Reference no: EM132191716

Advance Questions

1. American presidents by custom address the United Nations General Assembly during its annual opening session in NYC each September. Their speeches or addresses areoftentimes used as a way to frame a particular view of the world. They might offer a judgment on whether conflict or cooperation, realism or idealism, best describes the nature of political humankind.

View 48-minute "Watch President Obama Deliver His Final Speech at United Nations." Offer an informed opinion. Was President Obama's speech predominately one of realism or idealism? Cite two or more examples or excerpts from the speech to support your opinion.

2. Same question, different American president. Watch 41-minute "President Trump addresses U.N." Offer an informed opinion. Was President Trump's speech predominately one of realism or idealism? Cite two or more examples or excerpts from the speech to support your opinion.

3. A 10-question interactive quiz on recent Nobel Peace Prize recipients is stored on BlackBoard. Access and take "Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Nobel Peace Prize Winners?"

How you score on thisonline quiz is unimportant (and will be known only by you). This exercise is solely to introduce students to various "actors" in global politics, in this case actors who have been awarded a very prestigious prize.

I took the quiz and read of recent recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.Yes or No (self-grading)

4. Read "The Arrow of History," an op-ed by the Washington Post's Charles Krauthammer. Explain how Krauthammer distinguishes between realists and idealists.

5. I read chapter 1 of the textbook or e-textbook, The Globalization of International Relations. Chapter 1 covers a broad swath of I.R. topics including globalization, state and non-state actors, global geography, and the evolving international system. Yes or No (self-grading)

6. Summarize David Brooks' "All Politics is Thymos (Recognition)." In your response, offer a present-day example of how the human need for recognition is seen or plays out in global politics.

7. Section 1.3 of the course textbook introduces the framework of geography and of how world regions differ from each other. The global North - global South gap between the industrialized, relatively rich countries of the North and the relatively poor countries of the South is arguably the most salient or important factor at the system or global level of analysis. What percentage of the world's population lives in the global North? What percentage lives in the global South?

8. Access "Critical Thinking Explained," and watch the 3-minute video. Offer an opinion. What does it mean to think critically?

9. A video of chimpanzee warfare or territoriality was shown in class. How did this video fit within our study of global politics?

a. It revealed that all animals make decisions within the constraints of "bounded rationality."

b. It provided an example of groupthink and of how chimpanzees are influenced by the urge for consensus.

c. It served as an example of the branch of knowledge dealing with human character/behavior and its biological similarity with closely-related species.

d. It offered proof positive that a Planet of the Apes revolution is possible.

10. Listen to 7-minute audio file, "In Europe, Obstacles to a More Perfect Union." According to this story, do the interviewed residents of Amsterdam have more of a Dutch or European political identity? What potentially explains this preferred political identity? (2 questions; answer both)

11. Tibet is a province or region in the People's Republic of China, a sovereign nation-state. Explain how the Tibetan nation (Tibetans) might be considered "stateless."

12. Read Professor Stephen Walt's "Nationalism Rules." Professor Walt asserts which of the following?

A. Walt argues that nationalism is the most powerful political force in the world. He asserts that nations have incentives to obtain their own sovereign state and states have incentives to foster a common national identity in their populations; taken together these dynamics bode for more and more sovereign nation-states.

B. Walt asserts that nationalism will one day likely be replaced with globalism, an identity and ideology that unites all of political humankind. There will be fewer states a generation from now.

C. The ideology of globalism helps to explain why Kurds seek their own state.

D. Walt implies that there is a strong connection between the ideologies of nationalism and idealism.

13. Access and read "The Dividing of a Continent: Africa's Separatist Problem," by Max Fisher. According to Fisher, the follies of European colonialism produced a continent separated into countries that don't take into account African tribal heritage. This produced "artificial states," and rendered a contradiction engineered into many contemporary African societies.

According to Fisher why have post-colonial African leaders chosen to maintain colonial-era borders? When European colonialism collapsed and Africans resumed control over their own continent, why weren't borders redrawn that better align tribes (or nations) and sovereign states?

14. Listen to NPR 5-minute audio file, "Voters Left and Right are Anti-Free Trade. But Is It All Bad?" Briefly summarize Adam Davidson's argument for or against "free trade."