Week 6 Reflection (9/27-10/1)

(I thought I had posted this much earlier, but apparently not.)

What an interesting week! I mentioned in my last reflection that I was left a little disappointed by the previous week in world politics and that I was looking forward to this week being a turnaround and my prayers were answered! I found this week to be much more interesting and constructive than the previous week. But, oddly, even though I found this week's blog post to be much more challenging. But still, it was a fun week and the highlight was the Wednesday Lab with Dr Howard.

Our discussion focused on marginalized groups and how one should approach them in international politics. Where's the line between excessively meddling in domestic affairs and responsibly addressing the domestic political situation in another country? Certainly anyone studying a certain area should be aware of the numerous marginalized groups for a number of reasons but should the United States care about the plight of the Wallonians in Belgium? We certainly don't seem to be sweating it. The Green Movement? Well, there we certainly do have a great interest and investment. Why do we ignore the Wallonians and focus so much on the Green Movement? Because the former is not in mortal peril and is not in a country that is of such a great importance to us as Iran is. As such, we have no reason to expend political capital on their cause. But the Green Movement certainly does have the potential to affect political change in Iran, and since we would love to see that, we pay a great deal more attention to them.

But this is a reflection, and I'm rambling. I just found the discussion on Friday to be very thought provoking and I greatly enjoyed it. I certainly would have liked for that to be our blog post for the week but c'est la vie.

The lab with Dr Howard was another interesting experience, giving us the chance to see what life is like for a bureaucrat. I admit, he did not make it found like the life I had always imagined a bureaucrat living: fast cars, loose women and easy money. But still, as someone who aspires to be a bureaucrat one day, it was a good experience. I had the chance to catch Dr Howard before he left and talk to him off the record about ME politics and the possible repercussions of a unilateral Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities and he provided some good insight into that.

So, this week was probably my favorite week in World Politics. I found the discussions to be stimulating and interesting and the lab was very enjoyable (plus it was on campus and casual!). I imagine the next few weeks will be also enjoyable because of the light workload (save for the simulation) but that's an ignoble type of pleasure to derive from a $50,000/year education. But still, this was a good week and I'm looking forward to more discussions and more interesting labs!