Political Science and International Relations

Scientists from around the world met to discuss the effects of the proposed Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA), the continent’s new vehicle for improving physical connections between the nations of South America.

Tim Killeen, a senior scientist at Conservation International, presented a paper at the meeting entitled “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness: Development and Conservation in the Context of IIRSA.” According to Killeen, “Failure to foresee the full impact of IIRSA investments, particularly in the context of climate change and global markets, could lead to a perfect storm of environmental destruction. At stake are the greatest tropical wilderness area on the planet and the multiple benefits it provides.”

His concerns were highlighted this week when Presidents Uribe and Chavez, of Colombia and Venezuela respectively, invited Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to witness the opening of the new Ballenas-Maracaibo oil pipeline between their two countries. The invitation included the possibility of negotiating an extension of the pipeline south into Ecuador.

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Post-modern warfare is a new term used to justify the new type of warfare, whereby it is fought with precision weapons with minimal collateral damage and extensively improved types of immediate information (speed of sending info), surveillance and of equipment for locating targets. This new type of warfare has been possible due to the new military technology available, the RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs) and the information technology.

Now you may ask yourself “What is the difference between post-modern warfare and the traditional war?” Who is responsible for its development and creation? And most important, other than its lesser implications on collateral damage comparing to traditional warfare, how valid or legal is it for it to be practised on sovereign nation-states?

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NHK, (Nippon Broadcasting Corporation) has been broadcasting good English learning programs historically. Now they have one of more modern and talk show style, English studying program. There is a show host, young American who speaks fluent Japanese, 2 male students, 1 female student, and a guest. The guests are usually famous people who are involved in the international community, in various fields. Their activities are United Nations related, international sports event, overseas business, or entertainment.

It is enjoyable to watch improvement of regular students and stories from guests. It was particularly interesting was the male student whose English was not good at all in the beginning of his study. He needed to try to take an American girl out for dating in US, the girl he talked was polite, but still she needed to ask him to brush up his English and ask again. It is not his broken English, however. It was noticeable that no matter how many times he has made mistakes, he has never given up. The people who were laughing at him started to be serious helping him. He was making his progress!

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