To complete question # 53 on the "Foundations Investigation," select an article from the PRINT issue of Current History. Your comment should include the following:
- Cultural Region (Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, or Latin America)
- MLA Citation
- Concise (no more than 5 sentences) summary that includes a clear thesis statement.
Region: Middle East
ReplyDeleteCitation: Wehrey, Frederic. "Uprisings Jolt the Saudi-Iranian Rivalry." Current History
110.740: 352-57. Print.
Summary:
Saudi Arabia and Iran, with their tradition of competition for Middle Eastern authority, now face extra forces as new countries add to their competition for power. Both governments are involving themselves in the affairs of other states, with the end goal of beating out the other for ultimate control. The state of Iraq is one of their major contests.
Cultural Region: Middle East
ReplyDeleteCitation: Taspinar, Omer. "Turkey's Fading Dream of Europe." Current History 2007: 123-36.
Print.
Summary: Turkey's long-held goal involving Europe fails. Turkey has always had a dream of becoming a member of the European Union. Mistakes from the past greatly affect Turkey's chance of integrating with Europe.
Region: Middle East
ReplyDeleteCitation: Finan, William W., Jr. "Rethinking Iraq and the Region." Current History Dec. 2008: 443-44. Print.
Summary: This article talks about the different opinions about whether or not we won the war in Iraq. Peter Galbraith thinks that we lost the war in Iraq because of how there are strong allies of Iraq that run their government. In addition, Bret Stephens thinks that we won the war in Iraq by saying Al Qaeda was defeated and saying that Iraq is on our side. Furthermore, there are ideas saying that Iran has won the war in Iraq. It is said that Iran has won because they tried to remove insurgents instead of trying to kill U.S. soldiers.
Cultural Region: Latin America
ReplyDeleteMLA Citation: Finan, William W., Jr. "Has the Cuban Moment Arrived?" Current History 2009: 93-94. Print.
Summary: At the end of the Spanish-American war, the U.S. gave Cuba the option to change into a reliable state. The President at the time, Fidel Castro, refused and made it a socialist state. As a result, the U.S. set an embargo, having strict restrictions for any one/thing entering, or leaving Cuba. When Fidel resigned, his brother, Raul, took command, and he is now liberalizing measures. The U.S. is hoping to eliminate the embargo, and start over by offering diplomatic relations.
Cultural Region - Africa
ReplyDeleteMLA Citation - Johnson, R. W. "Zimbabwe: The Case for Intervention." Current History May 2007:
233-34. Print.
Summary - This article is about how Zimbabwe needs an intervention because they "mock the conscience of the world." Thousands of people are dying each week from things like AIDS and starvation. Over 100,000 homes were demolished in order to clean up the area, but it left all the inhabitants without shelter. Since Mugabe ordered this, he is being called out on his actions by other countries. Therefore, to pressure Mugabe, other countries threaten to join one another to over throw him and return the country to peaceful democracy.
Region: Europe
ReplyDeleteMLA Citation: Bryant, Mark. "Fleet Street's Star of India." History Today June 2007: 58-59. Print.
Summary: This article is about how Europe and Russia may overcome conflict and work together. Though both Europe and Russia are different in the sense of their economy and such, they are working to become alike. They are creating a relationship due to the downfall of the economy and the new political environment.
Citation: Mullen, Rani D. "India Flexes its Foreign Aid Muscle." Current History Apr. 2012: 154-56. Print.
ReplyDeleteSummary: In the articel "India Flexes its Foreign Aid Muscle" it talks about India's forien aid. WHile India is still considered a poor country they find ways to help out other richer coutries. They are even starting to refuse help from other nations. India wants to be seen as an equal from the nations. They also have a good education program, most kids being able to speak fluent English.
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
ReplyDeleteCitation: Nega, Berhanu. "Ethiopia Is Headed for Chaos." Current History May 2010: 186-92. Print.
Summary: The article "Ethiopia Is Headed for Chaos" is about the current leader taking away the possible switch to democracy. This descent will surely weaken the entire section of the African continent. Many people are angry and want to break free of the tyranny imposed at this time. The conflict will surely be violent and chaotic.
Region: Europe
ReplyDeleteCitation: Hopkin, Jonathan. "Can Italy's Monti Save the Euro?" Current History. March 2012: 94-100. Print.
Summary:
Italy has been stuck in a horrible debt crisis for a while, and Prime Minister, Mario Monti have been trying to save the country's economy. Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland have enjoyed economic booms in the 90s, Italy hasn't had much of a growth rate. Italy's economical structure also contains many flaws, such as an inefficient bureaucracy, impenetrable legal and regulatory systems, and endemic corruption and tax evasion. Although Italy is stuck in a rough patch, the EU believes that Italy can resolve its problems with austerity and reform.
Region: Middle East
ReplyDeleteCitation: Finan Jr., William W. "The Surge Was Hell." Current History: 432-34. Print.
Summary: The article "The Surge Was Hell" is about the problems between President George W. Bush and Iraq. A book was written about the events that took place when Bush decided to send 30,000 troops into Iraq called "The Good Soldiers." This book describes the cost of this surge, and how Iraq paid for it.
Region: East Asia
ReplyDeleteCitation: Whyte, Martin King. "China's Post-Socialist Inequality." N.d. PDF file.
This article explains the changes that have affected the lives of Chinese citizens since the death of Mao Zedong and the start of reforms under Deng Xiaoping. Some of these changes include higher growth rate, higher living standards, and reduced poverty. One topic that is discussed in this article is the reform model which has helped Chinese students to get an education.
Cultural Region: Latin America
ReplyDeleteMLA citation: Navia, Patricio. "Chile's Middle Class Flexes Its Muscles." Current History Feb. 2012: 75-76.
Basically, this article is about how Chile's Middle Class is not treated fairly. A main concern they have is that they have to compete with upper class citizens for jobs, which they do not see as fair. Another concern is that they are charged a great amount when a private company does them a service, which is not always something they can afford. Finally, programs within the safeety net cannot be shared with the Middle class citizens because of funding, which is not fair. A series of protests have occurred, and they were given more job opportunities.
Cultural Region:
ReplyDeleteEurope
MLA Citation:
Gros, Daniel. “The Misdiagnosed Debt Crisis.” Current History Mar. 2012: n. pag. Print.
Summary:
In “The Misdiagnosed Debt Crisis”, the reasons behind the major debt crisis in Europe were blamed on the setup of the Economic and Monetary System rather than the Euro. Through this argument, Gros discusses that the European Central Bank ensured stability whereas the Stability and Growth Pact (an intergovernmental agreement) failed to operate successfully. In addition, Greece, the nation at the point of economic collapse, neglected this systems laws. Because of this countries instability, other European nations were forced to pay high risk premiums on debt. In essence, rather than fiscal policies causing the downfall of the European economy, a few unstable nations were the true cause of this situation.
europe
ReplyDeleteCharap, Samual. "No Obituaries Yet for Capitalism Russia." Current Histroy 108.720 (2009): 333-38. Print.
this article discusses Russia's economy and how there are issues that are harming it. The President it doing his best to fix the issue through the institution of a cut in corporate taxes. They also instituted the russian crissis plan.
Cultural Region: Middle East
ReplyDeleteMLA Citation: Serwer, Daniel. "Iraq Struggles to Govern Itself." Current History: 390-95.
Print.
Summary: This article focuses on the struggles that the Iraqis are having with supporting their own government. The main issue that is described, is who will lead the country and the government. Other problems are coming from involvement from America, by still having troops in Iraq. A conclusion has been made that there needs to be support from other leaders in the beginning, as to guide the new leader or leaders of Iraq.
Cultural Region: Africa
ReplyDeleteMLA Citation: Mills, Greg. "The US and Africa: Prisoners of a Paradigm?" Current History
(2008): 225-30. Print.
Summary: Africa began to thrive, develop and build up with the help of the United States and China. The US gave $15billion towards the AIDS initiative in Africa while China began constructing an embassy building. With a decrease in war as the years progressed and a growing relationship with the US, Africa was able to gain and maintain stability.
Cultural Region: Europe
ReplyDeleteMurray Feshbach. "The Health Crisis in Russia's Ranks." Current History: 336-41. Print.
This article describes Russia's military problems, through both finances and health care. Russia found itself in some turmoil financially, as now individuals are required to pay the state back for the cost of education, usually around $12,000-$25,000. In addition, a tuberculosis epidemic and the spread of HIV/AIDS also proves a big problem, as in the time of 10 years, the drop of births dropped by 50%.