ribena and haribo
after close to 5 hours in the library and seeing that i had a late headstart and it's close to two in the morning now, i have deduced from my readings that:
the democratic peace thesis is for idiots who think that because states are "friends" and have vested interests, be it mutual or absolute gains, in each other, they won't go to war. it is a mere excuse for america to retain its status as the global hegemon in the unipolar world system and the crusading effect of liberalism is george bush's pathetic excuse for his war-mongering. liberalism WILL lead to imperialism and we are seeing it right now - in Iraq and Afghanistan.
radical liberals are a bunch of fools who believe unquestioningly in the civilizing capacity of global society, although the evolution of international humanitarian law has proven it true, the undemocratic structure of the global society makes it ineffectual and ineffective. russia needs to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and not be a hypocrite and tell other states to stop the use of child soldiers if they are not doing anything themselves.
i think i'm a realist at heart. that all of us are power and security maximisers, seeking to increase our gains in any possible way, taking on the offensive or defensive. only the state has power. transnational organizations are features that come and go, but the state's permanent. survival is definitely a precondition for the survival of the state, and the people. no military equates to no defense which equates to sitting and dying like ducks when another country attacks. self-help means we are an island, we stand by our own, and we depend on ourselves for survival.
that's everything you learn in a singapore social studies textbook. we're all brought up to be realists i guess. self-help equals to total defence and NS. survival equals equals to newater or risk no-water-in-2010. only the state has power - self explanatory. i have therefore reached the highest level of revision, by putting what i've learnt in context. now who said only the econs and accounting and finance people can do so.
the democratic peace thesis is for idiots who think that because states are "friends" and have vested interests, be it mutual or absolute gains, in each other, they won't go to war. it is a mere excuse for america to retain its status as the global hegemon in the unipolar world system and the crusading effect of liberalism is george bush's pathetic excuse for his war-mongering. liberalism WILL lead to imperialism and we are seeing it right now - in Iraq and Afghanistan.
radical liberals are a bunch of fools who believe unquestioningly in the civilizing capacity of global society, although the evolution of international humanitarian law has proven it true, the undemocratic structure of the global society makes it ineffectual and ineffective. russia needs to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and not be a hypocrite and tell other states to stop the use of child soldiers if they are not doing anything themselves.
i think i'm a realist at heart. that all of us are power and security maximisers, seeking to increase our gains in any possible way, taking on the offensive or defensive. only the state has power. transnational organizations are features that come and go, but the state's permanent. survival is definitely a precondition for the survival of the state, and the people. no military equates to no defense which equates to sitting and dying like ducks when another country attacks. self-help means we are an island, we stand by our own, and we depend on ourselves for survival.
that's everything you learn in a singapore social studies textbook. we're all brought up to be realists i guess. self-help equals to total defence and NS. survival equals equals to newater or risk no-water-in-2010. only the state has power - self explanatory. i have therefore reached the highest level of revision, by putting what i've learnt in context. now who said only the econs and accounting and finance people can do so.