Iran

Iran's monarchy ended in 1979 and is now a theocracy. The offices of head of state and head of government are now split. Iran's two head of state are the religious chief, the official with real power, and the president which is supervised by the religious chief. While Iran has presidential elections, they are rigged. One man hoped to changed the rigid Islamic rule and liberalize it a bit was cheated out of presidency. Mousavi hoped to beat incumbent President Ahmadinejad, and when Mousavi was ahead of him in polls, the regime did not allow this, closed the polls. The Supreme leader announced Ahmadinejad and charge that protesters were duped by US and British agents. This did not fool anyone, and the people took to social media to protest.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/chants-against-irans-supreme-leader-in-video-of-dissident-clerics-funeral/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Nigeria: almost a failed state not quite

    Nigeria is in a state of crisis. I fail to see how "most" Nigerians want democracy, if anything they want peace. Nigeria is plagued with violence from both sides of extremists.  The article that I found is about a bomb attack on a bus that killed 70 people. The commotions happened as commuters were about to enter the bus officials say. According to the article, this attack was planned by islamist militants that are determined to expand their area of operation. This islamist militant group, Boko Harem, has had other successful attacks around the country this year. The president of Nigeria went to the scene and vowed that the country will overcome insurgency. I don't know if this vow by the president of Nigeria will come true. In my opinion there is too much violence and its to deep rooted to ever get rid of or lower it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27018751

No Taiwan for Social Progress Index

I never liked comparing countries in terms of poverty levels or how well a country does based on what one country feels is "up to standard" and all those rankings. When doing a research paper on migrant workers in China, my group realized that many of the workers would be grouped below poverty level. Yet, an important aspect to remember is that the poverty level in one country is not the same elsewhere. We made the mistake of comparing the United State's standard of living to that of China. As it turned out, many of the workers did relatively well and weren't considered "poor" by Chinese standards. A friend I went to school with in China lived in a small apartment with two rooms; one room belonged to the parents and the second to the host sister. My friend lived in what I called the closet or storage room. The apartment would be considered something only a broke college student could afford (it was really small). In China, this apartment was considered high class.
Going back to the Social Progress Index. This analysis does a good job when it comes to ranking a country, because it is based on what the country contributes to the people in three categories: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Well being, Opportunity. Taiwan was not part of this Social Progress Index, and I didn't feel like grouping it with China because they are too different in how they run their country and treat their citizens.

Brazil

The economic stabilization helped build Brazil's positive attitude towards democracy. however, when an economy worsens, authoritarian tendencies arise. The educated middle class Brazilians are "convinced democrats", but because many Brazilians are poor and barely scrapping by, they will support any who can supply then with food and necessities, democrats or not.  Brazil has an inflation problem and it will probably increase with the 2016 Olympics.


http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-07/brazil-economists-see-faster-inflation-and-slower-growth-in-2014.html

Mexico

Mexico is rich in culture and history. It is sad to see racial prejudices in Mexico because essentially people all share a common language and history, and usually it just happens to be genetic reason why some people are lighter than others. I never knew how diverse Mexico was in accordance to religion. I thought Mexico was just a Catholic state, but instead it is home to many different religions, one being Islamic.

http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

India

   Education in India is very poor. Only a small percent, "the elite", are able to obtain a good education. However, recently many Indians have registered for courses on edX, the massive open online course (Mooc) platform founded by Massachusetts Institute and Harvard University to host online university-level courses.  Over 2.5 Indians have registered for these online courses. This makes India the second largest community, after Americans, to register for these courses. The courses are led by some of the finest professors in the world. All students require is internet and after completion of the courses they receive a certificate from the university that provided the course.  For Indians, the most popular courses have been those related to computer science, engineering, and public health. Indians account for about 50 percent of the 70,000 enrollments in Harvard's public health course. 

   I think this is great that top universities are offering these kind of courses for people around the world. I think it gives a great push to those who cannot afford to go to college. I also think this is great for India since there are many people who cannot afford college and education is terrible.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Indians-are-second-largest-users-of-MIT-Harvard-online-courses/articleshow/32435210.cms

It's in the Past, I still Love You China

Having lived in China, I can honestly say I am glad I am a United States American citizen. When I was in China, I was grouped up with classmates and tasked with figuring out a social problem happening in China. We ultimately choose migrant workers’ labor rights. It is common knowledge that the workers in China are treated unfairly and there is no system (labor unions) in place to help them. China has ONE labor union, but it doesn’t work as the labor unions we know here in America. The labor union works as a meet up for skilled workers. Rampant labor rights abuses are perpetrated as a result of migrant workers disadvantaged position in Chinese society. In addition, migrant workers generally lack urban hukous, and, by definition, always lack the hukous of where they have gone to find work. They frequently work in small enterprises, and often lack contracts or any sort of official relationship with their employer. After researching and interviewing with my group, we found out that there are non-governmental organizations that work as labor unions American style (although some of the places we went, somehow disappeared before and after we found there headquarters!). China is moving forward and has improved with the abuse in this area. Currently the President (Chairman, Committee leader, some other leader of a group, plus five more titles) is taking a stand on corruption; this gives me hope that China is heading in a good direction, and more will come of it.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-16/china-plans-over-163-billion-shantytown-investment-cctv-says.html

Shameful Japan

I admire how a country can modernize and keep its culture, as they said after WWII "We [Japan] have to become a capitalist democracy. But we will do it our way."

Having lived in China, I can't look at Japan the same way I used to.  I noticed how differently the Germans and Japanese handles the war crimes of the past. Some Germans feel guilty for the crimes their families committed during World War II and the country as a whole admits to its Nazi past. The Japanese do not feel guilty and nor do some admit to the brutalities committed on Chinese soil (and some others). Recently, Japan’s Prime Minister Abe went to pay respect to Japan’s war dead that included WAR CRIMINALS. Japanese are a very patriotic and thus the Japanese are driven by shame rather than guilt, so when a Japanese solider resurfaced after hiding on Guam his words “I am ashamed that I have come home alive.” This is often the mentality Japanese have even today. Japanese students have a high suicide rate because of the shame they could bring to their families.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25911982

With the on-going dispute about the South China Sea, Japan has claimed the territory and written it into its teaching manuals

http://news.yahoo.com/265-anne-frank-books-vandalized-tokyo-libraries-114032676.html
Japanese are damaging Anne Frank books in Tokyo ibraries

Germany, At First it wasn't Your Fault.....

Germany’s history from the past has impacted its future greatly. In the beginning, we see a “fragmented Germany” until the reign of Napoleon in France where a sense of nationalism erupted.  One man was able to harness the power of nationalism and turn it into an abomination, which might not have happened if it wasn’t for the injustices imposed on Germany by the Allies of the First World War. The punishment Germany faced landed them in much debt which led to a crippling economy. People in a country with a bad economy lose faith in government; Hitler was able to regroup the people through nationalism. After Hitler’s demise, Germany once again had to pay reparation, but with the help of a generous American man. What Germany faces now is democracy. It has long since been under an autocratic rule, but it stands alone in the EU as the glue that keeps it together. Germany is the most stable country right now in the EU. It has come a long way from its beginnings.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0209/Can-Germany-help-divided-Ukraine-find-a-middle-ground-video

France: Couldn't get things Right in the Past, Can't get things Right in the Present

France is a nation of proud people. Having been to France and meeting such arrogant people, I decided that would be the last time I visit. France is a country that is struggling, and the only income coming in is tourism (which is already low). France has been ruled by a kings, madmen, and conquerors, each of these groups failing to establish a stable country. Today we see a version of that France with a modern fling.  The French people were inspired by the American Revolution about a century later hoping that could shake the shackles of absolutism. In present day France, people still have little faith in government because for them “nothing works right”. There is a high unemployment status, retirees can no long retire, poverty is rising, and this is sending France on a [more] downward spiral.

I find it rather humorous that France gives grants to public schools in a push to teach French (where is this money coming from??). French was a language used among politics, but that era is over. Nonetheless, it is good for students to be immersed in a dual-language program

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/nyregion/a-push-for-french-in-new-york-schools-from-france.html?ref=france&_r=0

Britain: Having An UnAmerican Democracy

The United Kingdom is a democratic nation with a reigning monarch (not ruling). It’s interesting how the democratic system in the UK differs from that of the United States.  While no political system is perfect, one might say the British democracy might be running more smoothly than the American democracy.  People in America often mix faith in a country with that of their government; if the government is in turmoil, morale is low. In Great Britain, because it has a reigning monarch and not ruling, there is a sense of security when government fails (letting down its citizens). One interesting thing I thought about this chapter was the section of the education system. I was shocked to see the percentage of British students in school at the age of 17 compared to that of the US. I wish the book talked more about the type “readiness” desired by other countries compared to Great Britain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25881774

Contructing and Dismantling Democracy

In an ideal world, Democracy would be the ideal political system that governs all nations. This isn't an ideal world, nor is Democracy an ideal political system. Many factors come into play when establishing a method to govern citizens, and a sense of legitimacy is a huge contributor.  Democracy doesn’t simply rise up after a revolution; it goes through a process. People need to feel strongly about their beliefs in a certain political system. If that happens to be democracy, people must be educated and of sound mind when choosing representatives that they believe will best represent their ideals and interests. Conflicts arise when uncertainty and corruption infiltrate the system. When a person tastes the sweet pleasures of power, it is often hard for him to release it peacefully. Power consumes an individual who will often use it for personal gain. Ukraine is facing an identity crisis. The Ukrainian government wants to pair up with Russia while citizens have shown signs of support for a treaty with the EU. The government is limiting the power of the people and increasing its own power. This is a country with democracy already in place but with signs of protest, democracy is losing legitimacy in Ukraine.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/01/ukraine-largest-street-protests-orange-revolution