International Political Economy

Since this semester I am planning to take an "international political economy" course,

I thought I should jot down some of my thoughts beforehand, 

and observe why and how I become aware of the subject and 

where and what I am possibly trying to attain from this subject matter.

First, I majored Philosophy and Religion in my undergrad. 

This was because...of my experience during the stay in U.S.

In 2001, the year 911 occurred, I was in states, 

and literally "experienced" the dynamics of nation 

under the tension, grief, patriotism, and anger...

Growing up in Japan, probably one of most pacific nations on this planet, 

I simply could not believe the people fighting for the belief or their own country 

by putting their lives at risk and by insulting one another just like that.

So I got interested in "belief" that, very indirectly, moves people in certain extent. 

To add, Japan is a very peculiar country in terms of their own belief, that

more than 70% of people consider themselves as "non-religious". 

On the other hand, Japanese people has an international recognition of

being "organized" and "polite". 

So, I studied a lot about these topics while in college. 

Now, why do I want to study "international political economy"?

I think, the area of my interest has expanded. 

Philosophy and religion, yes, the study is very interesting and

challenging. But the most of topics, for me, seemed very personal,

or in other words, individual. mmm, I know this is a too broad generalization...

In short, I felt intuitively that the topic of international political economy may need 

a perspective of me, and the topic will help me to expand my thoughts and understanding

of this world. 

I have just read my first reading assignment, and I feel that the intuition was correct. 

If you are interested in the topic, 

you can find the text Here .