Ivory Coast

Recently, there have been tensions over political power between two major groups in Ivory Coast. Instead of a democratic process with voting, the two groups are using violence to take over the government. One of the group leaders, Alassane Outarra, has killed hundreds of civilians of Laurent Gbagbo. These two major groups are fighting over control, as citizens are claming Outarra had already lost, and see Gbagbo as a true democratic candidate. One of the problems that are rising are citizens of the Ivory Coast are beginning to blame the United Nations and other countries for accepting Outarra as a legitimate president. There is a civil war as hundreds are dying over the political struggle. This struggle has occurred for more than four years when Outarra won presidency, but has refused to step down after re-election. One of the things that baffled the U.N. is one of its helicopters was shot down by Outarra forces. People have began fleeting major cities as the struggle has become worse. I see this as a problem for the United Nations and other countries. The United Nations is indecisive on who to support and seems that they first began supporting Outarra until recently. This is another issue over the United States international affairs. Sometimes I think they get involved with countries that will benefit them the most, mostly self interest. They had a few hesitations, but decided to get involved in Libya, my reason for oil.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/04/01/ivory.coast.unrest/index.html?iref=NS1

U.S. involvement in Libya

Recently, the United States and other nations around the world began to get involved in Libya. The people in Libya began to protest the rule of Muammar Gaddafi and his 40 year rule and people wanted to express their human rights. They began to protest and after seeing the success of Egypt, people began taking the streets and demonstrating against Gaddafi. Although, one of the problems that began to occur is the Libyan military shooting and killing demonstrators which caused the United Nations to act against his actions. The United States, France, and Britain are some of the countries involved as well as other countries to protect the Libyan people from the rule of Gaddafi. They imposed a no fly zone and have attacked several military points and bases of the Libyan military. Gaddafi at first said he will not step down, and Obama is hesitant over full military force in Libya. He believes that it is necessary to arm rebels in Libya and is careful not to have a World War 3. Personally, I think it is good how the United States and other nations are getting involved to spread democracy and help out people who live in dangerous conditions, but there is also the thought that the United States and other countries are involved for its oil. Hopefully Gaddafi steps down soon and the people of Libya can have their own rights to express.

Radiation

After the earthquake struck Japan, followed by a tsunami, there have still been problems that have been occurring. One of the most dangerous is the meltdown of nuclear reactors in Japan. After some of the reactors experienced problems, people have been forced to evacuate as radiation poses a threat to their health. Although some of the radiation has traveled to California, it poses little threat to our health. This will not be the first time there has been a nuclear incident. Japanese officials are trying to spray the reactors with water to help it cool down before it overheats, as the radiation in the water and ground are above normal. One of the worst nuclear disasters happened in Chernobyl in 1986 where people had to evacuate. Also, plutonium, one of the most dangerous chemicals, is found within the area of the nuclear reactors. One of the negative effects of this are people can get cancer if coming in contact with these chemicals as some of the workers trying to fix the problem are the ones who are working in one of the wost situations. I see this as a negative thing, and everyone around the world should help the people who have been hurt or who need support wherever possible. I see nuclear reactors and radiation as a negative thing in the world, and if used improperly, the world can have disastrous consequences.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/03/28/exp.tsr.cirincione.nuclear.fears.cnn?iref=allsearch

Japan

Today in global issues I am going to talk about something tragic that happened on Friday March 11, 2011. Off the coast of Japan an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 struck Japan following a tsunami that flooded major cities and coastlines. It is a bad event, and I hope everyone does everything that they can to help the people who are in danger and to help rebuild the city. Over 49 countries have sent aid to Japan which I think is a really good thing to see. Countries working together to help others in need and this is what I think should be happening whether there is another natural or not. There are wars between people and countries and instead of fighting they should be helping one another. After seeing earthquakes and tsunami videos, I felt frightened at how devastating natural disasters can be. Also, aftershocks are occuring and some are as big as earthquakes around the world. One of the other things that worried me about the aftermath are the nuclear reactors that were affected by the earthquake. One building had an explosion but the good thing is that people were evacuated in time to not be affected by radioactive leaks or vapors. It is really sad to see an event like this and it helps us see no matter how different or far apart we are, we should work together to help people less fortunate than us.

Poverty

One of the main problems for countries around the world today is poverty. Poverty usually occurs over a period of time and can sometimes occur in countries with corrupt government. Some of these problems also occur due to lack of education and money needed to keep people educated and safe. Although, one of the problems that seem to bother me is how third world countries are struggling to survive while western nations and countries have a large amount of money and decide to not help them out. Some of these countries do help but sometimes it is not enough. The United States, France, Germany, Britian, and other countries have the capacity to help and teach children how to read and white to help build the infrastructure of their countries. Corrupt governments also are only looking out for themselves and how they can keep the money for their families and members. They abuse their power and let the military take over its citizens. For example, the war on drugs in Mexico has caused some politicians to ignore the problems due to bribes and threats. This also happens in Central American countries and South America and in some parts of Africa. Half of the children living in the world are in poverty and die everyday due to lack of basic everydays needs like food and water. The world powers has the power to stop this but can sometimes be selfish in how it would benefit them.
http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

Libya

Today I am going to talk about the tensions in Libya, and how these tensions are affecting other parts of the world. This first began after the follow up of Egypt after the collapse of the dictatorship, and is now happening in Libya. One problem that has escalated is that some people say it has turned from a demonstration to a war. This is causing refugees to flee the country, and are being aided by other countries around the world like the United States. The leader, Gadhafi, has sent the military into the streets, but anti Gadhafi demonstrators are fighting against them. Gadhafi is now seen in a negative way after the military fired on innocent people in a demonstration. I think this is one problem that has a domino effect. People living under dictatorships are now rebelling and wanting to form a democracy where each person has their own say in government. Personally, I think peaceful demonstrations against dictatorships are good, but it can get difficult when the military and fighting become involved. Although, some problems this may cause are the way religion is in involved into each of these countries. The Middle East has a high percentage of Muslims, and democracy tends to change that way of life. There should be peace in the world, where nobody should be killed because they stand up to what they believe in.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/05/libya.conflict/index.html?hpt=T2

Drug Cartels

One of the more recent events that have occurred in the past few years affecting the United States is the drug war in Mexico. This recent trend of events began to escalade in 2006. Although, there has been drug smuggling since the 1970's, but has become worse in 2006. In 2006, cartels killed thousands of people in Mexico and began a war for control of narcotics and transportation of narcotics. There are different cartels and some examples are Los Zetas, La Familia, Sinaloa Cartel, and Gulf Cartel. The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, issued war against cartels, but faces another problem. Part of the Mexican government and police force is corrupted and had associations with cartel members. One of the reasons for this is the low pay of Mexican officials, and seek more money and better pay with cartels. Mexican officials believe that after the escape of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in 2001 from a high security prison, the war on drugs began to escalade. There have also been a number of kingpin druglords that have affiliation with drug cartels and both the United States and Mexico have set a bounty for each of them. I think this event has escalated into a dangerous situations for people living in Mexico. Mexico first has to make sure and take care of the poverty of the families and people live in, and is probably one of the main causes of cartel's existence. The Mexican government also has to make an effort to fight off cartels, and not give in to the desire of money. The United States also has to help combat the drugs and firearm entered illegally into the United States, as it has caused more problems. The killings of thousands is unecessary, as more than one thousand have been killed last year alone. Mexico and the United States have to work together to combat these cartels and what they stand for.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2052944,00.html