The Yegiora Files

Human development is a concept that is at the heart of human security . The website Measure of America defines the concept as: "the process of enlarging people’s freedoms and opportunities and improving their well-being. Human development is about the real freedom ordinary people have to decide who to be, what to do, and how to live." You can also listen to the podcast below by Selim Jahan of the Human Development Report Office on the concept of human development. The UNDP states that: "Human development – or the human development approach - is about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human beings live. It is an approach that is focused on people and their opportunities and choices." The Measure of America website states that the human development concept was developed by economist Mahbub ul Haq. He argued that existing measure of human progress failed to account for the true purpos

Our inquiry question for this week is: what is the English School Theory? The supporting questions are: is it vital to learn about the English School Theory? Why? I gave you all the required readings for the particular topic. The challenge is for you all to find time to read the required readings which will also feature in the reading quiz. We need to start reading the works of scholars who are experts in the particular theories in order to develop a sound understanding of the theories. Required readings for this week: Bellamy, A. J. (2007 ). The English School. In M. Griffiths (Ed.), International relations theory for the twenty-first century (pp. 75-87). New York: Routledge. Buzan, B. (2004). From international to world society? English school theory and the social structure of globalization . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dunne, T. (1998). Inventing international society: a history of the English school . Great Britain: MacMillan Press Ltd.   Linklater, A.

International law is a very interesting subject. Apart from being interesting, it is also very broad. There are many areas or topics that are not included in our unit outline. The challenge is for you to continue reading the eBook by Malcolm Shaw and also the other required readings. I am content that at least Miss Hamadi and I played our part by sourcing the readings for you. Thus, to fill the knowledge gap, we hope you spend some of your private time to read the eBooks we shared on Moodle. I spent 2 days listening to the IR302 International Law in International Relations podcasts. A good number of you showed progress. I believe you took note of the comments or feedback I made on your respective podcast. All of you were asked to give your responses to a question and two statements: Explain the Latin phrase 'pacta sunt servanda' in your own words Why is the UN Charter considered as one of the world's most important treaties? Explain the Latin phrase 'o

Once again the Department will need a sound proof room in order for us to produce our podcasts and videos. Please do not mind the background noise. Below is my review of the IR302 group presentations so far.

IR202 students please listen to my reflection on your presentations so far. I hope to see progress. I will continue to share my reflections aimed at helping you develop our respective graduate attributes. I really learnt a lot about the different concepts. All of you did well to collate information but will need to now read more academic materials. Please visit the IR section in the Friendship library to see the different books on offer. Apologies for the background noise. The Department will need an audiovisual room to cater for podcasting.

Today, for IR431, we had a really critical discussion on what Australia is doing on Manus Island. The discussion came after viewing the video on the Journeyman Pictures channel on YouTube titled: 'Australia's Secret Migration Detention Centre'. In the next few days you will be working on your personal opinion on Australia's offshore detention centres. I look forward to reading some of the points you mentioned verbally in class today. Please note the questions for consideration: What is your understanding of Australia's offshore detention centres? Do you agree or disagree with Australia's approach? Why do you agree or disagree with Australia's approach? What would be your suggested solution? I like how you connected the case to your selected human security issues. We all know by now that we have 7 main human security categories according to the Human Development Report 1994 : Economic security Food security Health security Environmental secur

We cannot study international relations without understanding international law. International law gives the study and practice of international relations its legal structure. States and non-state actors are questioned about their actions in reference to various international laws. Goldstein (2005) says that international law and international norms limit state sovereignty. States are supposed to be sovereign and whatever they do within their sovereign territory should not be questioned. On the other hand, for those in IR302, Raffo and her colleagues (2007) talked about the realist view of international law. International law is used by powerful countries to achieve their own interest. Let us go back to the feudal system during the period where monarchs ruled over their subjects. No one dared to question the king if he wanted someone's wife or land. Monarchs were sovereign and had the power do do whatever they wanted with no limitation. When you look at the notion of sovere