This blog is for students of English at the SIOI in Rome. However, the opinions expressed here are my own and should not be taken to represent those of the SIOI or anyone else.
venerdì 31 dicembre 2021
sabato 25 dicembre 2021
What is or should be the role of youth in international affairs? In what ways are the interests of the younger generation different from or the same as those of older generations?
Talk to your UN Youth Delegate and look at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A8au53W5Dg
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/422/54/PDF/N1942254.pdf?OpenElement
https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/ecosoc-youth-forum
https://www.instagram.com/unyd_italy/
https://www.facebook.com/UNYouthDelegateItaly/
https://www.sioi.org/attivita/focus-on/unydp-2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Faz7CNT8k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwT1QrWaj60
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJWx2pXcgPQ
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/what-we-do/youth-delegate-programme.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoxprhVAZKM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbShXrsFmOA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Faz7CNT8k
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/issue-briefs.html
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/what-we-do/faq.html
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/what-we-do.html
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/world-youth-report.html
http://www.unworldyouthreport.org/
Here are some links and notes to get you started
on research for an essay. First examine
some current and recent events connected with youth, e.g. in Hong Kong,
Ecuador, Lebanon, Iraq and Chile.
Then have a look at the activities,
initiatives and positions or statements by international relations organizations,
governments and public figures, e.g. Greta Thunberg's impassioned speeches at
the United Nations Climate Action Summit on 23
September 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAJsdgTPJpU
at the Youth4Climate Pre-COP26 on 29 set
2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiwRQnNlNGU
and during the COP26
in November2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0FzWOBY-Yc
or Boyan Slat (see the
links at the end of this post), or this
https://ec.europa.eu/youth/policy/youth-strategy_en
https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/servizi/italiani/opportunita/nelle_oo_ii/pergiovani/jpo.html
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/iyd2020.html
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/news/2020/05/covid-19/
https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2020/03/5-things-young-people-can-do-against-coronavirus/
https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/youth-employment/publications/WCMS_753026/lang--en/index.htm
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/3-ways-covid-19-has-changed-youth-activism/
https://www.voanews.com/student-union/students-italy-protest-schools-reopen
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/neets
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/youth
The definition of 'youth' according to the UN is roughly
15-24 years old.
https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/youth/fact-sheets/youth-definition.pdf
Think about a possible line of argument. For, example,
mine would be that:
youth has long been a victim in national and
international affairs, but it must now become, or perhaps I should say again
become, a committed protagonist, a real actor in the promotion of multilateral
strategies to deal with the challenges that youth faces across the globe and
that it will inherit from today's older generations and have to face in the
future (e.g. climate change) but perhaps this has always been
the role every younger generation.
As victims and in
terms of rights the definition of youth must often be broadened to include
children as they are the youth and adults of tomorrow.
Youth as victims – in the developing world
/living conditions, clean water, food, shelter, sanitation, health care /
starvation / malnutrition / poverty rates / disease e,g. HIV-AIDS /the lack of
medical care and its effects on long-term health / unemployment rates (e.g.
North Africa) / child marriage / boy soldiers / female education rates,
discrimination, lack of equal employment opportunities, inequality /
exploitation of child and young workers / sexual exploitation / climate change,
population growth, desertification, political instability leading to migration
/ human trafficking and migrant smuggling, refugees / labour exploitation of
migrants in developed or more developed countries of arrival.
In the developed world – unemployment / underemployment,
labour exploitation, poor contracts or unregistered black-market labour /
migration of graduates and other young people / voting in frustration for
non-traditional parties and for radical alternatives.
For a developing or developed country,
youth should be a 'smart' investment for governments as they have long working
lives ahead of them, flexibility, IT skills and the ability to learn new things.
On their part, young people need to
organize, to form an effective and vocal lobby, to become active in national
politics and international relations, to become proactive and try to influence
and, if possible, to set the international agenda.
Possible examples: Malala Yousafzai, young people in Hong
Kong, the Y20 summit
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/youth/
They should press for
(well, you choose, but possibly):
a) a global response
to global warming and climate change
b) economic inclusion
for youth
c) greater turn-out
and youth participation in elections, as voters but also as candidates
d) more opportunities
for youth like the Erasmus programme and programmes for youth in difficulty
c) greater responsibility
from governments and the international community regarding challenges affecting
children and youth
d) better prevention
of nuclear proliferation
e) a lowering of the
voting age?!?
f) prioritizing
education and learning skills
There are some signs of hope – support for Greta Thunberg's
School Strike for
Climate movement, youth climate demonstrations, the UN Youth delegates, Malala Yousafzai and her campaign for civil rights and the right to
education, role of youth in demonstrations in Hong Kong and Tunisia
https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/approfondimenti/2017/09/partecipazione-italiana-al-united.html https://www.facebook.com/UNYouthDelegateItaly/
In the West the younger and older
generation may not be so different. Today's older generation were once the
younger generation and protested against the war in Vietnam, against
dictatorship in Chile and Argentina, against the oppressive Soviet system in
Eastern Europe (and celebrated its fall in 1989) against China's repression of
protests in Tiananmen square and against the
Iraq war and in favour of the Arab Spring. They campaigned for jobs, minority
rights and social justice and founded the Green Party and ecological movement.
Perhaps the main difference is
technology. Young people today can use social media to exchange ideas across borders,
organize action and make their situation, views and action known to the world.
They can put their case to the global community, Hong Kong, Iraq, Lebanon,
Chile. Global warming will affect them more than the older generation but that is
mainly a question of life expectancy. The older
generation needs to respond to the situation and integrate the younger
generation into the consultation and decision-making process, to empower youth.
Give an example of where this is, or is not, happening, like https://www.yepp.it/
In conclusion, perhaps we should not focus too much on the West but should look at the role of youth in the developing world where global warming may not be the priority. Physical and economic survival, escaping from poverty, violence, exploitation and human rights abuses, the fight against unemployment and income inequality may be their priorities. Many young people remain the victims and hostages of our global society and are hardly in a position to voice their grievances except through street protests.
https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/what-we-do/youth-delegate-programme.html
https://www.facebook.com/UNYouthDelegateItaly/
https://www.sioi.org/attivita/focus-on/unydp/
https://www.romunsioi.org/what-is-unydp/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwT1QrWaj60
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Faz7CNT8k
NEET è l'acronimo inglese di "not
(engaged) in education, employment or training".
https://www.romunsioi.org/youth-resolution-e-neet-un-grande-risultato-per-i-giovani-italiani/
http://www.econ.uniurb.it/RePEc/urb/wpaper/WP_15_08.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1354571X.2017.1409529?src=recsys&journalCode=rmis20
Boyan Slat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyan_Slat
https://www.readersdigest.ca/culture/european-year-boyan-slatan-wants-clean-oceans/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROW9F-c0kIQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBaTeXZNk9c
https://www.greenme.it/informarsi/ambiente/ocean-cleanup-funziona/
https://www.cleanocean.org/news/who-is-boyan-slat#
Youth and the Covid-19 pandemic
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_753057.pdf
https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/-/youth-and-covid-19-survey-report
https://rm.coe.int/youth-and-covid-19-survey-report-english/16809feb26
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/neets
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/youth
http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9531en/ and the links it includes
You should have a look
on Google at: Emma González, Gitanjali
Rao, Sophie Cruz and also at https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/the-top-10-young-leaders-of-europe-poised-to-transform-the-world/
Opportunities and challenges: economic, social, and political impacts of climate change in the Arctic and the need for cooperation.
The first few articles contain good introductory material to outline the current situation and frame the questions
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/international_issues/arctic_en.htm
https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/frna_-_eng_-interne_-_17-06-web_cle4fcfcc.pdf
https://www.ocean-climate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/the-arctic_07-9.pdf
https://arctic-council.org/en/
https://www.interreg-npa.eu/arctic-cooperation/
https://carnegieeurope.eu/2019/11/28/military-and-environmental-challenges-in-arctic-pub-80424
https://www.arcticcentre.org/EN/arcticregion/Arctic-Indigenous-Peoples#
https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/return-great-power-competition-arctic/
https://www.interreg-npa.eu/about/programme-in-brief/
https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/whats-stake-rising-competition-arctic
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52915807
https://www.severe-weather.eu/news/arctic-circle-oil-spill-disaster-fa/
https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/covid-19-arctic-the-arctic-institute-winter-series-2020-2021/
https://www.arctictoday.com/covid-19-and-the-arctic/
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/44959/we-are-going-to-the-arctic/
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/issues/protect-the-arctic/
https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/tag/arctic/
https://pame.is/mema/MEMAdatabase/349_Arctic%20Human%20Development%20Report.pdf
Italy
https://www.osservatorioartico.it/strategia-italia-artico/ (2020)
https://www.camera.it/temiap/documentazione/temi/pdf/1105156.pdf
(2018)
https://www.esteri.it/mae/resource/doc/2016/06/strategy_for_the_arctic_may_2016.pdf (2016)
https://www.esteri.it/mae/resource/doc/2016/06/italy_in_the_arctic.pdf (2016)
https://www.marina.difesa.it/EN/Conosciamoci/notizie/Pagine/20161215_eppr.aspx
(2016)
https://narfu.ru/upload/iblock/065/11_lagutina.pdf
https://www.esteri.it/mae/en/politica_estera/aree_geografiche/europa/artico
Then whatever else you have time for:
http://www.ocean-climate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/the-arctic_07-9.pdf
http://safety4sea.com/challenges-opportunities-emerging-arctic-change/
https://www.fni.no/news/the-european-union-and-the-geopolitics-of-the-arctic-article1671-330.html
http://www.esteri.it/mae/en/politica_estera/aree_geografiche/europa/artico
http://www.esteri.it/mae/resource/doc/2016/06/italy_in_the_arctic.pdf
https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/approfondimenti/2016/10/l-italia-e-l-artico-nel-ventennale.html
http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2013/11/italian-arctic-strategy-unfolding-russian-oil-29-11
http://www.greenpeace.org/italy/it/campagne/Salviamo-il-clima/Save-The-Arctic/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/arctic-development-stalls_us_56a2b40be4b076aadcc6c444
http://energyfuse.org/low-oil-prices-undercut-arctic-oil-dreams/
http://www.reuters.com/article/oil-europe-investment-idUSL4N0SM3Y420141028
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Passage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpolar_Sea_Route
http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/pdf/Backgrounder_ClimateChange_FINAL.pdf
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/l-2/7-effects-on-people.htm
http://www.arcticcentre.org/EN/communications/arcticregion/Arctic-Indigenous-Peoples
http://unchronicle.un.org/article/climate-change-arctic-inuit-reality/
So you approach the topic by explaining, or outlining hopes and concerns,
about:
1) the effects of recent climate change on the Arctic region and the
opportunities and challenges these changes bring.
2) the dangers to the environment and indigenous peoples
3) who the main actors are and what their interests are.
4) cooperation – the institutional framework and the reality on the
ground
5) Italy and the EU’s position
6) competition on the ground
Your essay should give real examples throughout and refer to events and
statements in 2019-21.
In your conclusion you could quickly summarise the opportunities,
challenges and dangers and stress the need for multilateralism and protection
of the environment and its inhabitants.
venerdì 24 dicembre 2021
mercoledì 22 dicembre 2021
martedì 21 dicembre 2021
domenica 19 dicembre 2021
sabato 18 dicembre 2021
mercoledì 15 dicembre 2021
mercoledì 8 dicembre 2021
The new German government
https://ecfr.eu/article/what-they-want-romes-views-on-the-new-german-government/
https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/germany-after-merkel-what-it-means-italy-31737
https://www.dw.com/en/what-are-the-key-issues-for-germanys-new-government/a-59936373
https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-what-does-the-new-german-coalition-government-mean-for-climate-change
https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/news/germany-nuclear-phase-out-2022/
lunedì 6 dicembre 2021
domenica 5 dicembre 2021
Some useful vocabulary for international relations
https://irp2014.wordpress.com/vocabulary-lists/
https://diplomacy.state.gov/discover-diplomacy/diplomatic-dictionary/
https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/183677#view=notes
http://www.cram.com/flashcards/essentials-of-international-relations-vocab-1895879
https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/122125.pdf
https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/218634.pdf
http://kamudiplomasisi.org/pdf/kitaplar/___adictionaryofdiplomacy.pdf
Revision of Grammar and Vocabulary
B1 level:
All of the Grammar and Vocabulary sections on the left and right of this
page:
https://www.english-practice.at/b1/vocabulary/b1-vocabulary-index.htm
This is huge because there are pages inside pages!
B2 level:
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/prepositions/prep005-prepositions.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/connectives/con004-connectives-linking-words.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/connectives/con003-connectives-linking-words.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/connectives/con002.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/prepositions/prep004.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/prepositions/prep003.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/connectives/con001.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/prepositions/prep002-prepositions.pdf
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/grammar/prepositions/prep001-prepositions.pdf
and then ....... as many of the links to Grammar and Vocabulary
exercises on the left and right of this page as you want to do:
https://www.english-practice.at/b2/vocabulary/b2-vocabulary-index.htm
This is also huge because there are pages inside pages!
Check also: https://www.english-practice.at/index.htm
in case you missed something
C1 level
https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/tests-advanced-vocabulary3.html
https://www.examenglish.com/CEFR/C1.htm
https://www.esl-lounge.com/student/advanced.php
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/advanced/preparation/
https://www.flo-joe.co.uk/cae/students/tests/
https://www.englishrevealed.co.uk/cae.php
https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening/advanced-c1-listening
Grammar - Inversion for emphasis or formality
Explanation
Read parts 1, 2 and 4 here carefully:
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion.html
and then
https://www.clarkandmiller.com/inverted-conditionals-have-you-mastered-this-advanced-english-trick/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgNSRr9-Fbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8zQaJZEfz0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmQH6B9P8r8
https://www.hornerschool.com/inversion-negative-adverbials/
Exercises
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion-exercise-1.html
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com/2011/05/negative-inversion-practice-exercises.html
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-88760.php
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-116807.php
https://test-english.com/grammar-points/b2/inversion-negative-adverbials/
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-89063.php
https://test-english.com/grammar-points/b2/inversion-negative-adverbials/
https://www.luizotaviobarros.com/negative-inversion-examples/