Institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank were said to have been set up in order to help those in need. Countries unable to pay debts and feed their people could use the World Bank as a last resort. But as it turns out, capitalists have somehow gotten their hands in all aspects of international society. Even democratic governments are being heavily influenced by big industry and corporate capitalists who apparently know exactly what these governments need. This only further proves the point that, governments need money, and people who have it, and this will allow the people who have to also have a say in the government itself.
Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Between August and November of the same year, the UN came up with, and proposed twelve resolutions in an attempt to get Iraq to withdrawal but they chose to ignore them. On January 16th, 1991 the US led a multi-national coalition that waged war on Iraq. Why did it have to come to this? Was it because of the personality characteristics of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, or was it because of the United States inability to exclude themselves from affairs in the middle east. 
Russia and China Veto U.N Imposed Sanctions on Syria
Russia and China vetoed a European backed U.N sanction on Syria if they didn’t stop its military purge of its civilians.
“CBS News correspondent Pamela Falk reports that the vetoes reflect the divisions among world powers over what to do about the government crackdown against opponents in Syria, which has left an estimated 2,700 dead.”
Russia’s cooperation with U.N security council sanctions was a vital component in stopping Syrian President Bashar Assads regime. But recently Russia changed its stance and is now refraining from opposition against Assad.
“China’s Ambassador Li Bandong said his country is concerned about the ongoing violence and wants to see speedy reforms but opposed the resolution because “sanctions, or threat of sanctions, do not help the situation in Syria but rather complicates the situation.”
Although China and Russia support their positions with legitimate concerns with the sanctions, both regimes have had a history of opposing Western ideals and implications on other nations.
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The Solidarity Movement
Solidarity was an Independent Self-governing Trade Union that emerged out of Poland in August of 1980. Led by Lech Walesa, it was the first non-communist controlled Trade Union to take place in a Warsaw pact country. It reached 9.5 million members before its September 1981 congress that constituted a third of the total working age population of Poland. In the 80s, Solidarity was a massive anti-Soviet movement that promoted non-violence, as well as the improvement of workers rights, and conditions. The communists of the Eastern Bloc tried to destroy the Union by implementing Martial Law of 1981. This was a period where the Peoples Republic of Poland drastically repressed normal life for its citizens in order to crush any political opposition. The survival of the Union was unprecedented and led to a break in the extreme communist stance of the Polish United Workers Party; it also led to a break in the Soviet communist regime in the Eastern Bloc. Solidarity’s persistence forced the Polish government to allow anti-communist candidates into the election of 1989 where they took a striking victory over the communists. This also resulted in a succession of anti-communist revolutions throughout central Europe. This self-governing union contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990 and ultimately gave eastern Europeans a better, more secure life. Because of this organization, an open, cultivated Eastern Bloc took over, which improved relationships with Western civilization, allowing them to trade, and communicate with less tension.
Prime Minister’s Policy to Use Evidence Derived from Torture
CBC news’ Canadian Press talks about the “use of intelligence derived from torture” in a recent published article.
” The order represents a reversal of policy for the Conservative government, which once insisted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service would discard information if there was any inkling it might be tainted.
Opposition MPs seized on the news, saying it means the government is indirectly supporting torture.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews quietly told CSIS the government now expects the spy service to “make the protection of life and property its overriding priority” and may under exceptional circumstances share information based on intelligence that may have been derived from the use of torture.
“Information obtained by torture is always discounted. But the problem is, can one safely ignore it when Canadian lives and property are at stake?” Toews said in question period.
Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae asked Toews to table the directive in the House of Commons.”
CBC argues that this order represents a reversal of policy for Stephen Harper‘s conservative government, as Harper once insisted that information obtained by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service through torture would be discarded.
Prime Minister Harper’s actions represent a rational model of decision making. He chose a foreign policy that maximizes his strategic goals and objectives, with the primary goal being establishing a secure place for Canadians to live.
Cuban Missile Crisis through the Eyes of a Realist
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. After the U.S had unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the Cuban government through a proxy war during the Bay of Pigs of 1962; Cuba began to secretly build nuclear missile silos with aid from the Soviets. The U.S government became aware of this after one of their U-2 planes captures photographs of the construction. With this being about 90 miles off of the coast of Miami, and potentially possessing the power to destroy most of the United States, President Kennedy did not take this lightly. He instituted a military quarantine on Cuba, preventing all Soviet ships holding weapons from entering Cuban waters. With President Kennedy now holding the upper hand, Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev was forced into a pact. The Soviet Union were to retract all nuclear armaments, and the U.S agreed to never invade Cuba.
This outcome was made possible because of the decisions made by U.S President Kennedy. Kruschev tried to build nuclear silos in Cuba hoping that the new, young, inexperienced U.S leader would back down in fear of nuclear war. Through the yes of a realist, Kennedy recognized this and acted promptly, and courageously. By not allowing the Soviets to establish missile basis in Cuba, he called his bluff.
Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points
President Woodrow Wilson delivered his Fourteen Points speech to Congress in 1918 in the hopes of reaching an international peace agreement after the First World War. This idealistic proposal sought a reduction of national arms; evacuation and restoration of Belgium; readjustment of Italy’s borders; freedom of France, with its invaded portions repatriated; freedom of the seas; and removal of all economic barriers to implement equality in trade. The fourteen points proposed open covenants of peace, with no private international understandings and general association of nations.
Wilson felt that the best way to go about doing this was to catch the eyes of the most powerful allied countries: France, Italy, and Britain. Although these nations would’ve loved to see Germany perish, there were points addressing France and Italy’s best interests. Britain was not eager to relinquish its monopoly of the seas, but agreed in order to prevent conflict. Because of the world having been in a state of war for so long, France, Italy, and Britain ultimately agreed to the Fourteen Points in their eagerness to reach peace.
However, when these countries came together at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, without Wilson, they used the Treaty of Versailles to reflect their interest in seeking revenge on Germany and ensuring that it would never rise again. Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points were too idealistic to be implemented and created an environment that indirectly resulted in the Second World War.
