World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

I’m back from vacation.  Two weeks in the Virgin Islands is a truly relaxing experience.  I lost touch with current affairs (which was precisely the point).  It seems, however, that the world decided to continue to unfold despite my studied indifference.

Reuters is reporting that China is building a second aircraft carrier, and has plans to build two more.  China sent its first carrier, the Liaoning, through the Taiwan Straits last November and conducted a wide range of combat-related tests on that mission.  The plans indicate that China fully intends to become a first-class naval power.  It should be remembered, however, that the US recently launched its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, and has announced plans to build two more of these state of the art carriers.   The naval arms race is a classic example of what theorists call the “Security Dilemma” where one nation’s search for security is another nation’s threat of insecurity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly told US Secretary of State John Kerry that Israel wishes to annex a fourth Israeli settlement in the West Bank.   The previous Israeli position had been to annex three settlements, all of which are close to the original borders of 1967.  The new settlements is deep in the West Bank and would bring the total amount of land the Israelis wish to annex to about 13% of the total West Bank territory.  Previously, the Palestinians have said that they would not consider any proposal that would consider a land swap of more than 2% of the total West Bank.  At this time, we have no idea how Kerry responded to the idea.

Ukrainian protesters defied new laws against protests in one of the largest anti-government rallies in weeks.  The laws have been denounced by many liberal democracies as some of the most extreme in the world.  But some of the protesters, wearing saucepans and colanders on their heads to protest the laws prohibiting the wearing of helmets, appear to be more than willing to continue to defy the government.