1.

CLIMATE CHANGE

- The consequences of climate change

- The 17 SDGs
- COP27
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather
patterns. Many people think climate change mainly means warmer
temperatures. But the temperature rise is only the beginning of the story. The
consequences of climate change now include intense droughts, water scarcity,
rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, and declining biodiversity. Climate
change can also affect our health, ability to grow food, housing, safety, and
work.
Now, we face a huge challenge on climate change, but we know that all
countries need to come together to reduce the impact of climate change. We
have global frameworks and agreements to guide progress. One of them is The
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is a universal call to action to
end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace
and prosperity. The 17 global goals are integrated - they recognize that action in
one area will affect outcomes in others and that development must balance
social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
One of the biggest events that took place recently was COP27, held in
Egypt. The most notable provision in the general agreement at COP27 is that
countries agree to establish a "Loss and Damage" fund to compensate
developing countries that are heavily affected by extreme weather events caused
by climate change. This is the biggest victory of developing countries in their
efforts to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We can see that the environment is becoming one of the most central
issues of the 21st century. Humans are paying more and more attention to the
impact of environmental pollution and there is a common effort to reduce
climate change. We hope that we will succeed in our goal of environmental
sustainability.
2. WORLD FOOD CRISIS

Forty-five million people are close to starvation right now, with children
and women hit the hardest. Twenty-six million children under 5 are suffering
from wasting, which is the most visible and life-threatening form of
malnutrition.
Reasons:
Fuelled by conflict, climate shocks and COVID-19, the crisis is escalating
as the war in Ukraine drives up the costs of food, fuel and fertilizers. Millions of
people are struggling to put food on the table and are being driven closer to
starvation in a storm of staggering proportions.
How will the hunger crisis affect people?
Hunger affects girls, boys, women and men differently. When food is
scarce, girls often eat less and eat last. Women and girls account for 70% of the
world’s hunger. And as families and communities come under strain, girls are
more likely than boys to be taken out of school, and will be at risk of child,
early and forced marriage, gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and
unwanted pregnancy.
Children under the age of 5 are particularly vulnerable if they are
malnourished, because of the increased rate at which they are growing and their
bodies are changing. Being hungry during these critical years can stunt growth
and have a significant impact on brain development.
Solution:
Children are already dying from hunger. The time to act is now – there
shouldn’t be any further delay.
Governments and donors must supply funding for food, nutrition,
protection, education and livelihood support. This includes school feeding
programmes, which should be adapted to carry on while schools are closed to
reach the most vulnerable children and girls.
3. GLOBAL PANDEMIC (COVID-19)

A pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or

continents. It affects more people and takes more lives than an epidemic. The
World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic when it
became clear that the illness was severe and that it was spreading quickly over a
wide area.
As of November 2022, the outbreak of the COVID-19 had spread to
almost every country in the world, and 6.6 million people had died after
contracting the respiratory virus.
Impacts on society and economy:
From school closures to devastated industries and millions of jobs lost –
the social and economic costs of the pandemic are many and varied.
To slow the spread of the virus, schools closed across the world. Almost
half of the world’s students were affected by school closures. Millions of girls
in some countries might not be going back at all, putting them at risk of
adolescent pregnancy, child marriage and violence.
Businesses closed too, leading to millions of full-time jobs lost, in terms
of working hours. Among the worst hit are workers in the informal economy,
young people and women. Any economic recovery will likely be uneven,
leading to greater inequality in the coming years.
Women have been harder hit economically by the pandemic. With the
closures of schools, they have also had to take on more care responsibilities at
home. Whether through job losses or school closures, the pandemic threatens to
undo decades of progress on gender equality.
While no economy is left untouched, lower- and middle-income countries
are worst affected because they have weak defenses against economic shocks
and tend to depend more on a few sectors, such as commodities and tourism.
Millions of people have already fallen below the poverty line. In just a few
months of Covid-19, extreme poverty went up for the first time in 20 years.
CONCLUSION:
We can say that the Covid-19 pandemic is the most significant global disruption
since World War II and the first truly global public health crisis in the modern
era. And the pandemic forces profound change in all aspects of society. Entire
industries have ground to a halt; nearly all of the world’s leading economies are
in recession; more than 6.6 million people have died from the virus and its
complications.

4. Terrorism
6. IMMIGRATION
Definition: Immigration is the process of moving to a new country or region
with the intention of staying and living there. People may choose to immigrate
for a variety of reasons, such as employment opportunities, to escape a violent
conflict, environmental factors, educational purposes, or to reunite with family.
Immigration to EU:
Has long been struggling with illegal immigration issues, EU continues to
suffer from a new wave of refugees due to series of incidents: From Russia's
war against Ukraine causing the largest forced displacement of people in
Europe since the Second World War, to the economic crisis caused by the
Covid pandemic and the recent war. Along with that, political instability in
many countries, unemployment, climate change... further spurs the need of
thousands of people to leave their homeland.
In a recent announcement by the EU Border Agency (Frontex), Europe is
facing a very high wave of migration, even reaching a "peak". Statistics released
by Frontex show that from the beginning of the year to July 2022, more than
155,000 people entered Europe illegally, an increase of 86% over the same
period last year. According to Frontex, Balkan route into Europe is currently the
most popular route for illegal immigrants. In July alone, about 15,000 illegal
immigrants were arrested on this route. This number is three times higher than
the same period last year. Along with that, the number of people seeking to
reach the Mediterranean (dia trung hai) has increased unprecedentedly, with an
increase of 44% compared to the same period in 2021.
Meanwhile, Europeans are struggling with consecutive crises (ví dụ như
war và pandemic) in which they have to face a harsh winter due to high energy
prices, as well as inadequacies in energy allocation. The fact that Europe has to
witness an increasing number of immigrants today will certainly have more
destabilizing effects on the socio-economic life in these countries, thereby, the
crisis will be more serious and becomes an increasingly difficult problem to find
a satisfactory solution.
Solution:
The current problem is the unbalanced in the number of refugees in each
country, especially in Austria when the number of asylum applications received
by the country is comparable to that of the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015.
The key requirement for the issue is the unification of every European
countries: to divide the responsibility equally and invest money in poor areas to
help tackle the problems from the root.

7. US - Gulf States Relation

(On his first trip to the Middle East and Gulf region after nearly a year and a
half in office, US President Joe Biden traveled to Israel, the Palestinian territory
on the west of the Jordan River, and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Biden met with the
Prime Minister of Israel, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, representing
the Saudi royal family, and attended a meeting with the leaders of the 6 member
countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan. All of these
countries are among the most important traditional military allies and strategic
partners of the United States in the Middle East and Gulf regions. During Mr.
Biden's immediate predecessor in power in the United States, the region was a
top priority in American foreign policy.

Mr. Biden did not continue to guide that policy, but focused first on the Indo-
Pacific region and dealing with China. Therefore, Mr. Biden didn’t visit Israel
soon, withdraw US troops from Iraq, and negotiate with Iran and other
interested parties to fully restore the effect of the agreement on the resolution of
the Iranian nuclear problem (JCPOA) and frosty relations with the royal family
in Saudi Arabia with strong criticism that the Saudi royal family was directly
involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khoshaggi in 2018. seriously violate
the values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law that Biden has
always upheld. Mr. Biden made this trip because he realized that it was
necessary to adjust US policy towards the region, especially towards Israel and
Saudi Arabia.

In the United States, there are about to be midterm congressional elections. The
more realistic the risk of defeat for Biden's US Democratic faction in this
election, the more important the Israeli factor becomes. Therefore, Mr. Biden
must go to Israel, reassure allies, and demonstrate the reliable military alliance
between the US and Israel. Iran remains a very difficult adversary for the US in
the region. Whether or not the JCPOA is fully restored or not, the US still needs
allies in the region to deal with it because they can not deal with Iran alone. An
alliance between the United States and Israel alone is not enough. Saudi Arabia
is key to the prospect of success for the United States in rallying this force.
Moreover, if the US wants to help Israel expand official diplomatic relations
with Arab countries, the US needs to enlist Saudi Arabia. Therefore, Mr. Biden
must accept being criticized by the public as "hypocritical" about democracy,
human rights, and the rule of law related to Saudi Arabia in order to actively
reconcile with Saudi Arabia.

Biden also needs Saudi Arabia to increase daily oil production and exports to
lower oil prices in the market and help the US overcome oil shortages and
increase inflation. Biden's goal is also to convince allies and partners in the
region to join forces with the United States to deal with Russia and China in this
very region and in Ukraine.

New upheaval in the world and new domestic and foreign interests force Mr.
Biden to realistically realign America's relations with parties in this region. Mr.
Biden's results with the trip were not as he expected. Mr. Biden reassured allies
by pledging to ensure the security of allies and not leave a "security gap" for
Russia, China, or Iran to fill. Mr. Biden opened a direct air link between Israel
and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia agreed to increase daily oil production and
exports by 1 million barrels (159 liters), that’s all. There is no alliance or
coalition to deal with Iran and jointly punish Russia or deal with China. It seems
that the power and influence of the US in this region have decreased
significantly.)

HỌC THUỘC: New upheaval in the world and new domestic and foreign
interests force Mr. Biden to realistically realign America's relations with parties
in Gulf region.

On his first trip to the Middle East and Gulf region after nearly a year and a half
in office, US President Joe Biden traveled to Israel, the Palestinian territory on
the west of the Jordan River, and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Biden met with the Prime
Minister of Israel, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, representing the Saudi
royal family, and attended a meeting with the leaders of the 6 member countries
of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan. All of these countries
are among the most important traditional military allies and strategic partners of
the United States in the Middle East and Gulf regions. During Mr. Biden's
immediate predecessor in power in the United States, the region was a top
priority in American foreign policy. Mr. Biden did not continue to guide that
policy, but focused first on the Indo-Pacific region and dealing with China.
Therefore, Mr. Biden didn’t visit Israel soon, withdraw US troops from Iraq,
and negotiate with Iran and other interested parties to fully restore the effect of
the agreement on the resolution of the Iranian nuclear problem (JCPOA). Mr.
Biden made this trip because he realized that it was necessary to adjust US
policy towards the region, especially towards Israel and Saudi Arabia. Whether
or not the JCPOA is fully restored or not, the US still needs allies in the region
to deal with it because they can not deal with Iran alone. Mr. Biden must go to
Israel, reassure allies, and demonstrate the reliable military alliance between the
US and Israel. An alliance between the United States and Israel alone is not
enough. Saudi Arabia is key to the prospect of success for the United States in
rallying this force. Moreover, if the US wants to help Israel expand official
diplomatic relations with Arab countries, the US needs to enlist Saudi Arabia.
Biden also needs Saudi Arabia to increase daily oil production and exports to
lower oil prices in the market and help the US overcome oil shortages and
increase inflation. Biden's goal is also to convince allies and partners in the
region to join forces with the United States to deal with Russia and China in this
very region and in Ukraine. Mr. Biden opened a direct air link between Israel
and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia agreed to increase daily oil production and
exports by 1 million barrels (159 liters), that’s all. There is no alliance or
coalition to deal with Iran and jointly punish Russia or deal with China. It seems
that the power and influence of the US in this region have decreased
significantly.
8. SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTES

- South China Sea disputes

- Why does China want to control the South China Sea?
- Regarding Vietnam

Disputes among nations generally center on land features in the South

China Sea. Specifically, they dispute who controls the waters around them.
China claims roughly 90% of the South China Sea. In 1947, the Republic of
China published a map with nine dashes. When connected, the dashes form a U
that encloses most of the South China Sea. However, the Republic of China did
not clearly explain this “nine dash line.” In 2009, China presented the “nine
dash line” for the first time at an international conference, making this assertion:
China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and
the adjacent waters. In 2012, China asserted its “nine dash line” by trying to
take Scarborough Shoal as its territory, even though the Philippines had claimed
it earlier. On 1 May, 2015, China moved Hai Yang Shi You 981 oil rig to the
south of Paracel Islands and established an exclusion zone around it, which was
on Vietnam's claimed continental shelf. In July 2016, three years after the
Philippines sued China over China's actions in the South China Sea, the final
ruling of the Arbitral Tribunal unanimously declared that China has no "historic
rights" based on the so-called is a "nine-dash line" map.
The reason that China wants to control the South China Sea is because it
plays an important role in geostrategy. The South China Sea is rich in marine
life and has large reserves of oil and natural gas under the floor. It is one of the
five largest oil and gas basins in the world. Moreover, the South China Sea
contains some of the world’s most important shipping lanes because it is located
on the arterial sea traffic route connecting the Pacific - Indian Ocean, Europe -
Asia, and the Middle East - Asia. Five of the ten largest sea lanes in the world
involve the South China Sea. The East Sea is considered the world's second
busiest international shipping route, about 150-200 ships of all kinds pass
through the East Sea each day. The location of the Sea also makes it militarily
strategic, valuable for national security.
Regarding the East Sea issue, Vietnam affirms that our country has
sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the waters in the East Sea as
determined in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea 1982. Vietnam's consistent stance is to resolve conflicts
through peaceful negotiations on the basis of respect for independence,
sovereignty, territorial integrity, and in accordance with international law.