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North By Northwest expositions Lines show up, shaping inclined boxes on which the credits show up The lines become the windows of an e...

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Review Of Brzezinskis The Grand Chessboard Politics Essay

Review Of Brzezinskis The Grand Chessboard Politics Essay The Grand Chessboard was written by Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to President Jimmy Carter, and was published in 1997. It is a progressive book on American foreign policy of the 1990s and after. It looks candidly at reasons for Americas policy of aggression towards Afghanistan and conciliation towards Pakistan. It also spells out the need for Americas policy of toleration towards Saudi Arabia and its carrot and stick attitude towards China. It throws light on the growing problem of religious fundamentalism and the need for America to stay ahead as the only superpower in order to control Eurasian politics. The book is divided into seven chapters and runs into 220 pages. Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski was born March on 28, 1928 in Warsaw, Poland. He is an eminent American political scientist, foreign policy advisor and statesman who was National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981 and continues to be President Barrack Obamas mentor and foreign policy advisor. He is Professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies. He is also a scholar of great repute at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a valuable member of various governmental and non-governmental boards and councils. Brzezinski belonged to the Polish nobility and his family bore the Traby Coat of Arms insignia. They originally came from the town of Brzezany in Galicia which is said to be the source of his family name. Brzezinskis father was a Polish diplomat who was posted in Germany prior to World War II. Brzezinski spent some of his earliest years witnessing the rise of the Nazis and this may have some bearing on his anti-Semitic and anti-Israel leanings. He went to Harvard University to work on a PhD that focused on the Soviet Union. His research led him to trace the connections between the Russian Revolution, Lenins position in Russian politics and the proceedings during Stalins reign. He received his doctorate degree in 1953 and later collaborated with German-American Professor and political scientist, Carl J. Friedrich to develop the concept of totalitarianism and apply its principles to the Soviet Union of 1956. Brzezinski dedicated the book to his students and in Brzezinskis words it is For my students- to help them shape tomorrows world. Hence all students of politics and international relations will benefit from reading this book. It is also a worthy guideline for political scientists and diplomats who would want to get an in-depth knowledge of American foreign policy and rationale behind the changing strategies to stay ahead and on top of global geo-politics. Brzezinski writes in the introduction to this book, The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geo-strategy is therefore the purpose of this book (Brzezinski 1997). In his book The Grand Chessboard, Brzezinski has discussed his most significant contribution to post-Cold War geo-strategy. He emphasizes the need for America to be the global leader and continue to be the arbiter of Eurasian geopolitics. His theory simply put is for American hegemony to continue and for America to dominate the economic and political arenas by minimizing the risk of other potential super powers from Eurasia to gain ascendency in world politics. He has divided Eurasia into four distinct regions and has discussed ways in which the US should charter its foreign policy towards these regions in order to maintain its global dominance. Brzezinski lays claims to the United States being the only comprehensive superpower after the fall of the Soviet Union: America is now Eurasias arbiter, with no major Eurasian issue soluble without Americas participation or contrary to Americas interests (Brzezinski 194). In The Grand Chessboard Brzezinski gives the audience a complete and candid elucidation of American international strategy since 1992. He explains that what this strategy aims at is absolute global dominance by America. Appreciating Brzezinskis argument requires looking at Americas Cold-War strategy through a new lens. (By Zbigniew K. Brzezinski Basic Books) The geo-strategy takes a close look at world affairs during the last decade of the twentieth century. It attempts to decipher the tectonic shift in world affairs and scrutinizes the role America needs to play as the emergent superpower in a uni-polar world. Brzezinski points out that for the first time in history a non- Eurasian power has surfaced as a major negotiator of Eurasian power dealings and also as the worlds paramount power(Brzezinski xiii). The disintegration and collapse of the Soviet Union gave the United States a key foothold in its rapid ascendance as the actual and exclusive global superpower. The source of Americas growing geopolitical ambitions was provided by the rapid growth of the countrys economy through industrialization. The significant economic development was promoted by a culture and environment that encouraged experimentation and modernization. Americas open and democratic political institutions and free market financial system created unique opportunities for wealthy investors to expand the countrys economy and boost its international reputation. The American way of life was congenial to economic growth and the development of national power. The book deals with some major issues of world politics and spells out Brzezinskis take on the design of US foreign policies in dealing with these issues. The rising threat from Islamic fundamentalism to American primacy is described as a possible issue that might prove challenging. Maintaining control over the unstable west Asian region in the absence of a stable and dominant Islamic state could be part of the Middle Eastern problem. Brzezinski argues that even though the Cold War is over and America has emerged as the single most dominant superpower after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is still necessary to maintain American hegemony to prevent the emergence of a dangerous multi-polar world of independent great powers scrambling for predominance and political advantage. He describes the three grand imperatives, of Americas strategy, its mechanisms and purposes are to help prevent conspiracy against American interests; to ensure the dependence of the less secure nations and pledge their loyalty by providing them security against fundamentalist forces and to keep the underlings pliant and protected in order to prevent other potential powers from taking over these regions. The manuscript provides insights into the thinking behind the 1992 planning document issued by the Pentagon, which maintained that the United States must continue to control the international system by not allowing other advanced and industrialized nations to challenge American leadership or try to assume a larger regional or global role. Americas leadership role, as Brzezinski advocates, meant that not only should the United States dominate its allies, the wealthy and technologically developed states in Europe and East Asia, but also that it must lead the way in fostering peace and stability by dealing with such irritants as Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, and Kim Jong II of North Korea so that there is no scope for potential super powers like Germany or Japan to acquire the means to resolve regional problems by themselves and gain supremacy in the region. The growth of Islamic fundamentalism could exploit the religious sentiments against the Americans and take advantage of the Arab-Israel conflict to undermine and destabilize the authority of several pro-American Middle Eastern states and jeopardize the regional interests of America in the Persian Gulf region. Brzezinski, however, points out that without political unity and in the absence of a single indisputable influential Islamic state, a challenge from Islamic fundamentalism would lack a geopolitical core and would thus be more likely to express itself through diffuse violence (Brzezinski 53). The book also contains other references to the steadily growing problem of Muslim fundamentalism and its impact on global security. The real thrust of Americas foreign policy since the start of the Cold War, according to Brzezinski, was not to thwart or overcome the Soviet menace, but the successful effort to impose an ambitious vision on a confused and disorganized global scenario. The basic idea was to provide for the security of the Eurasian potential super powers and by engage them in such a manner that their military and foreign policies would encourage them to form alliances that America dominated and keep its erstwhile enemies contained. It also sought to prevent its partners from embarking upon independent foreign and military policies that might jeopardize American interests and supremacy at the global level. This policy would help to stabilized relationships among the states of Western Europe and East Asia, and reassure their neighboring states that these powerful partners would remain appeased and loyal. With America leading from the front the West European and East Asian nations would be free from fea rs and mutual competitions and would be able to cooperate politically and economically. This in turn would create stability and harmony in the world and would enhance prosperity and international order that would aid the advanced industrialized countries to forge ahead and maintain economic growth and development. Brzezinski elucidates his point by citing the example of how encouraging Korea to become a unified democratic entity would not be in Americas interests as this development would endanger Americas global control strategy. A rejuvenated and unified Korea would minimize the apparent need for U.S. troops on the peninsula; and would lead to a U.S. pullback from East Asia. This, in turn, would lead to Japan becoming more self-sufficient and secure militarily; that would show the way for military, political and economic rivalry and bickering amongst the nations in the Far East. Japan would gain dominance and could become a potential threat to American supremacy in that region. Hence, the best solution was to maintain the status quo in Korea, which allowed U.S. forces to be stationed there indefinitely and keep vigilance in the area. The ultimate objective of American foreign policy should be benevolent and farsighted in keeping with American ideals and the fundamental interests of human kind. But in so doing the policy must ensure that no Eurasian power be allowed to emerge as a potential challenger to Americas position as the world leader. It must stay ahead in the race and neutralize through effective alliances and policies any scope for a unified Europe or an individual developed nation capable of dominating Eurasian economy and politics and eliminate potential challenge for America. The book gives us an in-depth insight into policies and policy making but it leave some questions unanswered. It discloses the logic that has motivated the American national security strategy ever since the Cold War but it also highlights the fact that this logic predictably involves a massive project that is necessarily open-ended and long lasting. To maintain status quo in an effort to preserve political, economic and strategic dominance America must continue the policy of maintaining troops in the unstable regions of Islamic fundamentalism. The price of such aggressive posturing can be high in the changing climate of world politics and the new vision of a harmonious and peaceful world. So the question remains, according to Brzezinskis logic, how do you pull out troops from the different regions and encourage self governance and at the same time follow the policy of global leadership where the troops must always remain? Brzezinskis theory of global adult-super vision strategy means that American expenditure on its military and security is nearly as much as, perhaps, the rest of the world combined. However, he argues that in order to maintain its control over the Black Sea oil it must deal with Turkey and Iran carefully. To maintain its hegemony over this region might mean sending more troops to stabilize the region. That American interests were firmly planted in the region is apparent: The momentum of Asias economic development is already generating massive pressures for the exploration and exploitation of new sources of energy and the Central Asian region and the Caspian Sea basin are known to contain reserves of natural gas and oil that dwarf those of Kuwait, the Gulf of Mexico, or the North Sea. (Brzezinski 125). Brzezinski freely admits that executing a policy of global dominance is difficult, absorbing, and costly, and offers a solution which is a bit contradictory. Although in keeping with the short and midterm interests continued U.S. preponderance is an absolute necessity, Brzezinski argues that in the long-term the United States can share leadership with regional powers. Multilateral projects, beginning from international adjudicators to U.N. police procedures, all of these require a strong leader. Brzezinskis main argument relies on the claim that American hegemony remains the indispensable foundation for world cooperation and the integration of advanced countries towards world peace and balance of power. To support his argument Brzezinski outlines the possibility of an eventual trilateral division of leadership among the United States, Europe, and Japan. Even then he makes it quite apparent that Europe and Japan would remain junior partners to a predominant America with a larger share of the expenses with no greater authority and independence. The partner nations have never agreed to this formula and have consistently said that if the United States wanted to lead, it would have to pay the expenses and incur the hazards that accompanied leadership. Thus, to say that America can never let go of its supremacy because of the political, economic, and military ramifications is stretching the point a bit far. Cooperation among the great powers ensures stability and peace and that it can only be garnered under American supervision is somewhat self-defeating. According to Brzezinski, stability in Western Europe and East Asia could be guaranteed by American predominance alone, was the prerequisite for cooperation and stability. There is no reason to believe that, without this guarantor, stability will not be achieved. Americas dominant position should foster stability and create a geopolitical core of peaceful global management and shared responsibility.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Analysis on “How State Budgets Are Breaking Us Schools”

Semester 2 2011/2012 SBLE 2083 Public Speaking (Group E) Prominent Speech Analysis on â€Å"How state budgets are breaking US schools† Lecturer: Nurul Nazifah binti Mat Noh Group Members: Koo Chi Haw205634 Thong Hsien Jin205770 Mohammad Azlan bin Annual206955 Muhammad Noorhafizi bin Noor Azay 207278 Title: How State budgets are breaking US schools In the beginning of the speech, the speaker did gained the attention and interest of the audience by relating the topic to the audience and stating the importance of the topic and relating the topic to the audience.He mentioned that â€Å"And these budgets  are the key for our future;  they're the key for our kids†. This example shows that he was trying to relate the audience about their future and their children. He also mentioned that â€Å"the great universities or community colleges —  most of the money for those things  is coming out of these state budgets†. This means that state budgets are crucial for education spending in the United States. The speaker did not introduce the topic clearly in the beginning of the speech. He begun his speech only by saying â€Å"Well, this is about state budgets. and â€Å"And these budgets  are the key for our future;  they're the key for our kids†. These might only gave hints or questions to audience about the topic that was going to present by the speaker. The speaker did establish credibility by showing the numbers about the state budgets. He mentioned â€Å"State budgets  are big, big money —  I'll show you the numbers†. This means that he has the information that is relevant and is qualified to speak on this topic. The speaker did not really preview the body of the speech.It would not be clear either. He said that the state budgets are important for their future and their kids which only gave hints about how state budgets problems are going to relate to education spending. The speaker should have preview the body of the speech by saying the main points to the audience in the beginning of the speech. The speech indeed related to audience. The speaker already pointed out that the topic is very important for the people to take considerations in the beginning, even though it is boring.The speaker was consistently informing the audience that if the state budget is not enough to cover all the expenses due to deficit of 10%, the young will more likely to be the victims as the majority of spending from the education will be swift to health-care medical for the old ones. It would affect many people of the U. S. in the future. The speaker also used the word â€Å"you† frequently. This indicates that he is trying to relate the audience during the speech. After reviewing the video, the main points are the implications of the imbalanced state budget to the education expenses in current and future.The speaker aided his main points by using an effective visual aids and further explain the main point by detailed elaborations and examples. Such methods are effectives to the audience to understand the topic clearly and relevant. First, the speaker introduced the state budgets and the deficits that occurred. Then, He moved on to the implication on the education spending which is the system will have a big squeeze if the expenses are mostly swift to health-care program by minimizing the expenses for the education in the deficit state budget.If such trend happened, the future education level will be weakened such as no bold experiment, no teacher effectiveness measurement and no incentives for the excellence teachers. The speaker used many type of methods in supporting main points. Firstly, the speaker gave extended example about the cause of the state budgets deficit. He mentioned that â€Å"When Jerry Brown was elected,  this was the challenge that was put to him. That is, through various gimmicks and things,  a so-called balanced budget  had led him to have 25 billion missing  out of the 76 billion in proposed spending.Now he's put together some thoughts:  About half of that he'll cut,  another half,  perhaps in a very complex set of steps,  taxes will be approved. But even so,  as you go out into those future years,  various pension costs, health costs go up enough,  and the revenue does not go up enough. So you get a big squeeze. † Secondly, the speaker also used hypothetical example such as â€Å"But we're spending 36 percent. Well what are we taking in? Simple business question. Answer is 26 percent. Now this leaves 10 percent deficit,  sort of a mind-blowing number. † The speaker also used statistic method to support the main points.For the example, â€Å"But we have a problem. Here's the overall picture. U. S. economy is big —  14. 7 trillion. Now out of that pie,  the government spends 36 percent. † The speaker used a causal order where he first identified the state budgets deficit and what cause these deficits. Finally, he pointed out on how this affects the education spending by the government. The language used by the speaker is overall clear and concise. The speaker did used some familiar words that are easily understand by the audience. The speaker also used many abstract words which refer to ideas or concepts in his speech.For examples, â€Å"medical innovation†, â€Å"gimmicks† and â€Å"big squeeze†. However, the speaker used terms like â€Å"Medicaid† and â€Å"Enron† in his speech that would be not familiar with the audiences who are not living in United States. In the middle of the speech, the speaker also used a repetition as the rhythm of the speech. For example, â€Å"Now how did we get here? How could you have a problem like this? †. The speaker only used signpost as the connective in the speech. The connectives are used as he had begun next main points with questions. For examples, â€Å"Now how did we get her e?How could you have a problem like this? †, â€Å"Well what's going to give? † and â€Å"So what do we need to do? †. This shows that the speaker invited himself to answer and get the audience more involving with the speech. However, the signposts used are not really effective because they did not show the next or previous main points in the speech. In the end of the speech, the speaker signaled the end of the speech by saying, â€Å"And so the bottom line is†, to let the audience know that the speech was going to stop soon. The speaker also used a crescendo ending for his speech.He made a conclusion in which his speech was built to a zenith of power and intensity that influence the audience to care about the state budgets. The speaker said that the state budgets are critical for their kids and their future. â€Å"Now I think this is a solvable problem. It's a great country with lots of people. But we have to draw those people in,  because this is abou t education. † The speaker did reinforce the central idea of the speech by making a dramatic statement. He said, â€Å"And just look at what happened with the tuitions  with the University of California  and project that out for another three, four, five years —  it's unaffordable. †

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Emily Dickinson And William Shakespeare - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 598 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/06/21 Category People Essay Level High school Tags: Emily Dickinson Essay William Shakespeare Essay Did you like this example? There are any influential people in literature in throughout history, some that have paved the way for others, and some still trying to make their mark in history. Literature is a very important part in my life, it takes me outside of the realm of normal day to day and brings me to the realm of a different thought process and imagination. It allows me to open up my curiosity and broadens my creative thinking when I read certain authors stories. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Emily Dickinson And William Shakespeare" essay for you Create order I have decided to write this essay about two of my favorite authors, the first one was a seventeenth century author and poet by the name of William Shakespeare who not only wrote a plethora of sonnets and poems like A lovers Complaint, The Phoenix and the Turtle, and Sonnet 98, but William also wrote famous plays, for example Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth just to name a few. The second person I decided to write about is a twentieth American female poet by the name of Emily Dickinson, who has written a number famous poems such as Hope is the Thing with Feathers, and Fame is a Fickle Food which have been published in many of books throughout the years. There are a lot of differences when it comes to these two authors, I will first discuss their lifestyles and how they differ and how they are similar in a way. William Shakespeare got his start as an actor and a playwright so he was already in the public eye, as for Emily Dickinson, she was more of an isolated person who rarely left her home Massachusetts. With Emily living in isolation for almost all of her life, she made sure to read a great deal. There were only a few people in her life who got to know her personally, and they were a big inspiration in a lot of her poetry. As for Shakespeare, his life was more dedicated to the theater, only coming home once a year when the theaters were closed. He gathered all of his inspiration from other authors, though he did also use the people around him to give some of his characters real life struggles which in my opinion is important in poetry and screenplays. Their lifestyles are two very different ways of living. One being an extrovert, his life focused on fame and theater, and the other an introvert, her life being more focused on the written word and her family, were both in comparison, assisted them wrote very detailed and heart felt poetry. As far as their impact on literature it is hard to say which one had more of an impact on the world. Emily Dickinson helped assist in the womens rights movement, with her being one of the earlier female poets in history. As for William Shakespeare, he is known for being a huge influential person on language, theater, and other essentials of culture. Most modern poets use Shakespeares writing as inspiration in their own poems and screenplays. In my opinion, though Emily Dickinson was not known for her writing until her death, her contribution for womens rights, though small, helped pave a way for women in literature. Literature, I believe is a small part of history that is overlooked. Unfortunately it is greatly overshadowed by the wars in our time. But without literature, we would not have the knowledge and creativity that we do now. Literature not only expands horizons, but the knowledge of history and literature are one in the same. Without the work Emily Dickinson and William Shakespeare, where would we be?

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Why The Financial Crisis Was A Specific Law Case Involving...

The year 2008 was a chaotic time in the United States. The investments from companies in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), which were supported by subprime mortgages caught up with them (Poole, 2010, p. 424). Three companies who invested in these CMOs made headlines: Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG (American International Group). The United States is still recovering from the Great Recession that occurred seven years ago, and it will be talked about for years to come. This paper will explore what the causes of the financial crisis were, a specific law case involving Lehman Brothers, the Federal Reserve and Congress’s responses, and solutions to prevent an event like this from happening again. As stated, Bear Sterns,†¦show more content†¦Bernanke, Paulson, and the Fed wanted to make clear that this would not occur again. This relates to the argument of moral hazard, which Joe Nocera describes perfectly, â€Å"If you bail somebody out of a problem they themselves cause, what incentive will they have the next time to avoid making the same mistake?† (Inside the Meltdown, 2009). Lehman Brothers, an investment bank, was not bailed out as Bear Stearns was. Although Lehman Brothers were considered â€Å"too big to fail,† it was not bailed out because the Fed claimed that Lehman’s collateral was insupportable under section 13(3), which allows â€Å"the Fed to lend to a wide range of borrowers using good collateral if at least five Fed governors approve† (Smith, 2011, p. 17). Consequently, investors withdrew their money from â€Å"all banks and money-market funds† (Smith, 2011, p. 19). AIG, the largest insurance company in the US, had a major liquidity issue because of its investments in credit default swaps (CDS) (Safa, Hassan, Maroney, 2013, p. 1337). Since AIG was considered too big to fail, the Federal Reserve decided to inject $85 billon to save the company, and an additional $37.8 billion in Octobe r (Safa, Hassan, Maroney, 2013, p. 1338, 1346). However, Why The Financial Crisis Was A Specific Law Case Involving... The year 2008 was a chaotic time in the United States. The investments from companies in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), which were supported by subprime mortgages caught up with those same companies (Poole, 2010, p. 424). Three companies who invested in these CMOs made headlines: Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and American International Group (AIG). This paper will explore what the causes of the financial crisis were, a specific law case involving Lehman Brothers, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) and Congress’s responses, and solutions to prevent an event like this from happening again. Bear Stearns Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG invested in subprime mortgage-backed securities, which are loans granted to people with meager credit ratings. Housing prices started falling in 2006, â€Å"melting away the value of the collateral behind those securities† (Smith, 2011, p. 17). In Figure 6 of the appendix, the US household mortgage debt became notably high starting in 2004 (Blecker, 2014, p. 702). Bear Stearns’s stock started to plummet in March 2008 (Inside the Meltdown, 2009). The argument for bailing out Bear Stearns was systemic risk, meaning letting the firm fail would send a shock wave to other companies because the rest of the market is interconnected. Ben Bernanke, then Chairman of the Fed, ordered the Fed and JP Morgan Chase provided funding to Bear Stearns (Inside the Meltdown, 2009). Argument of Moral Hazard Even though Bear Stearns was bailed out, HenryShow MoreRelatedWhy The Financial Crisis Was A Specific Law Case Involving Lehman Brothers1317 Words   |  6 PagesThe year 2008 was a chaotic time in the United States. The investments from companies in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), which were supported by subprime mortgages caught up with them (Poole, 2010, p. 424). Three companies who invested in these CMOs made headlines: Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG (American International Group). The United States is still recovering from the Great Recession that occurred seven years ago, and it will be talked about for years to come. This paperRead Morelending market and its aftermath reflec Essays4750 Words   |  19 Pageson the bubble housing crisis. Describe the stages of the bubble for the aliber-paradigm. Using the paradigm to explain problems in stock market and housing bubble burst. 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