Political Thought in the US and the World

location_on Location: Emanuele A

(Links to papers / posters are embargoed until 4/7)

All times in Eastern Time Zone

• assignment_ind Geise, N. “ The Decline of the U.S. Hegemony and Resulting Rise of Rival Aggression ”
  The U.S. has seen a relative decline in recent years in terms of its global political influence, and likewise, it has seen unprecedented levels of rival growth. This has resulted in a significant shift in the modern world order and opened doors for the U.S. to be usurped as the most powerful state in the world. Traditionally, political scientists have believed hegemonic stability theory to explain much of the peace and economic growth within the world, as well as augmenting democratic peace. As the U.S. continues to find itself falling from its dominant position, it will continue to see rivals emboldened and the peace of recent decades begin to wane. As one rival finds itself in conflict with the hegemon, others will see the opportunity to act against weakened opposition, and stand up. During the coming decades, we will see a resurgence of proxy wars and even direct conflicts. This presentation will analyze these ideas, alongside the growing intensity of old rivalries we have seen during the last months from states such as China, Russia, and North Korea.
• assignment_ind Smith, R. “ Media and The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict ”
  On May 14, 1948, the United Nations partitioned the state of Israel; when news reports aired, many learned of the centuries-old conflict between Jewish and Arab people for the first time. In these initial reports and in the decades of news coverage since, bias in popular media sources has the potential to impact public perception of world affairs. Many individuals consume popular media as a means of learning about these issues, but some consumers may underestimate the complexities of the conflict due to the biases of media outlets. This research specifically examines this phenomenon in the case of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Scholars in refugee studies and media studies have analyzed how biased media outlets are based on their region in the world. Building on this research, this paper incorporates an original survey to examine how many individuals have opinions on resolving this conflict despite not fully understanding the topic. The goal of this research is to link media biases and the perspectives of individuals in a way that reflects the power of the news media to impact public knowledge of important events in the world.
• assignment_ind Stankovich, J. “ The Harm Principle ”
  John Stuart Mill explored the idea of how abuses, or “harm,” can damage a society as well as the individuals as well. His whole idea is centered around the concept that people are duty-bound to prevent harm to others, either by not causing harm to others personally, or by stopping a third party from doing harm unto someone. Andrew Linklater pushes this theory farther by defining harm in more modern, 21st-century terms. He also illustrates the point through the writings of other philosophers and the writings of early Americans and the creation of laws and statutes. Mill also is not clear on the exact line between personal rights and the protection of other’s rights. John Locke offers up some clarification regarding this and the Founding Fathers further both Mill and Locke’s ideas in their writings. By exploring the idea of the harm principle one is left with the ethical question of what constitutes harm and who decides that.