FLQ Crisis Essay -- essays research papers

On October 5, 1970, British trade commissioner James Cross was kidnapped in his Westmount home by members of the terrorist group Front de liberation du Quebec. The FLQ Manifesto called for non-democratic separation to be brought about by acts of terror. From 1963 to 1967, the FLQ planted 35 bombs; from 1968 to 1970 they planted over 50 bombs. By the fall of 1970 the terrorist acts of the FLQ cells had claimed 6 lives. The kidnappers' demands included the release of a number of convicted or detained FLQ members and the broadcasting of the FLQ Manifesto. The Manifesto was read on Radio-Canada. Then, on October 10th, the Quebec minister of justice guaranteed safe passage to anywhere in the world for the kidnappers in exchange for the safe release of Cross. That same day Pierre Laporte, a famed Quebec reporter, author of The True Face of Duplessis, and the minister of immigration and labour in the Quebec government, was kidnapped by a different FLQ cell on the lawn of his suburban home. Laporte's kidnapping triggered a phone call from Liberal Premier Robert Bourassa asking Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to prepare the Canadian Armed Forces for action in Quebec and to declare War Measures. Two days later, October 12, Trudeau summoned armed troops to guard potential targets in Ottawa and Montreal such as cabinet ministers, John Diefenbaker, who was on the FLQ hit list, and federal buildings. On the following day, October 13, Peter Reilly of CJOH and I were at the west door of the Centre Block of the House of Commons. Reilly was asking Trudeau some basic questions in a laconic, unemotional style about the army and tanks being in Ottawa. Suddenly we were joined by CBC reporter Tim Ralfe who asked Trudeau a very emotional question about his decision to invoke the War Measures Act. Pierre Trudeau interview An angry Trudeau replied: "There's a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go on and bleed." "How far are you going to go?" Ralfe insisted."Just watch me!" said Trudeau. And Canadians across the country watched as, at 3 o'clock in the morning, Friday, October 16, Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. The Press Gallery was packed. Trudeau was careful, cold, analytic - and brilliant. The invocation of the War Measures Act meant the suspension of traditional Canadian civil l... ...erre LaPorte, the Quebec Minister of Labour, and James Cross, The British Trade Commissioner to Canada, were kidnapped by the FLQ. Prime Minister Trudeau put into effect the War Measures Act for the first time in Canadian history during peace time. He did this without consulting parliament. However, parliament voted three days later to approve the use of the act. The civil liberties of the citizens of Canada were suspended while the act was in force. In a few cities, officials used the WMA to clean up the streets, picking up "undesirables" and throwing them into jail. More than 450 people were jailed in Quebec for suspected connections to the FLQ. Most were later released without any charges being laid. After the War Measures Act was put into effect, no other public figures in Canada were kidnapped. Eventually Pierre Laporte was murdered by his captors and Cross was released unharmed after his kidnappers were flown to exile in Cuba. But for many in Quebec, the question was raised : what might the federal government do if Quebec ever did decide to leave Canada... the use of the army in the streets and t he loss of civil liberties left a bad taste in many people's mouths.

The Scopes Monkey Trial Research Paper

The Scopes Trial Today evolution is taught in public schools in America, but it has not always been that way. The legal battle that led to the teaching of evolution in public schools has been a very long one. Creationism was taught in public schools until the late 19th century. Following Darwin’s theories being introduced in 1859 many began to accept evolution during the 1860’s. This would continue in America until a flamboyant, Christian, lawyer named William Jennings Bryan campaigned against the teaching of evolution.Bryan found supporters very easily because of a grassroots movement in America following World War I; which was a vast change in society that led people towards a simpler and more religious lifestyle. This movement led several states to create laws banning the teaching of evolution in public schools. Bryan and his movement was of course opposed by many which led to the legal battles that have taken America from a non-evolution teaching society to the evol ution teaching society it is today. In this paper I will discuss the first major court case that brought significant national attention to these laws.The first major court case that brought significant attention to the laws banning the teaching of evolution in public schools is â€Å"The Scopes Trial† or â€Å"The Monkey Trial† in Dayton, TN in 1925. This trial was the State of Tennessee vs John Thomas Scopes, who was a high school football coach that was also a substitute. Although this case would turn out to be more about Scopes breaking a law than the teaching of evolution in public schools; it was significant in bringing national attention to the laws.After the state of Tennessee passed the Butler Act, which banned the teaching of anything that contradicted the idea of creationism from the Bible, there was a group of businessmen from Dayton, TN who felt they could bring business and attention to their small town thanks to the new law. They devised a plan to find a local teacher willing to oppose the law by teaching evolution in the classroom. They were able to find such a teacher in John Thomas Scopes; Scopes was the perfect candidate. He was young (25), new to teaching (first year), new to town, and was well liked by the towns people.It took little convincing to get Scopes to oppose the law and he did so while substituting a high school biology class. When knowledge of Scopes teaching evolution was made public he was arrested and taken to trial. The trial quickly grew in fame when two of America’s most prominent lawyers took the case. William Jennings Bryan volunteered to serve as the prosecutor for the State of Tennessee which led to Clarence Darrow becoming the Defending lawyer in the case. Darrow was a famous Agnostic, defense, lawyer who wanted to prove Bryan wrong more so than to prove Scope’s innocence.With the new â€Å"celebrity† lawyers on board for the trial; the case quickly gained fame. The business men of Da yton, Tennessee were quickly pleased to see their plan had worked. There were vendors, tourist, and media flocking to Dayton for the trial. The vendors were selling hot dogs, and water outside of the courthouse. The many curious people who came to Dayton to witness the trial caused the town to be flooded with people. All of the hotels were so full it led to many members of the media staying in a warehouse and sleeping on the floor.For the first time there was a national radio broadcast from the courtroom of the trial and the trial was recorded on film. There were so many people in the courtroom that the weight caused the support beams to buckle in the courthouse. The buckling of the beams lead to the trial being held outside one day; then returning inside with a limited amount of people able to attend. During the jury selection Darrow quickly realized he was at odds. It was hard to find an unbiased jury in Dayton Tennessee because the vast majority of residents were Christians and w as neducated on what evolution is. They saw evolution as a direct threat to their religion rather than a scientific theory. The jury ended up being made up of farmers who were mostly illiterate with the majority being church goers; six were Baptist, four Methodist, one Church of Christ, and one was a non-church goer. Since Darrow knew he could not prove that Scopes was innocent of breaking the law. He would rather try to prove that the law itself was unconstitutional; and decided to make his case based on science versus ignorance.He had planned on calling in several scientific scholars as witnesses to argue the topic of evolution over creationism but the judge deemed this unreasonable. The judge did not allow the witnesses and said that the case was about the law and not evolution. This was the case for Darrow but not for Bryan. Bryan argued that creationism was true and spent most of his time in court preaching from the Bible. Bryan even preached to the public on the courthouse ste ps and in the local Methodist church while he was in Dayton.This tactic won over the local people and even the defendant. Scopes was quoted saying â€Å" Bryan was a powerful speaker†. With Bryan’s tactics being allowed by the judge and going over well with the jury and local people Darrow saw only one way to â€Å"win†. Instead of trying to keep Scopes from being convicted he would make his case into a personal vendetta against Bryan’s beliefs. When Darrow presented his defense he called one witness; Bryan. This was a shock to everyone in the court as well as around the country.The judge allowed it as long as Bryan was okay with it. Bryan agreed so he took the stand to be questioned by Darrow. Darrow made the most of his opportunity and questioned the faith that Bryan held so dear. He began by asking him about stories from the Bible and how old the Earth was. He then delved deeper into the creation theory; asking if Bryan knew how long it took God to cre ate the Earth, if the days that were spoke of in Genesis were man’s days or God’s days, and if they differed. Of course; Bryan could not answer truthfully, only guess.This led to Bryan acknowledging that the periods of creation in Genesis could have possible been millions of years rather than days. This gave ground to the theory of evolution to be included in the creationist’s idea of the beginning. The day after Darrow questioned Bryan the judge ordered the testimony to be absolved from the case. He said that it had no bearings on the case. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. Even though Darrow was unable to prove Scopes innocence he was able to show a chink in the armor of the creationist claims against evolution and make a bigger name for himself.Bryan died five days after the trial in Dayton Tennessee while taking a nap after lunch. Darrow appealed the case to the State Supreme Court in an attempt to get the law deemed unconstitutional. The Supreme Court found that Scopes should not have been fined but did not retry him. It was not until 1965 when the American Civil Liberties Union made a case against the state of Arkansas that the Supreme Court ruled that laws against the teaching of evolution were unconstitutional. Works CitedCrewe, Sabrina and Michael V. Uschan. The Scopes â€Å"Monkey† Trial. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2005. Print. Groce, Eric, Tina L. Heafner and Katherine A. O'Connor. â€Å"Monkey Business: Teaching the Scopes Evolution Trial. † Social Studies Research ;amp; Practice (2011): 107-128. Print. Lovorn, Michael G. â€Å"Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial. † Social Studies Research ;amp; Practice (2009): 99-106. Print. Singham, Mano. God vs. Darwin. Plymouth: Roman and Littlefield Education, 2009. Book.

Ap American History Essay

1. â€Å"The opponents of the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War attacked slavery as the root cause of expansion, but in fact it was no more important than other causes.† Assess the validity of this statement, using the documents and your knowledge of U.S. history from 1820-1860 to support your answer. During the early-mid part of the 19th century (mainly 1820-1860) Americans objected many things they didn’t like. Taxes, the government, even presidents were some of the rejections of the people. But the one thing the people did not like during this time period was the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War. â€Å"The opponents of the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War attacked slavery as the root cause for expansion.† However, slavery was not the only reason America sought for expansion. Other than slavery, people wanted to expand America because they believed in Manifest Destiny (an idea during the 19th century in which people believed that America should expand over the entirety of North America) or because they feared that Texas was an independent state, even the Gold Rush in California (1848-1855) contributed to the expansion of America. Even though â€Å"the opponents of the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War attacked slavery as the root cause of expansion† the idea of Manifest Destiny, fear, and the Gold Rush were other important causes for expansion. As you may know, slavery was the key reason as to why people wanted to expand America, especially southerners. Abolitionists (people who were against slavery) did not like the idea that the expansion of America was based on slavery, but it was. In Document B it states, â€Å"Texas†¦will strengthen ‘the peculiar institution’ of the South, and open a new and vast field for slavery.† Many southerners wanted Texas to be annexed to America because it would allow the south to have more slave states (states that allowed slavery). However, people feared that if Texas was annexed, slavery would expand everywhere in America, and they did not want that. Document C also talks about slavery. It states that, â€Å"The slave population of America†¦must be increased.† Texas is annexed; it will benefit the South in moving some slaves out of the â€Å"superabundant slave population† and will ultimately improve the living conditions of slaves because they wou ldn’t be as crowded. You see, slavery was an important cause for expansion, but the idea of manifest destiny was just as important. The idea of manifest destiny came about the early part of the 19th century. People who believed in manifest destiny believed that America should be able to expand to the entirety of North America. In Document A, Thomas Hart Benson says, â€Å"†¦the American population has begun to extend itself to the Oregon [Territory]†¦I say to them all, Go on!† People like Mr. Benson want America to expand because they want the world to show the world how prosperous America is. In Document D, John L. O’Sullivan said, â€Å"A population will soon be in actual occupation of California.† In this document, Sullivan was talking about the California Gold Rush (1848- 1855). Since many people on the eastern side of America have been hearing about the sightings of gold in California, many people decided to venture out to California to collect some of it. Thousands of people rushed to California that it was given the term â€Å"gold rush†. The gold rush allowed America to expand itself into California, which was supported by the manifest destiny believers. Document E also talks about the ideas of manifest destiny. It states, â€Å"We ought to have the Bay of San Francisco! Why? Because†¦I think†¦our people [should move there]!† The author of Document E obviously believed in the idea of manifest destiny because he wants to see people in San Francisco, which is in California. The manifest destiny idea helped encourage people to have more pride in their nation, which allowed them to expand from the East coast of America to the West. However, not every idea of expansionism was happy. Others people wanted to expand America because of fear. In Document F it states, â€Å"None can fail to see the danger to our safety and future peace if Texas remains an independent state, or becomes an ally or dependency of some foreign nation more powerful than herself.† After Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1835, Texas could not cede the American Union because it needed to enter America with a free state (a state with no slavery) because of the Missouri Compromise (the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 in which stated that there would be no slavery in the Louisiana Territory above the 36th parallel). Since there were no other states to enter with Texas, Texas had to remain as an independent state for about ten years (1835- 1845). During that time, people urged for a state to enter as a free state with Texas because, since Texas was not a part of America, it could do whatever it wanted. Things like joining a d ifferent nation or starting a war with America were options that were available for Texas. That is why many people wanted Texas to join as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Texas joined with Iowa in 1845. You see, slavery was not the only cause for expansion in America. The idea of Manifest Destiny and fear allowed the expansion of America, even the Gold Rush encouraged people to settle in California, allowing America to expand from the east coast to the west.

10 Steps To Draft A Blog Outline In 10 Easy Minutes

10 Steps To Draft A Blog Outline In 10 Easy Minutes Do you swear that you do a better job writing if you don’t plan and instead, just write in the moment? You may feel  better about your writing experience when you do that, but that doesn’t make the actual writing better. When you are trying to inform or create a structured outcome from your blog post, more planning is better. Outlining what you’re about to write isn’t done the same way by every writer. Outlining, at its barest, is you knowing ahead of time the general idea of what you’re going to write. It’s the road map, the skeleton, the structure, the foundation- you take your pick. Either way, if you’re serious about blogging, some form of blog outline  process should be in your writing toolbox. The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution For The Best Blog Outline via @JulieNeidlingerHow Blog Outlines Help In a previous post, How Planning Your Blog Content Can Help You Get More Done, I laid out an argument for planning in terms of how it can help you save time. However, planning your content with a blog outline can do more than help you save time- it can help you be a better writer. It can help you train your thought process and keep you from growing a wandering thought process. It also helps you get past writer’s block. Blog outlines are the perfect solution to prevent writer's block. #bloggingThe practicing of outlining is beyond mere planning. It’s a conscious devotion to developing an idea, logically and persuasively. One thing I find very helpful with setting up a basic blog outline, particularly for posts that I need to do a lot of research for, is that I can plug links, snippets, and notes into places on the outline and worry about writing after all the research is done. In this situation, the blog outline helps me know what to look for and what search terms to use. This is a real time saver. There are few things I dread as a writer than a random and orderless collection of research links and notes. The outline lets me write in orderly piecemeal, one section at a time. When I am done, I can go back and streamline the post as a whole so it doesn’t read so choppy. The 10-Minute Blog Post Outline Traditional outlines have a pattern: Main point Point beneath it. Second point. Point beneath it. Next main point. etc. This doesn’t look like a whole lot of fun. It looks like homework. But good news: You don’t have to follow this rather strict approach to outlining. You only have to understand the basic idea that is at work in blog outlines, and apply a flexible version to your blogging. 1. Find the Big Idea Your post isn’t a collection of main stand-alone points (unless it is a list post  of that nature), but with supported points that are related and point back to the Big Idea. If you have lots of Big Ideas in one blog post, you will have a disjointed blog post that would be better broken up into separate posts. What’s a Big Idea? It’s the thing you base your headline on. You can only have one Big Idea per post. So with outlining, you take your Big Idea (headline), break that Big Idea into a handful of Key Points, and then support those key points. What’s a Key Point? A key point is a car without wheels. It needs the rest of the wheels to go anywhere. Together, your key points lead the reader to a conclusion or place of understanding. On their own, they are merely interesting facts or ideas. So what does a ten-minute blog outline approach look like? Remember, you’re not writing the post in ten minutes, but outlining it so it is easier to write. Blog outlines are cars. Key points are the wheels. You won't move  without knowing the destination.2. Understand what the end result must be The first thing is to approach your blog post not with the actual content at all, but understanding what you want from the post. You might ask yourself: Who will be reading it? What do you want them to take from it? Do you have specific research or data that you need to include? What kind of questions does that data beg to be answered? How many ways can that data be interpreted? How many angles can that data be applied to? What call to action (CTA) will you be using? How do you structure the post so that the CTA feels like a solution to your reader? Since any one topic can go in multiple directions, it’s a good idea to know where you want to end up when you build the structure, or you won’t end up anywhere close. 3. List what you have  to mention Depending on what your goal is, there might be specific things you might have to mention. Make a list of them. For example, it might be specific data, like I mentioned in step one. Perhaps your team has gathered up various data from your website analytics. It’s up to you to decide what context you are going to give this data, but whatever you choose, you have to include it. â€Å"Jim, we’ve seen an increase in traffic ever since we changed our site’s header design. Here’s the data. We think it would make an interesting blog post.† Or, perhaps you’ve agreed to feature the infographic or some product announcement from another brand. Whatever the case, if you have a specific piece of information that has to be in the post, you need to center the post around it or it will seem awkwardly added on. Not all blog posts will make use of this step. 4. Figure out what you don’t know If you’re writing a post on a topic and there’s something you want to know but don’t, your reader will feel the same. Make a list of those questions. For example, on a post about using outlines, I might have written: Who started blog outlines? Why? What were they hoping to achieve? How many different outlining techniques are there? When shouldn’t you use an outline? Are there exceptions? I often start blog posts on topics that I’m not readily familiar with by listing questions (I’ll talk more about this in a bit). While I may not use the answers to those questions in the final post, it’s a good place to start research and structure, and you’re going to need it when you build the scaffolding of the outline. Figure out what  complementary info you don't know before you write. It builds credibility.5. Figure out what you do know Write down as headings, phrases, or singular sentences the things you do know. And by â€Å"know†, I mean the things you know as facts or the ideas you’d like to promote whether you have facts to back them  up, or it’s merely an approach you want to take to point your reader in a particular direction. You aren’t writing the post here, so keep it brief. This is only meant to help you structure things for the outline, so avoid writing paragraphs. For example, for this post on blog outlines I might write: Helps me stay on track Outlines keep logic front and center Helps you find weak points where you don’t have support Format can be fluid You won’t necessarily use all of it, but write it down. If you use brainstorming to jumpstart your ideas, some of what you discover during that process may be helpful. For example, mind mapping can reveal several possible paths a topic could take. Choose just one path to follow; with outlining, you are wrangling that broad brainstorming swath into a linear path. 6. Organize all of the lists into related groups Look at the lists you made in steps three, four, and five. It’s time to put order to that mess. Start at the top, and write down your Big Idea as a placeholder headline. It might be helpful to jot down your end goal from step two. Then look your lists, and began moving the items on these lists into groupings of related content. For example, I might look at the lists and decide there are groupings for: History of outlining What outlines do for writers How to outline Using outlines creatively Tools for making outlines I won’t necessarily use all of those sections in the final blog post. It will depend on whether it really fits with the Big Idea and end goal, as well as other restrictions, such as final word count limits. If you’re selling an outlining tool to your reader, for example, they may not really care about the history of outlining and you’ll want to cut that copy so as not to get in the way of copy pointing to a sale. Combine what you know, don't know, audience's needs, and what you want to cover in your outline.If you find a grouping that is made up of only one item, get rid of it. It’s going to be too weak to stand on its own, and it clearly doesn’t fit the Big Idea very well because there was nothing else it paired with. When you do form groupings, you start to see how almost any blog post has the capability of being long-form or short-form, depending on what you decide to do in the next step. 7. Create summarizing headings Now that you’ve grouped all of your potential content, give each grouping a heading that summarizes what it’s about. This isn’t likely to be the heading you use in the final post. It’s mainly meant to be helpful in deciding what stays and what gets cut, and how to write that section. 8. Reorder and cut the heading groups Start to order your groups in a way that fits logically, flowing down from the Big Idea into your end goal. You might want your blog post to persuade, to sell, or to inform. You may want to present your information in terms of cause-and-effect, problem-and-solution, or compare-and-contrast. You can do so much with how a post ends up simply by what you do in this step. If you get the arrangement correct, when you write the post, you’ll stay on the path. Outlining helps writers stay on point and stay focused. If you don’t cut material that doesn’t fit, your outline is loose and will lead you astray. 9. Refine each heading group At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of what your post is going to be about. You have your Big Idea, and you have the sections of copy that will support that big idea topped by a guiding heading. By arranging the groups earlier, you committed to an angle. Rework the headings to help you, the writer, write copy to that angle. Again, this is likely not the final heading the reader sees, but one that gives you direction. Your final heading might be "The 10-Minute Blog Post Outline System", but the one you used while writing it might have been "The Basics Of Outlining". 10. Start writing your draft At this point, you’re ready to write the post. You know where you’re headed, you know where you will end up. You know specifically what you need to research, and where to dump that research back in your draft. You know that your own ideas are where they should be and you don’t have to worry about forgetting to include them. An outline like this will make much better use of your time. The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution For The Best Blog OutlineWhy I Use This Approach To Outlining Outlining should be like cartilage: strong but flexible. It should provide support, but be malleable enough to adjust it to different blog post scenarios. I don’t use every step every time. But I do use the steps listed above in some form. Most blog posts I write are often assigned topics, and not on what I’m writing from â€Å"gut feelings.† This outlining approach where I gather what comes to mind (what I know) and what I need to find out (what I don’t know) has kept me from writer’s block every single time. I don’t always magically feel inspired, but I do know this process will help me do the work. How To Prevent Writer's Block With A 10-Step Blog Outline SystemEssentially, this outlining system helps you embrace the questions you have about something, instead of fearing the fact that you don’t know a topic. And then this method gives you a system to help organize that along with the ideas that pop into your head. Sometimes, as I’m researching a section, a thought comes to mind that I simply couldn’t have come up with until I started researching. Because I have an outline at work for the post, I simply drop that thought into the section it belongs and come back to it later when I work on that section. This approach is flexible enough to allow for thoughts that occur to you along the way. In other words, you can keep making use of the blog outline until you no longer have to. Put it to work, you can learn a lot by dissecting the work of others. Find a few blog posts you enjoy, or posts of yours that you think were either successful (or not). Break them into outlines. See if you can spot what technique is at work (or not at work). If the post is well-outlined and it reads well, mimic the approach in your next blog post. How Will You Write Your Next Blog Outline? Outlining, particularly for long-form blog posts, is a necessary part of your process. It gets a bad rap because we think of outlining as what we learned in school, full of Roman numerals, numbers, and letters. In reality, it’s about organizing information into groupings and finding the best linear arrangement of those groupings. The end result of creating a blog outline before writing your blog post is making you a better writer, and making your writing better for your reader. The best part? You can do it all with right in our custom editor, or even connecting your Google Docs or Evernote with the workflow you already rock for creating awesome content.

Understanding Soft Power in U.S. Foreign Policy

Understanding Soft Power in U.S. Foreign Policy Soft power is a term used to describe a nations use of co-operative programs and monetary aide to persuade other nations to ascribe to its policies. With U.S. State Department budget cuts likely in the wake of the August 2, 2011 debt ceiling deal, many observers expect soft-power programs to suffer. Origin of the Phrase "Soft Power" Dr. Joseph Nye, Jr., a noted foreign policy scholar, and practitioner coined the phrase soft power in 1990. Nye has served as the Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; Chairman of the National Intelligence Council; and Assistant Secretary of Defense in Bill Clintons administration. He has written and lectured extensively on the idea and usage of soft power. Nye describes soft power as the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion. He sees strong relations with allies, economic assistance programs, and vital cultural exchanges as examples of soft power. Obviously, soft power is the opposite of hard power. Hard power includes the more noticeable and predictable power associated with military force, coercion, and intimidation. One of the main objectives of foreign policy is to get other nations to adopt your policy goals as their own. Soft power programs can often influence that without the expense- in people, equipment, and munitions- and animosity that military power can create. Examples of Soft Power The classic example of American soft power is the Marshall Plan. After World War II, the United States pumped billions of dollars into war-ravaged western Europe to prevent it from falling to the influence of the Communist Soviet Union. The Marshall Plan included humanitarian aid, such as food and medical care; expert advice for rebuilding destroyed infrastructures, such as transportation and communication networks and public utilities; and outright monetary grants. Educational exchange programs, such as President Obamas 100,000 Strong initiative with China, are also an element of soft power and so are all varieties of disaster assistance programs, such as flood control in Pakistan; earthquake relief in Japan and Haiti; tsunami relief in Japan and India; and famine relief in the Horn of Africa. Nye also sees American cultural exports, such as movies, soft drinks, and fast-food chains, as an element of soft power. While those also include the decisions of many private American businesses, U.S. international trade and business policies enable those cultural exchanges to occur. Cultural exchanges repeatedly impress foreign nations with the freedom and openness of U.S. business and communication dynamics. The Internet, which reflects American freedom of expression, is also a soft power. President Obamas administration has reacted harshly to attempts of some nations to curb the Internet to eliminate the influence of dissidents, and they readily point to the effectiveness of social media in encouraging the rebellions of Arab Spring. As such, Obama recently introduced his International Strategy for Cyberspace. Budget Problems for Soft Power Programs? Nye has seen a decline in the United States use of soft power since 9/11. The wars of Afghanistan and Iraq and the Bush Doctrines use of preventive warfare and unilateral decision making have all eclipsed the value of soft power in the minds of people at home and abroad. Given that perception, budget woes make it likely that the U.S. State Department- coordinator of most of Americas soft power programs- will take another financial hit. The State Department already suffered $8 billion in cuts to the remainder of its FY 2011 budget in April 2011 when the president and Congress made a deal to avoid a government shutdown. The August 2, 2011, debt ceiling deal which they reached to avoid a debt default calls for $2.4 trillion in spending cuts over by 2021; that amounts to $240 billion in cuts each year. Soft power supporters fear that, because military spending became so predominant in the 2000s, and because the State Department accounts for only 1% of the federal budget, it will likely be an easy target for cuts.

Walmart Foreign Expansion Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Walmart Foreign Expansion Case Study - Essay Example The company adapted practices to fit the nature of Mexico market before transforming the market culture of American practices. However, the company has been criticized for bribery cases in the establishment of outlets in Mexico involving the executives. The company has fought these allegations through internal investigations as well as inviting other authorities not only for Mexico but also other markets which promote Walmart’s reputation. The company faced difficulties in penetrating the Japan market due to strong government protection for the local firms. The company has adopted some local practices that have promoted growth through acquired local firms. The same is observed in the China’s market that where company has adopted labor practices and considerations for customer tastes and preferences. The company has however failed in the Germany and Korea markets due to failure of adapting practices in accordance to the nature of markets in these countries. For instance, in Germany, the company disregarded labor practices and failed to hire locals to enhance management. The company also failed to improve the quality of the products and items offered. Walmart could not succeed in other countries by adopting its wholesome merchandising strategy. This is because the global markets present different factors that are not observed in the American market. Different countries have varied cultures, economic conditions and other factors that shape tastes and preferences of the locals. Firms that would succeed in these markets should satisfy the customer needs and therefore a flexible merchandising strategy is appropriate for use to promote success. Following this, Walmart would apply part of its marketing strategy that is valid for to a country and adopt other local practices to the company’s strategy. Failure to apply flexible marketing strategy, the company would experience

Extensive Review and Analysis of Nursing Leadership Assignment

Extensive Review and Analysis of Nursing Leadership - Assignment Example The management is boosted by effective control that is geared towards directing personnel to perform their task at the right time. In many cases, this type of leadership focuses on short-term planning. Since it involves short terms planning, they have to achieve their goals in the short terms, in order to structure other objectives. For instance, in implementing this leadership element in a long term facility, horizontal management has to be implemented. Though there is less reliance on this type of leadership, it is proving to be effective in management. In this transactional leadership, there is frequent restructuring and control of the personnel. For instance, in a long term facility, nurses have to be managed in ensuring all the queues in a facility are served. This is a short term goal that may be done on a daily basis. When the queues are seen to be in constant motion and receiving services, the management is in control. However, in instances where there are stagnant queues, it is admissible that the nurses are working at a slow pace. In such a case, many people might not get the services from the facility. In a long term facility, juniors and any other person below the leader should be obedient to the instructions. The leaders act as a formal authority designed to manage and control all the staff under the manager. As such, the people below the manager constantly obey any directive that is given. In a conservative explanation, the junior staff below the manager may be considered followers. The responsibility of creating directions, organizing responsibility, and making decisions is solely obligated to the top managers (Grossman and Valiga, 2005). For instance, nurses work under doctors in a... This paper stresses that The leaders are required to show others what should be done in certain situations. For instance, when there is a hygiene problem in a long term facility, a servant leader may come in handy. A leader that starts to clean a dirty environment while the other junior staff members are around instills some discipline. This will trigger their conscience to act appropriately. In the mean time, the junior staff members may find it hard to leave their leader to do some odd jobs. To avert the situation, they may follow suit in cleaning. In this scenario, the leader does more of a servant role than leading the people. There are various assumptions that are considered in this leadership, in reflection to long term facilities. The first assumption is that leadership is instilled through doing what a leader wants others to do. This report makes a conclusion that nursing is a vital subject in ensuring the world is healthy and stable. With diminishing quality of services in the nursing profession, people may not acquire the best from the profession. Therefore, it needs a structured leadership style that will ensure all the activities are done accordingly. For instance, in areas where they register large numbers of patients, the leadership style should ensure the nurses serve people with zeal. This will ensure all the people are served to utter optimum. Similarly, in areas where most of the work done is volunteer work, a servant leader would be appropriate. A leader who leads by example would encourage other people to do the same.