Politics and governance concepts

Politics has never reached the importance in people's daily lives as it has any time before in history. In today's world, the globalization trend has made all of our lives interconnect whether we are aware of these connections or not. Furthermore, our world population has become so large that the competition for natural resources, especially non-renewable ones, has become an intense rivalry among many different nations and even some of the global corporations. In his 1936 book, Harold Lasswell stated that "politics is who gets what, when, and how[footnoteRef:1]." There is a clash of cultures and ideologies that accompany the ongoing struggle for economic activities and industrialization. All of these forces are interconnect as the world faces some of its greatest challenges that civilization has had to face. The only way that these challenges are going to be overcome peacefully is through knowledge of these environments and finding creative solutions to ecological and social problems. [1: (Why Politics Matters)]

Discussion

Politics is one of the oldest and controversial topics in history. It represents a wide range of differing opinions that are often based upon strict ideologies that are imposed upon us as we begin childhood development. Many of the aspects of politics are learned through socialization during an early age and these developments can persist through a lifetime. Such trends are clearly evident in the study of different demographics and how they have different identifiable opinions towards various issues. For example, female youth voters have outnumbered males who make it to the polls in every year since 1992 and there are also even more pronounced differences in the number of college educated women vs. non-college educated women that turn out to vote with the education received leading to a higher likelihood of participation in the electoral process[footnoteRef:2]. [2: (Why Politics Matters)]

Humans drive the political process and they are prone to mistakes. During the McCarthy era in the United States, the only individual in the U.S. State Department who could speak Vietnamese and who had a good knowledge of that country was forced to resign because of the witch hunts of Senator Joseph McCarthy[footnoteRef:3]. Much of the Vietnam catastrophe could have been avoid with better information about the people and culture of the Vietnamese. Yet it is often the case that ideology drives politics and politicians are known for believing that their point-of-view represents reality when in many cases the actual events are more complex. [3: (Adamson)]

For example, much of the activity in the Middle East that is ongoing is Western ideas intervening in various forms. The human race faces two challenges that have the potential to wipe the human species from the face of the planet. One deals with the planets finite amount of natural resources and ecological balance and the other deals with international relations and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It was said a few years ago that if the human race is wiped out in the next 50 years it will not be because of disease or an asteroid hitting the earth, but because of foreign policy and international relations[footnoteRef:4]. [4: (Sheehan and Brocklehurst)]

If history is a lesson, then we can expect mankind to make many mistakes. The future of the planet and its capabilities of supporting life are becoming questionable as the population has exploded exponentially. This will ultimately put more tension on nations and cultures that are competition for critical resources such as water and farmable land. With nuclear technology disseminating faster throughout different countries, it is a real possibility that another nuclear device could denoted in a populated area. Some of the likely areas in which such an event could occur are between countries that are experiencing high levels of conflict and volatility; like in the Middle East.