This system diagram focuses on all the dealings that the United States were found to be guilty of. To the left, you can see influences that were documented in the cables that were exposed through wikileaks. First, Connie Hedegaard, who is the EU climate action commissioner, suggested to the US deputy climate change envoy, Jonathan Pershing, that small island counties could be used as allies towards the accord. This was due to their low economic prosperity and great need for aid to their country. Next, Saudi Arabia is documented with trying to form a deal with the US for support of the accord. Since they are the second biggest oil producer in the world, they ask for help diversifying their economy away from fossil fuels. They would then stop resisting any negotiations regarding climate change. Then my diagram shows how the US acted based on the information found in the cables. One of the cables provided detail into discussions between Maldives and the US. It showed that Maldives asked for “tangible assistance” for support of the accord, and that this would lead other small countries to do so as well. Lastly, the United States blatantly issued a threat to Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, that they need to, “sign the accord or discussion ends now”. They responded with concerns of promises of the aid. All of these things lead to there being less climate change for the planet. The US is trying to get this accord to be passed in hopes of going around the Kyoto protocol which would bind rich nations to their obligations for climate change. This would give the government free reign to hand the issue as they feel, and not as a planet which is how the situation needs to be handled.

I completely agree with cables being leaked to the public. Everyone has a right to know what the dealings are going on behind closed doors about what is to be done to save our planet. The US only thinks about money and how this will affect the money coming into our country, and not about the actual state of the planet. All of the actions carried out by these countries shows that the problem of climate change and global warming will not be simply solved by the governing powers who should be taking responsibility for the state of planet as it currently is. If any change is to happen, it needs to happen with a complete change of attitude across the entire world towards a more cooperative and dynamic approach to climate change. It cannot be just the governments, but the people that reside in those countries, need to take it upon themselves to do what they can for the planet. The high power governments will do whatever they need to to keep power where they want and that has everything to do with climate change. It is a global problem, and instead of trying to fix the problem, the US is using this as an opportunity to gain control and leverage over the disadvantaged counties of the world. Like it was said in the TEDtalk, a complete change of attitude and outlook needs to happen at both the personal and political level. There needs to be a shift from doing whats best for ourselves to what is best for the planet that we all live on. If this does not happen, I fear for what could happen.