SJS 8 - The Difficult Road to Peace in Colombia

Source: Posada-Carbo, Eduardo. “The Difficult Road to Peace in Colombia.” Current History, vol. 116, no. 787, Feb. 2017, pp. 74-76.

Author Credentials: Eduardo Posado-Carbo is a professor of history and politics of Latin America at the Latin America Centre of Oxford. He trained in law at the Javeriana University in Bogotá, worked at the Asociación Nacional de Industriales, and edited a newspaper in Colombia all before he was a professor. He has completed an MPhil in Latin America Studies at St. Anthony College and then a DPhil in Modern History at Oxford. In addition to this, he has been published several times in academic journals. His wide range of research topics and accomplishments in Latin America makes him very qualified to write about peace in Colombia. In this article, he seems slightly biased towards the people's want for peace while still thoroughly presenting all of the important facts of the issue.

Summary: This article addresses an international question and concern as to why Colombians rejected a peace accord in a plebiscite when they have consistently shown that the majority favors peace. After decades of on and off guerrilla wars, the government and the Colombian rebel group (FARC) finally reached a tentative peace agreement. Soon after this, when the decision between continuing conflict and a sustainable peace was offered to the citizens, it was more than a simple choice between peace and war. Many citizens wanted peace but were not willing to sacrifice justice for it. The abstentionism due to many people leaving the country and short notice also contributed to this unexpected result. The president, Juan Manuel Santos, met with the opposition group to make changes to the peace accord and decided to implement it directly through the Congress to avoid the prospect of the FARC returning to arms. The peace process has now moved into its final stages with the start of transitioning former guerrillas to civilian life and the implementation of the peace accord into law. Attention is now focused on the 2018 election which will likely determine the future of Colombian peace.

Analysis: The author id a reliable and qualified source because of his previous qualifications and accomplishments concerning the study of Latin America. In this article, he seems slightly biased towards the people's want for peace while still thoroughly presenting all of the important facts of the issue. He also frequently distinguishes between fact and opinion. As this is a relatively current event, he includes opinions by bringing up opinion polls and surveys that the people in Colombia have done and their perspectives. However, he also addresses the other perspective in a question and answer type layout.

SJS6: Muhhamad Ali Jinnah

Source- Muhhamad Ali Jinnah." MuhhamadAli Jinnah. Google Scholar. Excerpt originally  published in Muhammad Khan Corporation 

Author credentials- this was written about Muhhamad Ali Jinnah and all of the accomplishments he has accomplished. This is an exerpt from a larger collection of books about his life and his acoomplishments. 

Summary- Muhhamad Ali Jinnah was a Pakistan activist. He served as a leader of the Muslim League and Pakistan's first governer. He had many accomplishments including, exposing Hinduism, joining the Indian National Congress, leading the Muslim League, and founding Pakistan. This source explained his life, and his accomplishments. 

Analysis- This source wasn't biased, it explaind his good and bad qualities. The author could've put more in depth analysis into his life and why he made the choices he did. Overall, the author knew what he/she was talking about but could've went more in depth in the information. 

PDP6- Hind Swaraj

Author credentials- Mohamdas Ghandi was an Indian activist. He was the father of modern India and he organized numerous accounts of India discrimination. He was the head of the India National Congress, and he also lead various independence movements.

Context- This text is based off of the life of Ghandi and how he helped India gain independence from Brirish rule and how he helped the discrimination in India.

Summary- This text mainly revolves around "Hind Swaraj" which means "India Home Rule". This was one of Ghandi's best known works. The primary document also talks about the various ways Ghandi helps overcome the independence of India. For example, the author talks about passive resistance and how it secured rights by personal suffering. The author also talks about how Ghandi wasn't afriad of anything and he would stand up for what he believes in. This primary doument explaind how Ghandi achieved the independence and end to racism in India but doesn't fully go into how or why he did what he did.

Key quote- "Passive resistance became one of the most influential doctrines of the mid twentieth century, and was adopted by Martin Luthur King in the struggle against racial dicrimination in the United States.

SJS5: Hagakure

Author Credentials: Yamamoto Tsunetomo was a scribe for a samurai. He was influenced in his early years by a Buddhist monk and Confucian scholar. When his master died, he then became a Buddhist priest, and after this nothing is known about his life.

Summary: This passage is all about what samurais are and what the characteristics of samurais are. The author talks about what a samurai should act and be like, and how people should treat samurais.

Analysis: Overall, this passage is well written. The author seems to be very knowledgeable of samurai and their actions. This knowledge is probably from when Tsunetomo was a scribe to a samurai. Overall, there was some bias towards samurais, making them sound like they can do no wrong.

Russia and China are Putin-Xi Suppression on “Free” Media

The effects of technology on ordinary people's access to information in China and Russia.

      Media censorship is a serious concern that threatens the necessity for a free and unbiased media that acts as a watchtower over governments, an essential part to preserving people’s rights and establishing new rights around the world. The ideal for a free press is very much threatened in China and Russia as technology increases, mainly because of government fears that subjects may access new information that may undermine authority. Both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have been ardent supporters of government crackdown on media and have launched campaigns to silence media that opposes them. As technology use has increased in both countries, so has state controlled media. Both countries have hushed political adversaries by fear tactics and slowing the release of their information, even to the extent of throwing them in prison.
    Among the generation of post Soviet Union Russians, support for Putin is as high as 88%(*1), despite his long “reign” and ultimate desire for power and difficulty in everyday life. In Russia, among many young people (coined the “Putin Generation”) their is the sentiment of wanting to achieve more than what they currently have or the desire for success. This often conflicts with older generations that have lived under the Soviet Union for almost all, if not all, of their adult lives. The values of the generations that grew up during the time of the Soviet Union are still very relevant and impact many young people in modern Russia. An example of the increase in state run media is after the protests of the 2012 election in which Putin was able to retain another term. This victory was heavily protested when many polling station observers caught video proof of ballots being stuffed for Putin. Tens of thousands, many young people, turned to the streets to protest the victory of Putin who they viewed as winning unfairly. This was something unseen in Russia for decades and Putin responded by jailing many of the protestors and increasing his attacks on “liberals who advocated for freedom and democracy...{and labeled them as} traitors” (Ioffe, pg. 100). By reacting in a belligerent way to demands for fair elections and further democratization, Putin established his desire to stay in power. Putin by using fear tactics in arresting protesters established fear amongst protesters and further instilled the older generation's lack of desire in political engagement into younger generations. This coincides with the lack of information that Russian citizens have access to and this keeps power at the hand of Putin’s government.
     Like what is seen in Putin’s Russia, Xi Jinping’s China has seen very similar effects of technologies introduction into China. One of the most contradictory aspects of media censorship in China is the fact that the Chinese constitution gives citizens the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of press. The excuse the government gives is that media contradictory to the goals of the government is harmful to the government’s interests and even traitorous. Xi Jinping, since rising to power has endorsed an effort to crack down on media. Xi's policy towards media enforcement has been described in state run media as "essential to political stability." The Chinese government forces foreign companies like Google to succumb to their standards for media or risk being blocked by firewalls. The government of China has blocked news stories from entering the country and has jailed journalists for contradicting the government’s regulations on media. A prominent example of this is the Chinese journalist Liu Xiaobo who was imprisoned for calling for democratic reforms to the government. He later received eleven years in prison but was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. He was not permitted to leave the country to receive his award and news of the achievement was blocked in Chinese media. Also the government explicitly censors information related to events in which it determines that the people should not know, including historical events such as Tiananmen Square.
     All of these effects of lack of access to objective information in Russia and China allow power to be in the hands of existing governments despite concerns of citizens and outsiders. The media crackdown by both Putin and Xi demonstrates the threat of people lacking information and the ability to make informed decisions.

Works Cited
Ioffe, Julia, and Gerd Ludwig. “The Putin Generation.” National Geographic, vol. 230, no. 6, Dec. 2016, pp. 76-101.
Fallows, James. "CHINA’s GREAT LEAP BACKWARD. (Cover Story)." Atlantic, vol. 318, no. 5, Dec.       2016, p. 58. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=119211199.
Xu, Beina. "Media Censorship in China." Edited by Eleana Albert. Council on
     Foreign Relations.

SJS8 - "Affordability and Mobile Telephony in Latin America"

Source: Galperin, Hernan. "Affordability and Mobile Telephony in Latin America."
     Proyecto Afrolatin@, vol. 1, 28 June 2012. Accessed 5 June 2017.


Author Credentials: Hernan Galperin is a professor of research at USC's Annenberg School for Communication. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and is an expert in communications, foreign relations, and information technology. He has researched this and similar topics extensively and seems to be a very reliable source.

Summary: The article details a study conducted to determine the affordability of mobile phone usage in Latin America. It examines the different tariffs put on the services across Latin American countries, and finds them to be generally higher than those in more developed countries. Next, the article talks about how affordable cell phone services are for the lower class. When compared with the lower classes' average incomes, almost all the countries in the study had tariffs that were generally not affordable for these people. Finally, the article mentions how Latin American people use cell services significantly less than many other regions, probably because of the high and unaffordable tariffs.

Analysis: The article is very thorough in going through the research conducted. It includes several graphs that plot out the various tariffs and wage gaps, to back up and showcase the research done. The article also poses different reasoning and viewpoints to help explain the data. It compares data found to data of other regions, such as South Asia, to put it into perspective. While Galperin is Latino himself, and a bit of bias is present because of this, he does an overall good job of keeping the article as objective as possible by relying on facts and numbers instead of opinions.

PDP8- The_True_History_of_the_Conquest_of_New_Spain

Author Bio- Bernal Diaz was a spanish conquistador, and was a soldier in the conquest of Mexico. In this time, he was under Hernán Cortez. Late in his life, he then wrote about his experiences during the conquest.

Context- The text was based off of the experiences of spanish conquistadors during the conquest of Mexico. This was when the Spanish were starting expeditions to conquest and find new territories.

Summary- Overall, this text is mainly about Diaz explaining what he saw in Mexico. Everything he saw was new to him, so he did not really understand different rituals and gods Mexico had from his perspective. He starts off by talking about the market, and how there was an abundance of goods being sold and an abundance of people organized there. The conquistadors, after looking around, climbed a temple and were met by priests. The priests offered them to look in the temple at their gods after Cortez asked to see them. When the Spanish went in, they were disgusted in what they saw. Their gods looked like demons, and the whole place was covered in blood because of the sacrafices they preformed their. Cortez offered to introduce them to “better” gods, but the priests took affence to what they were suggesting. The spanish conquistadors then keft the temple, wishing they would not have climbed it in the first place.

Key Quote- “There were soldiers among us who had been in many parts of the world, in Constantinople and Rome and all over Italy, who said that they had never before seen a market place so large and so well laid out and so filled with people.”

PDP5 - "The People's Democratic Dictatorship"

Author Bio: Mao Zedong was the founder of the People’s Republic of China and ruled from 1949 until his death in 1976. Influenced by Marx and Lenin, Mao founded the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. 

Context: This speech was given on June 30, 1949, the commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party and the beginning of Mao’s rule in China. This speech shows how the nationalist and socialist movements of Europe spread around the world to China. 

Summary: In this speech, Mao states how his new system of communism in China will lead to prosperity. Mao says that China must unite with the workers and the proletariat and reject the western ideals of Great Britain and the United States. Mao compares Marxism and Leninism to a weapon and advocates for the alliance of China with the Soviet Union and other socialist government around the world. Mao’s democratic dictatorship (“democracy for the people and dictatorship over the reactionaries”) is introduced and said to be the best way for China’s development as a communist state. In this speech, Mao sets the goals to abolish classes in China and to put the working man in power. 

Key Quote: “The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is our best teacher and we must learn from it. The situation both at home and abroad is in our favour we can rely fully on the weapon of the people's democratic dictatorship, unite the people throughout the country, the reactionaries excepted, and advance steadily to our goal.”

SJS6 - "Gandhi Values and Terrorism"

Source: Sen, Amartya. "Gandhi Values and Terrorism." ETC: A Review of General Semantics, vol. 65, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp. 76-79. MasterFILE Premier. Accessed 4 June 2017.

Author Credentials: Amartya Sen is a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University and formerly the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is Senior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Previously he was Professor of Economics at Jadavpur University Calcutta, the Delhi School of Economics,, The London School of Economics, and Drummond Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University.

Summary: Sen argues that the values of Gandhi are useful today in guiding leaders to ending terrorism. For example, Gandhi advocated against schools that promote the hatred or alienation of another group of people based on race, religion, or caste. Using this Gandhian value in British policy has basically eliminated the militant preaching in certain mosques and madrassas. Gandhi advocated for nonviolent approaches to ending violence, which Sen uses to argue against the torture of prisoners at prisons like Guantanamo. Sen states that the torture and poor treatment of prisoners is used by terrorist groups to drum up support for their causes. Torture and abuse cannot be used to fight torture and abuse. Gandhi also spoke out about the divisions between Indians based on religion. Sen argues that bridging the gap between people and seeing others not in terms of religion, but as humans, can have a tangible effect on the efforts to end terrorism.

Analysis: Sen presents a good and especially poignant argument in this article. However, Sen seeming portrays Gandhi and his views as infallible. There is not much diversity in thought in this article. Sen is very knowledgeable of Gandhi and his views, and he does present a strong argument with good supporting details. Overall, the argument of the article is strong and well-supported, but some bias is detectable.

SJS7 - "A New Strategy on Myanmar"

Source: Abramowitz, Morton. “A New Strategy on Myanmar.” Current History vol. 107: no. 712. Nov. 2008, pp. 393-394

Author Credentials: This article was written by two people, one being Morton Abramowitz and Jonathan Kolieb. Abramowitz was the former U.S. ambassador to Thailand in the late 70s and deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Kolieb is a lecturer in law and business at RMIT University and has served as a United Nation’s Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

Summary: The article begins by discussing the how much of a disaster Myanmar is in at the moment, and discusses how the people of Myanmar are suffering. Cyclone Nargis had struck Myanmar and the junta was not allowing aid and relief workers to come in. The authors then explain that this causes an international uproar which soon dies down and allows the regime to remain in power. The international community wants the situation in Myanmar to change, but does not do anything in order to implement change. Countries like China, India, and Thailand do not deal with the problems in Myanmar, but are invested in the energy resources that reside there. Myanmar, much like North Korea, is a closed society and the leadership abuses its power over the people as well as uses the wealth for its own personal gain. The article then states that the military power has resisted protests from its people for many years, and the only way Myanmar will be fixed is if it becomes a democratic society. Myanmar in the weeks following the disaster allowed for relief workers to come in as they realized they needed help reconstructing the villages. Myanmar is in need of many other things as well as far as aid goes because the health care system and the educational system are in terrible condition. In order to reconstruct the Irrawaddy Delta the international donor community has to donate $1 billion, but in order to help the country as a whole they will most likely need another billion dollars which Myanmar might not even take. Inside the country there are many organizations working secretly in order to help in the aftermath of the cyclone. In the context of history this is well after independence of Myanmar which was then Burma, but it can be traced back to British imperialism and how the arbitrary boundary lines were drawn up by the British. This lead to conflicts and eventually the military rule which is the state Myanmar was in when this article was written.

Analysis: The authors make a strong argument that Myanmar can not be assisted very much in order to end the military rule, but aid will help the citizens the most. The authors also provide evidence to why aid is the best way to help Myanmar because of how the international community uses Myanmar and can find no way to end the regime. The authors wrote this based off their opinions on how to handle Myanmar, but they do provide facts to support their opinions. I think the authors are reliable sources given their background in human rights studies and international backgrounds.

PDP5 - Letter to King George III

Author Bio: The author of this document was the emperor of China, Chi’en-lung, was the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty. During his rule there were many foreign merchants attempting to come into China in order to sell their western goods. Being a more traditional emperor he did not care for much of the foreign items being brought. In his letter he is against the sale of western goods in China and is not willing to loosen the restrictions on British merchants.

Context: This document was written at the end of the 18th century where China was reluctant to begin trade with the Europeans. The tributary states was where most of the British trading was done until they got footholds in many ports and decided to pay tributary to the Emperor and ask to trade in the Canton area. Their request was denied and this went on for many years until the British were finally able to force the Chinese to open up to European trading after the Opium Wars. The time this letter was written displays how the Chinese were rightfully worried about the foreign trade.

Summary: The letter begins with the emperor acknowledging King George III tribute in order to help facilitate the trade between the British and China. He then goes on to discuss how he accepted the ambassador, Macartney, and his deputies with open arms yet they did not abide by the dress code. The emperor then discusses the problems of not abiding by the customs of another’s country and how China would not be able to change its traditions and culture in order to fit that of Europe. He also states the even if the envoy would be able to come dressed in proper Chinese attire that their ideologies would not be Chinese so the envoy would gain nothing. He then says how he accepts the gifts from the King as to not be rude to him, and says that the he has no need for European manufactures as he has everything he already needs. He then states that he is sending the envoy home peacefully with gifts for the King. The emperor then states that it is possible for the British to trade in the Canton area, but takes offense that they’re asking to loosen the regulations for foreign merchants. He says that this would be unfair to the other countries trading in the Canton region. The emperor then denies the British request to have a small trading port on the island of Chusan. He also denies the request for the merchants to be able to roam freely in Aomen because he feels that the Chinese may have conflicts with the merchants. The last thing the emperor denies is the ability for the Europeans to freely practice and spread their religion in China. He ends the letter by saying that the King should not send his merchant ships to trade wherever they please and if they do they will be forced off the land and back to England.

Key Quotation: “I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures.”

PDP8- Jamaican Letter

Author Bio: Simon Bolivar, also known as "El Libertador" is very well known throughout Latin America because of his famous political roles and manifestoes. He was born into a wealthy family and was the son of a Venezuelan nobleman who died when Bolivar was still studying in school. Bolivar then moved to Spain to finish studying and returned to Venezuela when Napoleon loosened up and countries started gaining independence. Bolivar led the revolution of Venezuela against Spain in order for them to truly obtained their independence which they declared in 1811. Once he beat Spain he declared the territory where he was as the Republic of Colombia. Upper Peru was renamed in Bolivar's honor, it is now Bolivia. Bolivar is clearly an important historical figure who assisted in creating Latin American countries that were free from Spain and also providing his opinions through societies through his manifestos just like his most famous, Jamaican Letter.

Data/Context: The Jamaican Letter describes the thoughts of Bolivar and what he believes the Americas will be able to accomplish and what they will not be able to accomplish. He provides details that he is unsure of but follows through with reasoning about why one way is better than the other and why that one way would be more beneficial compared to the rather. This letter shows a lot of predictions that Bolivar made while some are solid and actually did happen others are the opposite of what he believed would be able to work but they did.

Summary: Bolivar begins by describing how new the Americas are and how young they are in all the liberal arts but they are old in the civil society ways. He continues to look at how Americans are citizens of America yet they follow the laws of Europe and fight off the invaders and have rights that the natives do not who were truly there before the Europeans who turned to Americans came. He continues talking about the rights of the society and the domestic affairs that were not very strong right off the bat and how those affairs could have been strong if things were different. Bolivar then describes the social status of the Americans that live in a Spanish system and how they are like the lower middle class, greater than serfs or a consumer. He closes by stating his predictions and hopes for the future of America.

Key Quote: "From the foregoing we can draw these conclusions: The American provinces are fighting for their freedom, and they will ultimately succeed. Some provinces as a matter of course will form federal and some central republics; the larger areas will inevitably establish monarchies, some of which will fare so badly that they will disintegrate in either present or future revolutions. To consolidate a great monarchy will be no easy task, but it will be utterly impossible to consolidate a great republic."

PDP8 - Slavery and the Slave Trade of Brazil

Author Bio: Thomas Nelson is the author of this excerpt and describes what he has seen during his experience as a surgeon on the Crescent, a British ship working to stop the slave trade of Brazil.

Data/Context: This document fits into our understanding of history and culture because its about the experience of a man working for Britain to stop the slave trade of Brazil. It describes the living conditions of the slaves in detail, which is important because slavery was such a huge, terrible part of world history.  

Summary: Overall, the document describes Nelson's experience saving and treating slaves as they were being illegally shipped to Brazil. The document begins with Nelson describing what he saw as he first stepped on a ship. Slaves were in unspeakable condition, many with multiple infectious diseases and all with a lack of food and water. The boats were overcrowded and many people could not walk. The slaves had to suffer through a suffocating heat and many did not recover from their diseases or suffered from lasting effects. In short, Nelson's description of the conditions that the slaves lived through while being transported shows just how inhumane slavery was and how much it needed to be abolished.

Key Quotation: "Many I found afflicted with a confluent smallpox, still more with purulent ophthalmia, and the majority of what remained, with dysentery, ulcers, emaciation, and exhaustion."

For Crown and Country: A Brief History and Analysis of the Muslim Conquests of Arabia and Northern Africa

The Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD marked the beginning of a period of rapid Islamic expansion and consolidation of territory now known as the Muslim Expansion. With unprecedented speed and efficiency, Muslims from Saudi Arabia conquered the Arabian Peninsula, large portions of South Asia, and all of Northern Africa in just under 70 years. What exactly happened? How was a mass conquest and conversion on such a scale brought about? Was it ethical? This post seeks to answer these questions to shed light onto the phenomenon that quite literally took the world by storm.

We begin with a short summary of the events that transpired during the Expansion. Not much is known about the early conquests of Arabia under Muhammad, except for the fact that he managed to take control of and unify much of the peninsula. After his death in 632, his role as caliph was passed down to his father in law Abu Bakr, who ruled for just two more years before he died. Abu Bakr and his future successor Umar ibn Al-Khattab sent troops into modern day Syria, Israel, and Palenstine in order to secure control over the northern Middle East and to weaken the Byzantine Empire who controlled these territories. A series of successful military campaigns saw this large swathe of land become part of the Muslim Empire. After Bakr's death in 634, Umar engaged in relentless warfare against both the Byzantine Empire's southern strongholds, and the Persian Sasanian Empire. The eventual subjugation of over three-fourths of the Byzantine Empire and the destruction and reconstruction of the entire Sasanian Empire ensured Umar had full authority over the Middle East. What happened in Africa is almost identical. With continued sieges and assaults on the remaining Byzantine strongholds in Arabia, Arab troops pressured the Empire into signing a treaty relieving control of Egypt to them as well as agreeing to taxes on non-Muslim citizens. With Egypt firmly under their grasp, the Arabs could go in and out of Africa as they pleased, conquering more and more territory for themselves.

In order to fully understand how such a massive conquest was possible, one must examine the state of the Middle East and Northern Africa prior to the Expansion. The Byzantines and Sasanians been in conflict for many years, leading to weakened homeland security, confusion in both governments, and a decrease in resources available to the government. The opportunistic Arabs used the war to their advantage and swiftly took control of both powers. This gave them more resources, soldiers, and a large amount of maneuverability around the peninsula. In addition, the destruction of the Byzantines in Arabia put pressure on their African counterparts and allowed the Muslims to force Egypt from their control. Gaining ownership of such a powerful African nation was a big step forward in their conquest. From there on out, there was no empire or territory that could oppose the might of the Muslim invaders.

As in many other conquests, the ethics of the Muslim Expansion are often questioned. Many a person has repeatedly heard the same story about the mass conversion of millions to Islam; that traders and missionaries spread their faith to people who heartily received it as liberation from the outdated, oppressive dogma of their old religions without question. While this may be true in certain areas, the
fact remains that large populations of people were converted under the threat of death or second-class citizenry marked by substandard education and high taxes. It is also true that even though some people sincerely wanted to convert, Arab governments often opted to withhold the teachings of Islam from them in order to generate more revenue for the state through taxes. But were they really in the wrong? Quran (8:39) states "And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder, unbelief) and religion is all for Allah." With this excerpt as proof, one could argue that the conquerors were just following their beliefs in forcing people to convert to Islam. In the same way, it can also be pointed out that taxes are an essential aspect of statebuilding in any government's economy, and that the governmenr needed the money in order to give citizens the quality of life they wanted. As such, the actions of Muslim invaders cannot be presented as moral, but they can neither be brushed off as immoral.

Though it was simply one long cycle of war and conquest, the Muslim Expansion will be remembered as one of the greatest territorial expansions in world history; one that transformed a religion into an empire. The mass conquest and conversion of so much territory ushered the world into a new era known as the Islamic Golden Age.

Citations-

Gearon, Eamonn. "The Arab Invasions." 61. MAS Ultra - School Edition,
     web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/
     detail?vid=6&sid=8fd4640b-f924-4a3a-a89f-f0560d8a8ced%40sessionmgr101&hid=128&bda
     ta=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=61866337&db=ulh. Accessed 25 May 2017.
     Originally published in Hstory Today, June 2011, pp. 47-52. History Today
     is a trusted and prestigious history-based magazine. The author, Earonn
     Gearon, is a seasoned writer and historian with a focus on the Middle East
     and its history. He has written three books about Middle Eastern history
     and contemporary issues.
Created: 05/25/17 04:19PM

Ibrahim, Raymond. "The Historical Reality of the Muslim Conquests." Middle East
     Forum, 1 Mar. 2012, www.meforum.org/3182/history-muslim-conquests.
     Accessed 15 May 2017. The site's description of Raymond Ibrahim is as
     follows: "Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David
     Horowitz Freedom Center and Associate Fellow at the Middle East
     Forum." Ibrahim is a widely published Egyptian-American author who gained fame for his writings on the Middle East and Islam. He has appeared on and been interviewed by Al Jazeera, MSNBC, C-SPAN, NPR, and Reuters. Ibrahim's article on this forum is extremely popular and
     has been reposted numerous times online on other trustworthy websites such
     as The United West. The site on which he posted this article, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is a conservative foundation that seeks to empower people through freedom of the press. I   believed it would be a good idea to compare and contrast a conversative source (The
     David Horowitz Freedom Center) to a relativley liberal source (History
     Today) to see the arguments of both sides and come to a conclusion after
     taking both into consideraton. Created: 05/17/17 06:44PM | Updated: 05/17/17 06:46PM

Rezakhani, Khodadad. "Arab Conquests and Sasanian Iran." History Today, Apr.
     2017, pp. 28-36. History Today is a highly reputable and prestigious
     historically-based magazine. According to this magazine, the author is an
     "Associate Research Scholar at the Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani
     Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies in Princeton University," making
     him a credible source for the subject at hand. I believe the topic makes
     bias in this article very hard to implement, so I do not expect there to be
     any outstanding examples of it.

The "Human Race" to a Better Tomorrow: Evolutions of the World in the Mind and Body

      The human existence continues to flourish day by day as a result of globalization and the differences among people. Globalization spreads culture which includes language. The spread of culture leads to the spread of ideas and evolution of minds and the way that people live their everyday lives. The first source, "Beyond Human" includes humans moving around the world and changing biologically. This is a change in the sense of people moving to different places from starting in Africa to other climates with people with different beliefs. This changes people over time biologically according to different climates but also changing people culturally with religion and languages from being isolated (Max). This is called geographic determinism which is the premise of "Guns, Germs, & Steel". The second source, "Human Evolution" is about the more scientific bias of evolution of the human based upon globalization. This source states that as populations of early humans began to increase, more human ancestors moved around into separate groups. The people being closer together while isolated from other peoples had their own form of communication, whether is was stratching on a rock or making the smallest but of noise. This was very important because it is what led to different languages and different people based on where and with whom they lived. The third source, "Language and Globalization" is evidently about globalization and how it affects languages around the world. As stated in our notes from "A Civilization Primer", Language is any kind of communication, non verbal, written, or verbal, and is the most important of the seven components of culture. This relates to every one of the texts because culture is what is created and learned as humans evolve in every way. Humans learn from other humans and culture is a vital aspect to learn. So, if language is the most important part of culture, and culture is one of the most important parts of human evolution of the mind and body, then each and every one of these sources connects to the importance of all human beings and the spread of ideas through globalization. This was introduced to our class through every unit that we have gone through so far which is why we circle back to Jared Diamond so often and his philosophies.
      "Beyond Human" connects to "Human Evolution" because they both relate to a statement from the second source, "At some point in our development, humans began to rely more on learned behavior (which creates culture) than on genetically fixed or instinctive behavior," (Lerner). The third source "Language and Globalization" links to the other two sources because it states the description of evolution, not biologically, but linguistically, or culturally, "...continuity  of  the  linguistic  diversity  created  by  humanity  through  its  Diaspora  all over  the  world,  and  the  need  for  intercommunication  between  these  groups  of  linguistically- diverse individuals in the new – ‘glocal’ – era of positive re-unification of the species," (Delhumeau). This connects and summarizes the aspect of globalization and its connections and significance to World Cultures and the arguments of globalization and evolutions of cultures and languages.

Works Cited 

Delhumeau, Herve. “Language and Globalization.” Wordpress.com, 22 July 2011, hdelhumeau.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/language-and-globalization/. Accessed 22 May 2017.

Lerner, K. Lee, and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, editors. “Human Evolution.” Gale Encyclopedia of Science, Marion Dresner, 2014, ic.galegroup.com. Accessed 15 May 2017.  

Max, D.T. “Beyond Human.” National Geographic, vol. 231, no. 4, Apr. 2017, pp. 40-63.

The Scourge of Syria's Civil Strife: The Foundations and Implications of Syria's Civil War

     For about seven years now the world has been honing in on the current events and news that are consistently updated concerning Syria's Civil War. A spark of the civil war ignited in December of 2010 when anti-government demonstrations were first appearing (Syrian Civil Unrest). Throughout the seven years the conditions in Syria have worsened tremendously. After conducting research on the details I have found specific areas of interest in the background that lead to Syria's conditions now, what is currently going on in Syria, and what we should do in the future. What needs to happen is that the United States along with other developed countries should open their arms to the refugees and work together to remove the current government, the terrorists, and the fearful factors that have affected thousands of lives.
     First the background of the civil war needs to be understood. In December 2010 along with the spring of 2011 anti-government demonstrations were being seen all over the Middle East, this became known as the Arab Spring. Originally the civil war began as a protest movement that was going against their president Bashar al-Assad. This was the spark of the factional civil war. Bashar al-Assad is the son of the previous president, Hafez al-Assad. Hafez al-Assad regained economic stability for Syria however he had such a tight control over the people with his leadership that the pro-democracy activists started fighting again against the government hoping for change. The change never came. Bashar al-Assad carried on his father's tradition of suppressing the pro activists so they could not be successful. The "Day of Rage" occurred on March 15 2011this was the first time the activists held large scale demonstrations. Because of the demonstrations the police and military became involved and arrested thousands however the fight continued for multiple days and the government eventually resulted to violence (Syrian Civil Unrest).
      The violence continued to increase and on April 25 2011 tanks moved into Daraa to "seize control and subdue protestors" after the protestors destroyed and took down a statue of Hafez al-Assad. On April 30 the government opened fire on a mosque where demonstrators were and they killed six people. By the end of May the estimated number of deaths by police or military was over one thousand civilians. The movement continued to gain supporters especially since the news was breaking out all over the world (Syrian Civil Unrest). This reminds me of the Tiananmen Square massacre where the tanks opened fire on all of the protesting civilians killing them in traumatic ways. The government is also using extremely harsh weapons against their people like chemical weapons such as rockets filled with sarin and chlorine being used "'systematically and repeatedly'" against their people (Syria: The Story of the Conflict). Today all Syrians are living in fear as described by one Aleppo resident who describes that when the bombing in Aleppo finally halt he runs out to find any food or medicine they can scavenge for. He goes on to say that "Every day when I leave my home to look for supplies, I tell myself that this will be the last time I see my family." He continues to describe the weapons the government used in Aleppo, "This is the worst bombing we've seen since the start of the war. The new weapons make the ground beneath our feet shake. It feels like the end of the world" (Agony of Aleppo 45). Clearly the government is doing everything in their power to fight the country's population through weapons and fear just like what happened in Tiananmen Square except to another level. The people are dying every day and the government makes no effort to stop the predicament in a peaceful way.
     The question I keep asking myself is "what should we do?" There is not a straight forward answer but there are ideas. One main idea that incorporates itself into the Syrian Civil War is ISIS. ISIS is a terroristic group that has caused major tragedies to occur in multiple areas affecting multiple people. Because of ISIS the world has opened its eyes more to what is going on in the Middle East because they are considered a threat in every country. Recently President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian airfield which destroyed around 20 planes. Russia criticizes this decision because they believe that the action can have string consequences that follow. All countries are in edge because of the ISIS attacks that have impacted everyone in the world that we have to truly think about what we are doing and make sure it is the right decision. Another issue is that the Russians are supporting Assad in this war and are once again going against the United States (Syrian Civil Unrest) just as we were at opposite ends in the Cold War and competed with each other during the Space Race. The politics of this issue are very complex because there are certain countries siding with Assad but a huge problem is ISIS. The UN is working to try and make Syria better however Assad is being resilient in allowing others to come and assist his people (Syrian Civil Unrest). I believe that what we have to do in order to get this issue resolved is work together as a world and prepare ourselves for a fight against ISIS if they continue to bring the terror they are bringing. For Syria's Civil War I believe that we have to again come together and send as many people as we can over to help others and bring them back to a place where they can recover while there are discussions with Assad about changes he could bring. In closing, we have to make a peaceful arrangement where Syrians will benefit and their lives can begin to return to normal ways of life. The processes will take decades but if the world comes together to help each other out it may be possible.
     In the end, the big idea is that Syria is going through a depressing and horrifying war that does not look as if it will get better unless help is given from countries around the world. The history of the war started from protests for democracy and turned into a worldwide concern where terrorist groups like ISIS incorporated themselves into the terroristic acts that the world is seeing. This issue is current and we have to figure out a way to assist the people of Syria and begin to get peace in Syria and the Middle East. The Middle East was a whole unit we discovered and learned about this year in class. All of the factors that we learned about like the Silk Road, the Shia and Sunni people, and the history of the Middle East like the Ottoman Empire have all affected this region and gives background to the reader. The background information helps the reader to make connections about the rivalries between two groups like the Shia and Sunni people who were enemies just like the pro-democracy advocates and the government. The Silk Road established the Middle East and how it has a strong impact on the lifestyles in the Middle East. All of these factors assist the reader in making connections between the old ways the Middle East worked and how it is today. All in all, looking at the origins of this war and where we are now is very upsetting. The world needs to come together to assist getting peace between the people and the government as well as fighting off the terroristic groups like ISIS in order for our world to be safe and civil once again.

Works Cited 

“The Agony of Aleppo.” The Economist, vol. 421, no. 9009, 1 Oct. 2016, pp. 45-46.

"Syrian Civil Unrest." Global Issues in Context Online Collection, Gale, 2016. ic.galegroup.com/ic/gic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=Reference&currPage=&scanId=&query=&search_within_results=&p=GIC%3AOVIC&mode=view&catId=GALE%7CZKNXYC769819838&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CCP3208520407&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=&source=Bookmark&u=hell32414&jsid=dc82ee1392e3441707540f539e68d156. Accessed 26 May 2017.

“Syria: The Story of the Conflict.” BBC News, BBC, 11 Mar. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868. Accessed 22 May 2017.

Tipping over the Edge: The Deteriorating State of Israeli Democracy

          Israeli democracy is increasingly fragile due to their recent corruptive tendencies in regards to politics, society, and international standings, and a change must be made in all these aspects if any hope of a true democracy remains. These tendencies and changes are depicted by many aspects and details of Israel's situation. A few of the contributing factors are the problems arising in the government and society with Jews as an outstanding majority, the failing attempts to stop the corruption and discrimination by Arabs, and the creation of new legislation that furthers the government corruption and negative global view by Jewish authority.
          The increasingly harsh government tactics in Israel exemplifies the negative political change occurring. This is shown through  laws implemented by the right-wing side of the government. For example, the government has gotten away with passing nongovernmental organization (NGO) and expulsion laws by making their own justifications that they are aimed at increasing transparency and symbolic intimidation, when in reality they single out minorities and spur more public dissent (Waxman 360-361). There is also an increasing amount of loyalty to the state required, regardless of the means of enforcing it, to ensure the government's power. However, this has only increased tensions between different groups and demonstrates how even though Israel still calls itself a democracy, their changing policies make this uncertain (Waxman 361). Furthermore, the Jewish majority government, under Prime Minister Netanyahu, is becoming even less merciful as it continues to destroy Arab homes and towns and refuse to recognize them with orders from the state (Odeh). Legislation has been implemented to specifically allow Jews to legally settle on more Palestinian territory and force them out. This moves the government and the people farther away from the possibility of a peaceful two state solution. Many people believe that these laws undermine their country as one of law and order and decreases their future ability to defend their country  (Fisher). These changes are extremely significant for the future of Israel because a loss of the government's praised democracy amidst other conflicted countries in the Middle East would be disastrous for not only their own country, but nearby countries and allies as well.
          The need for improvement of Israeli democracy can also be seen through the state's degrading society. The outstanding social problem is the mistreatment of the minority Arab Palestinians by the Jewish majority government. The problem is only getting worse now that Palestinian discrimination has become essential to Prime Minister Netanyahu's agenda. Keeping Palestinian areas unrecognized and under a constant threat from the government of being demolished is his method of staying in power. The Arab resident of these towns have come up with compromise solutions but the government has only shot them down. They continue to destroy illegally built buildings outside of Arab territory, knowing that many Arabs have no other option but to build them since they are being forced out of their legal homes (Odeh). These social aspects are very significant because it draws into question the legitimacy of the Israel democracy due to the cruelty expressed towards certain groups. True democracies fairly incorporate all citizens into the government, and the severe treatment towards the Arabs does not hold up this aspect of democracy.
          All of the internal forces pushing Israel away from democracy also contribute to the shifting international policies. To start, one of Israel's biggest allies, the United States has always supported Israel in the Middle East, primarily due to their democracy. With the deteriorating conditions of the democracy, this may not be so assured in their future. However, this is not concrete because things are shifting in other countries as well. With the recent change in the president of the United States from Barrack Obama to Donald Trump, their relations may possibly change in regards to Israel. The Jewish majority government originally expected to have more leeway under President Trump than they did under Obama, who was extremely against Jewish settlements (Fisher). This is partially because it has been observed that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu are using a similar tactic of power through hate and fear (Odeh). However this new hope for support is uncertain since Trump has expressed that thinks settlements are detrimental to his interest in establishing a deal with the Palestinians in the future. Furthermore, the support that Britain originally gave to the Jews and settlements after the Balfour Declaration is now questionable. When Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Prime Minister Theresa May of Great Britain, she said that the declaration was over a century ago and they now want to stay committed to a two-state solution because they believe it will ensure stability, peace, and prosperity for the future (Fisher). All of these international considerations are extremely significant for Israel's future of foreign policy. Based on the uncertainty of support from many countries, they may not have the means to defend themselves in the future or acquire the help to do so.
          In essence, the changes in the government, society, and global policies heed an uncertain future for Israel. The presence of more legislative corruption, increasing Arab discrimination, and shifting international policies all show that Israeli democracy is declining, and with each step, it becomes farther away from the possibility of a commendable peaceful solution.

Works Cited

Fisher, Ian. “Israel Passes Provocative Law to Retroactively Legalize Settlements.” The

          New York Times, New York Times Company, 6 Feb. 2017,    

          www.nytimes.com/2017/02/06/world/middleeast/israel-settlement-law-

          palestinians-west-bank.html_r=1. Accessed 19 May 2017.

Odeh, Ayman. “Israel Bulldozes Democracy.” International New York Times, 11 Feb.

          2017. Global Issues in Context. Accessed 14 May 2017.

Waxman, Dov. “Is Israeli Democracy in Danger?” Current History, vol. 115, no. 785,

          Dec. 2016, pp.360-62.

Six Days, Three Countries, and One Special Relationship: The Six Day War and the Effects it had on the United States and Israel

The Six Day War did not only affect Israel and Palestine, it also affected the United States and its effects can still be felt today. To begin, the Six Day War created a division between Israel and Palestine that the United States is still working to help resolve. To continue, the war was not all negative since Israel and the United States formed a special relationship. Finally, the war helped Israel to gain some respect and power.
       The Six Day War divided Palestine and Israel and has also included the United States in the predicament. The United States has gotten involved by trying to make the two countries reach an agreement for a long time, “Several U.S. presidents have tried and failed to get Israel agree on permanent peace” (Berger 20). Also, the United States have fell victim to terrorist attacks since getting involved. Due to these issues in Palestine and Israel, terrorism has grown and one of the major targets is the United States, many terrorists want to destroy the U.S. (Berger 21). The United States is affected by the Six Day War in a variety of ways.
        Due to the events leading up to the war Israel and the United States formed a special relationship. A special relationship is what two countries have a very close and trustworthy relationship. The United States and Israel were able to trust each other which seemed to be what Israel was looking for before entering the war (Stephens 18). The two countries relied on each other and Israel depended on the United States to help them in the war, but the United States was unsure of whether or not they wanted to help (Stephens 18). The Six Day War helped the United States to form a new relationship although the U.S. was not the most reliable country when concerning warfare.
        Finally, Israel and the Jewish were considered to be weaker and a minority country. Israel was considered a minority country and believed people would always protect them, Israel would always be protected, it assumed; the world would protect it” (The Six Day War 1). Israel won a few major battles, advanced forward and made rulers of other countries fear them, “Nasser did not want to face Israel alone. He was afraid deep in his heart that Israel would be able to mobilize an army sufficient enough to defend itself against his forces” (The Six Day War 2). This shows the fear that Israel and its army instilled in leaders of different countries who were believed to be more powerful. Israel relied on other countries before the war but by the time it was over they had become one of the more powerful countries.
        All in all, Israel and the United States were affected majorly by the Six Day War, as well as Palestine. Israel developed into a more important, prominent country, the United States tried to help solve a conflict and became a target of terrorist attacks. Also Israel and the United States formed a special relationship that will lead them to feel safer and have eachothers backs during combat.
   


                                                               Works Cited


Berger, Joseph. “The Six-Day War, Then and Now.” The New York Times Upfront, 24 Apr. 2017, pp. 18-21.

Stephens, Elizabeth. "America, Israel & the Six Day War." History Today, vol. 57, no. 6, June 2007, p. 12. EBSCOhost.

“The Six Day War.” Jewishhistory.org, www.jewishhistory.org/the-six-day-war/. Accessed 22 May 2017.
     

     

Children Never Get to See Their Parents, and They Are Not Playing Hide-and-Seek: China’s Economy Causing Parents to Leave Their Kids and Head for the City

Making a sufficient amount of money is a concern for anyone today, but it does not outweigh leaving your kids alone and expecting them to survive on their own. Many children in China are being left in the rural areas while one or both of their parents go to China to find better jobs. While the parents may be making more money, their kids are developing physiological and behavior problems and are coping with many other hardships. In fact, about two million of these left behind children are living alone and are responsible for taking care of themselves (Sudworth). While the left behind children may seem like a controversial issue, in my opinion, no child should be growing up without their parents.

Many left behind children suffer from behavioral and mental issues once their parents leave them. For example, in one occasion, a grandmother was yelling at her sixteen year old granddaughter telling her that she was useless and stupid (A Generation Left Behind). The granddaughter must not feel very confident in herself to begin with, but especially not when her grandmother is telling her that she has no hope. In addition seventy percent of left behind children have some sort of “emotional trauma”, a third of the children will commit a crime, while another third will have to go into mental health institutions (A Generation Left Behind). In addition, the left behind kids must not feel very good about themselves when they see other kids living happily with their parents and they are struggling to provide for themselves. Lastly, another twenty-five percent of left behind children think that they have no hope for their future (Ross 16). While parents are trying to make more money for their family, they are really sending their kids down the wrong path.

On another note, most parents think that they are doing what is best for their children by going to the city to try and create a better future. While parents might think that this is true, they are not really creating a better future for their kids. The kids do not have as good of an education without their parents. For instance this one grandparent who is taking care of her grandkids basically says that she can not really help them because she has no education. The grandmother cannot help her grandkids with homework or school and only feels that she can encourage them to behave and pay attention. In addition, the kids would feel guilty if their parents stayed back just to take care of them (A Generation Left Behind). Lastly, while their parents think that they are helping, in reality some of the left behind children are already planning to set out for the city when they can in hopes to find a job and they will leave their children behind as well. This will put China in a bad state because the amount of homeless people will increase and more and more places around the country will turn into slums.

China’s economy causing the generation of left behind children relates to class in many ways. For example, we have discussed urbanization in many units, most recently in our Southeast Asia Unit. In China and parts of Southeast Asia, commercial farming is causing a lot of the independent farmers to lose their jobs because they can no longer afford to farm. The unemployed farmers then migrate to the city in hopes of finding a job. This has affected China because it is causing the urban population to increase substantially. In addition China’s urbanization and industrial revolution are at an extreme level: “Britain had a population of around 10 million when its industrial revolution began - China’s today, is more than a hundred times that size” (Sudworth). We have also discussed the industrial revolution in class. We learned that the industrial revolution is causing many of the independent farmers to lose their jobs. The industrial revolution is bringing higher tech farming equipment to the farming industry, but the smaller, more independent farmers cannot afford to buy this equipment. This results in the commercial farm groups producing better crops and taking over the farming industry. Lastly, although none of the articles reference communism directly, communism is still playing a role in the left behind children. Communism has played a role in the urbanization of China because the government monopolizes the economy. Because of this, more and more people are seeking jobs which can only be found in the urban areas. One can see, the left behind children relate to class in many ways.

All in all, I believe that while parents need to find a sustainable job, they should not leave their children in order to do so. Not only will this affect the original generation of left behind children, but it will affect China in the long run. The country will not be as well run in the future because of the emotional and behavioral problems of the left behind children, but many of the children are also not getting a good education. This issue needs to become more wider known throughout China and the rest of the world so that hopefully, important figureheads can step up and start to put an end to this problem.

Works Cited

“A Generation Left Behind: Millions of Chinese Children Abandoned as Parents Seek Work.” ABC Premium News, 6 Sept. 2016. Newspaper Source Plus. Accessed 26 May 2017.

Ross, Brooke. “China’s Left-Behind Children.” New York Times Upfront, 19 Sept. 2016, pp. 14-17.

Sudworth, John. “Counting the Cost of China’s Left-Behind Children.” BBC News, BBC, 12 Apr. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35994481. Accessed 19 May 2017.

Started From the Bottom Now We're Here: Cuba's Way to Reform After Castro

Started From the Bottom Now We're Here: Cuba's Way to Reform

By Kimmy Polefka

       Cuba is on its way to reform after many years under harsh Communist rule. Under the rule of Raul Castro when he took over he is pushing the people, government, and economy through strong reform. This is allowing Cuban life to grow and expand from what the people have ever known under Fidel Castro. Raul Castro is significantly making positive changes on the Cuban economy, and way of life for Cubans.

       Fidel Castro was a leader in Cuba who began the Communist rule. As a Communist involves "equality" for all he put harsh restrictions on Cuban life. They could not go out of the country without a card, people could not expand their businesses, and were in poverty because of barely any foreign connections. Cuba was in dire need of reform and breaking out of its Communist ways. When Fidel Castro turned over his power to his younger brother Raul, Cuba started to change for the better ("Briefing Fidel Castro"). 

       The Cuban economy is starting to slowly getting better little by little. Since Cuba is starting to reconnect with other countries such as the United States their economy has started to produce more money (Sweig). This allows Cubans to also buy foreign imports. Raul has also allowed for the vast lands of Cuba to be sold for farmers farm on now (Burbach). Now more Cubans are becoming more self-employed. This allows for the economy to expand and new businesses to grow. 

       The way of life for Cubans has significantly improved.  Now Cubans are allowed to leave the country more easily. They can visit outside family, and send money to them. Since big businesses have been receiving most of the money, now smaller businesses can expand to all around Cuba. Also they can sell their produces out of the country now, which allows them to have better connections with the outside world. This allows Cubans to feel a better sense of freedom which many have probably not felt in awhile.

        All in all Raul Castro making these positive changes on Cuba will greatly help the country in the long run. Cubans will be more happier living there, and other foreign countries will be happier to be associated with the country. As many countries do not want to be associated with a Communist country. Cuba is slowly rebuilding but over the next few years will take leaps and strides from where it was.  

   

Works Cited

“Briefing Fidel Castro.” The Economist, vol. 421, no. 9081, 3 Dec. 2016, pp. 18-20.

Burbach, Roger. “A Cuban Spring?” NACLA Report on the Americas, vol. 46, no. 1, Spring 2013, pp. 10-12. MasterFILE Premier. Accessed 15 May 2017.

Sweig, Julia E., and Michael J. Bustamante. “Cuba After Communism.” Forgein Affairs, July 2013, www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/cuba/2013-06-11/cuba-after-communism. Accessed 19 May 2017.

One State, Two State, Three State, Four: How in the world will do we solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem?

     The Arab-Israeli conflict, perpetuating for decades, has everyone begging for peace. However, the means of peace are still a question considering the stubbornness of both the Israelis and Palestinians in their claim to land east of the Mediterranean Sea. Although many solutions are suggested, neither nation can agree due to the desires of each and their vision of how the area is laid out. Notwithstanding, the viability of a two-state solution is declining as continued bad behavior and unreasonable demands by the Palestinians has swayed Israel public opinion against a solution.  Instead, more creative one state solutions are being considered. While these solutions will surely be unacceptable to Palestinians, they may represent the only opportunity to alter the ugly realities of this situation which have persisted for half a century.
     First, the terrorism committed by Palestinians has eroded the Israeli population's trust in the ability of Palestine to function as a reasonable, secure and rational state. Palestinians frequently celebrate their people who kill Israelis through dedicating public structures to them and paying terrorists for committing crimes against Israelis (Abrams 20). Also, the existence of Hamas, who is openly hostile to Israel and even denies its right to exist, has caused angst and concern amongst the Israeli population (Kershner). This has manifested itself through increased security measures, more scrutiny of Arabs or Palestinians who are Israeli citizens, and the expansion of settlements into territories that the Palestinians consider their rightful land (Bryant 28).
     In addition, Palestine continues to have unreasonable expectations about what concessions Israel will make to achieve a two-state solution.  For example, they still expect to gain control of Jerusalem (Kershner) and have additional aspirations for territorial expansion that Israel will not concede without military defeat. These outlandish requests diminish Israel's confidence that Palestine is a rational actor.
     Finally, the election of a more pro-Israel United States President further strengthens the position of Israeli conservatives who are ardently opposed to a two-state solution. With the Israeli populous growing more conservative and without international pressure that was more prevalent during the Obama administration the likelihood of achieving a two-state solution is extraordinarily low (Bryant 28). Also, the increasing amount of settlers moving into Palestinian territories makes the task of drawing borders in a two-state solution even harder. If carried through, 30,000 families will be displaced and have to be compensated along with switching borders around to best divide Israelis and Palestinians into their territory (Kershner). Thus, Israel is exploring creative one-state solutions which will provide more autonomy of Palestinian citizens while maintaining a security apparatus that ensures Israeli citizens will not be harmed.
     With no one solution perfect, it is crucial to evaluate all possible realities for Israel and Palestine. Aside from annexing Palestine or creating two states, another option would be to join the two nations under one rule. However, this idea is quickly shot down because Arabs would outnumber Israelis, then making the state an Arab majority and defeating the purpose of the creation of Israel (Bryant 32). The final most discussed answer is to leave the two nations as they are, but this makes the fighting persist with no hope of a peaceful future as the uncertainty of what will happen to Palestine is hanging over everyone's head (Kershner).
     In conclusion, any one motion of either creating or joining territories will result in more conflict and fighting as a perfect solution to satisfy both sides is obviously not feasible. However, the smartest long term decision to keep parties somewhat a bay would not be a two-state solution. The unreliability of the Palestinians would put Israelis at great risk for more wars and deaths as well as prolonging the Palestinian nationalist movement. Although alternate solutions have their cons, the clear decision that will ensure the safety for the majority is to not create two tense states in extreme proximity to each other.

Works Cited

Abrams, Elliott. “Stop Supporting Palestinian Terror: Why Congress Should Pass the Taylor Force Act.” National Review, 17 Apr. 2017, pp. 20-22. Global Issues in Context. Accessed 15 May 2017.

Bryant, Christina Case. “Why Israel Digs In.” The Christian Science Monitor Weekly, vol. 109, no. 14, 20 Feb. 2017, pp. 27-33.

Kershner, Isabel. “Is 2-State Solution Dead? In Israel, a Debate Over What’s Next.” The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-two-state-solution.html?_r=0. Accessed 22 May 2017.

Mummies from the Marshes: Investigating Europe's Bog People

     Northern European countries like Denmark, Britain, Ireland, and the Netherlands are home to many bogs and marshes. What is unusual about these bogs is that they have yielded hundreds of corpses over the past three centuries. The vast majority of these so-called “bog bodies” date back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, and many of them are incredibly well-preserved. These extremely important archaeological finds, many of which were probably killed for ritual sacrifices, have provided much insight into what their societies and cultures were like.

    There are many theories on how the bodies ended up in the bogs, but most known evidence points to ritual sacrifice. For instance, the corpses show signs of brutal, meticulous murder, with multiple fatal wounds, and wounds inflicted after death. However, there aren't many signs of struggle from the victims (Levine 70). This probably means that the killers' motives were more than just murder, and the victims already knew their fate. Also, some nonhuman artifacts have been dug up from bogs as well, like weapons and food (Mikanowski). These were most likely offerings to the gods too, which indicates how important and sacred the bogs really were to these societies. Finally, some other peoples, particularly the Romans, actually wrote about Northern European traditions and practices, including sacrifices (Mikanowski). While many Romans exaggerated their writings to make other peoples sound more barbaric, there is a definite correlation between their writings and the bog bodies. This is especially important as concrete evidence, since most Northern Europeans didn't keep written records at the time.

    This also shows connections between the bog people's societies and others in Europe. The Romans perhaps had the largest, or at least the earliest, effect on these people. Take, for example, the Druids, of which the bog body called Lindow Man is speculated to be one. The Druids were a sort of ancient Celtic upper class, consisting of priests, sages, judges, and the like. Very little factual information is known about them, and over the centuries they have become shrouded in myths and lore. The Druids were pushed out of Gaul and Britain, and into Ireland, by the Romans. There, with Saint Patrick's pagan conversions, and later the oppression of the English, Druidic culture gradually dwindled to nothing (Wernick). However, Lindow Man could be the very first physical piece of evidence of the Druids, among the mystery surrounding them. The Druids are just one example of Northern European interaction with other peoples at the time.

    Finally, cases like Lindow Man's also prove the significance of these bog bodies for history and archaeology. Factors like where the bodies were found, their wounds, and the time period they are from can determine how they as people lived and died. Looking at how the bodies are built can indicate social status; for example, a well-fed corpse points to an upper-class person (Mikanowski). In addition, the acidic, low-oxygen environments of the bogs themselves inhibit bacterial growth, which has made for excellent preservation of the bodies, or at least of their skin and petrous bone (Levine 69). Unfortunately, this preservation process has left little DNA to examine, but if archaeologists can extract some from the petrous bone, they can learn much more about who exactly the bog people were. In short, the millennia-old bog bodies of Northern Europe are still important today because of the information they contain about the often obscure societies from which they came.

Works Cited

Levine, Joshua. “The Living Dead.” Smithsonian, May 2017, pp. 66-76.

Mikanowski, Jacob. “Were the Mysterious Bog People Human Sacrifices?” The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/were-europes-mysterious-bog-people-human-sacrifices/472839/. Accessed 19 May 2017.

Wernick, Robert. “What Were Druids Like, and Was Lindow Man One?” Smithsonian, Mar. 1988, pp. 146+. Student Resources in Context. Accessed 16 May 2017.