144A Int’l Conflict Op-Ed

One of the classes I am taking during my summer in the U.S. is a Political Science class focusing on International Conflict. The class teaches different political theories/perspectives, such as Realism, Liberalism, Critical Theory, World Systems Theory, Constructivism, Feminism, and others, and applies them to the Kosovo conflict. In addition, we had to select a current world conflict and write a research paper, Op-Ed, and Policy paper. I selected the US/China debate over China’s renminbi exchange rate.

Here is the Op-Ed–Though well-written, according to my professor I did not focus enough on one main point, instead jumping back and forth between the difference both countries’ perceptions of one another, the Chinese ownership of foreign debt, and the current international monetary policy of both countries. Oh well. I had fun writing it.

Grade Received: B+

The Final Paper for My Independent Study in Beijing

As part of my Spring semester at BNU, I opted out of taking the class focusing on newspaper reading (which I probably should have taken as it is very useful but a complete drag in terms of the workload) and decided to do an independent study paper. I decided to focus on China’s economic rise. The paper is fairly informal, as I was given a lot of leeway from my advisor, who simply wanted us to show her that I had researched and learned something, but it did provide me with a great foundation of working knowledge regarding China and its economy, as well as US-Sino relations. It also proved to me that my interest in China has not waned; while writing the paper, even though I left it to the last few days before the deadline, I found myself researching because I enjoyed learning, not because I wanted to get the paper done. To me, this revelation meant more than the grade. This paper is a healthy ten pages double-spaced, so feel free to skim.

Grade Received: A