In my diagram, I focused on the Copenhagen Accord, the United States, the WikiLeaks Cables, and the issues between them. Steps needed to be taken in order to begin combatting global warming, and the Copenhagen Accord was one. As described in my diagram, the United States was a proponent of the Copenhagen Accord from the start and tried to get other countries to follow along. Initially, countries were in opposition because they were not polluting to the same degree that the United States was. The United States was aware of how beneficial the Accord would be to them though. With that being said, the United States wanted other countries to be on board with the Accord so eventually the UN would adopt it. In order to get support from other countries, the United States used secret cables. Through messages, the United States promised the more vulnerable, poor countries financial aid if they supported the Accord. A whopping $50 million was offered to the Maldives in exchange for support. The United States also threatened other countries in order to push them to support the accord. For example, Ethiopia was instructed by the United States to sign the bill or the discussion would be ended. In addition to that, the United States also tried to blackmail countries in order to gain their support for the Copenhagen Accord. Eventually, the United States was successful in their goal and got support from other countries. Today, 140 countries support (or intend to support) the Copenhagen Accord.

As we learned throughout Module 9, climate change is a very pressing issue today. The severity of greenhouse gases polluting the planet will be a problem for future generations if something is not done to fix it. Being that the United States is an industrial country, it causes a lot of pollution. With that being said, the Copenhagen Accord is very important. The United States was aware of the importance and tried to gain support for it. In my opinion, the United States did not go about getting that support in the correct way though. Although the motives were in the right place in regards to wanting a cleaner environment and other countries to be on board with that, it was done in a very dishonest manner. The cables being leaked definitely showed that the United States was not ethically correct when gaining support from other countries. The United States does have many allies and is a respected nation, however, this stunt shed light on our nation’s sneaky, manipulative politics that were used to get what we wanted done. Bribing, blackmailing, and threatening other countries is not how we should get things done in this country. These tactics proved that the United States used selfish, altruistic methods in order to gain support for the Copenhagen Accord. Although, I personally do not have a simple answer in regards to how we should have gone about drumming up support for the Accord, I firmly believe it should not have been handled the way that it was. The United States needs to be morally and ethically correct when handling any issue, no matter what it is.