A Reflection on Week Three

I think the third week of World Politics went well. Although Professor Jackson was in Europe, we continued to learn about international relations in the world. Our pancake breakfast with Nate was great (we should definitely do this again) and although I had already seen "Blood Diamond," I enjoyed watching it with the class. I was curious to see what people's emotional reactions would be to such a graphic and powerful film, so I scanned the faces of my classmates from time to time to see if their faces told me anything. A somber mood seemed to be present in the room, but I still wonder what people's exact thoughts were.

I think "Blood Diamond" is a very important movie to see because it exposes the horrors of civil war and aimless violence which are all too prevalent in Africa, and in a very effectively manner. Another thing "Blood Diamond" does is show that it is possible to prevent or reduce conflict by not using "conflict resources," defined by Global Witness as "natural resources whose systematic exploitation and trade in a context of conflict contribute to, benefit from or result in the commission of serious violations of human rights, violations of international humanitarian law or violations amounting to crimes under international law" ("Natural Resources in Conflict"). The movie also strengthens a position that I find I am espousing more and more, which is that it is morally acceptable, nay, responsible, for nations to intervene militarily in conflicts where blatant genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are being perpetrated in order to bring an end to these crimes. I believe that military force should be used sparingly, but I consider genocide to be one of the exceptions as it can be stopped "only [by] rapid and overwhelming armed intervention" (Stanton).

I've seen "Hotel Rwanda," "Sometimes in April," and "Blood Diamond." I've seen images from Sudan and the former Yugoslavia. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of all the political red tape, and the excuses not to intervene. Genocide stands as a black smear on the face of humanity, and it's got to stop.

-Gregory Proulx

Courtesy of Steve Greenberg, Ventura County Star, Calif. Posted with artist's permission.

Works Cited

"Natural Resources in Conflict: Definition of Conflict Resources." Global Witness. 19 Sept. 2007 <http://www.globalwitness.org/pages/en/definition_of_conflict_resources.html>.
Stanton, Dr. Gregory H. "The Eight Stages of Genocide." Genocide Watch. 19 Sept. 2007 <http://www.genocidewatch.org/eightstages.htm>.