GEOG World Geography- M04: Discussion 4
For this module, answer each of the following in your original post:
After reading Chapter 5, please respond to the following:
Although the European Union [EU] began as an economic partnership, other issues have come to the forefront as equally important issues for the EU to address. Identify some of these issues and predict there impact on the EU in 21st century.
After reading Chapter 6, please respond to the following:
The Russian Realm is a region that has seen great change, beginning with its rise as an empire, through revolution, the Soviet experiment, and breakup. The effects of massive readjustment growing from political and economic upheavals of the 1990’s continue to affect the area. Much uncertainty lies ahead for the people of the Russia. Take one aspect of this dilemma and discuss its effects on the people and the environment. [Areas of concern: political and economic factors; environmental devastation; ethnic and cultural differences; impact of globalization; social and health problems]
Many problems lay ahead for the European Union. On the one hand, the European Union has been experiencing the worst refugee flow since World War II. According to the European Commission, at least 1 million people came to Europe to escape war and poverty in 2015. In 2016, they soared to 1.5 million, and they fell back to 50 million in 2017. The refugee crisis has been responsible for deep rifts to the unity of the European Union and the resettlement of refugees brought heavy economic burdens. On the other hand, terrorism has been rampant. The Islamic extremist forces in Europe and foreign terrorist organizations colluded with each other and frequently caused incidents, which not only caused heavy casualties among civilians but also made people feel uneasy. Issues that originally belonged to welfare, employment, and public security were labelled religiously and normal social order was challenged. At the same time, the European Union economy continued to weaken. A host of problems facing the European Union may not be entirely caused by the economy, but a bad economy would undoubtedly magnify the crisis. The reason why the integration of the European Union has been questioned is related to the debt crisis and subsequent economic downturn. The long-term high unemployment would inevitably lead to many social contradictions. In addition, the governments of member states have to cut the welfare of the people due to the EU fiscal discipline. The integration often becomes the object of public dissatisfaction.
Russia is the largest country in the world and has a glorious history. From Tsarist Russia to the Soviet Union, Russia's power has developed from a world-class power to a superpower. However, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia not only lost a lot of territory but also the country's economic system was also destroyed and its strength was greatly damaged. The situation facing the country is definitely severe. From an internal perspective, Russia’s economic system has collapsed and the livelihood in the country depends on the export of resources. The country’s geopolitical structure has the defect and ethnic problem is serious that the ethnic minorities living in the marginal areas lack a sense of identity with Russian civilization. From the external perspective, Russia is located in the center of the northern part of the Eurasian continent and has structural geographic contradictions with almost all major external forces (the United States, Islam, Europe, and even China). These contradictions are deeply fettering the development of Russia.
Resources:
Nijman, J., Muller, P. O., & J., D. B. (2017). Chapter 5: The Russian/Central Asian Realm. In Geography: Realms, regions, and concepts. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
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