Here is the link to the article I will be blogging about this week. It is in regards to the murder of Boris Nemstov's murder. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31672940

Boris Nemstov was the leader of the opposition party against Vladimir Putin. He feared his vocal opposition to President Putin's policies on Ukraine could get him killed. With this occurrence, I feel that President Putin could be considered a leading factor to being behind the murder by Western leaders. President Obama and other leaders have called for a prompt, impartial, transparent investigation. Even after they find out who the killer is, the article alluded that the mastermind behind the 'meticulously planned' killing will be hard to find. Given what we know about ethics and morals thus far from this course, it is safe to say we can view the track record of Mr. Putin and safely say that it isn't the best. Given that Mr. Nemstov spoke out against and lead a party that is openly against President Putin's views on Ukraine, it's clear that he would have the motive to want to murder him. With the rest of the Western World watching how President Putin conducts the investigation and even how this changes what is happening Ukraine will be very interesting. The morals and ethics shown by the President of Russia is constantly in question and evaluated by the UN. This isn't the first time someone opposing President Putin has gotten murdered. If President Putin is found to be the mastermind behind Boris Nemstov's murder he needs to be brought to justice. Maybe my need to want to see him brought to justice is parallel to those that view Mystery and Crime shows. These shows personify the battle of good vs. evil. As stated by the text, "what makes this genre so compelling is that evil acquires a face: the face of the bad guy. And when that person is caught, sentenced, or killed, the greater formless threat of Evil seems to have been vanquished for a while too." (pg. 84) To me I may perceive President Putin as that "bad guy" that needs to be caught.

References:
 Rainsford, S. (2015, February 28). Putin pledge on Nemtsov murder. Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31672940

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The moral of the story: An introduction to ethics (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Ukraine Crisis

Here is the link to the article I will blog about. It is mainly in regards to sanctions that may be imposed on Russia in response to the crisis in Ukraine http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31567126

In the article the U.S. is close to administering serious sanctions against Russia. Mr. Kerry accused Moscow of "craven behaviour" in its support of the rebels, undermining a ceasefire. When looking at this current situation in an ethical standpoint, one may bring about the argument similar to the findings found in the Stanford Prison Experiment. Is this another case and point of good people losing to an environment of evil? Do the rebels feel that with the support of Russia they have an authority figure that will take the blame even though the rest of the UN condemns the rebel actions and allows them to act in such an unruly manner? Even as this current crisis developed, Russia clearly supported a separatist movement and it brings the wonder as to whether this is fueled by the Russians or if these people are truly capable of committing such heinous acts on their own. In the name of their freedom to join Russia. (i.e. Malaysian civilian plane shot down by rebels)