Since last year, I have found political theory very interesting. When I had taken POLI 240, we studied Hobbes’ Leviathan, John Locke, Machiavelli, and Hannah Arendt and I loved reading their works and connecting it to current events. I thought, what would they have to say if they were alive today, and wondered if they would be disappointed with the current state of affairs around the world. For example, Machiavelli would see the ruling potential of a President like Trump – he is most definitely more feared than loved, but above all he is somewhat cutthroat and ruthless and participates in backroom politics. On the flip side, Machiavelli would criticize Trump’s approach to being President and the sneering outward impression he gives off. Therefore, what drew me to POLI 367 was the ability to see how these ideas brought forth by these big names in political theory have contributed if at all to IR theory and developed it into the form it takes in our present day.  So far I have found the course readings interesting and in particular I enjoyed Kenneth Waltz’ Why Iran Should Get the Bomb. I learned a bit about nuclear security in POLI 260, but I had yet to read this sort of perspective on the matter. Growing up in the US, we see Israel through rose-colored glasses. President Trump further pushes this image towards us because Israel is one of our strongest allies around the world and definitely in the Middle East. Waltz’ article opened my eyes to the real problem at hand – it isn’t nuclear-armed Iran, it’s Israel. I was also surprised to read that being nuclear-armed heightens security, but then it clicked and made sense. The security dilemma plays a huge role for Israel. In an ideal world they would like to have the strongest nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, but by doing so have made neighbouring states around them prioritize nuclear weapons as well. Overall, I am starting to see connections in 367 with my previous 200 level political science classes which is exciting! I think some of the material I learned in those classes will probably come back to me throughout this course. Or during lecture, I might think “hey, this relates to what I learned about democratic peace theory!”. All in all, I hope that this class will not only enlighten  my knowledge of global politics around the world, but also broaden my understanding of IR theory.