Global Politics

Carson Spencer and Mason Miller

Contemporary World Issues
Ring
Monday, May 4, 2015

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Many countries rely on other countries, whether that be through trade or aid in wars and
natural disasters, every country needs help. There is one tool that makes supporting other
countries possible, and that is global politics. There are different examples of how to rise to the
top and handle global politics, some good and some bad. Politics and how to handle them fly
throughout most debates and is a large portion of what everyone sees on the news, but most
people are clueless of how relations between countries and governments work. After going
through numerous case studies and developing a small, but organized and efficient country on an
online game, weve come to have a better understanding of how global politics work and the
things that go along with them.
There are many ways to become a world superpower, and none of them are quick, easy
processes. Some countries start to rise to the top and have quick and dramatic downfalls, like
Germany in the WWII era. However, while you are building your country up, you need to figure
out what you have that others need. If you don't, no one will want to become your ally because
you don't have anything to offer in return. Once you find that resource, you can start to create
alliances and trade agreements. With trade, you get money and resources that you need to grow.
Once you have a steady source of finances, you can build your country. Things like creating
infrastructure and commerce will help grow your country because more people will move there
with the hope of finding work and a better life. After this, you can start to build other portions of
your country like your military to help defend you in any time of attack. And with a stronger
nation and people who need your resources, other countries become dependents. Once you have
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countries that need what you have and a military that can back you up in any type of attack or
raid, you can start to shape things your way. This way, as you rise to the top, you have leverage

when there are disagreements. Though the full process is much more complex and happens over
a span of years and even decades, this is a generalized idea of a way for countries to gain power.
One bad example of global politics would be the nuclear situation in North Korea. After
the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that led to the end of WWII, everyone feared any type
of nuclear warfare. However, North Korea has been caught creating and testing nuclear weapons.
This caused a frenzy in the world of global politics because of the negative precedent of nuclear
weapons in history and the fact that most countries have bad relations with North Korea.
According to CNN satellite images, North Korea has more than doubled the size of their main
nuclear enrichment facility in Yongbyon. The United Nations warned North Korea of the actions
that could be taken if they continued to test nuclear weapons and build arsenals, but North Korea
only responded with yet another test and the threat that they will respond with greater intensity if
the threats continue toward them, according to BBC News. This has turned many countries,
including world powers, against the regime and the continuation of threats from North Korea
could lead to action. This is a huge threat because a nuclear war could wipe out large areas and
communities and threaten global security. The situation needs to be handled in a quick and
peaceful way to avoid the possibility of nuclear war.
Our online country, Mason, was a republic on the continent of Australia. We made coal
and aluminum our main exports and we made oil our main import. We powered both of our cities
with the imported oil and after we had established a source of power and infrastructure, we
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started to build our nation. We joined an alliance, The Brotherhood of Clouds, because it had a
second city buildup program and a $100,000 donation for joining the alliance. The alliance also
had no military obligations, we did not have to join a war just because one of our alliance

members were attacked. We had no tax on resources but a 7% tax on income that went to the aid
of the countries we were allied with. With the money we received from the alliance, we built up
our military, which was important for the inevitable day we were attacked. We only built up
enough for a defensive battle because our nation was not developed enough for any offensive
actions. The least important aspect was creating social policies, we still traded with people who
had extreme policies and with those who had moderate policies and everyone else did the same.
Our nation score ended up being 72.45 when we stopped playing the game because we had two
cities, and we built up commerce. In the end, we hoped to create as neutral of a country as we
could. We would still aid our alliance, but try to remain as uninvolved as possible in any case of
war so we wouldnt be involved or help fuel the fire for any large conflict. However, we did want
to be as powerful as possible through trade agreements, alliances and military strength. Basically,
our strategy was to make as many friends as possible without making any enemies.
Global politics is an extremely broad topic, they can be as simple as creating trade
agreements and as complicated as trying to prevent a large scale war. Throughout the course of
history, there are plenty of examples of both good and bad grips on politics. However, when we
created our virtual country, we got a better, modern taste of how they work. Also, with the
numerous case studies, we found out how complex and dangerous they can be. With all the
research we did, I believe we have a better understanding of what we see on the news and just
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how something on the other side of the world can directly affect the US. We thought this was an
interesting unit and were glad to have a better understanding of something we hear about on a
daily basis.