#6 Reflection (ym)

     This week was rough overall. Especially on Monday, I was mad and disappointed at myself because I could not speak up during class. Everyone says that since I am the only international student, I will be influential in discussions by introducing new perspectives that I naturally have. I do not know why, but I do not know how and what to speak up during discussions. However, the class on Thursday was fun. After discussing in small groups on Monday, I have guessed that we will be in pairs on Thursday. I do not think I brought up that many points, but I could have a better understanding of the two concepts after talking within the pair and discussing as a whole group. I think I had fun on Thursday compared to any other World Politics classes.

     One of the most interesting ideas that was brought up during the discussion, is that:
When a country makes a law regards human trafficking, it pushes off the issue of human trafficking to countries who have not criminalized human trafficking. As a result, criminalization will spread out across the globe, and it will help solving the issue in the international scale. However, that is a liberal approach since the countries are making their laws just because of their national interest.

     In my opinion, realists still pursue their interests (like everyone else was saying during the discussion). Therefore, I do not think that the equation: power:realism = interest:liberalism works. However, I do want to think about the border line between two ideologies. I truly believe that we are able to have a deeper analysis on International Relations when referring both realism and liberalism. For an example, without liberalism International organizations such as the United Nations or IMF cannot exist. Also, I want to emphasize that without a liberal perspective, globalization to this day would not be possible. However, realism, in terms of their theory, creates a type of balance where one nation will not be stronger than the other within the international society. This is because realists focuses on the balance of power within nation-states.

     P.S. I was just calling my friend in Galesburg Illinois, who also studies abroad as an international student from Japan and it made me feel so much better. Although I will keep trying my hardest, my starting point is different from everybody else, and I do not have to rush. The only rival is myself. So I will continue to develop as a learner everyday. ◡̈⃝