Monday, January 12, 2015
WHAP Week 2
This week you will be looking at the recent events in parts of North Africa and the Middle East that pertain to the overthrown of governmental influences in this region. This area is called the Arab Spring for reasons the will make sense after reading the article itself so don't let the title lead you astray. This article relates to both Chapter 14 and 15 as the overthrow of government certainly could affect an "empire" or the global commerce of a country. Without effective leadrship can your country truly be stable? Read and respond to this article and don't forget to comment on someone elses post as well. The link is under WHAP Pages and is titles "ARAB SPRING".
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Of course, with a weak leader no government can be stable and with the Arab Sping, the various countries it mentioned (Libya, Syria, etcetera), it seems their leaders don't have their people's interests at hand. A change needs to happen, if these people feel fear and suspicion is what glues them and have to deal with chaos. On the other hand, I have to agree with Boualem Sansem at the end. This big overthrow could send the countries to shambles. There's a question of what comes after? What's the cost of their freedom?
ReplyDeleteWell if you take a look at the history of almost everywhere, people paid a lot to become "free". The slaughter of hundreds and various wars. And even then the people aren't truly free. There's still laws in place that're dictating what we are and aren't allowed to do. Granted, yes some of them should be in place in order to protect the society as a whole, but some restrict our "rights as free people" so to say.
DeleteI agree. By overthrowing their leaders and not setting up a strong form of government, they are leaving themselves open to attacks. The Spanish had been able to take over the Incas because the Incas had just gone through a civil war and were left with a weak, healing leadership. These Arabian countries are leaving themselves in a position where they can easily be taken advantage of.
DeleteI agree completely agree with you, if you revolt against your government but don't have an immediate plan to replace it then you will leave yourself open to other middle eastern countries to come in and completely take over.
DeleteFrom the sounds of it, and this could just be me misinterpreting the article, but our country doesn't put a lot of faith into other countries trying to get their own freedom. According to the article, "...and before long, the Americans themselves lost heart and abandoned the quest." That itself makes it sound like the country doesn't care, what we call the "Home of the brave and the free" is willing to just abandon a job of allowing others to gain freedom and rights in their own country.
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ReplyDeleteGrowing up, children often desire to be better than their parents were as adults. However most children end up doing the same things their parents did. As good as the intentions of the revolt may be, without effective leadership, the countries will eventually fall into the same form of leadership they used to have, because that is what they are used to. For example, in France, the French Revolution was formed in order to get rid of kings. It worked for a while and then shortly after Napoleon's military defeats, the aristocracy returned and France embraced them once more.
ReplyDeleteI agree that with the fact that without leadership to maintain the goals of the revolts, the countries will just return to the way they used to be. The people leading these revolts don't have an effective way to maintain the democracy they are trying to impose and that is why permanent change is difficult.
DeleteI like that idea, Hannah, because from what I've observed, they're not quite sure what they're "freedom" really is. Although your comparison holds some faults. Children who see something their parents did as wrong, can always learn to correct themselves and not take after them. The leadership may end up the same, but let's hope they (if they can succeed) learn something.
DeleteWithout effective leadership a country can't truly be stable. In the Arab Spring, these countries have had strong tyrants that have had supreme control. The people in these are now fighting for democracy. The problem with these revolts is that once these people are able to overthrow the dictator, they have no effective leadership to maintain control and order. This in the end produces no positive gain for the country. As said by the roman historian Tacitus in the article, "The best day after a bad emperor is the first." This shows how once a country can overthrow a bad leader, those immediate problems are solved, but new problems will always present themselves if the people do not have an effective way to maintain order.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dylan. Without a specific leader, no one has the effective power needed to maintain that control and order, and soon new problems will start to arise. A country needs to be stable, so that this doesn't happen, and so that the country doesn't go into worse shape than it was already in.
DeleteI agree with Dylan. The intentions of those who revolt are good, and it usually helps at first, but once a corrupt leader has been removed, who will replace them? The chaos and lack of planning that follows these revolts is what makes them, in the end, useless. Without a better leader ready to take over after the old one is gone, the cycle will simply continue and the country will never reach stability.
DeleteI feel like if you don't have an effective government then your country is going to be in ruin. Because without leadership who will stand against crime and anarchy. Yes, I understand that these people are sick and tired of being under the control of their tyrannic leaders but if you don't have a plan to replace your leader then how will you stand as a country and protect yourself? The country will eventually find itself drowning in helplessness and that is what I think they are doing wrong
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elijah without an effective government then there needs to be a plan to replace it or it will all be chaos. And i'm sure that the people living in the countries don't want to be in chaos it like the saying out of the 'frying pan and into the fire.'
DeleteI think that they are already drowning since the leaderships in the Middle East only care about themselves. The leaders are like drains, he just takes all the money for himself. So I feel that you have to take your chances and kick him out even if you don't have an immediate plan of what to do after. Hi Dawsen
DeleteAfter reading this article, I think that without effective leadership a country can not truly be stable. If the leaders of the country aren't fighting for the people, the people are not going to follow the leader as loyally. That causes people to want to overthrow the leader, then leaves the country in an even worse situation because it leaves them with almost no rule or order. In order to have a stable country, it is important to have a leader who will stand with the people, or else revolts will ruin the country.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this. For each country it is necessary to maintain stable, as you said, and consistent leadership. Without that, the revolts that it could cause would be detrimental to that country. Everyone wants someone to follow, so why not give them what they want? Strong leadership is just better in the long run.
DeleteI also agree. In many situations, the group that is trying to overthrow the dictator doesn't have a well thought out plan after they succeed in their actions. After all is said and done, they most likely won't have the most stable government. During the revolts, all they had on their mind was "freedom", but when they finally gain that freedom, now what? Without a stable leadership, the region will not be able to withstand the obstacles thrown at it, so to not have a plan for leadership before they succeed in overthrowing the dictator, could delay or even ruin their chances in becoming a strong and stable place.
DeleteWithout an effective leadership, a country can't function correctly. You won't be able to maintain control, order, or keep the country stable. Although, I think a revolution and the leader being over thrown would be worse. The country's already hurt state would only, and over throwing the government wouldn't be worth it. Even so, wouldn't it also benefit them?
ReplyDeleteI think both are awful, but at least when the leader of a noneffective leadership is overthrown, it gives the country a chance to slowly grow and develop, as well as establish a new form of government, however slow that may be. Human rights activists from developed, or first world, countries would also jump at the opportunity to help the country to advocate freedom and human rights.
DeleteYou have a really good point, and the struggle they would go through at first would be worth it. Especially if they are getting help from other countries, who are doing better than they are.
DeleteI agree with you that overthrowing the government of an already hurting country would cause great hardships on its peoples. But I must disagree and say that in the long run this countries will come out of the other side more unified than ever. Metal must be tempered by fire to emerge stronger.
DeleteThis article led me to believe that weak governments leads to inconsistent leadership and then can lead to poor decisions. Then it may lead to the government being overthrown. This chain of events is very predictable, if you think about it. Without a strong government, who is to lead the people? And if no one is providing leadership, won't it just cause chaos? People always look for a leader. It's necessary to provide that leadership, otherwise the country will fail.
ReplyDeleteAbbi, I agree with this completely. It is a repetitive chain of events occurring in the Arab Spring. Without a strong leader that has the support of his or her peoples, I feel like this will just keep happening.
DeleteI completely agree with this. When the government fails to do their job everything starts to fail apart slowly. Proving that government is important in any country without it its hard to be successful as a whole.
DeleteAbbi, I think this is very accurate. People are always looking for someone to look up to, and as a country they need an effective government to lead the people. With out this counties would not be successful.
DeleteThere is no true definition of effective leadership, but what is it if not a leader that grants stability to their country and their people? Therefore, a country certainly cannot survive without effective leadership. This article reinforces this belief by showing us the common problem in each of the countries of the Arab Spring; a leader that does not tend to the needs of their people.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any county can truly be stable without effective leadership. If there wasn't a leader (or at least an effective one) others will try to rise to the top to take his or her position. A leader will always rise given the chance, and without one, chaos will take over with the lack of structure.
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DeleteWithout an effective leader the country can't and won't be able to prosper. You need a leader for a reason, the people expect someone to be there for them. When that person stops supporting their country, the people of the country will revolt. If they cant succeed they will most likely leave that failing country for one where they have the leader that they need. Eventually other countries will see them as vulnerable and try to take over.
ReplyDeletewithout an effective government it is my opinion that there can only be chaos. In the article it shows that without an effective government there is competing factions trying to get the power. Or there are those who could take the power but are afraid of the consequences.
ReplyDeleteIt is impossible to have a stable country when you dont have an effective leader. Without a leader that can get stuff done, such as helping the poor. The people will then try to get what they need for their families by doing unethical things. The people who cant get by, will fight for a leader who can help them. When your people are fighting for a cause with violence the economy will fall and the country will go into great hardship. It is just like football, if the quarterback can get anything done, your team will not come out with the win.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of conflict that would rise from lack of leadership would be insurmountable. Without leadership, there is lawlessness and disorder, which imposes on the citizens' safety. Tyranny is clearly not effective leadership, with the amount of revolts leading to the endangerment of the people. For a country to be ruled out as hopeless by the US, it must truly be hopeless because the US holds human rights to be one of the most sacred things. No leadership is great without the safety of the people, and the economy, to ensure the safety and well-being of the people.
ReplyDeleteWithout strong leadership a country cannot truly be stable, but overthrowing the leadership in belief that it will be more stable afterwards is foolish. When you take away that small bit of stability that they do have chaos ensues. It is better to have a weak government than no government at all. Without something to unite the people, be it an idea or person, they will descend into bickering and fighting. After the people destroy their leadership there is nothing more to unite them and cause them to work together to try and make their country better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam on this. Most revolutions and coups aren't very effective and often result in more chaos and death. We can see today in Syria that their revolution that they started in 2011 is still going on today and the situation hasn't gotten much better.
DeleteWithout effective leadership a country or empire can't last. We need leadership to help govern the people and make laws. People tend to be greedy and take advantage of each other and we need rules to keep us in check and leaders to settle disputes and put those rules into place. Without leaders our societies would crumble and turn into total anarchy.
ReplyDeleteI agree, without a stable government the country can not compete with anyone even a little stronger than them.
DeleteWithout an effective government I believe that your country cannot truly be stable. Without this, like many people have said, the country is exposed and that opens themselves to attacks. It just puts you in a bad position where many other countries that are powerful could easily take advantage of countries with an unstable government.
ReplyDeleteI agree without a strong government it leaves you weak to attack. Both from outside and inside the country
DeleteI do not believe that without effective leadership can result in a truly stable country. Take for example, the Ottoman Empire, one of the main reason for their decline was a ineffective leadership. If you don't have someone to take control for the right reasons you might as well not have a leader at all. An effective leader will begin to have support and following from all around them.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that a country can be stable without an effective government. If there is no standing army, a militia might not be enough to fend off invasion, and there is also no official set of laws that ensure protection of the minority/weak people in the population.
ReplyDeleteWithout effective leadership we can not have a stable government. From the article the government was not very efficient which led their people to chaos and rebellions. Your people rely on the government to make choices and lead a country. The government in charge of the military, the peoples money, justice and many more things so it is important that they are reliable and that the people in it know how to run a country.
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