The naval blockade established by the US during the Cuban missile Research Paper - 1

The naval blockade established by the US during the Cuban missile crisis was the most effective strategy that forced the Soviet Union to remove the missiles from Cuba - Research Paper Example It prevented them from conducting nuclear tests on earth’s outer space, in the atmosphere or even under water. China had so much potential of developing nuclear weapons, to further this; they signed an agreement with Moscow. China was to provide uranium ores to Moscow and in exchange get help to advance its nuclear technology. By 1950’s, China started developing these weapons on their own. This remarkable advancement in nuclear technology china was able to develop the first hydrogen bomb in 1967. In the succeeding years, the Cultural Revolutions disrupted weapon development but other sectors like scientific fields and educational ones experienced slow advancements. Extend to which china had developed in nuclear power advancements remains uncertain. These nuclear weapons developed increased insecurity in the whole world2. After the Second World War, USA was the leading power and had all the potential including nuclear power and well-trained and equipped army. The Soviet Union wanted to counter USA’s influence on the rest of the world, and therefore, they settled on forming nuclear weapons that would deploy effectively the entire European continent. Soviet Union placed their station in Cuba that was more strategically located and would favor the transportation of materials more easily. They had plotted a scheme on how they would invade on USA. the battlefield chosen would give the soviets more chance to win West Berlin into the soviet orbit3. The Soviet Union secretly started to work on building missiles from their location in Cuba. They wanted to build on military power that would be more accurate and reliable as contrasted to that of the USA. They had plans to destroy the whole of the US continent. The nuclear technologically assembled missiles would be the most powerful, giving Soviet Union considerable advantage over the USA. The missiles that the US had constructed were unreliable

The History Of Christopher Columbus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The History Of Christopher Columbus - Essay Example Prior to hardcore revelations made by Bigelow regarding the extraordinarily respectful public hero Columbus, the American nation strongly believed that Columbus was the courageous navigator who took great pains to travel around the world and discover the land of America, where he found the local people to be extremely co-operative, friendly, and understanding. The fresh and riveting information introduced by Bigelow in his revisionist history based on the voyage made by Columbus in 1492 has turned many persons’ heads and rustled up hot debates regarding which version of the voyage made by Columbus is weighty and credible, the old traditional one or the new not-so-pretty version. Comparing the conventional and modern versions regarding Columbus’s historical journey, one remains dumbfounded as to what to believe and what to reject as a fake piece of information. If on one hand, the conventional historical version presents an extremely noble, well-mannered, compassionate, and heroic version of Columbus, then on other hand, the modern version introduced by Bigelow is enough to fervently shake one’s beliefs about various actions made by Columbus to the point that one starts seeing oneself as a submissive fool, who readily took what was taught in the schools at mere face value. Traditional historical version is so designed as to overlook all the deficiencies in Columbus’s character and present him as a man of larger-than-life vision who was dedicated to the native residents of America and treated them with remarkable dignity, while taking great care to give them their space so that they could live their lives the way they were prior to the di scovery and arrival of Columbus and his men. Bigelow claims that first of all, the word discovery is in itself a laughably loaded word that does not relate in any way to Columbus, who was just travelling for personal gain and certainly ambitious to search for riches and gold that could be enjoyed by him and his heirs. It was just a mater of co-incidence that he came across the land which was to be named America later. Columbus’s main intention never remained traveling for the sake of discovery, rather he travelled in an order to search for ways that could make him powerful. T hunger for power and money is just proved by the way Columbus and his men treated the native residents of America. Columbus forced the native people to choose him as their governor and unjustifiably demanded 10% share in everything that was shipped to Spain. It was Columbus who actually initiated the slave trade and like a brutal tyrant that he was, demanded large amounts of gold from the native people. The conventional and modern historical versions differ so hugely that one finds oneself entrapped between the two utterly opposite schools of thought. Speaking of Columbus, (Bigelow) says that â€Å"he also deserves credit for initiating the trans-Atlantic slave trade, albeit in the opposite direction than we’re used to thinking of it.† In an attempt to get more and more students acquainted with the modern version of Columbus’s history, Bigelow lays stress on the fact that taking any piece of information at its face value is a highly detestable attitude which should be despised by every student. Bigelow encourages students to explore and contemplate at length nearly every widely accepted belief because only in this way, fresh and crisp facts can be exposed before the public. He deliberately chose the historical issue of Columbus and his actual intentions because he knew this would prove to be the most interesting way to get hold of the

Modern Mums International Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Modern Mums International Marketing Plan - Essay Example Established in 2000 by Mary Polion, Modern Mums is a small company situated in Dublin, specializing in maternity wear. The company has established sales in Ireland through establishment of outlets in department stores and other independent outlets. It hastily won recognition and sales for its modern clothes, which proved particularly popular with working-class women. It has established a good sales base in Ireland and is selling in the UK to such prestigious retailers such as Harrods, John Lewis and Selfridges. Today the company employs 80 people manufacturing and selling maternity wear for the Irish and the export markets. Until now, export activities have been concentrated in the UK market (primarily department stores like Harrods). The firm depends heavily on a personal approach to secure orders. Potential buyers receive a presentation on the range from Mary herself or from Celine Murphy, the firm’s Chief Designer. In recent years, Modern Mums has come under increasing inte rnational competitive pressure in both the domestic and UK markets. Chain stores from the UK and mainland Europe have made significant inroads in the Irish market. Several of the European chains use global sourcing and large volumes to keep prices down. Mary has decided to fight back by expanding her business to mainland Europe and has identified three countries including Germany, France and Italy. The most effective market among the three options the company has identified is Germany. This paper discusses the international marketing plan that Modern Mums can adopt to establish competitive advantage in Germany. Current Business Situation in Germany The prominent drivers of the maternity wear markets in Germany include fashion, consumer confidence and the increased income levels. According to Rama Rao, (2008), the maternity wear market grew over 1% in European countries within two years to 2009 to reach 140 million dollars. Germany is the largest clothing and maternity wear market in the European Union with an estimated purchase of 51 billion pounds. The German clothing industry forms the second largest consumer industry being excelled by food and beverage industry. Germany is the largest importer of maternity clothing in the European Union with the imports accounting for 90% of the maternity wear sold in Europe (Hauser, 2010:2). The market has not grown as strongly as the regular women’s wear maternity wear is relatively expensive. Statistics indicate that trousers are the most popular maternity wear item that is purchased in the market followed by tops and jeans. The difference in the popularity of these items is caused by the variation in age. Pregnant women under the age of 25 years would buy more jeans and tops compared to their elder counterparts. The increasing number of mature first time mothers i.e. between 25-35 years of age has widened the market for maternity wears targeting older women in Germany. Most of them are career people who would req uire an outfit that would enable them carry out their official duties without clothing stress. The increased preference of small families implies that people have more resources for spending during pregnancy than when handling larger families. Additionally, most German women are choosing to

Corruption in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corruption in the United States - Essay Example However, theoretical study shows that in the short run corruption may promote economic growth as a result of counteracting government’s failure. The failure of the government is itself a function of corruption and hence it will in the long run have detrimental effects on economic growth (Akai, Horiuchi & Sakata 29). The importance of corruption is in its ability to influence the roots of the economy. Corruption has consequences for both equity and efficiency and also erodes property rights. It strains business institutions thus poses threats to the economic benefits attributed to it. Corruption takes place in secrecy causing complications, in the nature of economic exchange. On the contrary, some early authors viewed corruption as a necessary grease to lubricate the wheels of stagnant government administration. Similarly, many other authors demonstrate how bribes enhance public administration efficiency by minimizing the costs associated with government labor and queuing (Kauf mann 45). Corruption is much more than a price mechanism; it causes reallocation of talents towards unproductive rent-seeking activities other than directing talents to entrepreneurial activities. In most cases, talented people compete for the highly payoffs within the economy. Micro evidence appears to suggest that corruption badly hampers development and deteriorates government performance. Corruption is vice that result to many effects affecting a large number of people (Kaufmann 45). USA is not an exception of corruption as it prevails in most of its states. In Connecticut, administration is at substantial risk of the state’s history worst scandal in corruption. Some of Connecticut three mayors and the treasure are in prison. A former Governors deputy chief accepted gold coins in return for government’s contracts; this is a clear evidence of corruption. Another example is that of a governor in Connecticut whose cottage renovations were carried out by private corpor ations in Litchfield. The examples depict Connecticut as a corrupt state. Historically states such as Louisiana, Illinois, Rhode Island and New Jersey have worst reputations for corruption. Recent statistics clearly indicate that Mississippi is the most corrupt state in USA while the least corrupt state in the country is Nebraska. Columbia is the most corrupt district in USA. However, most states are making remarkable efforts in the battle to fight corruption in order to enhance growth and development. The integrity index analyzes five key laws, which directly ensure combating corruption in the government and integrity. They include conflict of interest laws, whistleblower protection laws, gifts, trips and honoraria laws, information laws and campaign finance laws. These laws create transparency; accountability and limits thus fight corruption. Transparency International organization is also dedicated to combating corruption in USA. The world might not understand the exact extent of corruption in USA because the Justice Department’s statistics rarely get to the public. If the Justice Department sought to publicize they masterly work, it could go a long way to stop corruption (Mauro 23). Corruption arises from various causes such as personal motivations where people give bribes so as to get unjust advantage over the rest. Paying lower taxes, bribing to get a promotion or an

Debate Between The Epicureans And The Stoics Term Paper

Debate Between The Epicureans And The Stoics - Term Paper Example The Epicureans were contributed by Epicurus who was a Greek philosopher who lived between 341 BC and 270 BC. Epicurus founded the Garden in Athens in which he and his followers lived and practiced Epicurus’ philosophical ways of life. At the entrance of this place, they hanged a writing stating that Stranger, here you will do well to tarry. Here our highest good is pleasure’1. From this writing among others, the Epicureans are considered hedonists who believe that humanity should fulfill their earthly desires and pleasures and should never try or live according to the will of God in the same way as the Stoics. In other words, they note that humanity should try to live in some sort of happiness and pleasure while they are still on earth or before their death. Notably, the contribution attributed to these two schools of thoughts can be narrowed down to the Aristotelian school of thought that dictates that "the sort of person one is and the lifestyle one adopts will indeed have an immediate bearing on the actions one performs." Nonetheless, the Stoic is more plausible than the Epicureans school of thought. The Epicurean school of thought is divided into two axial lines of desires including natural and unnatural fulfillments. Some of these fulfillments may be considered necessary in life while others are considered unnecessary. Form these distinctions; it is apparent only some of the natural and necessary desires can be fulfilled while the other branch of categories, the unnatural and unnecessary desires are irrelevant and cannot be fulfilled. Nearly all the unnatural and unnecessary class of desires prescribed by Epicureans never exists. This is because only what natural desires are truly necessary and they are what exist. In other words, even the natural and unnecessary desires are never vital to the human life; thus, they must be considered void since they never satisfy human needs but they can only lead to confusion and disturbance of inner self s ufficient or the autarkeia2. Notably, from this classification of desires, it is apparent that their something or desires that are never necessary in human life and living them as means of self-fulfillment will only lead to destabilization of an individual’s inner self sufficiency. These two schools of thoughts also address their concerns on pleasure. Epicureanism classifies sexual intercourse as natural but unnecessary desire. In this case, Epicurus does not spell out total abstinence from sexual pleasures, but he thinks that such pleasure should be sampled carefully so that they are not confused with natural and necessary human desires. Epicurus once stated "Sexual intercourse never helped anyone, and one must be satisfied if it has not harmed3." In other words, he was noting that natural but unnecessary desires should be enjoyed while balancing such acts carefully in clear thinking minds. According Epicurus, for an individual â€Å"To enjoy these unnecessary desires and t o not make of them necessities, to take free pleasure in the unnecessary, this is the highest achievement4." However, this contribution varies Stoics that states that former believes makes make a person more virtuous that they can easily and effective sample natural and unnecessary without them being overwhelmed by these choices. In other words, Stoics contributes the fact that all human desires are governed by some natural forces that humanity must be answerable to; thus, it worth examining and individuals’ experience in order to define his or her next move. Additionally, Stoics argue that pleasure may lead threaten an individual tranquility; thus, it should be avoided at all costs. Additionally, other than pleasure, these two schools o

Decisions in Paradise, Part I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Decisions in Paradise, Part I - Essay Example Surely, what lacks in Kava that would discourage the giant coffeehouse company from setting its subsidiary in the island? Like it is reflected in the mission statement of the company, Starbucks main drive to establish a presence in Kava is to ensure profitable operation of the company and to contribute to the betterment of social and economic welfare of the islanders (Kava population). Behind every attractive business opportunity, there are numerous business risks. Therefore, it is imperative to critically examine the probable risks that Starbuck is likely to encounter prior to making a crucial decision of establishing its presence in Kava. Initiating business on an island that is an epitome of an area under constant wrath of natural disasters is quite a huge gamble to take. Kava is in a mess and people are obviously exited with the tragedy they have been experiencing, which poses a great challenge for new business set up in the area. To begin with, one of the most apparent challenge s that the company will encounter when trying to establish its presence in Kava is prevalent disaster threats. Kava is known to be under constant threat of tidal waves, typhoons, tornadoes, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, HIV/AIDS, avian flu, terrorism and petroleum spill. These would most likely affect the company’s operation processes. As such, it would be crucial for the company to employ effective research team to study and recommend a location which exhibits minimal exposure to natural disasters. The company should also establish an effective medical team to ensure that cases of avian flu and HIV/AIDS risks are well taken care of. Another possible problem that is likely to affect the company concerns human resources. Over 50 percent of the population of Kava constitutes young individuals below 15 years of age. As such, the company faces a huge challenge concerning recruitment. To counter this problem, the company will develop part-time employment initiati ves for those who are under 16 years of age. Ethical business practice is another key challenge that the company will have to reckon with. First, greater percentage of the island’s population is below 15 years of age. This poses a big challenge on employee engagement. The company will have to ensure that it does not violate the minimum age requirement when recruiting workers. The majority of the country’s population is under 15 years, which exposes the company to numerous suits for using child labor. Another consideration that the company will have to make is upholding ethical production practices. In the contemporary world, many companies are establishing their presence in both domestic and international markets by preaching â€Å"going green† gospel (Mullerat, 2010). According to Horrigan (2010), the going green concept is politically oriented compelling organizations to exhibit their social corporate responsibility by showing their green credentials demonstra ting their positive contribution towards sustainability and community development. Starbuck has principles that drive its mission, which is in line with social corporate responsibility requirements. â€Å"Our coffee† principle emphasizes on quality while â€Å"our partners† principles concentrates on respect and dignity in its operations. The company ensures perfect human connection in dealing with its customers and models its stores

Investigative journalism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Investigative journalism - Assignment Example Different stories were heard as the case in Baghdad was different from what officials had promised to be the case. Screams of death could be heard in different corners and alleys of the city as the citizens were gripped with fear. Back home, American officials who were interviewed never though the necessary to mention the laws of wars in the different speeches whereas the Iraqi government was opposing the air strikes campaign with dead bodies littered in every corner of their streets. The hospitals were a horrific site to witness as Iraqi televisions broadcasted civilians who were either injured or maimed in different parts thus creating the scene as a blood scene. What next? The American government was quick to announce that the government of Iraqi had built their bases amidst civilian population therefore conflicts their earlier statements that civilians in the region were to be kept safe from harm caused by the air strikes. The responses from the two government sides further added to the point that during times of war, laws are assumed or considered to be irrelevant. Citizens in different parts of the world believe in rules or laws during war. This is true in spite of them also different the laws governing the terms of war but the force applied in any war. However, as much there is memorandum that controls the rules of war, there exists disagreements on who has the authority to declare war and enforce war rules when situations calls for the element of war. In sum, who owns the element of war in a country or a