Bibliography

Collinson, S., & Liptak, K. (2015, November 25). Obama: we are all French now [Newsgroup

    post]. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/24/politics/

    obama-francois-hollande-washington/

Denyer, S., & Merle, R. (2016, January 7). U.S., world stock markets slide as panic in China

    spreads [Newsgroup post]. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/

    china-stocks-plunge-7-percent-triggering-another-market-closure/2016/01/07/

    d6a83bf5-10b2-4289-8aab-98e485a3fe6e_story.html

Krauthammer, C. (2015, December 31). Space: the visionaries take over [Newsgroup post].

    Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/space-the-visionaries-take-over/

    2015/12/31/d0f9d956-affa-11e5-b820-eea4d64be2a1_story.html

Ohlheiser, A. (2015, November 17). What you need to know about Anonymous's 'war' on the

    Islamic State [Newsgroup post]. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/11/17/what-you-need-to-know-about-anonymouss-war-on-the-islamic-state/

Sengupta, S. (2016, January 13). U.S. record on refugees reflects domestic and global

    challenges [Newsgroup post]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/

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"What you need to know about Anonymous's 'war' on the Islamic State"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/11/17/what-you-need-to-know-about-anonymouss-war-on-the-islamic-state/

Summary:

Anonymous declared an online ‘war’ with the Islamic State. There have already been multiple Anonymous-linked operations against ISIS such as, #OPISIS and also @ctrlsec both of which can be easily found on twitter due to the Islamic State’s large presence on twitter compared to any other social media platform. People are encouraged to follow @CtrlSec and report as many of the listed Twitter accounts as possible so that Twitter will review the accounts and suspend them. #OpParis is also an account which occasionally reports a rough estimate of the number of ISIS related Twitter accounts that have been shut down. In 2014, Twitter started suspending a large number of Islamic State-linked accounts however, around this time, the Islamic State rapidly grew its online presence. J.M Berger of Brooklyn Institution has written about the efforts to identify and suspend Islamic State-linked social media accounts and has also outlined several potential risks and trade-offs if those efforts aren’t approached effectively.

The group Anonymous itself is not fully behind #OpParis or #OPISIS (Op stands for operation in this case). There is even further disagreement of how to proceed with the operations themselves. One idea was doxxing some members of the Islamic State. Doxxing is the action of the publication of private or identifying information about someone on the internet, typically with a malicious intent. This can easily be seen as to why this could be disastrous, for example, if they pick the wrong person it could destroy that person’s entire life. Another split was called GhostSec, which was once linked to Anonymous but split in part over increasing interest from government intelligence officials from information gathered on the Internet and the dark web.

Although Anonymous is getting a lot of attention over this matter, and rightfully so, they’re not the only people who are trying to address this problem of the Islamic State extremist presence. Such as, Paul Dietrich,  who directly talks to people that he believes are vulnerable to joining the Islamic State through the social media community. There are also government entities that are also trying to start anti-Islamic State campaigns on social media. A fairly recent campaign was coordinated by YouTube and multiple Muslim groups to create and upload anti-Islamic State messages to the site.

Impact:

This directly relates to first semester Contemporary U.S. History because an oncoming cyber war would include a digital arms race, like the nuclear arms race. Something of this magnitude may die down quickly or it could be a full fledged cyber war where even the most basic users would be fighting propaganda and other messages. An online Islamic State hacking group could also be a very large domestic threat to the United States. This has impacted my by showing that though Anonymous may be split, regardless of how they are split they are still trying to take action. I personally believe that this may be a good thing, however, “good” is so relative. This could also be bad for the United States. This is also personally impactful because currently, outside of history class, I’m taking a computer science course and I’m learning about all of these things in the computer world that I’m both slightly scared and excited at the same time about the possible outcomes of what may come next. The world isn’t ready for a cyber war, so hopefully there won’t be one.

"Space: The Visionaries Take Over"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/space-the-visionaries-take-over/2015/12/31/d0f9d956-affa-11e5-b820-eea4d64be2a1_story.html

Summary:

The progress into space was slow and then all at once, it gained huge amounts of momentum and then it stalled and stopped when NASA retired the space shuttle program. Though, despite this, other companies are entering the space era and bringing life and competition to space. Elon Musk and the SpaceX’s reusable rocket will drastically cut the cost of going into space. Today the future of the directions that the human race is going in with regards to space is being determined by private companies, such as the colonization of the moon, and Mars.

Impact Statement:

This is important because in our first space race, the United States were not the first ones in space. The Soviet Union was, though now it’s less about which country gets into space and more about who is going into space. This could impact the future of humanity because one day we may need to leave this planet and we might only be able to do that with the progress that this current privatization model of space that’s making companies push harder and further to get into space and do what they wish to.

"U.S. Record on Refugees Reflects Domestic and Global Challenges"

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/world/middleeast/us-obama-refugees.html?

Summary:

4.4 million Syrians have fled their homes since the conflict began almost five years ago. In 1951, in the aftermath of World War II, the International Refugee Convention was forged, require countries to offer protection to those scattered by war and persecution. The costs of taking in refugees have grown and they payoff seem to have diminished, and many views of the International Refugee Convention have shifted and as a result. Around the world, many countries have been accepting Syrian refugees seeking asylum so they can have a safe place to live. However, the political costs of keeping refugees is high. In the United States, many people are concerned about terrorists sneaking in through refugee programs. There are also political figures in the United States and in Europe, such as Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, who are openly opposed to accepting Muslims. After the Cold War the United States took in around 207,000 refugees and this made the United Sates seem like quite the welcoming place. However, this practically ground to a halt after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Where the Syrian refugees are now, many are stuck below the poverty line, many can’t get a job or receive and education. Europe is even paying Turkey billions of euros to stop refugees from trying to reach European shores.

Impact Statement:
This has impacted me in multiple ways. On the news I hear about the Syrian refugee crisis and I hear about it in some of my classes but I never see numbers put to the topic so I never fully comprehend the gravity of the situation. I understand why refugee’s could possibly be a threat to our national security however, the United States is known for being a “melting pot” of diversity and second chances. We shouldn’t be welcoming the refugees with open arms, but we should be screening them and giving them places to stay and food to eat. We should be taking care of our fellow humans; not discriminating them by race, or religion, such as done by Donald J. Trump, and Viktor Orban, in this article.

"U.S., world stock markets slide as panic in China spreads"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-stocks-plunge-7-percent-triggering-another-market-closure/2016/01/07/d6a83bf5-10b2-4289-8aab-98e485a3fe6e_story.html

Summary:
China’s economy is slowing down and this is causing for it’s stock market values to drop. Thought this is more likely to be felt in Europe than the United States, it shows “how interconnected the United States is to the global economy”. Many people are saying “Don’t panic” because when people panic, it just makes the situation worse. The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s official midpoint range to roughly 6.57 to the dollar, which is down 0.5 percent weaker than the day prior and this has reignited fears that China is devaluing it’s currency to stimulate exports, possibly provoking other countries to do the same. Wu Xianfeng, president of Longteng Asset Management, in Shenzhen, agreed with Andy Xie, an independent economist based in Shanghai, that the market was overvalued. A circuit breaker system was put in place intended to help the stock market stabilize if it fell too much however, this just caused people to panic and sell while they still could and caused them to rush it even more.  China’s regulator announced it would suspend the breaker system starting Friday, after it failed to stabilize the  market. China Securities Regulatory Commission, CSRC, created a rule that major investors could sell no more than 1 percent of a company’s shares on the open market every three months. The risk of China’s problem spreading across the globe resurfaces. It is very similar to the Market move in August. The World Bank cut its global growth forecasts for this year and 2017. The market should have expected a yuan devaluation after the central bank said it would be targeting the yuan’s value against a basket of currencies and, “So yuan weakness against the dollar should not be seen as evidence of weakening Chinese growth, but of the global economy returning to a sustainable equilibrium”. Also, big moves in China equities may grab the headlines however, equity prices tells us next to nothing about the outlook for corporate earnings. Even in China.

Impact Statement:

This is important in the world today because back in 2008, there was a recession due to a fall in the stock market, which heavily affected the United States and is still having in impact to this day. This stock market fluctuation in China is very similar to what happened before the Great Depression, stocks started to dip and everyone panicked and pulled out their money as fast as they could, causing the stocks to fall faster and further. This is important to know about because this will affect our lives and the lives of those that come after us. It’s our job to maintain a healthy economy and help the economy grow. Recession is a natural part of the economy, but that also means that people shouldn’t be afraid of it.

"Obama: We Are All French Now"
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/24/politics/obama-francois-hollande-washington/

Summary:

Though the relationships between France and the United States have not always been the best,the diplomatic relationship between the United States and France have grown tighter than ever before, after the attacks on Paris. Both of the leaders, President Barack Obama of the United States and President François Hollande of France, have different ideas on how to best battle ISIS, they “seemed to be a deliberate show of unity and exchange of rhetorical support between the presidents at a time of international disruption and global terror” (paragraph 5). Later Obama reinforces the strength of the diplomatic relationship by saying, "Nous sommes tous Fancias," meaning we are all French, Obama said that after recalling the French newspaper headline in the days after the September 11 attacks in 2001, "Nous sommes tous Americains." (paragraph 10).

Obama is warning Hollande against any major new ground operations in Syria because he fears it could degenerate into another years-long entanglement for America in the Middle East. They are both trying to make an international coalition to defeat ISIS, though the White House has ruled out any military cooperation with Russia, aside from operational communication to avoid mid air conflicts over Syria.

Impact Statement:

This is important to the world and our history class because this could lead to the United States being in another war in the Middle East for an unknown period of time. It could however, lead to international cooperation of nations to go after various terrorist organizations which could help diplomatics standings and issues. Though, it could also do the opposite and worsen diplomatic standings. Whatever turn this takes, it will impact the lives of not just many Americans but also the lives of many people in many countries and may even effect the entire world