on the Second Bailout which will send 130 Billion Euro to Greece.  The Greece financial crisis has shown the abilities and powers of the European Union as an IGO. Currently the EU is one of the strongest and most influential IGO in the world. It has the ability to play factor in politics throughout Europe and dictate policy on countries. Greece since the start of the bailout program has already gone through varios extents to follow the EU and IMF guidlines to lower its debt and gain control over its struggling economy.

Influential Group in International Politics

Well I had to do it. For this blog post about a group influencing international politics I’m going to be talking about Kony 2012. The group Invisible Children is a group attempting to bring attention to the military group LRA, Lord’s Resistance Army, in Uganda and its leader Joseph Kony. The reason for the video Kony 2012 and the creation of the group is due to the LRA recruiting and the abduction of child soldiers. The purpose of the Kony 2012 video is to increase the awerness of the general public about what is happening in Africa in regards to Joseph Kony. Using social networking the Kony 2012 movement exploded. After the release of the video on youtube, facebook and twitter were flooded with the message of Kony 2012.

In May 2010 from the push of Invisible Children (based on their website and video) President Obama signed the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The act enables the US to kill or capture Joseph Kony but the US only sent 100 troops to look for Kony.

From my point of the view the Kony movement is a bit too late. From reports Joseph Kony is no longer a major military threat but is now hiding in the jungle outside of Uganda trying to avoid being caught. Other reports state he is close to his death bed.

The Kony movement has stirred people into action but the problem with it is not everyone is asking questions about it. Questions about the Invisible Children organization are arising that they could be “scamming” people of their money. Questions whether or not people should be interacting with another countries problems and the government of nations.

The Invisible Children and the Kony movement does show how social media can produce change and get people to pay attention in places around the world. It shows how in todays world the use of social media can make or break any political, social or spiritual movements. With the aid of facebook Kony 2012 exploded and all over my facebook people were reposting the video and at the same time people began to ask questions. Along with the question people also posted other problems that are affecting Africa, like the aids crisis and the constant reports about droubt. In a way the Kony movement has brought light to Africa to us in the Western World who on a day to day basis will only glance at stories about other places around the world. Along with these social movements we still have to stop and ask questions about what this movement means and what is the whole story.

International Criminal Court Convicts Thomas Lubanga

An important day for the International Criminal Court where Thomas Lubanga, leader of a powerful and violent militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was convicted of conscripting soldiers who were under the age of 15. This is the first major conviction by the International Criminal Court. Formed in 2002 it looks at cases involving genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC enforces the mandates and laws put in place by the United Nations.  Article 38, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, enforces that governments need to take the necessary steps to ensure that children under the age of 15 do not take part in any armed conflict. This involves the refrained use of volunteers and conscripted soldiers under the age of 15. Currently 142 states are taking part in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and there are more states who have signed but have not ratified it.

Following the law put in place by the United Nations the International Criminal Court was successful in convicting Thomas Lubanga for conscripting soldiers who were under the age of 15. The succesfful conviction of Thomas Lubanga will hopefully stop the use of children in armed conflict and grant them the freedom to be kids. The conviction of Thomas Lubanga also proves the viability of the International Criminal Court and the successful enforcement of the laws put into place by the United Nations.

Chapter 2 Blog – The Cold War and the Domino Effect

At the start of the Cold War the United States of America was afraid of the spread of the political ideology of Communism. They instituted a policy of containment in hopes to stop the spread of Communism to other states. The Korean War and the Vietnam War were the outcomes of the theory the American’s had of the Domino Effect. The American government was afraid once one country falls to Communism more will follow. The Cold War would be the clash of ideologies and unfortunately for countries like Vietnam and Korea there would be no armed conflict between the Russia and the United States directly.