Wars in the Middle East past to present day Research Paper

Wars in the Middle East past to present day - Research Paper Example The Middle East is a core region that connects the three continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. In terms of conflicts, the Middle East countries have always had disputes that center on economics, politics, boundaries and religion. From the 20th century, there have been numerous conflicts that have always possessed the same theme. One of the first major conflicts relate to unification of Saudi Arabia (Tucker 34). This was a strategy whereby emirates and tribes could come under the single control of Al Saud. The conflict spread over a period of thirty years into creating the modern Saudi Arabia. This was the third state after the two previous ones. In this conflict, Al Saud conquered Riyadh and regions such as Al-Hasa and Nejd. Ibn Saud managed to take over Riyadh by killing the chief and capturing the castle. Similarly, the Egyptian revolution marked crucial occurrences of 1919. Sudan and Egypt participated into a revolt that sought to eliminate British rule from the region. This cont ributed to Egyptian independence and subsequent formation of a constitution. A temporary arrangement of British protectorate over Egypt lasted for an unexpected period. The agreement did not grant full sovereignty to Egypt and this resulted into further revolutionary activities. Egyptian strove towards political reform by having the 1952 revolution that eliminated the monarchial government (Tucker 803). One of the closely related revolutions relates to the 1979 Iran movement that uprooted the monarchy and established a new regime under Ayatollah Khomeini (Hoogland 11). The latest Asian conflict has been the famous Arab Spring. It has occurred in countries such as Libya, Egypt and Tunisia (Peters 33). In Western Asia, affected countries include Syria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman. It is notable that Asian countries have enjoyed fair economic progress by initiating certain policies. Most of the Middle East countries rely on oil and irrigation oriented Agriculture for their economic growth and survival. In addition, the countries flourish in extensive trade. The political orientation of these countries has always relied in robust governments with immense powers. The immense powers rely on few think tanks that propose regular changes and economic direction. In addition, the leadership was mainly patriarchal and monarchial. However, this was perceivable to have fostered an autocracy. In spite of the economic progress, the capacity for democracy was increasingly becoming limited. The leadership had become autocratic and inflexible to initiating new regimes. This became a political issue whereby the citizens could not effectively vote for their preferred leaders. In this age of limited democracy, Middle East citizens were significantly gaining education in their countries and other places. This triggered a generational gap whereby the younger generation could communicate through intensive technology. In this perspective, many citizens, who were mostly youth, organi zed an extensive revolution as they strove to uproot the longest surviving autocracies. One of the most prominent border conflicts relates to India and Pakistan tussle over the Kashmir region. The two regions were separated due to religious disparity between the same. Almost all conflicts, between the two countries, have a basis over Kashmir (Paul 64). The first conflict that the two countries experienced relates to leadership dispute over the region.

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Business - Assignment Example The failure of Virgin Express was due to a lack of environmental study of the country and the competition. Richard Branson subsequently desired to repeat the success of Virgin Blue in the United States by the new venture Virgin USA. This will be possible by taking a corrective strategic management and marketing analysis. The objective of the study is to evaluate the factors on which the success of the aviation industry depends upon when starting a new venture in a different location. The study reveals the importance of research, strategic management and environmental analysis for the success of Virgin Airlines. Introduction Virgin Blue airline under the guidance of Sir Richard Branson was launched in the year 2000. The motive of the airline was to provide a low fare carrier to the people of Australia. The Virgin Blue airline demonstrated the success story in the airline industry in the short run. Virgin Blue occupied nearly 30% of the market share of Australia through its low price s trategy. In this case study, the success and the failure of the Virgin brand is depicted. The case reflects that Branson did not get success in the low cost airlines in the initial years. The airlines before Virgin Blue and Virgin Express did not succeed in the European market and was unable to compete with its rival Ryanair and Easyjet. The company was in the exploratory process to merge with the SN Brussels to recover its status, but failed after the 9/11 attack. Furthermore, the venture by Branson to provide air liner facility to the tour operator in the name of Virgin Sun failed to succeed. The Virgin Sun airline was sold to the Firstchoice because of its failure in the market (Daas, 2004). Cynics one of the observant analysed that the success of Virgin Blue was because of the lack of competition in the Australian market. The downfall of the other airline created a scope for the Virgin Blue and gave it an easy entry. According to Branson, the success of Virgin Blue was because o f the strong management, strategy and the financial planning by the management. The objective of the case is to analyse the failure of the Virgin Express in the European market. It is important to analyse the local market before the implementation of the airline expansion strategy in a new country or region. The reason for the mergers by Virgin Express and the success of Virgin Blue are evaluated in the case. Question 1 The Virgin Express started its operations in the year 1996. The airline was formed by Virgin Group when it bought the Euro Belgian Airlines and renamed it as Virgin Express. The aim of the airline was to produce a low cost carrier for the people of Europe. The company had to face severe competition from the rival airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet. These two airlines were well established in the European market because of their strategic and marketing implementations. The airlines offered a very cheap rate foe the tickets. The tickets were sold at lower prices to t he people on the basis of first come first serve. This strategy encouraged people to buy the tickets much earlier. This created the demand for the airline of Ryanair and Easyjet. Moreover, the flexibility provided in the pricing strategy was attracting more customers. These strategies made the airlines to flourish and on the other hand the new airline Virgin Express was unable to meet these requirements in the European market and hence failed. The airline was then sold to SN Brussels Airlines in the year 2006

A comparison of the Ideas of William James and the Teachings of Christ Essay Example for Free

A comparison of the Ideas of William James and the Teachings of Christ Essay William James had an incisive insight about a number of intellectual and psychological dealings. He was a trained medical doctor yet he excelled in the field of philosophy and wrote enormously about his thoughts and ideas. Pragmatism, Meaning of Truth as a Sequel to Pragmatism, Pluralistic Universe, and Varieties of Religious Experiences are considered as the major philosophical premises proposed by William James. The ideas of Pragmatism demand scrupulous attention to understand. As per William James, the meaning of an idea or a proposition or a thought lies in its observable practical consequences. Hence the idea under proposition must exhibit this quality of direct practical results. He believes that a thought or an idea must always be based on the verity of faith. He writes: A fact [may] not come at all unless a preliminary faith exists in its coming†¦ Faith in a fact can help create the fact. (James, The Will to Believe, 1897) Therefore trust and idea are sometimes inter-reliant and may often cease to exist without each other. He opines that the truth or falsity of a judgment depends on the obtainment of the expectations that follow the judgment under question. For a judgment to comply with this, one needs to be pragmatic [= as a matter-of-fact] in his approach towards the events which are going to be judged. We can also see a contrast between his thoughts when he constantly vacillates between science and religion. The general credence that religious experiences involve a supernatural domain, on the whole, is somehow remote to science. However, to the individual human being these remote things are accessible as their driving force is faith and not empirical examination. James tries to bridge this gap between science and religion. The difference between the scientific principles and religious beliefs are woven to arrive at a multipart thinking procedure which we can call as the â€Å"Science of Religion†. He wrote about this as follows: Religious experience, in other words, spontaneously and inevitably engenders myths, superstitions, dogmas, creeds, and metaphysical theologies, and criticisms of one set of these by the adherents of another. Of late, impartial classifications and comparisons have become possible, alongside of the denunciations and anathemas by which the commerce between creeds used exclusively to be carried on. We have the beginnings of a â€Å"Science of Religions,† so-called; and if these lectures could ever be accounted a crumb-like contribution to such a science, I should be made very happy. (James, The Varieties of Religious Experiences, Lecture XVIII) These thoughts point towards that eternal question of can there be a God who created this universe? A pragmatist, such as James Williams, would say â€Å"Yes, there indeed must be an empirical God who made all this universe provided the consequences are proved or the relations established†. That, simply put, is another state of perplexity where the vision of identifying the ‘Cause’ and ‘Effect’ may cease to exist. Now let us examine what pure religion and religious thoughts or philosophies (sans James Williams! ) say about such perplexities of life. The Bible and the preaching of Jesus Christ and other religious foundations categorically decline the right to question. They demand absolute ‘surrender’ in order to get absolute ‘delight’. The teachings of Jesus must be quoted here: Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:24-27) The teachings of Christ demands unquestionable faith in the supernatural in order to attain absolute delight. This absolute delight or state of freedom is in total contrast to what we have seen so far in the flow of William James’ ideas. However there is one similarity: That both the schools of thoughts agree to the fact that humanity is something which, neither needs to be empirically analyzed nor pragmatically accepted. The laws of both pragmatism and religion bend and tend to converge at one solitary point and this point of convergence is diligently referred to as ‘Kindness’. Historically, William James lived in the 19th Century. (January 11, 1842 August 26, 1910) During this period of time America was witnessing the industrial revolution and started emerging as the international power. It was also that phase of the history when the country was reeling under aftereffects of the Civil War and the laborer strikes. The ideas of William James were widely accepted from both laymen and intellectuals alike. The very concepts of ‘Pragmatism’, â€Å"Will to Live’, ‘Pluralistic Universe’ and ‘A Study in Human Nature’ were regarded as the new hopes amidst turbulent times. Even though the dynamics of the contemporary society have changed immeasurably, I still feel some of James’ ideas would be contentedly accepted. Economical imbalances (Read: The Recession), and religious conflicts (Read: Fundamentalists/Extremists) have rendered a sense of cynicism. The thoughts of William James will surely be a respite if understood and implemented diligently. The astute adoption is the key as James writes: The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. (William James The Principles of Psychology, 1890) Let us hope better sense prevails upon the humanity and the thoughts of William James guide us through the testing times. References William James, The Will to Believe, 1897 William James, The Varieties of Religious Experiences, Lecture XVIII Bible, Matthew 7:24-27 William James The Principles of Psychology, 1890

Iconic Images of the 1980s

Iconic Images of the 1980s Images of 1980s Speaking of 1980s often people think about Reagan, â€Å"Greed is good†, and funny hair styles. Of course the 80s were more than that, but if you asked me what I am thinking about the 1980s it would be a longest â€Å"Mhm† followed by â€Å"I was not even born yet.† However, images can be a tool for us to study the detail of history. The greatest thing about learning history for a visual person is to look into photos. Each and every photograph has a story to tell. Ever since the technology of modern camera was introduce in the 18 century, people have been using this technique to capture memorable moments.   Ã‚   Photography in the 1980s was personal and political, or a mixture of both. Nevertheless, thanks to the photographers who are there to capture events, the future generation can study them. What happened at the scene of Reagan’s attempted Assassination? How big was the crowed when the Berlin wall fell down at 1989? What did Chernobyl look like after the explosion? I believe those events had already been symbolized. Some say â€Å"history always repeats itself.† That is somehow true if we look deeper into every decades. The world still has the same problems that happened before. What is so special about the 1980s is that is a historical turning point. Through several iconic photos of the 1980s the decade can be seen as one plagued with wars, tragic events and political unrest, but it was also a decade where freedom and human rights were advanced. Afghan Girl, 1985 (See Figure 1) The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan during 1977-1980 might been seen as a milestone of U.S. history due to the help we have been giving, but due to poor Sharbat Gula and her family it is not an event to be celebrated. In 1985, National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry shot a portrait of a 12 year-old Afghan girl named Sharbat Gula made it to the cover of National Geographic Magazine. However, what people could not see in the photo â€Å"Afghan Girl† was the reason that caused Sharbat Gula’s sorrow eyes. From 1979 to 1989, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan armed with Arab resistance launched a war of aggression and counter-aggression. The evening of December 27, the Soviet Union deployed eight divisions, Special Forces, and airborne troops in a brutal military invasion of Afghanistan. In only three and a half hours, they gained â€Å"complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country† (Office of Historian) Until early 1980, 8.5 million troops invaded which gradually increased to 10 million people. There were almost 10 years long of ongoing civil wars, invasions and conflicts in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, little Sharbat Gula was born into this event. After the Soviet invasion of blatant military, the Afghan people in the nation in danger of life and death, the original anti-government revolutionary activity soon developed into a larger anti-Soviet war against the Soviet Union. According to the article â€Å"A Life Revealed: Along Afghanistans War-torn Frontier† by Debra Denker, Sharbat Gula’s village was bombed and invaded by Soviet Union around the early 80s. Unfortunately, Sharbat Gula’s parents were killed by bombing, about 100 people died from war, 600 million people were forced to flee their homes and become refugees. Later, photographer Steve McCurry visited Afghanistan, and was given a â€Å"war-torn frontier.† tour. In one of the refugee camps, he ca ptured the hunting face of Sharbat Gula among other similar age girls. Sharbat Gula’s portrait became the symbol of post war fear of the Muslim world (Denker). In 1988, under the auspices of the UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, the Soviet Union, the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan met in in Kabul and their four foreign ministers signed in Geneva a political settlement for Afghanistan. The Soviet troops had to withdraw from Afghanistan within nine months, putting an end of a nine-year occupation (Dibb). Wars and conflicts are a never ending nightmare which is still haunting us today. The look on Sharbat Gula’s face fully expressed that. The Reagan Assassination Attempt, 1981 (See figure 2) Same time at the early 80s, the most serious incident which happened to President Ronald Wilson Reagan was when he got shot just outside the Washington Hilton Hotel by a young man named John Hinckley Jr. In the photo of the scene right after the shooting, reporters were making roars within the crowed, few officers holding a gun down on the sidewalk, and the president was thrown into the limo car. It was chaotic. The gunman was held immediately after the shooting. This event shocked the entire society for Reagan had only been elected to be a president for ten weeks. President Reagan was heading to the white house unaware that he had been shot. Shortly after he left the scene, he did not realize one of the ricochets punctured his lung until he started coughing up blood. He then was rushed to George Washington University Hospital. The New York Times reported President Reagan remained in good humor even he was fainted due to the blood loss. He told his doctors, â€Å"Please tell me youà ¢â‚¬â„¢re Republicans† (Raines). Fortunately, President Reagan survived after the operation, and recovered after weeks. The motive to assassinate the President surprisingly had nothing to do with political reasons, but with John Hinckley’s obsession with actress Jodie Foster. This obsession was based on the movie Taxi Driver.† He firmly believed that if he became famous by mimicking the plot from Taxi Driver, would be able to get Jodie Foster’s attention. What happened to gunman John Hinckley afterward was 13 charged against him. However, due to his mental problem, the court sent him to St. Elizabeths Hospital for life instead of prison. The unsuccessful attempted assassination brought dramatic changes to Reagans presidency. His survival boosted a wave of public sympathy and he gained popularity. He was also the first president who survived the assassination (Brands). Although politics was not the reason why John Hinckley opened fire, it is still one of the many major political events in the 1980s. Chernobyl Accident 1986 (See Figure 3) Besides wars and political unrest, there was a major unclear accident happened at Chernobyl, Ukraine. The photo that taken by authorities right after the accident shows the explosion had destroyed the entire building to a hollow hole on the ground. What happened was that event management and technical staff decided to test the turbine in case of a sudden loss of power, the strain of the reactor. This overnight test was neither carefully planned nor authorized by superiors. On the afternoon of April 25, 1986, the unit fourth in accordance with the plan was shut down, when the operation began an experiment related to the security system. The case of this experiment is to understand the plant loses all power, but the rotating turbine has enough energy capable of supplying electric power for 45 seconds, which is the time required to start the emergency diesel generator supply. The reactor power is reduced to half of the rated output, and the emergency reactor core cooling system is turne d off. After 11:10, the staffs did not re-open the emergency cooling system, which was the first major mistake, according to a series of serious negligence operations are: the output power was reduced to one percent of rated output, much lower than the power required for the experiment; the majority of the control rods withdrawn; and the other important safety system was turned off. These operational mistakes made the unit fourth become unstable. Output had been rising rapidly, technical workers lost control of the reactor, output power rose to up to 100 times the rated output, and thus part of the fuel rods ruptures, and the heat burst a lot of things to make the cooling water evaporation, resulting in a steam explosion destroying a weight of about 1,000 tonnes of reactor cover. From May 1 to 6, due to the reactor explosion, more than 26 percent of the radiation dose was released into the outside world, 31 firefighters and two people from the plant lost their lives, most of them have been severely burned from radiation, while 209 suffered severe radiation injuries (U.S.NRC). Strictly speaking, the Chernobyl accident cannot be called a human error. It was more like a willful violation. It seemed following the scheduled timetable was seen as more important than safety. Staff were prohibited from running the operation under low power, and stopped safety device testing. It was like in travel a little faster by car, removing the brakes in the car regardless of rules or safety, and just desperately rushing forward to the destination, leading to a monstrous disaster. 25 years later today, the area outside of Chernobyl nuclear plant still reminds uninhabitable. People’s belongings still stay in the same spots, but not a trace of life in sight. The fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989 (See figure 4) Finally, the voice of freedom is rising at the end of 1980s. After nearly three decades of separation, the Berlin Wall finally fell down on the evening of November 9, 1989. A photo taken by Associated Press captured the moment when demonstrators tore down a piece of the Berlin wall. Berlin Wall and the wall that speared North and South Korea right now is the same product after World War II. After World War II, Germany and Berlin by the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain and France divided Germany into four zones. In 1949, the Soviet Union occupied East Germany, the capital set in East Berlin. West Germany and the US and British law were established in the occupied territories. Initially people in Berlin were able to move around freely between the districts, but with the Cold War, tensions started building up. In order to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany. The border began to close up. From 1949 to 1961, about 2.5 million East Germans who risked being shot by Eas t Germany fled to West Berlin. Berlin Wall started just barbed wires in August 13, 1961. It was later replaced by a large number of real fences more than 155 kilometers long, about 3 to 4 meters high (Behind The Wall). After the construction was completed, a total of more than 5000 people successfully fled to West Berlin, 3000 people were arrested, and over 400 people were killed and injured (Leslie). 25 years ago, the new East German government began to plan to relax travel restrictions for East German people, but due to a misunderstanding of the then East German Politburo on superior orders, mistakenly announced Berlin Wall is about to open, resulting in tens of thousands of people took to the streets, the demolition of the wall, the whole of Germany into a state of extreme excitement. One of the Time reporter Ken Olsen recalled the day when he was in Germany says â€Å"They were screaming, Tor auf! Tor auf! Open the gate!† (Rothman) Although it was not the structure of walls collapsed, it had been removed by people. People climbed the Berlin Wall, removed graffiti, and took pieces of building materials as souvenirs. 11 months later, the two Germanies finally reunited. Tank Man, 1989 (See figure 5) Just several months before the Fall of Berlin Wall, in Tiananmen Square Beijing, China, a Tank man stood in front of type 59 tanks and attempted to block their way. He was pulled away by another man lright after. This thrilling scene happened to be caught by Jeff Widener (The Associated Press) in June 5, 1989 who was inside the Plaza Hotel next to the Tiananmen Square. He hid the negatives in the toilet water tank to avoid police forces’ search or the truth will not have spread around the world (Iyer). What triggered this event can be traced back to the Deng Xiaoping era. He was in power after 1979 and the implement reform and opened up policy on topic such as to industrialized, agriculture, national defense, science and technology, four modernizations. After a decade of reform, social and economic problems, such as a widening wealth gap and serious inflation; workers were dissatisfied because their salaries did not keep up with the pace of inflation, causing large flow of the rural population to the cities to make a living, leading to more homeless beggars and other social issues; official corruption, and other deep complaints. By the end of 1986, students at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei held anti-corruption protests. Then, Shanghai, Beijing and other cities have also lead to student protests, they asked the government to carry out democratic reforms. CPC (Communist Party of China) General Secretary Hu Yaobang was tough because of the absence of clearance, and he had been criticized and resigned from office in the following year the General Secretary (Lui). The spring of 1989, the international communist forces collapsed. Democratic movements began in Eastern Europe. Inspired by the movement, in late April 1989, students and Beijing residents’ protests gathered in Tiananmen Square. Since then, the whole country has undergone a similar student protest movement. On June 3 in the evening, the CPC decided to send troops to suppress, to disperse the crowd in and around Tiananmen Square, the army opened fire to the masses, and even tanks shot protesters. By 4 in the morning, the army controlled Square, people were forced to evacuate. The next day, after the first night of the crackdown, Tiananmen Square was cleared. All of the students who were in the movement for several months disappeared without a trace. Everything had been wiped out. The tanks in Tiananmen traveled quickly around, declaring military force. The photo of the â€Å"Tank Man† became a symbol of Tiananmen. It showed the courage of ordinary people fighting on beha lf of freedom. Unsung heroes raised up public concern of their human rights. Before then, people constantly live under fear of the iron fist. To summarize, thanks to the efforts of photographers, the future generation can see the 1980s was not only overwhelmed by national conflicts, politics, and unfortunate accidents, but was also a decade of new beginning. See how photos show the stories of the time. It is not about the photo itself such as how it was constructed, or what kind of the camera photographers used, but it is about the messages that those photos are trying to deliver. Sharbat Gula the Afghan girl’s frightened eyes revealed how it was when international communism was still powerful. Beloved President Reagan survived an attempted assassination, and became a god like figure in the 80s. Later, the Chernobyl Accident happened, and if there were not any photos documented, we would never know how intense it was when an unclear powerful plant melted function. At the end of the 80s, Berlin Wall fell down, and people in China stood up for freedom and human rights. Those two photos quickly became a symbol of free spirits. Visual images are so powerful that they could not only grab people’s attention, but also shout out message that words failed to present. I appreciate those brave photographers who were there at the first scene so we can look into what was going on in the past. Are we learn our lessons from history. 1980s might seem like a problematic period, but people survived to make it a better tomorrow.       Figure 1. McCurry, Steve. Afghan Girl. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikipedia.com,  Dec. 1984. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Figure 2. Reagan Assassination Attempt. Digital image. Wikipedia.  Wikipedia.com, 30 Mar. 1981. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Figure 3. Soviet Authorities. Taken by  the Authorities in the immediate aftermath  of Chernobyl Disaster. Digital image. Wikipedia.  Wikipedia.com, Apr. 1986. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Figure 4. AP. Fall of the Berlin Wall. Digital image.  The Telegraph. The Telegraph, Nov. 1989. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Figure 5. Widener, Jeff. The Tank Man was trying to block the way of tanks  with his own body alone during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikipedia.com, June 1989. Web. 30 Nov. 2014. Work Cited Behind The Wall. New Yorker 90.34 (2014): 31-1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov.  2014. Braun, David. How They Found National Geographic’s â€Å"Afghan Girl. National Geographic.  07 Mar 2003. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. Brands, H. W. Reagan Reborn.American History48.3 (2013): 46-51.Academic Search  Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. Chernobyl Accident 1986. Chernobyl. World Nuclear Association, 24 Nov. 2014. Web. 28  Nov. 2014. Denker, Debra. A Life Revealed: Along Afghanistans War-torn Frontier. National  Geographic. 167 (Jun 1985). 2002. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. Dibb, Paul. The Soviet Experience In Afghanistan: Lessons To Be Learned?. Australian  Journal Of International Affairs 64.5 (2010): 495-509. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. Iyer, Pico. The Unknown Rebel. (Cover Story). Time 151.14 (1998): 192. Academic Search  Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. Leslie, John. The Fall Of The Berlin Wall Twenty Years Later. New Zealand International  Review 34.5 (2009): 21-24. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. Lui, Andrew. Looking Back At Tiananmen Square. Peace Review 12.1 (2000): 139-145.  Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2014. Raines, Howell. Reagan Wounded In Chest By Gunman; Outlook Good After 2-Hour Surgery;  Aide And 2 Guards Shot; Suspect Held. The New York Time Mar. 1981, Late City ed.: 1. Print. Rothman, Lily. Witness To History: Reporters Recall The Berlin Wall’S Fall. Time.Com  (2014): N.PAG. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2014. United States. Office of the Historian. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S.Response, 1978–1980. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. Response, 1978–1980. Office of the Historian, 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. United States. U.S.NRC. Backgrounder on Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident.  U.S.NRC. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.

Analysis of the Poem, 35/10, by Sharon Olds Essay -- Poetry Analysis

In the poem, â€Å"35/10† by Sharon Olds, the speaker uses wistful and jealous tones to convey her feeling about her daughter’s coming of age. The speaker, a thirty-five year old woman, realizes that as the door to womanhood is opening for her ten year old daughter, it is starting to close for her. A wistful tone is used when the speaker calls herself, â€Å"the silver-haired servant† (4) behind her daughter, indicating that she wishes she was not the servant, but the served. Referring to herself as her daughter’s servant indicates a sense of self-awareness in the speaker. She senses her power is weakening and her daughter’s power is strengthening. It also shows wistfulness for her diminishing youth, and sadness for her advancing years. This wistful tone is again shown when she asks, â€Å"Why is it /they begin to arrive, the fold in my neck /clarifying as the fine bones of her/ hips sharpen?† (4-7). She is demanding an explanation for why she must turn older. She is jealous that as her daughter is on the threshold of puberty, becoming more beautiful, she is on the threshold of middle age, b... Analysis of the Poem, 35/10, by Sharon Olds Essay -- Poetry Analysis In the poem, â€Å"35/10† by Sharon Olds, the speaker uses wistful and jealous tones to convey her feeling about her daughter’s coming of age. The speaker, a thirty-five year old woman, realizes that as the door to womanhood is opening for her ten year old daughter, it is starting to close for her. A wistful tone is used when the speaker calls herself, â€Å"the silver-haired servant† (4) behind her daughter, indicating that she wishes she was not the servant, but the served. Referring to herself as her daughter’s servant indicates a sense of self-awareness in the speaker. She senses her power is weakening and her daughter’s power is strengthening. It also shows wistfulness for her diminishing youth, and sadness for her advancing years. This wistful tone is again shown when she asks, â€Å"Why is it /they begin to arrive, the fold in my neck /clarifying as the fine bones of her/ hips sharpen?† (4-7). She is demanding an explanation for why she must turn older. She is jealous that as her daughter is on the threshold of puberty, becoming more beautiful, she is on the threshold of middle age, b...

Government Affiliation and Cloning Essay -- Biology Medical Biomedical

Government Affiliation and Cloning Abstract The theory to alter and duplicate a human being first arose in the early 1900s. It became widely controversial since the entrance of the experiments on real animals by the 1990s. Influenced by its citizens, the governments all over the world stepped in to regulate the new process by establishing specific laws tackling the issue. Each government differed from the others, and hence, each national law varies from another. However, attempts were made to unify the regulations under international circumstances in organizations such as the United Nations. Still undergoing conformation, the effort to halt cloning failed to stay constant, and would continue to change in the future. Since the successful cloning of the sheep Dolly in Roslin Institution of Scotland on July 5, 1996 (Peters, 2003, p.161), governments wrestled with the ideal of human cloning. Thrust with the responsibility to regulate a new form of artificial mammalian reproduction, and possibly human reproduction, the government became the deciding factor amidst the storm of controversy. Dolly signifies the first mammal cloned from the fully differentiated cell, which already had the genes of its function fully expressed. It allowed the duplication of another individual from any living cell of body. Ian Wilmut announced and patented the Roslin Technique, the method to clone Dolly, on February 22, 1997 and explained the details on the issue of Nature five days later (Peters, 2003, p.161). The reaction was immediate. Within hours of Wilmut’s announcement, the Church of Scotland released its rebuttal, criticizing the event as unethical. Likewise, the world was quick to establish its stance, pron ouncing the cloning of human as mora... ...e Government Affiliation 5 answer is simply democracy in action. Surely, the population will voice its opinion upon the matter, and whatever the majority of this generation decides, it will be enforced peacefully. Even as the times change-- people’s opinion change—it is still sure that the voices of the public will be heard. Government Affiliation 6 Bibliography NCSL. (2005, June). State Human Cloning Law. 7-27-05: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/Genetics/rt-shcl.htm. Peters, Ted. 2003. Playing God? New York and London: Routledge. Stanford. (2001, December). International Cloning Policy. Human Cloning- Cloning Policy. 7-24-05: http://www.stanford.edu/~eclipse9/sts129/cloning/policy.html. United Nations. (2005, May). Ad Hoc Committee on an International Convention Against the Reproduction Cloning of Human Beings. 7-28-05: http://www.un.org/law/cloning/.

Organization behavior Essay

Attribution theory: an important tool for understanding and managing goal oriented organization behaviors. Attribution theory is known as the effective way which helps us to assume that people’s behaviour is caused by internal or external situational factors. This essay is going to discuss about the key elements of attribution theory and the relationship between them. In addition, the way of attribution theory process works in organizations are also mentioned. Also it considered how attribution theory implements in organizations as an effective tool which can help leaders to attribute employees’ behaviours and workplace outcomes. This essay reviewed some famous articles in attribution theory and psychology fields and abstracted relative points to discuss. Types of attributional explanations and the underlying dimensions of those attributions affected individuals’ emotions, expectations and behaviours. (Jianjun & Shenghua, 2009) The reason that internal and external attribution can be useful tools in management practice is that they can help managers understand causes of employee behaviours and can assist employees in understanding their thinking about their own behaviours. If you can understand why you behave a certain way, and why others around you do so, then you have a better understanding of yourself, others, and your organization. The perception of the causes of certain behaviour may affect the judgment and actions of both managers and employees. The locus of causality can be internal or external, which stands for the recognition of internal or external attribution. Also as Kelly (1967) concluded as the covariation model, which describes the three type of information that we can use to make attribution decisions are consensus, distinctiveness and consistency. In determining whether behaviour is based on internal or external factors, you look at the level of consistency, distinctiveness and consensus of the behaviour. For instance, internal attributions are made with low consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency while external factors when all three are high. Leaders can use covariation model to make attributions of employees’ performances. However, this model also has one important limitation, which is that it cannot to distinguish unintentional and intentional behaviour. (Ben, Olufemi, Olukunle &Patrick, 2012) As attribution theory is applied in different organizations and may be an important factor which can affect managers’ decision, the  innate bias of people in the way they make attributions should be paid much attention. The basic one which is called fundamental bias describes the tendency to make internal attributions over external attributions. It emphasizes more on socialization such as culture or social settings. As concluded by Zuckerman (1979), there are two main attribution biases. The self- serving bias is the tendency of individuals to regard their successes as the result of their own effort or ability and blame failure on external factors. Thus, the situation could be that managers may blame employees for their failure. On the contrary, employees may attribute failures to external factors. The actor- observer bias stands for the tendency of observers to attribute the behaviours and outcomes of actors to their internal factors while actors attribute their outcomes to the external environment. For instance, managers may blame the failure on employees whereas employees are biased toward attributing their failures to external factors including their supervisors. After comparing these two biases, it is obviously that self- serving bias happens when both actors and observers focus on the outcomes while the actor- observer bias is based on the situation that actors emphasize on external factors but observers focus attention on actors. In organizations, performances are evaluated by managers. Those two biases can effect managers’ and employees’ evaluations of employee performance as well as the quality of their relationship. (Mark, 2007) In terms of leadership, if leaders don’t aware that they have attribution bias, some problems will appear in communication and team work. Employees make attributions based on their perception of the causes attributable to leaders’ behaviours. (Phil, Charlotte, Julie&James, 2009) after employees perceived their leader are not satisfied with their performance, they tend to feel loss of self- esteem. Reflecting into behaviours, it is possible that employees’ job satisfaction and turnover decrease. After that, it is more difficult for leaders to motivate employees to increase productivity or improve their performance. Another thing which is worth mentioned is attribution styles. Attribution styles are tendencies to make particular types of attribution over time and across different situations. Martinko (2002) indicated that there are sixteen possible intrapersonal styles. Basically, there are two most well-known attribution styles which are optimistic attribution style and pessimistic attribution style. To some extent, optimistic attribution style  can correspond to self-serving bias. However, pessimistic styles are characterized by external and unstable attributions for success and internal and stable attributions for failure. (Martinko, Douglas& Borkowski, 2007) In an organization, optimistic leaders believe that the employees will perform well in the future but the pessimistic leaders have the opposed ideas. Also optimistic employees think they will have a good performance while pessimistic ones have the opposed ideas. These phenomenons imply one possibility that there may be clashes between the attribution style of leaders and employees. Just as the study did by Martinko, Douglas & Borkowski (2007) demonstrated that optimistic leaders are less likely to blame their members for poor performance and make opportunities for their members to succeed in the future than are pessimistic leaders, which may lead to lower quality relationships between employees and pessimistic leaders. As relationship becoming less harmonious, the goal- achieve thinking will be inconsistent. In addition, Harvey, Harris and Martinko (2008) got a result through studying and hypothesising which presented attribution styles have significantly effect on turnover intentions. There is a positive relationship between hostile attribution styles and turnover intentions. (Harvey, Harris &Martinko, 2008) The situation could be someone with a pessimistic attribution style and low self-efficacy can be helped by being given tasks that allow them to succeed early on and build their confidence as they progress to more complex tasks. In dealing with someone with an optimistic attribution style, managers can help the employee gauge whether or not they are capable of a certain type of project by having them shadow someone doing that job or linking them with a mentor higher up in the organization. Recognizing and dealing with someone with a hostile attribution style might be difficult since this style can look similar to the optimistic style. However, this style in particular, will benefit from open communication that leads to correct attributions for outcomes. This is one type of employee that managers do not want to leave guessing about a poor performance appraisal, demotion, layoff, or other negative outcomes. Also in terms of job satisfaction, it indicated a negative relationship between hostile attribution style and job satisfaction, but suggested that satisfaction fully, as opposed to partially mediated the attribution style–intent to turnover relationship. (Harvey, Harries& Martinko, 2009) In  view of leaders, the attribution style of leaders is probable sign of their expectation of employees’ performances, which influence how they treat and evaluate employees. Attribution theory implementation in different fields: Leadership: Attribution theory plays a significant role in field of leadership. It is the tool that how leader attribute employees’ performance. There are many different situations. For example, when a leader is facing the negative outcome, he is more likely to have internal attribution of it. (Korsgaard, Brodt & Whitener, 2002) If the employee attributes the leader’s behavior internally, he will blame it on leaders so that he will have a doubt with leader’s ability. Also it is possible to appear conflict between leaders and employees. In order to improve the accuracy of leaders’ attribution, leaders can try to do the work that employees do and may have the similar feeling with them, which is a way to gain psychological closeness. And it is better to assign tasks and duty clearly to avoid unnecessary error in working. Motivation: According to Harvey and Martinko (2009), we can promote and maintain employees’ motivation through five means such as screening resilience, immunization and multiple raters for performance. However, in general situation, attributional training and increasing psychological closeness are most common and effective way. Attributional training helps employees accurate their attribution style and may correct their attribution biases as well as having a better understanding with internal and external factors. In other word, attributional training is a good way to make employees have a full – scale recognition of workplace outcomes through effective communication between managers and employees. In term s of increasing psychological closeness, the best way is to pick experienced managers to manage employees and handle the positive or negative outcomes so that they can provide more attributional feedback to employees. Performance reviews and group work: Kelley’s (1973) covariation model which contains consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness can be used by managers to evaluate and review employees’  performance. Consistency is proposed to lead to attributions regarding the stability of the outcome. For example, when an employee fails a task, if the manager is with low consensus, he will think that only this employee fail, then it is impeded correct evaluation. Also, when managers face dividing work in a group, the locus of covariation is needed to attribute and estimate the different characteristic of employees’ behaviors. Recruitment and selection: When managers start recruitment and selection, they have to ensure that they have appropriate attribution style and try to minimize the attribution bias. For example, the interviewers will tend to believe that candidates who appear anxious in the interview are actually behaving anxious because they are lack of anti-pressure ability, rather than because they are in a stressful environment. Then wrong decision and selection will be made because of the attribution bias. In conclusion, it is obvious that attribution theory process is related to internal and external factors through the discussion of relationship of essential portions of attribution theory process. Besides, attribution bias and styles cannot be ignored in organization behavior and activities because they will have a big effect on different fields such as leader- member relationship or motivation towards employees. As the importance of attribution theory and the functions been argued, it can be summarized that organizations should take advantage of attribution theory to manage employees and improve organization performance. Reference list: Ben E. Akpoyomare Oghojafor, Olufemi Olabode Olayemi, Olukunle O. Oluwatula, Patrick Sunday Okonji. (2012). Attribution theory and strategic decisions on organizational success factors. Journal of management and strategy, 3: 32-39. Harvey, P., Martinko, M.J., & Gardner, W. (2006). Promoting authenticity in organizations: An attributional perspective. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 12: 1-11. Harvey, P., Harris, K.J., & Martinko, M.J. (2008). The mediated influence of hostile attributional style on turnover intentions. 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