An Intro to International Relations

Page 1

A N I N T R O TO I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E L AT I O N S

VOL.1/2017


Contents Features 1

Greetings Letter from Mas Ben

2

Greetings from Hifolks

3 - 4

What is International Relations?

5 - 7

Career Paths for IR Graduates

8

Theory of IR: Realism Theory

9 - 10

Opinion: Women on War

11 - 12

Highlighted 2016 News

13 - 14

Self-help: How to Boost Your Confidence?

15 - 17

Movie Reviews and Recommendations

18 - 21

Books Summary

22

Fun Quizzz

23

Things We’ve Done in 2016!

24

IR Facts and Jokes

Editor

Aluna Khansa

Sub Editor

Syari R. Aisya Parciella Aninda

Section Writer

Andrea Karmajana (Self-help Article) Lidia Kristi Agustina (Movies)

Feature Writers

Nanda Vima Tasha (Movies) Chikita Rini (Books) Jessica Natalie (Books) Sheila Nur Amalina (Quiz)

Opinion Writer

Researcher

Aditya Putra Syari R. Aisya

Aluna Khansa

News Editor

Sheila Nur Amalina Syari R. Aisya

Design

Aluna Khansa

Parciella Aninda

Illustration

Bernadetta Quinta Pradipta


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Merry Christmas and Happy New Year


Greetings Letter Welcome old and new students to the second home of yours. A new, small but thriving departement, glistening with hopes and opportunities. It brings me great pleasure to write for this lovely new magazine of ours, Hifolks, to write for all of you.

Through first rejecting your current self then we can slowly learn to be a better version of ourselves. To have us that is free from fear, filled with love, curious of the world. Us that is able to transcend social boundaries, us that is truly, beautifully educated. A progressive humanist with a critical mind.

As it is through this rare moment that I am given a chance to remind myself that I too, in the not too distant past, was like you and if I can be quite frank, I am still very much like you. A struggling student trying to understand who I am, where I want to be, and what kind of human being that I’ll become in the future.

Progresif, kritis, humanis.

And that is what I expect not only in my students, but everyone involved in IULI’S International Relations department. To have us all fill ourselves with the flames of curiousity and compassion, to burn ourselves with passion, to rage against injustice and This brings us to here and now. Trying to make sense of this education of yours. What it is for, what to fight for the freedom of others, the freedom of yourselves and the freedom from yourselves. This is can it offer me but most of all when can it give me what you should aspire to be and this is what this my dreams. Because of that, at times, during those little magazine should be about. You have the monlonely nights you struggle to go to sleep not only ey, the time, the opportunity, and the environment thinking of your burdening assignments stacking that’s supportive of your endeavors. high but pondering yourselves, “am I making the right decisions in my life?” With all these questions You are without the slightest doubt incredibly and thoughts perpetually repeating itself in your privileged compared to most Indonesians that daily minds, you struggle to make sense of it all. struggle to even feed themselves, so use it wisely. But here is the chance for you, a chance that does Nosce te ipsum, ‘know thyself.’ not come often in our little lives of ours. A chance to make mistakes, to take risks, a to truly challenge your thoughts, beliefs and actions. A chance We might meet again in the far future and when we do, I hope on nothing more than to see a better to perhaps slowly but surely find the answers to version of yourselves. So I bid you goodbye for questions that you didn’t know you had. A chance now. to see yourselves for who you really are and make sense of it all. It is here that we encourage you to reflect on an alternative, a different way of looking Go well and be well. at things.

Ben K.C. Laksana Head of International Relations Study Program 2015-2016

Because maybe as the philosopher and sociologist Michael Foucault once said, “maybe the target nowadays is not to discover what we are. But to refuse who we are.”

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HELLO ! Hi, folks! We are so happy to announce that our first ever

we think it’s best if we create somekind of a

magazine is finally here! Let us introduce you to

starter pack for them to get the basic infor-

Hifolks, where knowledge and creativity meets,

mation needed about international relations.

and in which, we hope it can give you new perpec-

In addition, we also have talented writers, our

tives on how you see the world.

dear friends, to write for our magazine and also artists to give a bit of color and also satire to Hi-

As International Relations students, we are expect-

folks (a little sneak peek!). Without further due,

ed to atleast be aware on what is happening around

we can’t wait for you guys to read it sooo enjoy

us; and for us to be critical, be able to reason and

what’s inside Hifolks!

question beyond the knownable (new word detected!) and through Hifolks Magazine, we hope that

Oh and bytheway, Merry Xmas and Happy New

Hifolks can actually be used as a platform for you

Year! Lets embrace 2017 with new hopes for a

to exercise the freedom of speech rightly (thanks to

better us... :)

democracy) where you can speak up your thoughts in the form of writings; be it an opinion article, a

Best Regards,

summary of books and movie that you recently

Hifolks Team

read and give your thoughts about it, your exploration of an idea/ideas or even you can deliver it in the form of art! Hifolks is a magazine for all so you can take part in it too. On this issue, the Hifolks team have decided to give you the introduction on international relations where you are being given a brief knowledge on what is international relations and what it does because as we know, we are welcoming our new family member – HELLO CLASS OF 16! – and 2


By Syari R. Aisya

What is International Relations?

I am guessing you already know the meaning of the word “International Relations� itself, right? Well, the word itself generally translates as relations between two or more states in the world. For the major itself, an international relation is a social science major, and it was first founded in Europe, at London School of Economics in UK.

This major will teach and give you a chance to see, know, and analyze the interaction that had happened, has been happening, or is going to happen in this world. Not only that, in international relations, you also going to learn about the environment, states, nations, governments, and everything that has the connection with the international world. What are the subjects that we are going to learn in the International Relations major?

Therefore, we are going to learn about the Introduction of International Relations, Regional Studies, International Political Economy, Global Politics, and much more. In Introduction of IR, it will give you a basic understanding on what is or has been happening in the world (mostly major events) and will give you a base of understanding about the principles to look and understand about the world and the affairs in it. In Regional Studies, we are going to learn about the connection between states that are located in the same geographical area, that form a union because they have the same goals in politics and economic sector. In International Political Economy, or IPE, we are going to learn about what is the politics in a state’s economy; what driven them, what makes them develop, what policies they have, and much more.

Everything that we are going to learn in this major, In the international relations studies, everything that are going to open our eyes and makes us realize that we are going to learn is of course going to be about there are so much more happening in this or oththe world. We are going to analyze deeply what has er countries without we even knowing it. Studying this major is going to allow us to open our eyes and been happening in the world, why this and that happens, and so on and so forth; but before jumping makes us see the world differently because we are right into it, we of course need to know the basics, being exposed to different perspectives; capitalist, rethe important theories, and the whatnot in the stud- alist, constructivist, feminist and other -ist -isme, for ies itself, so we can analyze the world with a better example, and its up to us which point of views that will be our stance on analysing the issues. understanding. 3


What does it feels like to be an IR student?

“Being an IR student is fun. Not in just fun-fun, but it’s really fun. I know a lot of you joining IR just to avoid math, calculus, chemistry and all of that, but what awaits you is a lot more than that. In IR you’re not only going to study about states and so on, but you also going to study about yourself, as my former lecturer said, its a process of becoming, and IR will taught you that. IR will help you reason things out, relating it with bigger stuff, and just make sense of everything. It’s a very fun thing to learn, uber special than any other major, and one hundred percent recommended.”

“Being an ir student have actually open my eyes and changes my perspective about the world. I also learn that problems are only a representation of something bigger and contained a more complex rooted issue. Because of this, when we try to analyse political, economical and social problems, there is a need for us to find the solution to the problems based on many considerations that include knowledge, research and experience.” Chikitarini - INR 15’ “Challenging, fun and interesting. Because as an IR student we learn so many things about this world. From politics, humanities, social and even wars. And also we learn and see the glimpse of being a diplomat that can travel around the world and having first class service.” Rinintia - INR 15’

Jessica Natalie - INR 15’ “Understanding of complex interrelationships, profound knowledge of other countries, political systems, and different mentalities, an interest in people and the ability to combine this knowledge: this seems to me these days as a set of tools that is needed and to be benefited International Relations student.” Lidia Kristi - INR15’

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Career IR

Paths

for

Graduates

what will I be when I grow up? By Syari R. Aisya

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W

hen we were younger, we like to dream on something really big, sometimes it was actually unrealistic. We were so innocent and still not tainted by the reality of the world. Most of little kids, when they are ask about what they want to be when they grow up, their answers are mostly want to become a president, a doctor, an astronaut, a scientist, a chef, or a teacher. And sometimes they are being unrealistic, like wanting to become a superhero, or a princess. We like to dream big, and sometimes we know what we want since we were little, but most of the times, our interest change when we grow older. It is easier if we want to know exactly what we want from earlier age, so we can fully pursue it and move on to the right path. But what if we still don’t know what we want, even when we already in high school, or worse, when we already enter universities?

United Nations. NGOs. If you are passionate about helping to make the world a better place, this job is definitely for you. This job will allow you to give back to the society, and sometimes if you are lucky, you can actually got assigned to go to somewhere like a small village, and directly help them. Small difference is still a difference. Don’t feel encouraged to not join and participate in this, just because people say that it does not actually make any big difference to the world. If helping someone or something to have a better future is what makes you happy, go for it! 2. Language Services/Education. (Teaching, Curriculum Development, Interpreting, Translating, Research and Writing, International Student Support Services, Study Abroad Programming)

Do you just realize that you actually really like talking in front of a class? Giving a presentation to your other classmates? Or are you just really smart and realize that you are good at helping your friends with their studies? Then this job is definitely for you! Most of the kids these days would be really shock if their friend said that they want to become a teacher. I mean, to be quiet honest, this job is most certainly, definitely, not, for me. But let’s be real, we come across to quite a bunch of super boring and monotonous teacher, we fell asleep throughout the semester. It will not become our benefit if we keep on meeting those kinds of teacher or lectures, because we won’t study anything and nothing would actually stuck in our head. Super unbeneficial. So, if your friend is a really fun and enjoyable person, please encourage them to follow their dream to become a teacher/lecturer, so the younger generations would have a better future.

I personally need to say that you guys are not alone if you are still struggling to find out what to do with your own life, because I still am struggling with it. When I enter this university, I was going back and forth between two majors, and one of which is International Relations. And at the end, I chose this major because, I don’t know, it kind of look interesting (turn out is a really hard major). Most of the students that apply to become an International Relation student already have a thought on becoming a diplomat or working in the embassy. For those of you (like me) who are still clueless on what the hell are we going to do when we graduates on this major, there are actually a whole bunch of jobs out there for us! If after you learn about diplomacy, you still not interested on becoming a diplomat, here are the jobs that you can also pursue: 1. International Relations (International Law, Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Public Service, Institutional/Community Development) Even if you only become a student in this major for a couple of week, you will most likely already hear about this, like A LOT.

3. Journalism. (Foreign News Correspondence, International Broadcasting, Reporting, Editorial/Column writing, Investigative Journalism, Research, Photography, Freelance Work) 6


This is for you people out there that like to observe stuff and write a report on it. Don’t let your long hours of writing essays in your university days go to waste! Pretty sure you will develop a good writing skill after you graduate, so you need to make sure that you are going to make use of it. And being a journalist, meaning that you will need to travel to places a lot for work! I personally think that would be fun for a future job. You will develop your curiosity and criticism towards the world and everything more, which is a really essential skill for an IR student. 4. International Business. (Management, Human Resources, Labour Relations, Banking and Finance, Economics, International Development, Real Estate, Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Healthcare Administration, Agricultural Economics)

We, as IR students, are obviously dealing a lot more with international stuff, rather than only concentrating domestically. And we are always more of a social student that deals with the world, than a business student that deals with money. But if you are interested in doing something related to business stuff, you most certainly can do it! You can make use of your skill in knowing about the international world and all of their problems. Study another foreign language that is still rare that not a bunch of people can fluent in, because it will be your advantage and you can be one step ahead of the others with it. And if you want to work in an office with a good salary but don’t want to deal with numbers and stuff, you can choose human resources, if you like to deal with people. There are still most likely a lot of job that you can get with your IR degree that is not covered here. Actually, you can have whatever job you want, if you really want it and have the will to actually pursue it. Just don’t, and never, put walls around you that keep you from going nowhere, just because of your major. Whatever major you got the degree from, if you got the interest and the skill, you can obviously get the job:). Resources: (http://www.bucknell.edu/academics/ maRjors-and-minors/international-relations/career-paths.html)

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Theory of IR

REALISM THEORY By Aditya Putra

In International Relations, there are a lot of theories.

Few theories are quite famous and a lot of people are familiar with it, which are Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism and Marxism. However, on this edition, we will discuss more about realism theory.

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Realism is a theory that believes international system is anarchy.

Realist describe world as a dangerous place where only power holders can survive. Realist believe that the only person can be relied on is themselves, thus in term of State, they can only have relied on their own power, because friend or neighbor country can cooperate when they have interest or can gain advantages. State main interest is seeking power to protect itself (Slaughter, 2011). Powers not only described as military power, but others such as economic power and also diplomatic power. are Thucydides, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Thomas Hobbes. Thucydides saw politics involving moral questions (Korab, 2013). His writing, History of the Peloponnesian War is being called the realist tradition or classical history of realism. Niccolo Machiavelli is the first person who distinguish between morality of individuals and state. Machiavelli positioning himself as a political motivator (Korab, 2013). Thomas Hobbes views of politic were influenced by the violent of English Civil War in 1640s (Slaughter, 2011). It is then make him believe that war is inevitable because due to human nature and it is causing conflicts and competitions.

There are four assumptions in realism: - State as the main actor, - State as unitary actor, - State is a rational actor, - Security is the utmost priority.

I MP O RTA NT !

POWER!

There are three realist roots of traditions or the thinkers. They

Resources: Korab, W. J. (2013, April 2). Political Realism in International Relations. Retrieved from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Slaughter, A. M. (2011). International Relations, Principal Theories. International Relations, Principal Theories, 28.

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Women on War

Opinion

By Aluna Khansa By Aluna Khansa 9


Opinion

It is by no means unpreventable that

the exercise of war creates such a devastating consequences that destructs not only the stability of a country, but it has a far-reaching effects that war has abolished a sense of human’s right to live; hundreds and thousand of non-combatants people have been killed, which most of the victims are women and children. In the article of ‘Women and War: Reclaiming a Feminist Perspective’, Amee Chew tries to create a discourse that analyse the presence of gendered biases where it is seen that women received a greater impact from the exercise of war. According to the United Nations Security Council, women and girls suffered disproportionately during and after war, they have a more tendency to be adversely affected by the armed conflict, making them more vulnerable to experience sexual violence and exploitation (United Nations, 2003). Women are more likely to be used as a trading commodity for sexual slavery, serves as a forced labour, sent to military brothels, raped and tortured in inhumane possible ways to an extent that it has violated their physical, sexual and psychological aspects. In this case of the gender-based violence, many feminist movement have fought against this gender discrimination that have long been targeted women as the object; it has long been rooted from our past history where imperialism and capitalism is interconnected with the systematic patriarchy, which have made women to be marginalized ever since. It is the aim of the article to question the narrow explanation that the world had offers in regards to the ever-present sexism that both feminist and US anti-war movement have confronted and to support this matters, I do believe that the lack of gendered analysis on this sexual subjugation towards women is what keep the sexual violence from happening in the future. Since the initiated US invasion in 2003, Iraqi women encountered an overwhelming economic downfall in a way that lots of women are becoming unemployed; men are more preferable to be employed because they are seen to be more eligible. As stated on the article, formerly 72% salaried Iraqi women were public employees, and many lost their job when

ministries are being dismantled. In addition to this, many Iraqi woman have lost its right to have an access towards publics services because the war have abolished the infrastructure such as the access to electricity, safe water, and sanitation. It is by no means the aim of the warring parties to damage the basic infrastructure as a strategy to lead to chaos and social disorder, destabilizing the opposite party (Plumper & Neumayer, 2006). This also happens with the women in US. US government have concentrated its budget to be used to finance the war, making the public services to be scarcely available by its people due to the undergone budget slashes; it is now difficult for most families in poverty, which usually lead by single mothers, to have an easy and free access towards healthcare, education, and childcare. However, these effects on economy that affected both women in Iraq and US couldn’t be conceptualized into the same page; it is women in Iraq who suffered the hardest (to compare with the US women) because not only they are being limited on the availability of job offers, they are also experiencing a catastrophic events in a way that they lived in the on going war scenes. Meanwhile, the US women can still be able to find jobs of their own and lived in a safe space. Sex trade, on the other hand, plays such an integral part in trying to explain this gender discrimination that have targeted women. According to Amee chew statement, due to the economic hardship that Iraqi woman have faced, many of Iraqi women are forced to given up their sexuality as a means of attaining money for the sake of their survival. However, in reality, Iraqi women are being kidnapped and trafficked to a great extent, gender based violence such as rape are being used by militias as a strategic approach to strengthen their power where women suffer quietly as they fear stigma, reprisal and even execution. These women are then will be sent to military brothels to be used as a sexual slavery. Having said that, it can be seen that women are being degraded in many ways; women is seen as a sexual object that can be traded easily to satisfy man militias in the war conflict and women are being used as a powerful tactics for them to exercise their power. 10


Highlighted (2016) News! Throughout 2016, we have actually experienced a lot of significant events that have shaped the way our contemporary world act and behave; the increasing of terrorist attacks, the spread of threatening viruses, elections, new discoveries and many more. Here we have gathered important events from January until December 2016 so that you can easily remember on what had happened all through 2016! By Syari R. Aisya & Sheila N. Amalina

January •Jan - The spread of Zika virus have affected 20 countries in Latin Amercia and the Caribbean. •Jan 16 - Iran’s sanctions on nuclear deal are lifted by the U.S. and European nations. •Jan 16 - Taiwan has elected its first female president in a landmark election that could unsettle relations with Beijing. •Jan 30 - Boko Haram raids the village of Dalori, Nigeria, and kills at least 65 people. •Jan 31 - Isis has claimed responsibility for a triple bomb attack near the most holy Shia mosque in Syria that has killed more than 60 people.

May •May 9 - Rodrigo Duterte wins Philippine presidential election, promising war on drug trade and killing of criminals. •May 11 - Isis has killed more than 80 people in a trio of explosions in Baghdad targeting Shia districts and police officers. •May 19 - Two of the Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram more than two years ago in Nigeria are found. •May 28 - Harambe, a gorilla from Cincinnati Zoo, is shot after dragging about a boy who slipped into the enclosure. • May 30 Former Chad dictator Hissène Habré convicted of crimes against humanity by the Extraordinary African chambers.

SEPTEMBER •Sep 9 - The government of North Korea conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test. •Sep 25 - World’s largest radio telescope at 500m wide in Guizhou Province, China begins operating. •Sep 26 First US Presidential debate: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton vs Republican Donald Trump at Hofstra University.

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February

March

April

•Feb 1 - The United Nations announced the formal start of peace talks for Syria. •Feb 6 - North Korea launched a rocket on Sunday that Western experts believe is part of a program to develop intercontinental ballistic missile technologies. •Feb 17 - Car bomb attack on military convoy in Ankara, Turkey, by Kurdish militant eaves 28 dead. •Feb 21 - Bombings in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus kill 140 people, Islamic State claims responsibility

•Feb 1 - The United Nations announced the formal start of peace talks for Syria. •Feb 6 - North Korea launched a rocket on Sunday that Western experts believe is part of a program to develop intercontinental ballistic missile technologies. •Feb 17 - Car bomb attack on military convoy in Ankara, Turkey, by Kurdish militant eaves 28 dead. •Feb 21 - Bombings in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus kill 140 people, Islamic State claims responsibility

•April 3 - The Panama Papers have exposed how some of the world’s most powerful people may have used offshore bank accounts and shell companies to conceal their wealth or avoid taxes. •April 16 - Pope Francis visits the Moria refugee camp in the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. •April 28 - An airstrike on a pediatric hospital in Syria has killed 50 people.

JUNE •June 12 - Gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State opens fire at gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49, injuring 53 worst mass shooting in the US. •June 23 - United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union in their “Brexit” referendum. •June 28 - Suicide bombings and gun attacks at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport kill 42 and wound more than 200.

OCTOBER •Oct 9 - Second US Presidential debate: Hostile confrontation between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at Washington University, St. Louis. •Oct 24 - Suicide bomb kills 61 and injures 117 at a police training academy in Quetta, Pakistan, ISIS claims responsibility. •Oct 27 6.6-magnitude quake hits central Italy. •Oct 30 Canada and the EU sign free trade deal after opposition by Belgium.

JULY •July 1 - Islamic militants storm a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 20 hostages and 2 police. •July 15 - Attempted military coup in Turkey fails, nearly 300 killed, 6,000 then arrested. •In the month of July, 2016, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in Philippines v. China ruled against China’s maritime claims.

NOVEMBER •Nov 4 - Paris Agreement on climate change becomes effective. •Nov 8 - Republican Donald Trump is elected President of The United States of America. •Nov 20 - South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s controversial friend Choi Soonsil charged with abuse of authority and coercion amid calls to also impeach the President. •Nov 25 - Cuban revolutionary and politician, Fidel Castro passed away at the age of 90. 12

AuGUST •Aug 12 - Cannes becomes first French resort to ban the burkini. •Aug 20 - Suicide bombing in Turkish city Gaziantep during a wedding party kills at least 51. •Aug 21 - 31st Summer Olympics closes at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. •Aug 24 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes central Italy, north east of Rome, killing 268, injuring 400.

DEcEMBER •Dec 4 - Austria elects liberal independent Alexander Van der Bellen as President, after original vote in May annulled. •Dec 7 - Indonesia’s Aceh province was rocked by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, resulted in the death of around 100 people. •Dec 10 - Two deadly explosions top place in the Turkish city of Istanbul. •Dec 12 - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte boasts he killed susected criminals personally when mayor of Davao City.


Self-help

HOW TO BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE? By Andrea Karmajana

There are some people that think they are naturally low in self-confidence, they believe that self-confidence is not in their control and it is not possible to change that. If you are one of them, don’t worry, I was a very shy kid too. One of the things that held me back from pursuing my dreams for many years was the lack of self-confidence, and the belief that it is natural and I can’t ever change it. But then, I realized that everyone can take control of their life and could change anything that they want, no one is genetically low in self-confidence and we don’t have to be dependent to other people to improve it. Here I outlined some tips that have helped me in improving myself and I hope they could work for you too.

1. Get to know yourself and eliminate your limitations

To defeat your enemy effectively you must know them very, very well. You can’t defeat someone without knowing their strengths and weaknesses at all. And when you are trying to kill your negative sides, who is your enemy? It’s yourself. To kill your own negative sides and replace it with self-confidence you must get to know yourself well. Analyze the factors that cause your low self-confidence, the reasons why you have a hard time in expressing yourself. Then think about the positive things that you have, things that you like and things that you can do well. Dig deep within yourself, therefore you will learn that there are some limitations and boundaries that you placed by yourself and need to be eliminated. Just like what Sun Tzu said, “know yourself and you will win all battles.”

2. Use the right to

not listen to people’s judgements! People will always judge, but you also have a complete right to not listen to them. Listening to people’s judgments will only hold you back from improving yourself, just do the things that you want to do. Set goals for yourself, know your principles and live in them. You will never step forward if you always listen to what people think about you and what you should do.

3. Kill negative thoughts

Over thinking is harmful, it produces negative thoughts and could stop you from achieving your goals. Learn to be aware with your selftalk and learn some tricks to stop your mind from thinking about negative thoughts. When I was little, every time I got a nightmare, my mom told me to make beautiful drawings and put it below my pillow so that the nightmare turns into a good dream. Also, when I feel nervous I would imagine that this negative thought is an annoying bug, then I imagine that I’m catching that bug and stomp on it. Hence, the negative thought has died and I could replace it with a positive one. Surprisingly, sometimes (most of the times for me) these kinds of simple tricks could work and help to prevent our mind from thinking about negative things.

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Self-help

4. Empower yourself with knowledge and always get prepared

It’s hard to have confidence if you don’t think you will do well at what you’re doing. You could beat that feeling by doing enough preparations. When you are going to do presentation for example, if you haven’t studied and prepared for the presentation then you won’t have the confidence to speak well in front of the audience. But if you have done enough preparation you will be much more confident and your words will just go with the flow. Along with getting prepared before doing anything, empowering yourself with knowledge can build up your self-confidence. Do much research and read more books. Talking with people will also give you new knowledge because everyone has their own point of view and experiences.

5. Dare to get out of your comfort zone

Fear of making mistakes is something that everyone will face. I was someone who always sticks on the status quo, I’m afraid to do something new or speaking up my mind because I was afraid that I will make mistakes and people will not be welcome. And I have proven that these kinds of traits will only hold us back and stay in the same place. I was feeling comfortable by being passive and sticking to the familiar, but then I realized that I want to live a greater life and I should consider taking steps beyond my fears and start daring. One day, I decided to take my first step out of my comfort zone. I started to open to people about my problems, I joined some events that ‘forced’ me to do public speaking and meet new people, also I learned new things that I never wanted to learn before. I did fail and lose my

self-confidence over and again but I decided not to give up because I’ve been taking a huge step in my life by stepping out of my comfort zone. I believe that only people who dare to try can achieve success. Learn to be a doer, dare to take risks and don’t worry if you make mistakes because by making mistakes you learn to improve and do better. Believe me, stepping out of your comfort zone is not as difficult as it seems and could do amazing things to your life.

6. Be grateful and always, always smile I believe that being grateful is a key of self-confidence. By being grateful you will know that you are loved, you will realize about what others have given you and how blessed you are. Being grateful about everything that you have in life is a self-rewarding activity that will improve your self-confidence. At the end of every week I always have a 10-minutes gratitude session where I simply close my eyes and think about what and who I’m grateful for. I count the blessings that I got, I remember and thank my loved ones for completing my life, and I thank myself for the things that I have done (it’s important to know our own accomplishments). And let me tell you, this small session that I try to slip in my busy days always successful in making me happy about my life. And lastly, the most important thing that you need to do in boosting your self-confidence: smile. Smiling is the simplest thing you can do, a little tiny thing that can have a chain reaction. A sincere smile could make you feel instantly better and helps to be kinder to other people as well. So, don’t forget to smile every day!

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Movies friend when she was 9 years old. As Nay drives through the streets of Jakarta, she becomes increasingly confused, trapped between her past, reality and her visions of the future. It is still taboo when it comes to pregnant before marriage and Djenar wants to break the stereotype and prove that women still can live without men. It is not hard to see how Djenar chose to make the society recognize about the stereotype of women in Indonesia. Within her film, Djenar wants to reconstruct and break the patriarchy concept among the society. Djenar tried to make this film as a reflection of majority of Indonesia women and might be with different fate. Review by Lidia Kristi Agustina

Nay Director: Djenar Maesa Ayu Rate: 3/5 A writer and a director, Djenar Maesa Ayu, has created a well crafted eighty-minute drama, Nay. A film that intimately portrays a woman’s journey as she confronts problems in her life. Within our direct discussion with Djenar, she said that she wanted her third film to be a voice for Indonesian women. In modern society, Djenar believes women still considered second-class citizen which means their bodies still controlled by males and the state. Even though women have their rights abused, Djenar sees, they tend to remain silent, as the law is rarely on their side. The film occurs almost entirely driven in a car by Nay (Sha Ine Febriyanti), the main character and the phone conversations she has with characters off screen. By focusing Nay in the car, the director wants to sharpen her focus on the gloomy realities faced by Indonesia women. As the film begins, Nay discovered she is pregnant and she is trying to negotiate with her boyfriend, Ben (Paul Agusta), about their future and their unborn baby. Through her conversation, we discover that Nay, thritysomething woman, still haunted by her childhood, never meet her father, 15

A Copy of My Mind Director: Joko Anwar Rate: 7.4/10 A Copy of My Mind is definitely a copy of Indonesian filmmaker, Joko Anwar’s mind towards particular issues in Indonesia, especially Jakarta. A simple sweetly wrapped in a sweet romance, Joko Anwar make daily routine concept with romance packaging and he wants to give all his feel-


Movies ing; love, sadness, anxious, madness and happiness into one storyline. There are two main characters; Sari (Tara Basro) – an attractive beautician in a small-time salon who loves to watch pirated whimsical B-movie wonders in her damp, cramped boarding room and Alek (Chicco Jerikho) – a man without phone or IDs whose job is making subtitles for pirated DVDs. Sari and Alek are a reflection of suburban society in the center of capital city and they do not have an important role in society. Sari and Alek have an intimate romance, the way they see the world are different. It doesn’t have to be expensive if you want to be happy. A Copy of My Mind is taken during presidential campaign, but Sari and Alek neglect it because to get their own happiness is already hard for them. Joko Anwar tried to show what happens when ‘suburb people’ find out about the government darkness and they tend to remain silent and that’s the truth in our society.

1. The Newsroom (2012-2014) IMDb Rotten Tomatoes

Personal Rating

: 8.6 : 63%

: 8.8

This series basically tells the story of Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels), a news anchor who is trying to break down the stigma that media in the US are all biased. Will, along with his producer Mackenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer), created a new format of the TV news that puts forward honesty and liability of the story. A very recommended watch, especially for international relations students, as the news that are used in the movie are based on real life and uses legitimate data. Don’t worry, it only consists of 3 seasons and a total of 25 episodes, so this will be a nice addition of things to watch in this holiday!

Within this film, we can feel easily what Joko Anwar tries to tell us about his feeling. He hide the burden towards corruptor, his anxiety about political condition, restless about social-gap but there is love and happiness in our society and everyone can achieve it. A Copy of My Mind is a copy of our society and reality. Sari and Alek are the reflection of us, their intimate interaction tell us how simple is our life. In the end of the film, when one of the lovers is gone, life must goes on and it is definitely true that in this life we just a pawn of life and we rarely want to get out from our comfort zone. Review by Lidia Kristi Agustina

Recommended Movies and Tv Shows By Nanda Vima Tasha

“It’s now your duty to sit down and try and separate the facts from the fancy.” - 12 Angry Men (1957) 16


Movies

2. Jerome Bixby’s Man from Earth (2007) IMDb Film Affinity Personal Rating

: 8.0 : 76% : 8.3

A story about a goodbye party for Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith) by his colleagues, which then turned into an investigation about his past. This movie is very eye opening and quite philosophical. Despite it’s lack of set, it definitely is engaging with lots educational fats. A highly recommended film that needs some concentration and thought to fully appreciate. If you enjoy thought experiments and intelligent discourse, and also appreciate what it means to accept your friends for who they are, see this.

3. Spotlight (2015) IMDb : 8.1 Rotten Tomatoes : 96% Personal Rating : 8.5 This movie won best film, deservedly so. A biographical drama film about The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative unit in the US. This movie specifically portrays the investigation of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests. A superb movie that’s supported with excellent casting and cinematography. You’ll be in the edge of your seat at the end of this movie.

4. 12 Angry Men (1957) IMDb : 8.9 Rotten Tomatoes : 100% Personal Rating : 9.5 A movie about 12 angry juries in a coutroom, attempting to prevent miscarriage of justice by persuading their colleagues to reconsider the evidence. In a length of only 95 minutes (it sometimes feels as if the movie is shot in real time), the jurors are all defined in terms of their personalities, backgrounds, occupations, prejudices and emotional tilts. An excellent film with excellent casting and script. A proof that, for a movie to be great, it does not need extensive scenery, elaborate costume, or expensive special effects – just superlative acting. A must-watch.

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Books Summary

The Sociological Imagination Summarized by Chikita Rini

Author: C. Wright Mills Genre: Sociology ISBN: 978-0195133738

E

very change has its consequences. Unlike ‘change’ in natural sciences that could be explained by calculations and the theories or laws that could be applied in all situations, it is harder to identify and understand a social change because it is more abstract. The same situation that is faced by different individuals could lead to different reactions. The variable of an individual’s personality, experience and attitude must be considered when we want to analyze it. There is no one general theory or concept that can explain all the social changes. Every society has a variety of humans so they might have a different way of thinking, way of acting, behavior, norms and lifestyle. So, it is necessary for us to explain social changes by empirical examination, which relies on or is derived from observation and guided by practical experiences rather than theories such as which is found in physics. Mills encourages us to be aware about the issues that rise in our society as well as its contribution that leads to social changes and critics to the world around us. We have to push ourselves to start thinking even if it is our basic and usual daily life. He emphasizes on the value of adopting a sociological perspective to understand the world around us, framing the term of sociological imagination to describe and implement this perspective into practice. For example, eating is no longer only for survival but it is also for enjoyment. We have to admit that eating has social and cultural function for such holidays as Birthdays, Passover, Christmas

or New Year eve celebration. However, have we ever wondered that the food that we eat does not only affect out health but also has economical and environmental influences? By starting to think and being aware of the processes, roles and consequences of eating, we have already applied the sociological imagination, which is the first step to recognize the connection of individual experiences and other aspects. People tend to develop interests in people that share the same values with them or with the issues that are related to them. It promotes a lack of empathy and it makes us ignorant towards the children in Papua who encounter difficulties to have access to education, equality, justice or engaging in environmental issues such as climate change that is currently affecting us all. After realizing these phenomena in the society, it is not a surprise anymore if the decision or regulation that the government has made does not reflect our needs because sometimes it reflects the interest of political parties, military leaders or capital business ownerships. In this period of time, as an individual we might not have a private space anymore. Personal problems could be shifted into public issues if the percentage of the people that share the same problem is high on the issues of unemployment. In almost every aspect of education, religion and food that we consume, is intervened by government and the elites that have power to influence the decision making process. We have to remember that living in a modern society means being 18


Books Summary

“Let every man be his own methodologist, let every man be his own theorist.” - C. Wright Mills

a part of a hierarchical system, which allows certain powers and authorities to govern our lives. To understand the larger frame about it and its connection to our personal life, we have to look at to the history of why the government is concerned with the life of its citizens and why a certain society as a whole tends to do something that has been already socially constructed? According to constructivism theories, everything is historically and socially constructed. So basically we could raise this question; whom should we hold accountable for all of these patterns and behaviors? I’m sure it didn’t happen overnight. Individuals, governments, trends, ideas, and technologies play important roles in creating the society just we are in today. Mills says that “Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both”. Besides being aware of the individual problem and the history, we also have to learn and relate the situation with the society that we live in. We could use the concept of sociological imagination to help us understand the world that we live in and its actors better. The point is we have to think beyond our comfort zones and our glasses to answer the sociological questions or to change our personal situation to create a better society.

“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.”

- C. Wright Mills

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Books Summary

The Law of Peoples Summarized by Jessica Natalie

Author: John Rawls Genre: Philosophy ISBN: 978-0674005426

J

ohn Rawls was an American political philosopher in liberal tradition; The Law of Peoples is John Rawls book that aiming to deliberate the political theory of a liberal democratic political culture, it’s divided into two part, the first part called The Law of Peoples and the second part is The Idea of Public Reason Revisited. In his first part of the book, he use of the term ‘peoples’ and not ‘state’ or ‘nation’ because he want to make sure of peoples having different features from states, peoples are the one that making the political conception and people can more acted as an moral individual with different meaning compared to state and nation. And in the second part he gives more detailed explanation about democratic society and gives more explanation toward the citizen of a democratic nation. To develop from the liberal idea of justice, Rawls extended the idea former to justice as fairness, and to illustrate his theories, Rawls explained about the essential component needed in the theories to make it applicable. In his first part of the book, Rawls optimistically pointed out that to pursue what he dreamt of (the realistic utopian), the human factor he need in the Law of Peoples is the liberal peoples or decent peoples. The liberal peoples or decent people are distinction for those who are able to think reasonably and rationally. They must first be reasonable pluralized, to accept the differences as it is, and be fair to everyone in the part of the society. They’re attached to one and an-

other by ‘common sympathy,’ this where the religion, philosophical, or moral unity takes place as the foundation of social unity, it all rooted in a reasonable political conception of right and justice within the society, and that’s why they’re able to accept the law and able to pursue stability for the right reason. The tolerance between people has to be reasonably considered and applied to regain justice, all necessary political conception of justice needed to be contained within the category of political. Then in the development of a more stable society, first thing needed to be established is the domestic principles, that controlled all the government and the army to never used to against it people. The parties will agree upon the basic equality of all peoples, they will formulate guidelines for cooperative organization and agree to standard of fairness and justice. In the next topic of explanations, the different type of decent people and the non-ideal theory are discussed. There is an understanding, considering point of view of decent hierarchal people, who categorized people and gives basic description of decent people that fit to their own society, we must accept that in an appropriate original position with a veil of ignorance, these decent hierarchal peoples are fairly situated and have their own original position to working out the Law of Peoples. So in order to make both the liberal peoples and decent peoples together with the decent hierarchal people to be able to accept Law of Peoples, political 20


debate among peoples stated, that their mutual relations should be expressed in terms of the content principles of that law. The role of Law of People about political liberalism, however did not effect effectively inside organization, churches, and school since they have their own autonomy and it’s not a fully general principle. In the chapter, also stated the characteristics of decent peoples in a war; decent peoples are not aggressive and actively engage in war, only in self-defense. Is has a common idea of justice that counted the matter of human rights to all its members. The non-ideal theory however talks about how long it takes to achieve the ideal theory; we can’t acknowledge the existence of non-liberal people which distinguished into two part, one kind deals with condition of non-compliances which certain regimes refuse to comply with a reasonable Law of Peoples, whom decided to engage in war with non reasonable interest, called the outlaw states. The other kinds deals with unfavorable condition with the condition of the society who’s historical, social, economic is in a well-ordered regime, which called the burdened society. And a solution is provided to overcome this problem of great evils within the human history and society, which is reconciliation. Then the second part of the book, The Idea of Public Reason Revisited talks about the conception of a well-ordered constitutional democratic society. The content of reasonable pluralism inside a democratic society with the fact of plurality conflicting reasonable doctrines, religious, philosophical, and moral, are the normal result of a free institution culture. In each area, it become very important for the idea of democracy itself to ‘rule’ inside every area compatibly between one and another without clashing, conflicting, or even lead to war. And comprehensive doctrine that usually spread to maintain stability has to be managed in the political democratic environment. The challenges are to maintain all aspect to always be compatible one and another; political liberalism should makes the distinction between 21

one and another without clashing, conflicting, or even lead to war. And comprehensive doctrine that usually spread to maintain stability has to be managed in the political democratic environment. The challenges are to maintain all aspect to always be compatible one and another; political liberalism should make the distinction between a self-standing political conception of justice and a comprehensive doctrine. A religious doctrine is not included. Exposed to this much idea and theories, me personally starting to be able to see the correlation between Indonesia’s political democratic situation and the ideal theory, especially during the year 65 and during the new order in Indonesia. It was a mistake, claiming our self as a politically democratic country where there are no reasonable justice, no decent decent liberal peoples who think reasonably and rationally, and also engage in war where as a politically democratic state, war should only be for self-defense where in return, a very great human rights violation occurred. A court assembly should be done, and army shouldn’t work against it peoples. But, rely on Rawls theories only seem too reckless. Taken from writing by Beitz, back in 2012 on Rawls book, “Respect for human rights is, so to speak, part of the price of admission to international society and defines the threshold of toleration by liberal and decent peoples”. It is a necessary (though not sufficient) condition of the decency of a society’s institutions and is ‘sufficient to exclude justified and forceful intervention by other peoples’. The insufficient Rawls theory is one major problem since the understanding of his theory needs a very stable and decent society. And, adding Beitz argument, Rawls explanation of human right is also still too narrow for this case since it did not detailed the human right justice, and his interpretation of human right is also too little to be able to against this case.


Highlighted Events Events conducted or participated by HI IULI throughout 2016 1. May 16 - 19: Participated in Java Model United Nations organized by UIN Syarif Hidayatullah with 6 delegates. 2. June 15: First meeting on the occassion of forming Himpunan Mahasiswa Hubungan Internasional IULI with Head Major @AEON Mall, BSD City. The meeting resulted in the appointment of Faiq Faishal as the Chairperson of the HIMA. 3. June 25: Attended the monthly meeting (RAKORWIL) of FKMHII for the very first time after the establishment of HIMA, hosted by Universitas Al Azhar Indonesia. 4. August 8 - 11: Participated in Bali Model United Nations organized by Universitas Udayana with 3 delegates. 5. September 2 - 4: Participated in Funcamp FKMHII Korwil 2 with 10 delegates. 6. September 20 - 22: Participated in Joint Statement Forum, a forum exclusively for International Relations students that aims to review, criticize or give suggestions to the policies made by the government. The event was conducted by Universitas Paramadina and HIMAHI IULI on this occassion happened to send 3 delegates. 7. October 14: An excursion to Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Gambir, Jakarta. 8. October 29 - 30: Participated in a Social and Political debate conducted by Universitas Negeri Jakarta with 3 delegates. 9. November 8 - 11: Participated in Pertemuan Nasional Mahasiswa Hubungan Internasional se-Indonesia, an annual meeting of International Relations student from many universities from the whole Indonesia. This year the event was organized by Universitas Budi Luhur. HIMAHI IULI happened to send 8 delegates, in which each delegate has their own role in the event. 10. November 28: Conducted the very first presentation for our social innovation project ‘BISYK’ in front of IULI students, lecturers and rectorate. 11. December 3: Served as the host for monthly meeting (RAKORWIL) of FKMHII for the first time. 12. December 16: Honored to be of assistance for IULI to co-host a seminar in association with Danish Embassy under the theme of ‘Disruptive Technology: Challenge or Opportunity for Indonesia?’

By Sheila Nur Amalina

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Quiz-up By Sheila Nur Amalina

Quiz 4. Which theory holds that state interests are neither inherent nor unproblematic and that international norms have an independent power to shape state interests and affect state behavior? 5. President Woodrow Wilson declares “‘states’ internal values and norms should determine their foreign policy and the pattern of their international relations.’ Which theory of international relations does this statement support? 6. “State interests are an extension of class interests and relations between states are driven by the exploitation of weaker states by stronger states,” what theoritical perspective would it be espousing? 7. “States are pluralistic actors seeking to maximize absolute gains in a world where international trade reduces the potential for conflict. Non-state actors merit legitimate analysis.” Which theory of interna-

1. You read in a pamphlet that “States are pluralistic actors seeking to maximize absolute gains under anarchy, however, ‘complex interdependence’ can diminish anarchy, and the state is the primary focus of analysis.” Which international relations theory is this pamphlet articulating? 3. In response to the contention that former colonies are incapable of independent self-government, a professor declares that “All knowledge is situated in representations. As a result the possible scope of state action is defined by the discursive environment in which it is situated.” Upon professor’s argument founded?

9. An official at the World Bank declares that “Less developed states will achieve development through the adoption of the 8. Which international relations cultural norms and organitheory holds that states are unitary zational patterns of indusrational actors driven to maximize their power and utility in an anarchic trialized states.” Which international relations theory world, and that the nature of states did she explicate? comes from human nature? 23

2. A disheveled vagrant is standing on a street corner wearing a sign with the statement “States are unitary, rational actors driven to maximize their power and utility in an anarchic world. State behavior is determined by the structure of the international system,” painted on it. Which theory is his sign advocating? 10. Say you are watching a speech at the World Bank, and the Bolivian representative states that “Poorer, less developed states are prevented from achieving full development by the structure of the international system.” Which theory did he just articulate?


By Bernadetta Quinta Pradipta


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