I hope to reflect on a few questions I ask myself weekly here in Rwanda, some things I’ve learned along the way, and what Rwandan culture and my home environment are like. It’s impossible to appropriately summarize what I have experienced in thirteen months into one post but I hope after reading this, you have … Continue reading Where it’s always morning and everyone is always fine – a snapshot of life in Rwanda

Introduction  As Staub (1999) stresses, it was a universal hope that after World War II, the horrors of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany’s crusade against the Jewish people and millions of other people would bring such incredible violence to an end forever (304). But, instances of collective or group violence has plagued the second part … Continue reading A Theoretical Approach to the Rwandan Civil War and the Genocide Against the Tutsis (1990-1994)

We live in a state of anarchy. Some people might read anarchy as a world full of absolute chaos and horror but that is not the reality in all parts of the world. We live in a state of anarchy on the international scale. This means there is no international government. To say there is … Continue reading Perspectives on Anarchy

Globalization has had its impact on the global market but it has also had an impact on people. More often than not, the public is more open to international trade but when it comes to the flow of immigrants, they seem to be more skeptic. Especially in more developed democracies, a diverse immigrant minority has … Continue reading How Economic and Cultural Factors Affect Public Opinion of Immigration

Constructivism is based on identity and interest formation as they pertain to international relations. This concept stems from the accepted theories of liberalism which believes countries share common interests and have the opportunity to cooperate and realism which believes the world is always under a constant threat of conflict. Constructivism shares ideals brought up by … Continue reading An Analysis of Constructivism

There seem to be two distinct camps within the response to democratic peace theory. Democratic peace theory states that democratic states rarely, if ever, go to war with each other. This theory is based on liberalism and its ideals that follow. From various authors who differ on the inclusiveness of this theory, I will first analyze … Continue reading An Analysis of Democratic Peace Theory

Alex Steffen, in his article, “Reframing the Planet,” pointed out six ways in which environmentalism can improve. He said Americans support the protection of the environment but not when it interferes with their jobs and personal pursuits of happiness and prosperity. He said environmentalism should not be viewed as a decline, politically, socially, or economically. … Continue reading How To Fix Environmentalism

For my last and final blog post on domestic and global investment on renewable energy (for now, at least) I am going to explain what I have learned through my research and some proposals to make energy efficiency and sustainability the norm in the United States and abroad. I began this blog series on renewable … Continue reading Renewable Energy, the Best Investment of the 21st Century

The United States is on an unsustainable fiscal path, something both political parties can agree on. The 2007-08 financial crisis and the resulting Great Recession have caused millions to reevaluate the worth of money. Since the turn of the century, we have drifted upon a dysfunctional form of capitalism. Capitalism is not the enemy nor … Continue reading An End to Income Inequality

On average our food travels 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate, it requires more calories of fossil fuel inputs than calories we consume. We cannot afford to live like this for much longer. Production of everything we consume worldwide needs to be re-localized to save energy. Experts say oil, natural gas and coal are … Continue reading Countries Leading the Way in Renewable Energy