Semester Test Blog

[7Addie]

1. What were President Obama's accomplishments/issues as President?(10 points)

Accomplishments: Stopped the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, Ended “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” Ended Iraq War, Killed Osama Bin Laden.

Issues: Bad US economy, Major national debt, Obama care, GM bailout.

2. Describe the main political and economic systems in the world.(10 points)

• Direct Democracy:
  • No country in the world that practices direct democracy
  • A form of government were people have complete control in the government
  • No Representatives, would be inefficient to run country that way
• Representative Democracy:
  • People elect reps to make laws for them
  • Ex: US, Canada, Mexico, parts of Europe
  • Important for people to vote in a Rep. Democracy
• Communism Theory:
  • Carl Marx created it.
  • The poor people will rise up and overthrow the rich, and eventually create a classless society where everything is equal.
  • Wouldn’t work b/c eventually someone would emerge as a leader and the society would be back to square one.
• Communism Practice:
  • Government that has complete control over all businesses and its people.
  • Government controls everything people do.
  • People’s rights are generally kept down.
• Dictatorship:
  • One person has complete and total power.
  • Ex: Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stolen
• Constitutional Monarchy:
  • Has king or queen but the king or queen is completely limited to the laws of the constitution.
  • Ex: Great Britain
  • King or queen really doesn’t have much political power (More of a figure head or tradition)
• Absolute Monarchy:
  • A king or queen has complete power…almost a dictator
  • Don’t have limits like a Const. Monarchy
• Socialism:
  • Communism and Socialism often go together
  • The government controls all businesses and trade.
  • US has some Socialist aspects
•  Capitalism:
  • People own and run businesses
  • Laissez-fair
  • People that work hard have more money.
• Mixed Economy:
  • Very few countries that are completely socialist or capitalist.
  • A mix of both
  • Ex. US= Schools or postal service by gov. and private businesses too.

3. What are the major divisions between Democrats and Republicans in the US?(10 points)

Democrat:

• Favor change in society
• Support regulations on economy and businesses
• Favor an active role for government in society
• Believe that government involvement will improve the quality of people’s lives

Republican:

• Conservative
• Have more traditional views
• Are more into Laissez-faire
• Believe people should help themselves and not rely on the government

4. What happened on 9-11-2001 and what impact did it have on the US?(10 points)

• Planes were high jacked by Al-Qaeda, led by Bin-Laden
• 2 planes hit the Twin Towers, 1 plane hit the Pentagon, and a 4^th plane crash landed in a field in Pennsylvania.
• No one knew what was going on or what would come next so all planes were ordered to get out the skies or be shot down.
• Bush wanted to return to Washington, but they wouldn’t let him because no one knew what would come next.
• 9/11 shook the US but also brought a tremendous feeling of patriotism as everyone wanted to band together and show that our country was strong.
• 9/11 also helped cause the US’s war with Afghanistan.

5. Why did the US go to war in Iraq and what impact did that war have on the US?(10 points)

• Entered War in Iraq b/c US thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction
• Saddam Hussein would play games with weapons inspectors and finally just wouldn’t let them in
• US told Saddam Hussein he would face consequences if he didn’t allow the weapons inspectors in….
• US invaded to look for WMD’s
• Never found them, but did capture Saddam Hussein and put him on trial and killed.
• Bush became unpopular b/c of the war.
  • He never gave a timeline for the war
  • People thought he was crazy when he sent a surge into Iraq, but it helped
  • Obama ended war when he became president and pulled troops out in December 2011

6. Describe the problems the following African countries(and Middle East) have had or are currently having as discussed in class: (Two of the following-20 points)

Rwanda-

• Conflict Between Hutus and Tutsis
• Ethnic tension between 2 groups, b/c Europeans favored Tutsis and gave them more opportunities
• When Europeans left, Hutus took government control
• It’s believed that the Hutus shot down a helicopter carrying Rwanda president and blamed Tutsis for a reason to start fighting.
• Over 100 days 1 million people were killed (mostly Tutsis.)
• The Tutsis eventually gained control and pushed the Hutus into the DRC where the Hutus continued to cause problems.

Darfur in Sudan-

• Arabs of the area attacking the black Africans b/c wanted the farm land.
• Janjaweed would go around and kill anyone who was trying to leave the refugee camps.
• During Feb. 2003, Arabs were trying to invade Darfur were Africans were living.
• The government was mostly Arab and so they would neglect the black Africans.
• Turned into a genocide on the Africans.

South Sudan vs Sudan-

• Involved the Arab Muslims and the Christians from Sudan and South Sudan
  • One of the major issues that the two groups fought was b/c of religion
• They disagreed over oil (which is the major industry in Sudan and both countries rely on it.)They also fought over religion and power…South Sudan also wanted independence
  • Most of the Oil was in South Sudan area so the North wanted to take it…
• Started a second Civil war
•  The countries finally cut the oil land in half to help stop the fighting but there is still conflicts between the two countries

Somalia-

• Anarchy after repressive government was overthrown
• theoretically split into two parts (north and south), the north has tried to declare independence  and has had the closest form of successful government in Somalia since
• lots of fighting among rival groups
• the US and UN tried to help but eventually left after suffering significant casualties (Like Black Hawk Down)
• there have been 14 attempts at government since Somalia’s government was overthrown
• Currently attempting a democracy with a president but the new government has little power and the south is widely dominated by terrorists

Lords Resistance Army(Joseph Kony) in Uganda/Central African Republic-

• Joseph Kony abducts children to be in his army, and believes he is doing it b/c he is a messenger of God.
• He mutilates kids’ faces and threatens them and makes them kill their parents or else he’ll kill them
• Kony 2012 was created to try to bring awareness and capture Joseph Kony, but it wasn’t accomplished by 2012

Syria-

• Syria leader, al-Assad vs. his people
• There is no rights for the people in Syria b/c they were taken away by Marshal law
• The people are protesting and fighting for al-Assad to step down, but he wont
  • He promised to help stop the fighting but there was little change and the protesters still don’t believe him
  • Rebels are fighting to remove al-Assad from power

7. What are some of the major problems the world is facing, what are the causes of these problems and what is being done to help solve these problems?(Two of the following-20 points)

UN Millennium Goals

•End poverty and hunger:

Targets 1: Reduce the numbers  of the people who live on less than $1.25 a day (extreme poverty) by half (already met in 2010, when goal was met child survival rates went up and rates of death from malaria went down). Researchers say that in 2015 there will still be 1 billion people in extreme poverty, even though the goal was already met.

Target 2: Make sure that everyone has employment opportunities (specifically for women and children).

Target 3: 850 million people are living with world hunger and the target wants to help people who are eating less than 3 meals a day.

•Universal education:

In the year 2000 there were 128 million primary children not in school. This goal is to make sure all children have been given a primary education (also make sure that both boys and girls have equal education opportunities.)  Goal has significantly improved since the goal was set.

•Gender equality:

Problem: women aren’t being treated the same as men and men aren’t being treated the same as women. In some countries the women become property and aren’t paid equally as men. In many cultures women are second class citizens. Target: By 2005 have more girls in class rooms and allow women more access to education, give women equal opportunities.

•Child health:

Target: Reduce child mortality (babies up to 5 years). Some of the causes are children being born into poverty and the mother not having education to take care of the child.  South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa make up 80% of the child mortality rate and the reason that the goal isn’t being met because the rate isn’t going down in those areas and they make up a lot of it. The rate decreased by 5.5 million total and child mortality rate is highest in Africa. Nearly 14,000 fewer kids die each die as of 1990.

•Maternal health:

Goal is to reduce the number of maternal deaths; to stop deaths of both women and children during pregnancy. Maternal mortality is 15 times more likely in 3^rd world/developing countries. The main reason that mothers die is that they don’t have the proper care and resources. They are trying to educate doctors in the worst areas and they want mothers to go at least four times to a doctor before the baby is born, and they want mothers to have access to more birth control so that they don’t keep having baby after baby after baby.

•Combat HIV/AIDS:

Supply more health care for people who have HIV/AIDS and stop the problem by 2015. The problem has decreased by 17% since 2000 and the mortality rates have decreased by 25%. They are trying to reverse the spread of the disease. Also wants to provide universal treatment for all HIV/AIDS patients. By stopping HIV/AIDS and Malaria, it also stops the death of children.

•Environmental sustainability:

Target one: replace tree loss (trying to solve deforestation) the largest loss of trees was in Africa and the Amazon rainforest (by eliminating the rainforest….we eliminate things like exotic animals, CO₂ sucking and oxygen providing trees, and future medicines and resources from there) Part B: protecting plants and animals Another Part: Provide people with clean and safe drinking water…more than 2 billion people have been provided with drinking water since 1990, and the goal was accomplished in 2010. Last Target: reduce the number of slum dwellers (somebody who lives in a very populated area with poor conditions). There are still more than 250 million people live in slums. Today 2.5 billion people still do not have basic sanitation such as toilets or latrines.

•Global partnership:

• Developed countries are building partnerships to help developing countries get aid like technology, medical supplies, communication devices (especially countries that are land locked or on islands b/c it’s hard for them to get aid.)
• B/c the countries promised to donate money years ago, there has become a gap of 167 billion dollars b/c the countries can no longer pay the amount they promised. This is slowing down progress and making it hard to deliver aid.