World Issues Theme

After careful reflection of the issues discussed this schoolyear, I have come to conclude that the central theme of the issues is stability. This showed up in almost every issue in a different and unique way. Sometimes it was a lack of stability that drew our attention to a particular issue, like the Arab Israeli conflict. This world issue consumed the majority of our course, and it was clear through the AIC simulation that what the region needed ultimately was stability. Other things have to be achieved in the region as well, like peace, equality and understanding, but the eventual result of all of these other achievements is stability. The end goal for the region is stability. Another way that stability made its way into the other issues was instability as a means to eventually achieve stability. I know this sounds strange, but it is the best way to describe the revolutions in the Middle East. The main places that we studied this year were Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. All three of these countries fought against their long time oppressors- therefore putting the country into varying states of disarray. However, these were all in order to eventually get to a better place than before, a place of democracy, freedom, and most importantly a place of stability.

The goal of most people is to live a good life surrounded by good people and a good government. It is what the majority of Canadians enjoy, and it is something a lot of countries seek to achieve. Even the death of bin Laden gave us a glimpse of the stability the world wants to see in terms of the destruction of al-Quaida. While the death of one man certainly does not mean terrorism is even close to being eradicated, the death of this particular man represented a great start and a promising path in the fight against terror.