2017+U.S.+and+the+World

=The U.S. and the World, 2017.=

The United States is the 3rd largest nation in the world by population and is the world's largest economy. Since World War 2, the United States has been one of the most influential- if not the most influential nation on the planet politically, militarily, economically, and culturally. We remain a "super-power", but are now more of a nation among nations than we have been in the past. Through our history, our nation has gone through cycles of isolationism and interventionism. There have been times where we put America first and minded our own business. At other times, we've been very active in World Affairs and have taken a leading role in global initiatives. At still other times we've acted in the world on our own initiative- to protect American interests and promote American values. The Memorials you visited in DC give testimony to our engagement from World War II under FDR through Korea, to the Kennedy Memorial at Arlington, to Vietnam, to the Pentagon.. along with the costs of all of these engagements in lives as shown at these Memorials, the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, and Arlington where section 60 is dedicated to the men and women who have lost their lives in our most recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the on-going War on Terror beyond.

Currently, President Trump is on a 12 day visit to Asia with stops in Japan, Korea, and China among others. His mission is to shore up our alliances, to facilitate U.S. access to markets in the Pacific, and to rally unity in standing up to the threat of a nuclear North Korea.


 * What do you think the U.S. role in the world should be? Where should we lead? What should we stand for? Where should we work in partnership with our allies and other countries? Where should we pull back? What do you think about what you learn about president Trump's Asian tour?**

The current edition of Scholastic Magazine is its World Affairs issue. We invite you to explore it in its entirety in considering the above questions. Here is the link-

Scholastic Magazine World Affairs Issue 2018,

The student log in is **Greenmen**

The best feature is probably News Watch 2018 which summarizes the key issues from each region of the world. Here is the link

News Watch 2018

Another interesting feature explores the world through the numbers- a feature directly linked here:

2018 Snapshots

What do these statistics say about the United States? What surprised you? What's behind the numbers?

This discussion will run for 2 weeks.