7/18 Weekly Edition: Culture and Identity in Politics
Political science and international relations are interdisciplinary in nature. Headlines and breaking news we see today often have hidden factors sharing a commonality: some form of collective culture or identity, often adding complications to politics. Coined by Joseph Nye as "soft power," this ideology is evident in this week's featured articles, exploring three drastically different cultural spheres: How classical American culture evolved social justice, the political implications for the rising wave of K-Pop, and how peace should be analyzed for the religion of Islam. Enjoy.
-Joshua Zhang, Editor-in-Chief
Poets and writers such as Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou highlighted the racism of the 1900s, their trailblazing actions inspired current African American artists within the hip-hop community to use their platform to speak out against modern-day racism in a similar fashion.
The term Hallyu, translated into “Korean Wave,” refers to the rising global popularity of South Korean culture. As a middle power that prefers multilateral diplomacy, allowing the “cultural” soft power to grow naturally may be an appropriate strategy for South Korea.
The debate of whether Islam is a religion of peace should never be binary. Complicated and diverse conditions across the global community of Muslims prompt various religious practices and interpretations that can never be represented by one terminology.