China and International Relations

The typical response to scarcity is a lapse in clear thinking  -Rolf Dobelli

If you're like me, deciphering the global political puzzle is not easy.  If anything from time to time you glimpse at the TV and see a headline like Pyongyang Destroys South Korean Office and don't know what to think or initially feel some emotions; shock, anger, confusion, possibly.  That was a real headline about two weeks ago.  North Korea is a regular in the news for flexing their authoritarian muscles.  In recent years though many cosmopolitans began to see some progress in Korean relations.  Showcases of diplomatic behavior at the divide between North and South Korea at the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) have become a regular thing, until now.  This was an example of North Korea's intense desire to be the biggest dog in the park, which they so often are enabled to be by China, privately.  China ambiguously responds with a "hope for peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula."  That was a hollow and unfounded message to say the least.  Their actions following that statement imply they believe just the opposite.

China has clashed with almost all of its neighbors in recent weeks, including Pakistan, India, and Taiwan  and imposed appalling authoritarian law on its last hope for any democratic headway, Hong Kong.  It's ghastly what they're doing in Hong Kong, if you read today's version of WSJ the regime led by Beijing is now burning books.  I don't know about you but I associate book burning with one of two things; either keeping warm in a post-apocalyptic situation like that portrayed in The Day After Tomorrow, or the desire to remove truth from a society, and it's typically the latter. 

I believe international relations should be a more important factor in the development of our political stances.  I follow it like some women follow the Kardashians.  More often than not a take on international relations on a popular news outlet observes either the ideology of Realism or Liberalism.  These ideologies have subgroups which scholars pride themselves in pointing out but I implore you to take a deeper dive into them.  They're nothing like the democrat, republican, or libertarian ideologies we base our votes on in the states, they're going to challenge your belief-templates harder.  Realism is actually a philosophical dogma at its core.  The political Realism has its basis in that dogma, i.e. War never changes is a good politically realist phrase.  Philosophical Realism is the core belief that our reality is everything that is the case, i.e. black and white, yin and yang, order and chaos.  Even getting your feet wet in international relations, such as reading about Africa's latest infrastructure development, or India and China's border skirmishes, and the dynamic games that surround them, your core beliefs will really be challenged, and we can have some truly interesting conversation.