International Relations theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Relations theories - Essay Example In that NATO countries view an attack upon one member State as an attack upon all treaty members collectively, the legal justification for the use of armed forces in Afghanistan in self-defence is not a matter of legal dispute in international law in the manner that the Iraq war was under contention. As professor Patrick Thaddeus Jackson wrote in ‘Theories of International Relations’ (2006) â€Å"Realism is characterized by a concern with material coercive power. It treats states as the primary unit of analysis. Power is primarily viewed in military terms, and the military power of other states presents the greatest potential danger to an individual state. Economic leverage is also considered an important element of national strength, and Realist analyses of international economics assume that hegemonic actors define not just political but economic structures.† (Jackson, 2006) In evaluating the realist concern for global security, the US and NATO powers are the pr imary police force for international trade and commerce, which was threatened directly by the World Trade Center attacks. The costs of the attack led to $40 to $60 billion USD in insurable costs according to a Congressional study, plus a large drop in the stock markets, contraction of the economy, support for the airline industry, and militarization for the war on terror internationally. (Makinen, 2002) Where international trade and business was impacted in such a major way by terrorism, the realist argument is given as the primary justification for the deployment of military forces in a police action to secure this. Where the 9/11 attacks also harmed the perception of America internationally as a hegemonic power, it also required a realist response to restore the balance of power to hegemony in a â€Å"zero sum† game of national interests. The natural resource interest in Afghanistan is arguably in natural gas, minerals, or pipelines. Yet a greater interest can be seen in NA TO of a containment of Iran, arguably a major concern due to the Islamic theocracy in the country and nuclear program. In establishing bases in both Afghanistan and Iraq, this can be seen as part of a NATO-US led policy of containment of Iranian power as well as regime change in Sunni States with the goal of democratization. The democratization argument applies to realism when NATO, the US, and others decide it is in their best interests to promote democratic governments around the world to support global security and the expansion of their social and economic interests. Finally, a critical view of realism can be seen in the interest of the Military-Industrial Complex to deploy in Afghanistan to further the expansion of the contracts related to the war and Department of Defence as they relate to private profit, ownership, and control. Question 2- How does Marxist theory address poverty and land reform as global security concern? In the economic theory developed by Karl Marx, there w ill be no true peace or security in the status quo internationally unless or until the developed nations make a commitment to economic rights and shared, egalitarian, economic development on a humanitarian and moral basis. It is the landless poor who in many regions suffer the most at the lowest levels of global capitalism internationally. Many of these

Who Controls the Private Sphere in an Archaic Greek Society :: Women Power Greek Greece Essays

Who Controls the Private Sphere in an Archaic Greek Society Abstract: Texts, such as Oeconomicus, reveal that while men in Archaic Greek society had authority over their wives, they were too confident of their control, and once they taught women how to act and behave they granted women authority over the household or private sphere. This segregation of the public and private spheres allowed women control not only over the private sphere, but also some control over her own life. Did women in Archaic Greek society have control over their lives? Today, many would argue that women did not have control, but rather their fathers and husbands controlled them. However, when looking closely at Greek texts, such as Xenophon’s Oeconomicus, one discovers that husbands were so confident of their control that once women were taught how to manage the household they granted women complete authority over the decisions made in the private sphere. Although men still had authority over women, the segregation of public and private spheres gave wives some control over their lives. Initially, when a girl was married, her husband had complete control over her life. A man’s bride was usually a very young girl who was considered an empty vessel because she had no knowledge about how to behave or manage a household. During a conversation in Oeconomicus between Socrates and Kritoboulos, Socrates asked, "Did you marry her when she was a very young girl and had seen and heard as little as possible" (16)? Since girls did not come to a man’s household with any knowledge it was the husband’s job to only fill her vessel with the knowledge that he wanted her to know. In this way, men believed that they had control over their wives’ lives. Although men felt that they had control over their wives’ lives, it seems unlikely that women came to their husbands without any knowledge about how to manage the household. No matter how sheltered a girl was raised she still must have picked up skills from her mother. Therefore, it is safe to assume that girls were deceiving their husbands about the skills they knew and were simply putting on an act of naivete so their husbands believed they were in control.

On the Relationship between Writing and Thinking

Stephen King’s On Writing serves as a memoir and a writing instructional book which provides King’s views regarding the relationship between writing and thinking through the discussion of the intrinsic rewards involved in the process of writing a text as well as the skills that one must master in order to become an effective writer. In line with this, what follows is a discussion of King’s thoughts regarding the relationship between writing and thinking in relation to creation of literary texts. According to King, writing is a product of intrinsic interests toward the act itself. He states, â€Å"I never set a single word down on paper with the thought of being paid for it†¦I have written because it fulfilled me†¦I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing† (King 248-9). Within this context, one might note that King perceived the writing process as a form of spiritual union with the self in the sense that it enables the individual to gain fulfillment and hence to a certain extent further knowledge and mastery of his self. The mastery of the self is achieved during the process of mastering the art of writing. Such an art however may only be mastered if the individual possesses the fundamental skills necessary in the process of writing a text. These skills are laid down by King by using the metaphor of a toolbox. He lays out a three-level expanding toolbox that his grandfather used during his childhood (King 21-55). On the top level of the toolbox are vocabulary and grammar which serve as the rudimentary tools that an individual ought to master before mastering creative writing. He states, â€Å"good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals† (King 144). King claims, that these tools are absorbed at a very young age and hence the initial tools for creative writing necessitates that an individual possesses good background knowledge and mastery of these rudimentary aspects. The second layer of King’s toolbox contains writing style and structure. He argues that once an individual has mastery of both vocabulary and grammar, it is possible for him to develop his own writing style as well as create his own structural style. This style however must continuously be developed through an individual’s continuous immersion on the various developments within the different genres of literature. The last level of King’s toolbox contains the act of writing itself. He claims, â€Å"if you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I am aware of, no shortcuts†¦There is a learning process going on† (King 145). Within this context, creative writing for King may be understood as the process of mastering and enjoying the writing process. King himself notes that â€Å"the skill necessary for creative writing comes from years of practice; the art comes from a creative imagination which is working hard and having fun† (King 195). The relationship between thinking and writing, for King, may thereby be seen as involving the process of mastering one’s craft through the continuous development and exercise of a creative mind. Such an exercise however does not imply that the writer ought to be fully absorbed in the literary world; it also requires the writer’s recognition and observation of the events that occur within both the private and public spheres of life. King notes that the relationship between the act of writing and thinking involves a contact between the author’s mind and the mind of the reader (106-7). Such a contact may only be achieved through the writer’s awareness of the events in world since like the characters and events within a literary text, a writer’s audience and the events surrounding his audience is continuously changing. King presents examples of how these observations have affected his works. He states, These deep interests†¦include how difficult it is†¦to close Pandora’s technobox once it’s open†¦; the question of why, if there is a God, such terrible things happen†¦; the thin line between reality and fantasy†¦;and most of all, the terrible attraction violence sometimes has for fundamentally good people. King 207) .In a sense, one might state that creative writing enables an individual’s discovery and knowledge of his self as it enables the individual to grapple with the fundamental issues involved in existence such as the morality of an action, the existence of moral standards, as well as other existential issues which a writer’s audience may either choose to confront or forget. Within the context of King’s explanation of creative writing as well as his explanation of the relationship between the author and the reader, it is possible to posit a view of literature as a chronicle of life. Literature serves as a chronicle of life not in the usual sense that it presents the history of an individual or the history of a nation but in the sense that it presents humanity’s continuous discovery of its existence as well humanity’s continuous discovery of its skills. The discovery of its existence is enabled through the additional views presented by literary texts regarding the sorrows, joys, and enigmas involved in human life and the discovery of the its skills is enabled through the additional styles that have developed in the various literary texts that have been published throughout the years.

Government Forms Of Government Essay - 948 Words

Forms of Government Nigeria is a federal republic, with a presidential system of government which includes the three arms of government namely the executive, legislative, judiciary. The executive arm of government is found at both the federal and state level. The federal level consist of the president, the vice president and members of the executive council. At the state level, the executive arm consists of the governor, deputy governor and members of the executive council. The main function of the executive arm of government is to implement laws made by the legislature, maintenance of law through the police department etc. The legislative arm of government is found both at the federal and state levels. The legislative arm of government at the federal level comprises of 109 senate member and 360 house of representative members elected from different states in the country but the president, deputy president, speaker and deputy speaker. The two house combined together makes up the Bicameral national assembly of the federation of Nigeria. At the state level the legislative arm is known as the house of assembly. The legislative arm has the power to make enact laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation of Nigeria. Laws made by the national assembly takes precedence over laws made by the house of assembly. The judiciary arm of government interprets the law and adjudicates if conflicts arises between the executive and legislature. It carries its functionShow MoreRelatedForms of Government Essay1104 Words   |  5 Pages Many different forms of government have existed throughout civilization. Theocracy, dictatorships, democracy, and many others have all had periods of time where they reigned as the government of choice. Arguments could be made in favor of each form of government. The key to finding the most viable form of government is to consider this: which form of government provides the most stability for the state? The stability of the state is based upon the foundation of the government. Shaky foundationsRead MoreNo Perfect Form of Government Essay2014 Words   |  9 PagesThe struggle to create the perfect government has been prevalent throughout human history, and has resulted in significant turbulence and bloodshed for mankind. Despite thousands of years of progress, the challenge to find the ideal government was still prevalent during the Enlightenment period. During the 18th century, numerous philosophers developed various new ideas about how the ideal government should perform its duties. Philosophers like John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau, for example, conceivedRead MoreForms Of Government And Its Effect On National Identity980 Words   |  4 PagesASSIGNMENT 1: FORMS OF GOVERNMENT Each country has its own unique form of government that helps shape its national identity but experts identify at least nine forms of governments. These are Communism, Marxism, Socialism, Monarchy, Republic, Dictatorship, Totalitarianism, Anarchy and Tyranny. All the other types are just modifications and improvements of these nine so that they can be suitable for that particular country. Communism, according to Remy Melina, is that form of government where in theRead MoreDifferent Forms Of Government Treat Their Citizens2121 Words   |  9 PagesThe amount of power that a government should have within a country has been argued throughout history. 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As a result, a guiding philosophy of government is subject to scrutinize in socialist government (www.ethics.org, 2009). Government According to Merriam Webster, Government is an agency, machinery or establishment through