Topic Ideas

Becoming a political science major was of no surprise considering my wide range of interest in global politics and international social issues. Placing my focus on world politics and global studies has given me the opportunity to learn about a wide range of issues, whether in World or American politics. There are many factors of risk surrounding our everyday lives, but what some people may not realize is that affects of international risks have an impact on our everyday lives as well.

One possible concern I may want to explore throughout this semester includes the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Instead of heading straight for the books at university after high school, I decided to participate in a year long program in Israel. While on the program I lived in communities, volunteered, and also studied a variety of topics. During that year, I learned (among many other things) that this cluster of countries in the Middle East has a profound impact on world politics and issues across international borders. There is plenty of risk involving this issue that needs to be expressed to people who simply don’t know what is going on in the world around them.

Another issue that is eminent in my area of interest includes Global Warming. This is a rapidly growing risk for the entire world that can be prevented. Sadly the situation is that not everyone believes in global warming, and not everyone is eager enough to do something about it. This concern needs to be conveyed to people in a way in which there is no denying it. Global warming is an issue that is already affecting people around the world in different ways, and it is important to address the risks in rejecting it.

Finally, my last possible concern to explore this semester is international poverty, specifically among youth. Many people don’t consider this a risk because it doesn’t seem to affect their standard of living. But when a statistic is brought to an audience’s attention for example, half of the world lives on less than two dollars a day (http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp), it seems to open some eyes. Poverty has strong links to disease, mental illness, drug use, crime, illiteracy, and mortality (infant and malnutrition). Poverty is an issue that concerns people of every country around the world. By communicating this ongoing risk, people may become more aware of how big of a toll poverty takes on our society.

All three of these risks are interesting because they are of such high magnitude and influence people globally. Similarly, they can be addressed and improved with substantial information. This information should be communicated to a variety of audiences, those whom are directly as well as indirectly related to these situations because ultimately they affect everyone. By offering information on global risks and how to prevent or help them, people will be able to make changes in their daily lives consciously, in efforts to improve these global concerns.