Reflection Week 6

Recently, with the number of quality and informative speakers our UC has been hearing from the State Department I have become interested in the way they interact with the American people on an everyday basis. When I read news articles now I think of the State Department as having a greater role and also keep in mind the Schools of thought of realism, constructivism, and liberalism impact society.

Just this afternoon the State Department released a statement that cautioned American travelers of potential dangers in Europe after what U.S. officials said was an assessment of information that al-Qaeda appeared to be plotting attacks on cities there. European authorities fell in line with the United States in urging increased caution. The United Kingdom raised its threat level for Germany and France to "high." The threat level for England had been raised earlier to "severe." Authorities in Europe have been warning travelers for the past three weeks that the danger of a terrorist attack in Europe has been higher than usual, but they issued no specific information on what new intelligence has been received to lead them to ratchet up the alert level.

The communication with different European countries and other global powers of the world has created cooperation and communication on the national level. According to liberalism international relation theory, liberals have argued that the chief goal of foreign policy should be to promote peace. However, when the countries in Europe have been reported to be under strict surveillance and terrorist threats, a liberalism IR theorist would turn to organizations to reflect the balance of power and protection of one another if additional threats should occur. While this view may not be the most efficient method, theorist under this school of thought would urge communication as an outlet to achieve security.

Just on Tuesday night the Eiffel Tower in Paris was evacuated following a bomb threat called in from a telephone booth. It was the second such alert at the tower in two weeks. A search by bomb experts found nothing unusual, and it was reopened within hours. On Friday, Sweden announced it has raised its threat alert to the highest level ever because of an increased threat of terror attacks. The threats in Europe are very concerning today. It reminds not just Americans, but the entire world that al-Qaeda is still very prevalent and a serious threat to society. It is therefore important for the United States and other global powers to remain in close watch of one another and to be ready to react if such a threat were to occur.

Sources

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11460335