Question
- Watch the video Afganistan: Voting in the Presidential Election, and discuss
http://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/GLqP3eThqxm75Fh1fiaNKlKj9dk1Xxi4
End your post with an open-ended question to encourage responses from the audience (has to have at least 150 words, excluding your greeting, signature, quoted/cited text, and the references.)
- Watch the video The Trade Trap, and discuss
http://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/GLqP3eThqxm75Fh1fiaNKlKj9dk1Xxi4
End your post with an open-ended question to encourage responses from the audience (has to have at least 150 words, excluding your greeting, signature, quoted/cited text, and the references.)
Answer
Watch the video Afganistan: Voting in the Presidential Election and The Trade Trap, then discuss
Question 1: Discuss of video “Afghanistan: Voting the Presidential Election”
The video “Afghanistan: Voting the Presidential Election” by Financial Times analyzes the situation on the ground in Afghanistan during the 2014 presidential elections. Fear and tension prevailing in parts of the country prevented some voters from exercising their democratic right. However, voters still managed to gain some confidence. Their fear was not without reason; Taliban, an extremist group had vowed to disrupt the elections through gun attacks and suicide bombings. Despite this, voters still turned out to elect their favorite candidates and were not afraid to show that they had voted. Interestingly, women also participated in the vote, refusing to be bowed down by the Taliban threats. Of concern is that more than 1000 voting areas remained closed due to security threats and other challenges such as inadequate ballot papers in the polling stations. Although the national turnout was put at 58 percent, the figure is merely an estimate due to lack of accurate voter data. The question is: is democracy or dictatorship the solution to the conflicts in Afghanistan?
Question 2: Discuss of video “The Trade Trap”
The video “The Trade Trap” highlights the impacts of globalization especially in light of developing countries such as Ghana. The issue of free trade is hotly contested with regard to developments in countries such as Ghana. Cheap imports of maize in Ghana has driven down demand for locally grown maize in the country. In countries such as U.S., the cost of producing corn is relatively low due to availability of subsidies, cheap inputs such as fertilizers, and cheap labor due to mechanization. Other challenges also exist, particularly the EU licensing requirements. Ghanaian farmers find challenges exporting their products to the EU not due to trade barriers but due to EU standards. EU licensing requirements are strict in terms of quality of products exported and the amount of residual chemicals in foods. According to EU standards headquarters, the main challenge facing most farmers is technical barriers, rather than trade barriers. Countries such as Kenya which have been able to meet export standards for cut flowers to EU enjoy good prices for their products. The critical question is: does free enhance the development of third world countries?
References
The Financial Times. (n.d). Afghanistan: Voting the Presidential Election. Retrieved from:http://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/GLqP3eThqxm75Fh1fiaNKlKj9dk1Xxi
Trade Trap. Retrieved from: http://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/GLqP3eThqxm75Fh1fiaNKlKj9dk1Xxi4
