US and 23 other countries join mass expulsion of Russian spies to 'dismantle' Putin espionage network

US and 23 other countries join mass expulsion of Russian spies to 'dismantle' Putin espionage network 

In an article by, Ben Riley-Smith for The Telegraph, he takes a look into how 24 countries have recently joined with Britain to break apart Russia's worldwide spy network. Starting with the Prime Minister, he vowed to never allow President Putin's "espionage machine," be rebuilt after the United States and other Western allies announced the expulsion of more than 130 Russian intelligence officers. Even President Trump ordered 60 suspected Russian spies to leave the US, which is kind of surprising. By the unprecedented show of solidarity, it has sent a strong signal to the Kremlin that Russia can no longer continue to defy international law and threaten other's security. By preceding with these actions the White House is trying to show Putin that "actions have consequences" and as a result it has made a big impact on Russian intelligence-gathering system.

People are speculating that the whole point of these Russian spies was to try and divide and intimidate the Western alliances, but in a result it has actual gone in the opposite direction with countries uniting to put an end to them. Overall, I think everything that has been going on with Russia and the United States shows that countries will do whatever it takes to have control, whether it is right or not. It also seems like nowadays Russia is just causing more and more problems and it will be interesting to see what ends up happening with them in the long run as a country and whether or not they will end up falling apart.

Link to article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/26/donald-trump-expels-60-russian-diplomats-response-salisbury/

‘The Whole World Should Be Concerned’: U.S. Allies React to Bolton’s Appointment

‘The Whole World Should Be Concerned’: U.S. Allies React to Bolton’s Appointment

In an article by Steven Erlanger and Gerry Mullany for The New York Times, they discuss the different reactions to John Bolton's appointment as national security adviser. The overall reaction to this news seems to bring in many different emotions from people. Some believe that Bolton is very intelligent who has deeply conservative, nationalistic, and aggressive views about American foreign policy, which may help bring more consistency and predictability to President Trump's ways. So while some are positive of his appointment, others are worried that his strong views may bring President Trump into seeking military solutions to diplomatic problems, which would result in terrible outcomes. But between the negative and positive views some are just worried for Bolton's well being, not sure whether or not the high pressure job is something he will be able to handle. 

Americans are very wary if Trump will be able to even carry out this new relationship because he has shown time and time again that he can tire out quickly of anyone who is working for him besides his family who tries to restrict him in any way. 

The main reason the world should be concerned with Bolton's hire though is that his views are known to be very similar to Trump. Along with Trump, Bolton believes"the Iran nuclear deal is flawed and should be scrapped; North Korea must denuclearize or face military action; the United Nations and most other multilateral institutions are of little use to Washington. In this sense, said Josef Janning, a German policy analyst, Mr. Bolton will provide significant support and intellectual ammunition to President Trump."

One other concern people have with Bolton is that he has a past with different countries through the George W. Bush administration. During the Bush administration he tried to push policy with Britain in a much more extreme direction and did not seem to think much about allies and multilateralism. Along with Britain Bolton seems like he will have some issues with Iran. "Mr. Bolton's opposition to the negotiations with Iran is longstanding, dating from his days in the Bush administration, when he helped derail European talks with Tehran at a time it still had only a few centrifuges." Mr. Heisbourgh, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies who is also a French military analyst, says that, "Bolton wanted us to fail." This attitude towards Bolton's past actions are not very reassuring for his future actions.

I think that it will be interesting to see what happens during Bolton's time with the Trump administration. If people are already worried and scared with what he will do I do not think it is a good idea to have him on the administration, but clearly Trump hasn't had the best run in office so far to begin with anyways.

Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/world/asia/trump-john-bolton-reaction.html

What Black Panther Can Teach Us About International Relations

What Black Panther Can Teach Us About International Relations

In an article for Vox, it takes a look at the new movie, Black Panther, as a hidden metaphor. In the movie the director uses an imaginary African country, Wakanda, as a source to explore the issues of racism, ethical response to oppression, and the global African diaspora. In the article it takes a look at this issues in a way that relates to international relations. "The subfield of international relations has spent decades accumulating knowledge about how countries decide on policies of isolationism versus interventionism, why revolutionaries like Killmonger succeed and fail, and how racism shapes the way international politics operate. A lot of this work applies just as well to a world where Wakanda is real as to our own, more mundane reality." The way the movie relates to the real world of international relations is because it uses a classic hereditary monarchy. This movies monarchy seems to have adopted a consistent foreign policy and work to overriding national interest to avoid being conquered or otherwise interfered with in a way they did not want. Wakanda's stance is to not be aggressive, but defend itself from an invasion. Wakanda also uses a form of isolationism that goes beyond just military restraint, their government has cut off any economic help from foreigners like foreign aid or immigration. 

The reason this all relates to international relations is because it takes a look at what is called defensive realism. Defensive realists believe in the root cause of international conflict is insecurity, "because countries cannot be sure that other nations have peaceful intentions, they have to arm themselves to ensure survival. The problem, though, is that countries can’t tell if another country’s army is for defensive purposes or offensive ones." So in conclusion, in the movie Black Panther, it takes a look at a different form of government that can be looked at in an international relations viewpoint.

Link to article: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/27/17029730/black-panther-marvel-killmonger-ir

President Trump Lashes Out at Oprah and Russia Investigation in Tweet Storm as Nation Mourns

"President Trump Lashes Out at Oprah and Russia Investigation in Tweet Storm as Nation Mourns"

A TIME article talks about Donald Trump's recent actions taken with all this controversy going on in the world. While the nation mourned over the latest school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Donald Trump kept silent on the matter and the escalating gun control debate and instead focused on raging at the FBI for what he thinks is a fixation on the Russian investigation. I think Donald Trump is more so afraid of just looking weak to other countries due to him tweeting out, "They are laughing their asses off in Moscow." But while even with the school shooting and the new outrage coming out about  needing tougher gun laws, Trump still remained focused on Russia after and indictment from Robert Mueller on Friday charged 13 Russians with a plot to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. Trump discussed this matter and said, "The indictment doesn't show that any American knowingly participated as proof of his innocence and is deeply frustrated that the media are still suggesting that this campaign may have colluded with Russian officials." Trump is ready for all this light on him and the election to go away so they can focus on more important things, but while he's trying to have everyone forget about it, it is drawing more attention to it all.  

After all the election and Russia controversy, Trump shifted his Twitter critique to Oprah Winfrey and her suggestion to run for president in 2020. Trump stated, "Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!" Clearly Trump is feeling intimidated by Oprah's actions and it will be interesting to see the steps she will or will not take in the future relating to the 2020 election.

Link to article: http://time.com/5165448/donald-trump-russia-oprah-tweets/

"Trump Offers Condolences to Putin For Deafly Airliner Crash"

In an article from The Washington Post, they discuss the recent airline crash that happened in Moscow that killed all 71 passengers on board. Trump stated that the U.S. is, "standing by to assist Russian authorities in their investigation into why a Russian airliner on a regional flight crashed Sunday." While it is a horrific accident with a suspicious cause, it is odd that Trump is taking such a part to this. I feel like there are enough issues in the U.S. that he has either caused himself or that need to be dealt with and would be more of a priority then this new situation. Russia is a powerful country and I feel like they could handle this issue themselves unless later on when further help is needed. Part of the reason Trump and Putin are so close is because over the past few months and year they have become close alliances to help one another out. Trump and Putin last spoke in December when Putin called Trump to thank him for a CIA trip. Putin apparently repeatedly hopes Trump can follow through on his campaign promises to improve relations with Russia. In conclusion, Trump and his relations with Putin and Russia have been questionable over the past few months and it will be interesting to see where it all goes.



Link to article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kremlin-trump-offers-condolences-to-putin-for-plane-crash/2018/02/12/a8ba78ca-1023-11e8-a68c-e9374188170e_story.html?utm_term=.dee99076baf5

"George W. Bush: There's clear evidence Russia 'meddled' in 2016 election"

In an article on Politico by Louis Nelson, he takes a look back at the controversial 2016 presidential election. Former President George W. Bush has been lead to believe that there is evidence that Russia meddled in the election, whether or not they affected the results of the election is a different story though. This caused for George W. Bush to say, "It's problematic that a foreign nation is involved in our election system. Our democracy is only as good as people trust the results." Clearly Bush isn't happy with what has currently been going on in the presidential race or the results of it. Even though the former president never mentioned Trump by name, everyone is well aware of who he is talking about and the situation at hand. The article says, "Bush's unequivocal statements on the issue ran counter to the rhetoric that has emerged from the Trump administration." So basically everything that Bush was criticizing had to relate to the Trump administration, whether or not that was ever clearly stated, it was implied. 

With all these accusations over the matter that Trump has been receiving the ones from George W. Bush weren't the only ones coming at him. Even with many people judging the situation he still stuck to concealing that the Russian government was behind the cyberattack and had no involvement, yet his rhetoric about the subject increasingly has become weaker and weaker. Overall, Trump's stance and relations with Russia has perplexed many U.S. citizens, allies, and lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic Party. Along with all this confusion I know I am also on that side. It's hard to believe what President Trump is truly doing and if he really has the best intentions for our country in mind. I guess the only way to find out is to tell with time, but he already has a lot of that without much to show for it.



Link to article: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/08/george-w-bush-russia-election-meddling-398173

"Americans in ISIS: Some 300 Tried To Join, 12 Have Returned to U.S."

Greg Myre of "npr" wrote on February 5, 2018 and article about America's relations to ISIS. There is an estimated 300 Americans who have attempted to join the Islamic State and other radical Islamist groups in the areas of Iraq and Syria. While 300 Americans doesn't seem like it would make a huge impact because they only make up about 1% of the 30,000 foreign fighters who joined ISIS it is still something that shouldn't be happening. So far out of the 300 Americans 12 of them have returned home without carrying out any attacks on U.S. soil. While all this has been going on the U.S. has been working with local partners to battle ISIS and while it has managed to make a positive impact on the territory they once held there is still more work to be done. 

Around 50 Americans were arrested when trying to leave the country, but they never managed to make it out of the U.S. and were stopped in their tracks, but 64 individuals later on where able to reach either Syria or Iraq. It is important that they were able to stop some of the Americans because this let them get a look inside of their minds and investigate their reasoning for leaving. One of the people captured was Zulfi Hoxha, a New Jersey resident of Albanian decent. He was stated to be, "a bit of a loner. High school friends would describe him as kind of a geek." His capture was important because he actually took part in ISIS propaganda videos, including one where he beheads a prisoner, and he was described to be a senior ISIS commander. Overall, there have been many recent cases of Americans being associated with the Islamic terrorist group, ISIS. The U.S. is continuing their fight in stopping them along with the Iraqi government. 

I believe if we can all work together as a country we can help stop or at least prevent any more attacks from ISIS. The better we are at finding out who these Americans are who are trying to leave the better we will be at investigating their motives  and ending it. 

Link to article: https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/02/05/583407221/americans-in-isis-some-300-tried-to-join-12-have-returned-to-u-s

North Korea and the State of the Union

"North Korea and the State of the Union"

In an article posted by, "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," John Mecklin discusses the newest President's first State of the Union address. Right away it is clear in the article that the author is not impressed with Trump's speech. The speech was filled with praise of heroes specifically placed in the audience to allow for shorten timed on policy talk, especially in regards to international relations. While not much actual talk about the outlook of our country went on last night, Trump did mention a little bit about our global nuclear tensions and of course our "main geopolitical rivals," Russia and China. Trump stated, "As part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal. Hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and so powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression by any other nation or anyone else. Perhaps someday in the future, there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, we are not there yet, sadly." Overall, I think this message isn't really all that reassuring for the American people or the type of intellectual response you would wish to here from your President. The response seems very vague and the audience cannot really gauge a clear understanding of what will happen to our nuclear forces.

Besides the nuclear tensions we have been facing lately, Trump also briefly brought up Russia and China, but in a quite frank manner. He more so focused his attention towards North Korea, but only on its "depraved character" of their regime and how the United States is a much stronger figure. Some people are out to believe that Trump was attempting to rally public support for a military strike against North Korea, whether or not this is true it will take time to see what his true hidden plans. 

In conclusion, I think that when Trump gives certain speeches, a common theme for him is to be very vague and inconclusive and this State of the Union address was no exception to that. I believe if he keeps going down this path more and more people will realize this and be aware of the state he is leading our country to and the path it is going to go down. The way he sees and treats other countries is a representation of the type of person he is and Americans need to question if that is what they really want. 

Link to article: https://thebulletin.org/north-korea-and-state-union11475

Intel Chip Flaws With China

"Intel Warned Chinese Companies of Chip Flaws Before U.S. Government"

In an article posted by The Wall Street Journal, Robert McMillan and Liza Lin from San Francisco and Shanghai collaborated to discuss the topic of security and integrity of Intel Corporation. After the company decided to notify only a small group of customers, including the Chinese technology companies, but left out the US government it left for some concerns to rise. The reason this became a controversial issue between the US and China is because the US government are the ones who are most familiar with the matter and the company involved. The US is concerned that the information about the chip flaws could have fallen into the wrong hands of the Chinese government and could have been publicly divulged. These flaws can be used to sneak out private data and information and be given to any intelligence gathering agency. The reason this has become a problem specifically with China is because in the past, the country had "state linked hackers who have exploited software vulnerabilities to get leverage on their targets or expand surveillance." Concluding, the Chinese have proven they can't be trusted with certain information because they go and take it for their own step up. 

Slowly, over time more and more countries were becoming aware of the situation at hand before others were. Intel was trying to keep the information covered for as long as they could before they wanted to come out themselves and discuss what was going on, but of course the news was made public earlier than anticipated. Workers apart of the Department of Homeland Security were not even notified of the issue until they heard about it from other news reports. Along with the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA was similar in the dark and hidden away from this information. 

The reason it is so important for as many companies to know as soon as possible is because the sooner they know about the problem the sooner they can protect their online companies. By knowing of this breach sooner it also allows for the companies to put out any release statements after the news to ensure their customers and their privacy were protected. I think after reading over this article it has really made me more aware of how significant our technology is to us and how quickly it can also backfire on us. With all the power we can get from our updated technology, we can lose it just as quickly if we are not careful with protecting it. The reason our technology is so important is because it can give use a competitive advantage over other countries, but in this case when countries like China can get a hold of our technology they are able to see how we interact and take that from us. While I think it is important to have security in our technology, some advantages of sharing it with other countries can allow for us to create new bonds and learn even more through other countries and create more allies. 

Link to article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/intel-warned-chinese-companies-of-chip-flaws-before-u-s-government-1517157430

Trump's Twitter Tirades

"Trump’s Twitter tirades aren’t boding well for international relations in 2018"

In a recent article posted by Think Progress on January 3rd, 2018, by E.A. Cruden, talks about the downside of Trump's online Twitter access. In the beginning of it all Trump initially singles out Iran for the protests that they have going on. Trump states, "The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their “pockets.” The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!" This isn't the only negative feedback Trump has given recently to Iran, he also repeatedly criticizes their government and their nuclear deal that was first made up under the Obama administration. Experts are concerned that the more Trump continues to abuse his power and the relationship they have with Iran it could really backfire and cause for claims to go around stating that the US is behind the Iranian protests.

While Trump has been creating tensions between the US and Iran, it is not the only country he has been causing controversy with. One other big conflict Trump has been causing relates to North Korea. Trump basically mocks the North Korean authoritarian leader, Kim Jong-un, by asserting, "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” Threatening another countries nuclear efforts does not cause for a pleasant time. The country of North and South Korea have even moved towards each other to reopen a border hotline to help the country's relations become closer together and further away from US influence and Trump's tweets. 

Trump's madness doesn't even end there. He continued to call out Pakistan too for lamenting the US aid given to the nuclear armed country. He says it was foolish to give them 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years because they have been nothing but liars and think of our leaders as fools. Of course, Pakistan didn't respond happily to the President's tweet. The reason this was a foolish move to make is due to the fact that Pakistan is an important ally, sharing borders with Iran, India, and Afghanistan, where the US is preparing to send soldiers. 

In conclusion, I believe the actions that President Trump are not in the best interest not only for our country, but other countries all over the world. He is severing ties that could be of use to us and acting like we are the only powerful country in the world. I believe we can learn from the lands around us and not just assume them to be less superior. 

Link to article: https://thinkprogress.org/2018-us-world-relations-2ab27815bef8/