National Interests

National Interests and Foreign Policy Definitions


Definitions:

• National Interest
• Peacekeepers
• Peacemaking
• Policy
• Domestic policy
• Foreign Policy
• Gross Domestic Product

Peacekeeping Cartoon

 

The following cartoon depicts a UN officer in Darfur, Sudan; the area also seems to be abandoned of both people and animals. The caption says, “The UN security council AUTHORIZED the world’s largest PEACEKEEPING MISSION for DARFUR, aimed at ENDING the VIOLENCE in the troubled African region…BEFORE it got OUT of CONTROL.” The UN official is also expressing, “Well, it LOOKS like we got here just in time….” It seems as though the cartoon has a sarcastic tone which is mocking the UN’s claim that they basically saved Darfur from any real harm with their peacekeeping efforts when in reality 200 000 people had already been killed and 2 million were displaced of their homes. Clearly the two opposing sides that were conflicting already got to one another and a lot of blood was shed. This also contradicts the idea of them coming in to keep the peace when what really needs to be done is restore the peace along with the restoration of a people’s life. 

Foreign Policy Cartoon 

 

This political cartoon illustrates two Canadian soldiers strolling around Afghanistan reading a news article titled “Canada Debates Afghan Mission”. One soldier remarks, “What kind of country continuously questions itself during a time of war?” The other replies, “A democracy.” This leads us to question Canada’s presence in Afghanistan because of the long and dragged out duration of the war and the death toll, of not only Afghani people but also Canadian soldiers. This was a concern with the organization Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan which revolved around issues such as; the validity of Canada’s mission, the financial cost of the mission, the combat role of Canadian forces, and the relationship with the other forces operating in Afghanistan. Canadian politicians also disagree on how to resolve these issues. Jack Layton believed that a military role was “not the right mission for Canada.” He also said, “Canadians want a foreign policy rooted in fact, not fear, one that is uniquely independent, not ideologically imported. And one that leads the world into peace, not [one that] follows the US into wars.” I agree with his point of view unlike Michael Ignatieff who claims that Canada went into Afghan at the request of the Afghan people, or Stephen Harper who believes it is because of the past experiences of 9/11 that we as “humanity” need to save our fellow human beings from a life of poverty, brutality, and ignorance in today’s global village because their pain will in time become out pain too in some shape or form. The reason why I agree the most with Jack Layton is because I think that it’s not Canada’s rightful place to be in Afghanistan especially not as peacemakers because we have never played a role of peacemaking but our friend the US has and has also gotten a bad rep from their actions. I think Canada should try to create its foreign policies based on their own values, beliefs and history and not based on their alliance with the United States.

Peacemaking Cartoon

This Political cartoon demonstrates a group of young boys watching and cheering their friend on in a computer game. The caption below them says, “The hot new video game where you’re a peacemaker who disarms everyone in sight and sells them on the virtues of nonviolent communication. What I can interpret from this cartoon is that the cartoonist is trying to convey the argument that peacemaking is basically a violent method of stopping violence. This also demonstrates a sense of hypocrisy because peacemakers are armed men who are trying to integrate peace in a society where violence is dominating but the flaws that peacemaker’s carry is that they are using violence to create peace. This leads one to question why a radical group of people’s belief to use violence to achieve their goal is any different than an “authorized” group of people’s use of violence to achieve their goal even if it is peace. Is violence the only way to gain and establish a peaceful society? Then why is violence considered bad when it can create a greater good? History has shown a trend that Humanity itself seems to only be able to maintain peace because events of pain and sorrow that has lead them to remorse and the motivation to value one another. Every nation has gone through dark times that they wouldn’t want to ever repeat, and I believe that every nation should be given its time to realize how much peace is key to a successful nation and also the value of human life.      


Policy Cartoon




The cartoon above is a versatile representation of Policy. Taxes in Canada are a main part of the plan of action for the country set out by an individual or group of people, which, in this case, would be the government. There is almost always a valid reason to enforce these policies. Even if the citizens are paying, the aftermath would be for the benefit of the nation, for example the government investing the tax to provide better health facilities or infrastructure. Along with certain pros, these policies have many cons, which is exemplified in this given image. It describes how this policy has weighed down on the tax payers of the nation to an extent where they are unable to spend their money and can only spend it to a limit because of the immense amount of tax that they do have to pay, and to add to the weight there are multiple taxes that have to be paid for, although the amount varies across the country. The surveyor was sent by the government, which means that they are somewhat oblivious (or being ignorant by choice) towards the impact of the responsibility of tax paying citizens.

Domestic Policy Cartoon 



This cartoon can possibly depict the idea of Domestic Policy, or more so the idea of giving other domestic policies more importance than another. There have been many laws and rules regarding the environment, but there are only so many of them that the people of the nation are upholding or maintaining. Domestic policies regarding the environment are being conflicted with things such as national interest and even foreign affairs. The picture suggests that even though the government has taken temporary action on this issue, they may be nothing more than empty words. Another reason for this may be that there is conflict between nations as to who the arctic belongs to, which nation owns the territory which is why certain nations somewhat enforce (or have a lack of) laws. This mainly suggests that the Canadian government has breakable and perhaps intangible regulations.

National Interest Cartoon 



This cartoon shows a postcard to the national guard in Iraq and the other side says "Having national disasters. Wish you were here." from the US. Basically this cartoon could convey the image of when the Americans decided that it was a good idea to go into "peacemaking" with Iraq. It`s showing how the national interests of both the Iraq are now in the hands of the US. When the postcard says that US is having national disasters and it wishes that Iraq was there. It`s basically saying that the US want every possible bad thing to be set on Iraq and that Iraq's national interest is not being taken cared of at all. Furthermore, the postcard is in fact not directed on Iraq but specifically Iraq's National Guard which is basically the countries army. The US attacked Iraq for oil and to destroy their army so none of the national interests of Iraqi people was met.

Gross Domestic Product Cartoon 



This cartoon is showing gross domestic product. It's showing this by the display of boxes of things labeled like consumerism, profits, wealth, economic growth and denial. It's showing the market value of goods and services produced within that country. Yet the products are in a certain order with consumerism at the very bottom because consumerism could be symbolized to be the least important, followed by profit, wealth, economic growth and denial at the very top because in a government denial is probably at the top of it's list. The person sitting on top of the crates is probably a government leader of some sort and he's giving demands to the other people while he sits around doing nothing. The bottom of the cartoon says The same boat which perfectly sums up the whole cartoon meaning that in the end our gross domestic products, our government and us end up in the same boat figuratively and literally.