Skip to main content

The mutual relationship of stability.

Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful time researching about the two topics! This week, we are going to discuss an article written by a visiting associate professor of UC Berkeley. But, before going into the article, some background knowledge on the recent Iranian protests is important. On January 2, 2018, demonstrators took the streets of Iran in what’s considered as the “largest public display of discontent since the 2009 Green Movement” (CNN), protesting the nation’s stagnating economy and the lack of social freedoms. And this brings up a good point about the nature of unrest and instability in the region: economic grievances.
The professor writes that “ the nuclear deal [referring to the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal] raised people’s hopes for an expedited and expanded economic recovery… [but] the country’s current economic difficulties, as well as widespread corruption,” (Monshipouri) have not met the rise in people’s expectations. Specifically, Hassan Rouhani’s economic austerity measures, the resistance army’s expansion of the economy, and President Trump’s hold on Iranian sanctions have undermined economic growth. And what spurs from the lack of legitimate response from the Islamic state, according to the professor, is the “yearning of these young people for a pluralistic and socially tolerant society, as well as their social needs- including education, health, employment, and housing.” (Monshipouri). There are much more indications in the article about the role of socioeconomic grievances in the protests, so be sure to read this article over. A question to consider when thinking about stability in this region is regarding the mutual relationship between the political, economic, and social factors. For example, without a proper political institution to hold corruption accountable, the economy becomes sluggish, and ultimately affects the youth from becoming employed. With this in mind then, what sector of this mutual relationship should be focused on first? Why? How? Despite it being one question, it is a comprehensive and challenging question to answer.


*Engage with the other delegations about this question in the blogs too!


“Feed men, and then ask of them virtue!” - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Joseph.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Update on the Case Study of Australia’s Indigenous Population

Hello! Hope you guys are working hard on the position papers! Can’t wait to read over some of them. Today, we are going to further look into the case study of the aboriginals population in Australia. The article listed above lays out beautifully the “social gap” between the indigenous and Australian population. And the results are striking. Let’s take a look at these statistics with the lense of health, poverty, and education in to consideration (*look at the topic synopsis if confused). Poverty: We can consider poverty rates first, and what do we see? Compared to the 5.8% unemployment rate of the Australian population, that of the indigenous population quadruples at 20.8%. Education: Students attending school 90% of the time for the Australian population is 79.3%, while for the indigenous population it is 49%. Additionally, compared to the Australian population where 80% of the students have finished year 12, only 61% of students of indigenous backgrounds have done the same.
2 comments
Read more

The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis

The World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis After years of fighting, the countries of North and South Yemen unified to become a single country in 1990. However, even after years of unification, conflict between the different regions still exists today and has led to the current civil war in Yemen. The main power struggle in the country is between the Yemeni government and the Houthi army (an Iranian backed rebel group). Due to political unrest during the Arab Spring, former President Saleh resigned from his position and allowed Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to take power. However, Hadi eventually fled to Saudi Arabia, where he held presidential power from afar. The fighting is still happening today, and through all this turmoil, the innocent citizens of Yemen have suffered for years on end, facing economic, social, and public health crises. Recently, there has been a new public health threat in Yemen--the spread of diphtheria. This is a bacterial disease that causes mucous membran
2 comments
Read more

Hello!

Hey Everyone! My name is Calvin Price and I have the honor to serve as the head chair for BMUN’s Special Political and Decolonization committee this year—I’m really looking to working with you all this year! A little bit about myself: I’m a sophomore studying economics, computer science, and Chinese.   I’m originally from Los Angeles, but I’ve moved around quite a bit and have lived all over the world (the picture of me and the monkey is from Bali, Indonesia). I’ve been involved with Model UN since I was 10, attending conferences all over the world, running conferences, and training delegates. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I hope it affords a similar experience to you. Outside of Model UN, I’m also involved in social impact consulting, cryptocurrency development, and love to read and exercise. My email is cprice@bmun.org ; if you have any questions about Model UN, this committee, or really anything, don’t
2 comments
Read more