SJS 8 - Mexico in the Grip of Violence

Source - Magaloni, Beatriz, and Zaira Razu. “Mexico in the Grip of Violence.” Current History, vol. 115, no. 778, Feb. 2016, p. 57, www.currenthistory.com/Article.php?ID=1301. Accessed 14 Jan. 2017.
Author Credentials - Beatriz Magaloni is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Senior Fellow at Stanford University. She also founded the Program on Poverty and Governance at Stanford. She focuses her research on democratization and dynamics of protest.
Zaira Razu is a research Associate and Project Manager at the Program on Poverty and Governance at Stanford. She also works with interventions that seek to reduce youth violence in Mexico and the U.S.

Summary - Mexico has made many progressive policies that have positively affected the state, but despite these policies Mexico has also experienced a huge human crisis over the 21st century. Mexico transitioned to a legitimate democracy in 2000, but even with this change, those who are no elites in Mexico are still lacking basic rights such as due process of law. There is little security in Mexico, especially for the poor, and when Felipe Calderón became President in 2006, he completely ignored this and focused policies on fighting drug cartels. Although effective in killing or imprisoning leaders, he brought violence to many towns and cities in Mexico. His troops also worked with some drug lords. Peasants leaders and activists in poor communities were going to jail for nothing, simply because the elites controlled the police and the court system. In 2012 Peña Nieto took office and differed from Calderón in that he focused on reform in education, fiscal, and energy policies. He also wanted to keep violence out of the spotlight. During Nieto's presidency two major crises occurred. First,  there was a rise in self-defense groups in communities where police forces were minimal. This showed the lack of ability for the state to defend its people. The second crisis was the disappearance of 43 college students. The truth was finally discovered that local police kidnapped them and delivered them to a criminal gang where the students were murdered. In conclusion, although Mexico has made many steps forward, it is also in the middle of a human crisis.

Analysis - The authors did a very good job of delivering the message to the reader, and to emphasize how Mexico has struggled to keep peace in the 21st century. The authors add some opinion in the journal, but always back it up with facts and statistics. They provide the readers with enough facts to help them to come to their own conclusions and overall I think that this source is reliable.

Z

SJS 8 - A New Era of Accountability in Guatemala?

SJS 8 - A New Era of Accountability in Guatemala?

Source: Beltrán, Adriana. "A New Era Accountability in Guatemala?" Current History, Feb. 

     2016, pp. 63-67.

Author Credentials: Beltrán was an advocate for a UN sponsored event to investigate and prosecute criminals in Guatemala

Summary: Beltrán discusses how the Guatemalan government unanimously agreed upon that the president could be prosecuted for criminal charges. He was placed into a military prison while awaiting trial for the crimes of fraud, bribery, and many other crimes. There are also hundreds of other people in the government 
who are also awaiting trial for being in association with the president. The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) was created to try and take down criminal networks in Guatemala. It helped the prosecution of a number of criminal organizations. The country has been improving in cleaning up the corruption that has been occurring in the past couple of years. 

Analysis: Beltrán made a lot of good points on how Guatemala was improving their situation in stopping the crime that has been occurring all over the country. 

SJS 8- Making gender rights visible: an interview with Michelle Bachelet

Source: "Making gender rights visible: an interview with Michelle Bachelet." Journal of International Affairs, vol. 66, no. 2, 2013, p. 145+. Global Issues in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=hell32414&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA330143513&it=r&asid=6c2515cf0783e7a56d40940be5ee80ea. Accessed 13 Jan. 2017.

Author Credentials: The Journal of International Affairs publishes papers on international affairs written by academicians. Although this paper does not have a specific author, because it was an interview, it was interviewed by someone on their team. They focus on current and contemporary issues across the world. 

Summary: This Academic Journal includes an interview with Chile's first female president, Michelle Bachelet. During the interview, she talks about the forms of inequality that are noticeable in Chile. Bachelet states that she sees inequality in forms such as income inequality. According to Bachelet, there is still 167 million people who live under the poverty line in Latin America. She claims that this blinding number distracts many from the other forms of inequality, such as gender inequality. Bachelet says that gender inequality is visible in discussion, and that it of the first major obstacle she wishes to tackle throughout her presidency. Bachelet states that, "Women currently face substantial barriers to full and equal participation in society and the economy". She says that women still face discrimination because of their gender. The inequality limits women from the many benefits of economic growth and the social benefits. Women continue to struggle to get full time employment and ones that have access to social protection. Also, income inequalities are dying down, but mostly only for skilled, working men. So it continues to be a struggle for women and other indigenous people. She also talked about the violence women and children face. Bachelet says that violence against women is decreasing among all Latin American countries because of influence from the United Nations or the Commission on the Status of Women. There have been feminist movements to make the public understand some of the hardships many women across Latin America and the world face because of gender inequality. All in all, as well as Michelle Bachelet, many leaders and citizens of Latin American countries 

Analysis: this Academic Journal provides statistics and facts about an interview that was done with the President of Chile. Since it was in the form of an interview, it was easy to understand what the answer was to each question and it provided accurate solutions to problems that have been going on throughout Latin America 

SJS 8- Lula's Last Year

Source- Maxwell, Kenneth. "Lula's Last Year." Current History, vol. 109, no. 724, Feb. 

     2010, pp. 43-46. 

Author Credentials- The author of this journal is Kenneth Maxwell. He is very qualified to discuss this issue due to his experience with topic. He studied at an elite school (Princeton University) and has since become a member of the Council on foreign Relations. This, along with his expertise in Latin America studies, make him a very qualified historian.

Summary- The main argument Maxwell discusses is whether former Brazilian president Luis Lula Da Silva was considered successful, which as he argues was a successful leader. He talks about many of the different problems faced by Lula when coming into office, some of which include a less than stellar economy and a declining workforce. In Lula's years in office, he was able to create strong banks, diverse economies,  a semi-agricultural economy and has made Brazil a world power that exports Sugar, Coffee and oil resources. This, along with his charm and confidence have made him a very popular president among the Brazilian population, even giving him the term of "Teflon President". Although recent years with Lula as president have been a success, Maxwell also argued that the upcoming years will in fact be a challenge due to the different problems the upcoming president faces that include maintaining the success Lula created. This shows how Lula was a successful president that helped better the economy of Brazil and make them a world power in the economy. 

Analysis- Maxwell does pose a very strong and concise argument by giving enough facts and details to support his position on whether Lula was a successful president. He also is able to distinguish between fact and opinion when posing his argument, which makes his argument so strong and also allows him to be a reliable source.

PDP 8: The Jamaican Letter

Author Biography: Simon Bolivar was the son of a nobleman and grew up very wealthy. After his parents died, he went to Spain to find a wife and continue his education. He gained leadership of the revolution when Napolean conquested Spain. Now he is a well know person and is often referred to as the "El Liberator"


Date/Context: Bolivar's Jamaican Letter was written during a low point in Spain's history. During the conquest, he seemed help from the United States and France, and got none. He then asked Jamaica  and put them into practice.


Summary: The letter talles about the way many felt during Napoleans conquest of Spain. According to the letter,, they felt that they were "in a position lower than slavery". Many felt that they had lost all of their freedom.  He states that they have lost the complete freedom to even plant crops on their owned land. Bolivar said: "So negative was our existence that I can't find nothing comparable in any other civilized society." Bolivar also states in his letter that he does not agree with the American government and is seeking help from Jamaica. He tells the problems they face and asks for asiatance to bring the country back to what it was.


Key Qutation: "I say: I do not adopt the best system of government, but the one that is most likely to succeed.

SJS7 - People Power Sours: Uncivil Society in Thailand and the Phillipines

Source: Thompson, Mark R.. "People Power Soura: Uncivil Society in Thailand and the Phillipines." Current History Vol. 107 No. 712. Novembet 2008. 381-7.

Author Credentials: Mark R. Thompson, the author of this article, is a professor of political science in a German university called Erlangen Nuremberg. He has put much of his focus on Southeast Asia, making him very knowledgeable on the area and qualified to write this article.

Summary: The main problem adressed in the article is the relationship between the elites, who direct their power against populist officials, and ordinary people, who elect them. The author indicates that historical assimilation of foreigners has allowed both the Phillipines and Thailand to develop a strong working class willing to vote for these causes. Out of this rose elites known as the "Sino-Thai", who, through control of trade, started to gain enough money to comfortably fund political parties. These elites have tried to appeal to the bourgeoisie, claiming that they support officials based on merit and not money. More recently, populism rose again in these countries. The working class dominated elections, frustrating elites. The elites, however, desperately and relentlessly appealed to the working class, and it eventually began to work in the early 2001s again. A little later, corruption and scandals from elite-favored officials led to many protests in Thailand. Military coups ensued, and succeeded. With power back in the peoples' hands, few reforms have been made that benefit the elites. In general, this has led to a new political age for these countries. Most political parties want massive reforms to their legislation. Ultimately, though, the rejection of populism by elites has led to many of the issues faced in Thailand and the Phillipines.

Analysis: The author did a very good job of pointing out key events as political turning points, which made reading the article a lot easier. On the flipside, a few of these points either became too specific or redundant, as the entire article can be boiled down to 1 or 2 phrases. Towards the end there are a few random sentences regarding religion and society, but these can be ignored for an otherwise very solid article. The author did a good job of making references to how events like these have occured throughout history around the world, leading to a thorough, while still easy to read article, evaluating a crucial relationship in Southeast Asian society.

PDP8-Second Declaration of Havana

Author Bio: "The Second Declaration of Havana", was presented by Fidel Castro on February 4, 1962. Fidel Castro was the communist leader of Cuba from the time he took over in 1959, until the early 2000s. He hated the U.S., and enforced both marxism and communism in Cuba.

Date/Context: Castro released "The Second Declaration of Havana," on February 4, 1962. The document was released soon after he took over Cuba and got rid of Fulgencio Batista. As the U.S. and the Soviet Union continued to weaken their relationship during the Cold War, Castro released this document, which placed Cuba entirely in favor of the Soviet Union, and threatened U.S. security. The U.S. had already ended formal relations with Cuba and soon after the document was released, they tightened the trade embargo.

Summary: Castro discusses how several capitalist nations including the U.S. are responsible for the increased difference between developed and developing nations. He goes on to explain how the U.S. and similar nations have used wealth and industrial power to exploit developing nations, and how this is unacceptable. He discusses how the Cuban Revolution, must and will occur in order to change the poor conditions that millions of Latin Americans live in. Also, he explains how the revolution will have to revolve around the people because without the people the revolution will fail. He discusses how democracy actually limits people and how the people in power always remain in power, and they control all aspects of life when they use democracy to rule (U.S.). Castro ends the declaration by stating that without the people, the revolution will fail, but if the people go out and take action the revolution will impact the world.

Key Quotation:"Even though the Yankee imperialists are preparing a bloodbath for America they will not succeed in drowning the peoples' struggle. They will evoke universal hatred against themselves. This will be the last act of their rapacious and cave-man sytsem."

SJS8 - “Central America’s Violent Legacy”

SJS8 - “Central America’s Violent Legacy”

Source

Lehoucq, Fabrice. “Central America’s Violent Legacy.” Current History, vol. 113, no. 760, Feb 2014, pp. 82-84.

Author Credentials

The author is a professor in political sciences at the University of North Carolina and has recently written a book on the politics behind Central America’s history. He is qualified because he is well versed in politics especially those of the Americas and that is what this passage covers.

Summary

Central America has had a long history of violence in rebellion against the many dictators. Though despite this the world has not given this continent much attention. Only in late 20th century did the rule by autocracy change to democracy. The rulers defended the big businesses that gave them their comfortable lifestyles and had no problem using violence to defend that wealth. Because of this the only way to change the politics was through rebellion. The rebels would ally themselves with civilians and students, but the acting government would then crush them and in the rare case that they survived the US might turn against them to fight “communism”. Because the policies did not change the economy suffered reducing the GDP. With the mass poverty this produces it also produces refugees and the top few end up receiving over half the income. Countries like Costa Rica and El Salvador have become democratic and in doing so they also reduced their army size and created uncorrupt police forces. Though in other countries like Nicaragua and Guatemala democracy has dissolved back into an incomplete state because of clashes between branches of government and previous dictators illegally trying to run for presidency. Either way it is obvious that because of previous oligarchs not wishing to relinquish power, rebellion was necessary.

Analysis

The author made a very strong argument for how violence has been a legacy for Latin America and that it was necessary to change the government. The author uses substantial evidence like the idea that the privileged few would do anything to hold their positions. The authors states how the rebellions attempted to align with the civilians. The author only slightly touches upon the influence of foreign countries other than to say that they failed to get involved. The piece is relatively unbiased. The author is a reliable source to interpret the political situation in Central America because of his degree in political science. He also has another book on Central America’s politics.

SJS 7 - Reading in Kazakhstan and Oceania

Source: Topping, Keith, et al. "Reading in Kazakhstan and Oceania." The Reading Teacher,

    vol. 60, no. 8, May 2007, p. 790. Student Resources in Context. Accessed 5

    Jan. 2017.

Authors: Keith Topping is a British journalist and author who is currently a professor of Education and Social Research at the University of Dundee in Scotland and an editor for the International Voices department.

Nina Golopyatova is an English teacher at a school in Kazakhstan.

Maureen Goodwin currently holds a position as a teacher in the Cook Islands.

Robin Peirce is a chair of the IRA International Development Committee of Oceania.

Summary: The article references several countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania that are experiencing shortages of teachers and education resources. This article relates to many of the countries we have studied and ties them together with the issue of education. Each of these countries is likely to have its own reason for the lack of education, in Africa is it mostly a population issue, the part of the Middle East is currently in the hands of terrorist groups and others under harsh rule that prevents outside education, and Oceania suffers from lack of resources. These countries are failing to provide children with a basic skills such as reading and writing because of those issues. Kazakhstan has recently started Reading Days were created to promote the ability to read and to give people a better understanding of their history. In the Cook Islands there has been an effort to donate books to allow teachers to teach students how to read. The issue of illiteracy is there because currently the islands are mostly a speaking culture and people do not see a reason to read. However, it has been shown that reading can lead to students wanting to learn more and expand their studies to include a college degree. In Niue and Rarotonga students are learning to read, but most of the books donate are fiction and it is becoming increasingly difficult to read non-fiction books with a higher lexile level. The proposed solution was to provide photocopiers that would allow the people to write and print their own non-fiction books. Creating their own books gives the people a way to share their ancestors stories and their culture.

Analysis: Overall, if each country had a way to increase literacy people would receive higher education and bring more money into the country and in the end help the economy. The authors explain the situations in each country well, and are able to give the specific issues in each country while still focusing on the main problem of literacy and writing skills.

SJS7- "Shaken City: two years after its big quake, Christchurch is still trembling"

Source: Pollard, Simon D. "Shaken City: two years after its big quake, Christchurch is still trembling." Natural History, Apr. 2013, p. 14+.

*The journal came from "Gale World History in Context"*

Author Credentials: Simon D. Pollard, the author of this article, lives in New Zealand and teaches science communication in the College of Science at Canterbury University. He has presented many national history documents, and he has written for National History for 20+ years.

Summary: In this article, Pollard discusses the effect that earthquakes have had on New Zealand, and specifically his home city: Christchurch. He begins the article by discussing a devastating 7.1 earthquake that took place on September 4, 2010. He discusses how over 400,000 people live in Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand, and how that earthquake managed to knock down many buildings and churches. He explains how after the earthquake in September 2010, many other earthquakes were set off revealing tectonic plates that had not been dominant in the past. He continues by explaining that people know are prepared for earthquakes because of the devastating earthquakes that occurred in Christchurch from September 2010- Februrary 2011. Pollard discusses  since so many buildings were wiped out during this time, new building codes have been enforced in hopes of saving the lives of thousands. He continues to explain how, everyone in Christchurch keeps flashlights, powerless phones, and food on hand, and how the earthquakes have actually prepared them for the worst, by allowing citizens to always be ready. Pollard ends the article by discussing the Alpine Fault, a incredibly dangerous boundary that has not been set off since 1717. He explains that there is a good possibility that it will go off in the next 50 years, and unlike individuals in other areas of New Zealand, because of the earthquakes Christchurch citizens have faced, they are much more prepared.

Analysis: Pollard makes an incredibly strong argument, for how the devastation that earthquakes have produced, has prepared the citizens of Christchurch. Pollard gives his personal account of multiple earthquakes, and he discusses how quickly people bounce back, explaining how once there was an earthquake that wrecked several aisles in a grocery store, and within two hours the entire store was clean and open again. Pollard does an excellent job of providing multiple facts if he forms an opinion, and based on his past knowledge I believe he is a reliable source.