This lecture series was conducted by the SIPA department, the speakers were Nicole Bibbins Sedaca & Lindsay Lloyd
I want to emphasize the respect and appreciation I have for the SIPA department for giving the students the opportunity to attend to lecture series.
Democracy is good for nations and individuals, having a democracy is symbol of freedom.
As an enthusiast of Human Rights, this conference touched my heart. During the conference many questions came to my head and I had a lot to say at the end of the conference. During the conference I learned more than I thought, global affairs, foreign policy, dictatorships, human rights among other topics where discussed.
The lead of America in the world and supporting democracy can come off as an intent of Imperialism, as Mr. Lloyd mentioned, that in the past as a nation we have committed mistakes, but that has never stopped the U.S from helping others in need. In my head I had a debate about how can we respect the culture and the norms in countries that are ruled by a non-westernized structure. In my own opinion many nations do not take into consideration that we cannot implement and make other nations follow our culture, it is not morally correct, that is the beauty of the world how other ethnicities and cultures are practiced. But Both Nicole and Lindsay opened my eyes, they were both kind and explained that is not about changing cultures but to help that culture from femicide , genocide, corrupt elites, violation of human rights such as human trafficking, genital mutilation in the name of religion etc.
I asked about sovereignty and how would that affect the international intervention. The response opened my eyes, Nicole suggested that I should look at sovereignty differently, in a more positive way. Instead of thinking about it in terms of invasion, I should look at it as a barrier that protects me in my homeland but when it comes to the government violating my rights then they are also violating sovereignty. It really stood up to me how this conference developed and what I learned.