International Relations

History has never been the most interesting to me. I never valued studying the past in order to understand the present or to predict the future. However, one of the biggest things that have caught my interest within history is how nations interact in the evolving world. While signing up for classes at the end of my junior year, I knew that I wanted to have this class, not only so that it would provide a greater understanding of my GSD project, but also for my own curiosity. In a growing and evolving world, where globalization is bound to happen, the ways in which countries and even people interact with one another are important. A single action such as a signature makes a statement.

One of the major topics we covered this semester was human rights. Prior to that, we had gone over the Melian Dialogue which presented the question of survival or freedom. That relates greatly to human rights. The right to life is so vague because what is life? To many, this is simple; are you breathing or not? But keeping human rights in mind, I think life is also getting to experience what is around you and enjoying it. It is more than mere survival.

While I think this, I also feel like I haven’t been in a situation where I have had to choose one over the other or had to prioritize one human right over another. That is why studying international relations presents many difficulties as countries have to prioritize things for the best of their citizens and that may not align with other countries. And that is also assuming the best of the country leaders. International relations has also forced me to look at the news, especially with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I don’t think I would be as knowledgeable about the subject as I am right now.

Another beneficial part of the class was the teaching the class days. In addition to teaching the class about adopted children's rights, I got to learn about Japanese immigration, the death penalty, and the Nuremberg Trials.