1.Foreign Affairs
Thailand has called a state of martial law as there is strong conflict between loyalist opposition and the government itself. 28 people have died and over 700 have been estimated to have been injured. In response to this, Chairman Ed Royce who is the head of the Committee of Foreign Affairs says the following:
“Persistent military intervention in Thailand’s politics has only weakened its democratic institutions. Today’s coup will only perpetuate the deep political divisions that have gripped Thailand for almost a decade. I call on the Thai military to avoid violence, exercise restraint, and put in place a plan to return to democratic rule as quickly as possible.”
Source:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/05/thailand-martial-law-raises-coup-fears-20145217445512863.html
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release/chairman-royce-statement-coup-thailand
3. Politics
It is said that the future Senate's future depends on women running for and those that are in the Senate in both parties. There are already 3 seats taken by women and three more are running in the next Senate. Right now there are 20 women in the Senate, which makes up 20% of the whole body. The deciding factor of whether the Senate has more representation of women is up for the next election.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/21/politics/senate-midterms-women-candidates/
4.Economy
For the first time in 3 years, European growth has actually overtaken American growth in the first quarter. The Eurozone, which is comprised of 18 countries in Europe have shown a growth from -1.2% in the first quarter of 2013 to .9% in the first quarter of 2014. Compared to the United States which has had a growth of .1%. These were all numbers involving the Gross Domestic Product and the explanation that the United States makes is the harsh winter which had prevented both exports and selling houses.
Source:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/15/news/economy/europe-gdp/index.html?iid=SF_E_River
The current political situation is what stuck out to me here. The fact that more and more women are becoming a part of the Senate is astonishing compared to how it used to be. Women currently making up 20 percent of the Senate is quite a lot, and more women are running in the next Senate.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post! I agree that the political situation kind of stuck to me as well. Even though that is massive improvement compared to how many women were in the Senate before, the number of women compared to men is still not even close to being even. However, it is nice to hear that more women are running for a position in Senate in the next election so hopefully more improvement will be made.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why no one has started a post up on the situation in Thailand, but now you have. I think that many other people aren't away of the declaration of martial. It's good to remind people now and then that the world isn't just one nation floating on top of a sea of immigrant workers. Nice evaluation.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth nothing the civil arrest that's happening in Venezuela as well. Last I heard protesters (mostly college students) were getting attacked by police and there are major shortages of basic necessities like toilet paper and milk. Also the leader of the opposition, Leopoldo Lopez turned himself in to the police back in February after giving a rousing speech to his followers. The whole situation is pretty interesting to read about.
ReplyDeleteOh and I forgot to mention that the U.S. is deliberating right now where or not to take action against Venezuela for their human rights violations. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/05/22/white-house-reluctant-to-back-sanctions-against-venezuela/
DeleteThis is very interesting to see how all the time new history is being made. All around the world, people are dealing with issues that will later become history to future students. These trends are so interesting. Like with women, up until the middle of the 20th century women were inherently inferior to men, at least now there is a growing representation for women and what women believe in.
ReplyDeleteI found the economics part of this post very interesting. I actually recently read an article that claims that the European Union (a large component of the Eurozone) is considered a potential superpower by the year 2050 along with India and China, mainly because of its recent economic growth and output.
ReplyDelete@Zach that's really interesting. Do you remember where the article was from/have more information about that? I can definitely see that being true, though. The US has been at a high point in terms of world power/economic influence since WWII, and it makes sense that this balance of power is now shifting. US's innovation is superb, but other nations are definitely catching up.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you included a quick overview here instead of an in depth delve into a specific topic. On the topic of the actual content, though, I really liked your emphasis on women involvement in the senate. Females have managed to gain a significant percentage of its seats, and its speaks to the improving climate for females in this country.
ReplyDelete