Reflection on Dr.Stephen Walt's visit to Dickinson

I enjoyed listening to Dr. Stephen Walt speak for 2 primary reasons. First, after learning about his realist theories in International Relations, it was great to hear his thoughts on current American foreign policy. Second, I thoroughly enjoyed his breakdown of the various concepts discussed in his lecture.In the beginning of the Lecture Dr.Walt stated that "The world we live in today is alot worst than what we expected".After the lecture I thought about this statement wondering if this was a statement implied for the entire world or or specifically for America. Considering that that the United states is still one of the leading nations in the International system, I'd suppose this could have been an expected prediction for a while in history. I also enjoyed his explanation of American foreign policy since the cold war, liberal hegemony.He discussed how American foreign policy seeks to use American power to defend the traditional principles which are individual freedoms,democratic institutions, market based institution and rule of law. Throught-out the lecture Dr. Walt made it clear that he thinks America's continued approach to spreading democracy is not the best.Highlighting how regime change does not lead to a stable democracy. Implementing a regime change leaves a state without governance and as Dr Walt stated "the only thing worst than a bad government is not having a government at all".Most importantly I thought it was very interesting how he acknowledged the idea that each nation is different. Democracy in China does not mean the same thing that it means in the United States and that is not necessarily wrong.Spreading democracy does not have to mean moving towards American Democracy, each nation can successfully move towards a democratic system in their own way. Dr.Walt suggest that American people would support a more realistic foreign policy strategy meaning  getting involved when necessary and not having special relationships with states directly.In sum, American Foreign policy strategies  should follow a  strategy that is much different than what is depicted in the image above.

Image 1Citation: Weiner, R., & Larmett, J. (n.d.). Let's NOT Spread Democracy! Retrieved from http://www.banderasnews.com/0712/edop-notspreaddemocracy.htm

Aftermath of 9/11 for the Middle East

          When discussing the aftermath of 9/11 we often consider how this act of terrorism impacted the United States however it is also important to also consider what this event prompted for countries in the Middle East. After attempting to negotiate the handover of Osama Bin Ladin the U.S prompted an arial assault to remove the Taliban. Upon this attack the Leaders of the Taliban government fled the capital. With an interim government in place, Afghanistan remained unstable with many external issues and issues within the capitol. The aftermath of 9/11 also had an impact on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Instantly there was a shift of sympathy towards Israeli people, American people suddenly had a shared sense of anguish against terrorism. Along with a shift in the people, Bush's administration also experienced  a shift in putting much focus towards Israel's response to Palestinian terror.911 helped Isreal gain U.S approval for its infiltrations in the West bank.This sense of support for both nation's fighting terrorism with resilience and determination created an American-Isreali bond between the nations and its' people.
           As 9/11 prompted a shift in the US's relationship with certain nations it also induced a geographical shift in the Middle East.The geographical changes in the Middle East were not so sudden but definitely in some way a culmination of this event. Bin Laden's goal was to alter the Islamic world and in many ways this was done.Many different dynamics have change the Map of the Middle east such as events involving the Arab Spring, Iraq war and a lack of governmental stability, one can see that the borders of nations in the middle east seem to be very flexible.Many of these countries undergo internal issues that only support this fluctuation, for example the Syrian civil war, the political divide in Lebanon and Jordan's large intake of syrian refugees.
           There are many different ways to see how the Middle East was dismantled as a result of November 11th terrorist attacks. As an American citizen I find it interesting to consider the
implications that this event had on other places than the U.S. Although this memory has been ingrained in history  as a catastrophic event for the United states, 9/11 was also a generator for many other issues in the Middle east following November 11, 2001.

Picture 1 citation:Shapiro, Jacob L. “The Middle East Since 9/11.” Geopolitical Futures, 11 May 2017, geopoliticalfutures.com/the-middle-east-since-911/.

Reflection on Jeremy Bowen's Podcast

       Listening to the podcast rather than reading or even watching a video about the  events allowed me to deeply imagine and think about different perspectives of each event.Even a video would have prompted a different interpretation not having the  detailed sound and descriptions. This journalistic perspective provided many specific details that made me feel like I was getting a behind the scenes perspective of the various events.Hearing of first hand experiences really explains the seriousness and  tension that citizens experiences in the Arab world.I think the one experience that Jeremy Bowen talked about that did a great job at depicting these first hand experiences was when he needed gas for his heater and his cooker. At first the man selling him gas for his cooker told him that he needed to get Arab gas for his heater.After this, once he found someone that sold the gas he ran into another problem which was that the color of the cylinder was different.The man selling him the gas decided to re-paint the cylinder the correct color so he could sell him the oil.When he went to pass the Israeli checkpoint he was stopped by soldiers who saw him trying to take west bank gas into Jerusalem. This was an issues for the soldiers because having no knowledge of why he painted the cylinder was justified for them to question the situation, worst case scenario it could have been a bomb.

Luckily the soldiers acknowledged the fact that he was a foreign journalist. This situation was only one example of how the conflict impacted all aspects of life beyond its political and geographical reasons. Experiences like this could only be described in readings to a certain extent. In listening to this pod cast I could truly imagine every pressured moment that he felt in simply trying to get some oil to heat his home.

           The podcast on "Guns and Olive Branches" did a very good job at explaining Arafat's influence on this region while also shedding light on what his intentions were despite the different opinions about him.The small details provided in the podcast such as how Arafat particularly war his keffiyeh (a Bedouin arab's kerchief worn as a head dress) contributed to this look back at his life.Although many were not satisfied with Arafat's decisions I was shocked, taken aback yet in a small way impressed by his dedication and charisma to fight Israel. Arafat's words at the UN General Assembly became his most famous words.Before even watching the video attached below I could literally feel each and every word of this statement even when it was spoken by Mr. Bowen.I appreciated this podcast because it complements the reading very well.  

            I think that the reading does a great job at explaining exactly what happened and then sources such as this one allow us to more deeply reveal how and why specific events occurred. The pro's of having this information delivered audibly are that it allows me to not only listen but but analyze simultaneously whereas when watching a video or reading this information it seems more effective to watch or read the info in whole and analyze after. On the contrary I think that a con of listening to this information is that alot of this conflict involves geography therefore it is almost  a necessity to have some source of geographical reference to look at while discussing this regions conflict.

Video:oterbulbul. “Yasser Arafat's Speech at the UN General Assembly Olive Branch Speech.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVXN6EiqKFY.

Picture:Toi, et al. “Palestinian Shot Rushing West Bank Checkpoint.” The Times of Israel, www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-shot-rushing-west-bank-checkpoint/.