Traditionally, international relations is defined as the study of interstate behavior. The causes of war and conditions for peace have historically centered on the state. However, this traditional view has largely been challenged by the emergence and development of a globalist perspective. This viewpoint stresses the global effects that local actions have, and explores the motivations and consequences of individual nations trying to exert power and influence internationally. The present war in Iraq could be analyzed through different perspectives. On one side, the war could be understood as a humanitarian effort to liberate a nation from the strife and hardship experienced under a dictatorial regime, on the other side, the war in Iraq could be interpreted as an effort of one superpower to gain economic and political control over a weak nation in order to further self interest and promote local influence. A Globalist theory would follow this latter line of thoug

Gunpowder had its origin in China way back in the 7th century. Though most historians confirm that the Chinese were the first to discover it we are not able to ascribe the discovery to any single person. While some say that the Chinese alchemists discovered gunpowder (also known as black powder) there is another story that states that a Chinese cook accidentally stumbled upon it when he mixed up certain chemicals in this cooking vessel. Initially the Chinese used gunpowder only in fireworks though gradually gunpowder began to be used for military purposes. The Chinese used to stuff it inside bamboo sticks called as pao chuk' and used it in their warfare. [5thofNovember]. By the turn of the fourteenth century gun powder technology had spread to every country in the world and since that time it has been used as the main propellant for fireworks until the nineteenth century when nitro cellulose began to replace it. The general composition of gunpowder is 75% o

Christopher Columbus may have "Sailed the Ocean Blue in 1492," over 500 years ago, but only in recent years have books been written about the explorer that cover any new territory (pun intended) concerning personal information on this explorer. For the most part, he has remained a remote figure without much depth and understanding. As Carla Phillips and William Phillips said in Christopher Columbus in United States History: Biography as Projection, "His exploits have assumed mythic proportions, but there has been little attempt to probe beyond the myth." In fact, of the hundreds of books written on Columbus, nearly all are positive and many of them rehash the same information that has been in textbooks for decades and decades. In another one of their books, The Worlds of Christopher Columbus, the Phillips historian team adds that it was really not until the fourth centenary that "Columbus's life found its first great American debunker," through the writings of Jus

One of the most challenging issues faced by the American school system is managing diversity. In an increasingly heterogeneous society, schools are able to transform the racial, ethnic, and cultural awareness of an entire community and even the culture as a whole. Because young students are impressionable, eager to learn, and sensitive to the world around them, school officials and staff have a definite responsibility to promote positive images of minorities. Many school systems and teachers are well-versed enough in political correctness to avoid racist language or the deliberate mistreatment of students. However, what Wiley calls "institutional racism" is still common practice in many schools. Institutional racism is a subtle process; because it is cloaked in good intentions, institutional racism often goes unnoticed even by minority groups. In fact, Wiley notes that "regardless of whether they w

One of the common and most-oft assumption in business communication is that we assume that we communicate when we consciously and deliberately choose to communicate. The assumption that communication can only be made consciously and deliberately is particularly applied during intercultural and international business transactions. Countries that are cha

Structural overlay and philosophy of the Houston Police Department Chief of Police and his Command Staff administer the Houston Police Department. The Command Staff is comprised of three Executive Assistant Chiefs and fourteen Assistant Chiefs or Civilian Directors, each charged with overseeing a specific Command of the department. According to the Houston Police Department's organizational website, the overall philosophy of the Houston Police Department is " to enhance the quality of life in the City of Houston by working cooperatively with the public and within the framework of the U.S. Constitution to enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear and provide for a safe environment." (Houston Police Department Website, 2003, http://www.ci.houston.tx.us/departme/police/mission.htm) More than punitive punishments, the department desires to uphold community values. This means that the department does not only acknowledge that there is a value-structure part

The Value of a College Education As tuition costs continue to rise to levels higher than ever before, many are asking, is a college education worth the financial investment' What exactly is the value of a college education' The answers to these questions lie in the economic, societal, and personal benefits that a college education enables. The financial burden of debts and lost potential wages carried by many who choose to pursue post-secondary studies is certainly present. However, evidence indicates that the long-term benefits of completing college far outweigh the costs, and these benefits extend past the individual to their families and society at large. Post-secondary education is an investment that will never depreciate. Once attained, a college degree will enable individual to earn more in the long run. In fact, the rate of return on investment in higher education is substantial enough to warrant the financial burden often ass

The photographs of Gary Winogrand, William Eggleston, and Diane Arbus all interpret the social climate of America in the 1960s. Their photos are all in black and white, which makes them feel timeless and eternal as they depict people, places, and events. Some of Gary Winogrand's pictures simply show snapshots of American fashions in the 1960s. For example, his New York shot dated 1961 shows two women from an unusual angle. They are wearing sexy miniskirts, showing that the fashion of that time. The 1962 photo of a couple in New York City shows them standing outside a gate with a dog behind it. This captures an upper-middle class feeling. The 1964 shot of the World's Fair shows several people gossiping on a park bench. The atmosphere is joyous and lighthearted. However, some of Winogrand's photos include more social commentary. For example, his 1964 shot of a bi-racial couple at the Central Park Zoo has both the black man and white woman holding monkeys. This shot exhibits

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the articles "Racial Formations" by Michael Omi & Howard Winant, and "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" by Richard Wright. Specifically, it will discuss how Wright's piece illustrates what Omi & Winant are writing about and will focus on two or three aspects where each piece echoes the other. Richard Wright's famous essay could be a walking and talking example of what Omi and Winant are attempting to convey in their own essay. Omi and Winant understand the history and development of race in the United States, but Wright lived it, and his essay is not only a testament to his strength and resolve, but to the tenacity of all blacks (and other minorities) who face discrimination and hatred every day of their lives.

Every year, book publishers print hundreds of new picture book titles. Children love coming into the library or going to the bookstore and seeing the new books displayed. Yet, they will still gravitate to the wonderful old classics: Curious George, Berenstain Bears, Caps for Sale, Corduroy, Where the Wild Things Are and Dr. Seuss. Good Night Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd surely will be on this list for years to come. The theme of Good Night Moon is very simple: A bunny, who is being put to bed by a "mother/grandmotherly" rabbit bids goodnight to each familiar thing in his moonlit room in order to postpone going to sleep. He even says good night to the air! The rhymes, which correspond to the bright primary colors, are very soothing for babies and toddlers but also are remembered and repeated by children even up to the

The fact that the island was remote and uninhabited, the Captain was incompetent, the colonists were flexible, and Mary Hepburn had a genius plan of artificial insemination all kept the population of humans on Santa Rosalia. The Galapagos islands, being located west of the Peruvian coast, "separated from the mainland by one thousand kilometers of very deep water, very cold water fresh from the Antarctic" (Vonnegut 3). The islands are described as a "sailor's nightmare where the bits of land were mockeries, without safe anchorage or shade or sweet water or dangling fruit, or human being of any kind" (17). Santa Rosalia was the "northernmost of the islands, so all alone, so far from the rest" (43). However remote, the islands were mysteriously occupied with life forms such as geckos, rice rats, lava lizards, spiders, ants, grasshoppers, and tortoises. What Darwin referred to as magic for these animals to have lived on these islands, also proved to be magic for tho

"I know it when I see it." This statement confirms what many of us believe about the data we accrue with our senses on a daily basis. We know something when we apprehend somethingâ€"or, to use another cliché, if it quacks like a duck, smells like a duck, and floats like a duck it must be a duck, correct' Perhaps the most famous challenge to the assertion that seeing is believing is the series of optical illusion pictures often shown in psychology textbooks. Someone can look at one of these pictures and see a young woman's head. Another person can look at the same picture and see an old woman. Both individuals perceiving the same picture are in fact correct, as there are two images embedded within the same line drawing. But on a less obvious, more subjective plane of logical thought, one could even state that a photograph not designed to be an optical illusion could also contain two truths. A young child might see a portrait of a thi

Although it is possible to gain fame and fortune without the ability to communicate (as perhaps was evidenced by California's recent elections,) communication skills define one's ability to persuade and influence people. Today it is necessary to be able to communicate well in person and over the phone, given that most businesses regularly feature lengthy telephone calls and corporate travel. Because some communications skills are of value to us at certain times and not at others, auditing one's own skills requires that they be broken down into strengths and weaknesses at verbal and non-verbal levels. I will attempt to audit my own ability to communicate by assessing my own abilities in these categories. One of my principal verbal skills is that I am able to convey information in a way that others can understand; others describe me as clear-headed and comprehensible. This is essential in a team setting, as authority usually comes to rest in the hands of whoe

The novel Cat's Cradle was published in 1963, the year of the Bay of Pigs invasion. It was the height of the Cold War, and most Americans lived in fear of a fiery nuclear apocalypse. However, the author presents an alternative apocalypse, one of the "great door of heaven being closed softly" (261). In this novel, Vonnegut presents a different but equally terrifying end - a world encased in frozen ice. One of the novel's themes is how human irresponsibility can contribute to this icy end. Though Vonnegut himself warned that much of the novel consists of strange plot twists and coincidences, the strength Cat's Cradle lies in its richly drawn characters. Throughout the novel, Vonnegut presented characters whose irresponsibility helped bring much of life on earth to an end. This novel examines how Vonnegut uses the main and minor characters in Cat's Cradle to reflect on the consequences of human irresponsibility. John, who calls himself "Jonah,"

Spring lingers in Alaska and the glaciers in the Sierras are melting - bringing with the sense of possible doom as well as a reminder that the technology that is the lifeblood of the modern world comes at a distinct price. But while we might think that the hand-wringing that is present in at least some circles about what we - and our machines - hath wrought, this concern about the relationship between technology and human history is in fact an old one, having been heard at least as a faint strain in Western discourse since the classical world and - as the readings for this paper suggest - rising to a chorus by the beginning of the 20th century as the effects of the Industrial Revolution were becoming all too clear. The idea of technology and its effects cannot be separated from the concept of work, for the purpose of technology, we are always told, is to make us all work less. But this is demonstrably not true: We are all

Traditional teaching in the United States - as in other developed, industrialized nations - has been based on a hierarchical model in which a teacher has all of the authority in the classroom and in which students learn through rote drills and memorization of the facts that the teacher presents to them. However, while some types of knowledge are best conveyed in this traditional fashion (such as irregular verb formations and mathematical formulae), for most other types of knowledge an non- traditional form of learning is both more enjoyable and more productive. This is certainly true of the ways in which nurses should be educated: Some facts must simply be memorized but most of nursing education must be conducted through a more active, engaged approach to learning (Brookfield, 1991b). There are many different forms of non-traditional - i.e. non- hierarchical - teaching and learning. Perhaps the most important (and one

The movie Sweet Home Alabama showcases examples of many important theories of human communication. The movie's plot itself allows for a great deal of miscommunication and misunderstanding, and it is often these conflicts that allow us to view communication theories. However, many examples of theories of human communication come in scenes where there is little conflict, and the characters are going about their daily business, illustrating that communication occurs in a wide variety of instances. Overall, Sweet Home Alabama provides examples of communication theories as diverse as expectancy theory, constructivism, symbolic interactionism, and the coordinated management of meaning. Some of the most interesting analysis of human communication can come from modern cinema. Topical movies provide not only entertainment, but they often reflect common relationship issues. It is in this reflection of modern relationships that there is a great deal of opportunity for

Hamlet is often viewed as a tragedy, but the character of Hamlet is also a portrait of the human condition. It is by focusing on Hamlet's humanity that Shakespeare is able to create such a memorable character. Hamlet cannot reconcile his emotion with his reason, and as a result, becomes the perfect case study for the psychological effects of grief, anger, and indecision. This paper will analyze Hamlet's mental decline and examine how his circumstances contributed to his condition. We are told the years that Shakespeare wrote were "among the most exciting in English history" (Mowat xxviii). Due to the invention of the printing press, literature was becoming available to those who previously had no way to access it. This "literary output fed directly into Shakespeare's plays," says Barbara Mowat. Hamlet's depiction of the society he was living in reflects the "Neoplatonic wonderment at mankind" (xxviii), according to Mowat. The Renaissance was a time of "intelle

This paper presents a discussion on the topic of perjury by police officers. The writer explores the importance of police officers being bound to tell the truth on the stand and the need for standards regarding the commission of perjury by police officers. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

During the past two decades, advances in computer technology have ushered in the digital revolution. Computers have changed the way people do business, construct buildings, communicate with one another and receive information. In the field of education, computers have enhanced the way people teach and learn. This paper examines the advantages and potential difficulties of using computers in the elementary, middle school and high classroom as an educational instrument. Computers and early level education Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by educators at this level is overcoming the short attention span of children. This characteristic has been further honed by television. Traditionally, parents and teachers have addressed this problem through educational television programs like Sesame Street and Barney. However, education experts have found that children learn best when they are stimulated through participatory learning activities where

Like the first time two teenagers make-out in the back of a car and the experience changes their lives forever, the tragedy of 9-11 has forever changed the way government looks at itself, and it's need to protect the country's assets. Whether 9-11 could have been averted with better surveillance or better communication between government agencies is a discussion which will fill history books for decades. None the less, preventing another disaster such as 9-11, whether it is an attack on the country's physical properties or an attack in cyberspace, has become one of the federal government's highest priorities. From a historical point of view, throughout the second half of the 1990's the nation shifted a large amount of its organizational demands to internet based tools. As a result, the cost of doing business dropped significantly, and American business productivity skyrocketed. A secondary result is that the information exchanged on the internet, and the o

In this article, there were several descriptive statistics examined. The survey that was used to collect the information asked not only yes/no questions, but also questions about more specific ideas, such as whether women who were not smoking now had smoked in the past and, if so, how much. The purpose of this paper is to discuss what the descriptive statistics were, as well as provide information about the display of data and whether or not it was adequate. Analysis of what illustrations would be appropriate will also be included in an effort to discuss how the data could have been better presented. Descriptive statistics included several questions that were used to better understand maternal smoking behaviors. The surveys that were presented to the women in question asked the following questions (Pirkle & Berner, 1999): â–ª Tobacco use during pregnancy (yes/no) and average number of cigarettes per day. â–ª Cigarett

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is about the life story of a single character in his middle age, who is rather fearful of holding relationships. The epigraph is an emotional speech taken from Dante's "Inferno" that describes Prufrock's nature in depth. Prufrock describes his emotional state as being in a "hell," of his own feelings. The first forty-eight lines of the poem show the single character thinking of his isolated identity. He is a lover, but he doesn't have the confidence to commit his love to anyone special. In the poem, he refers to himself by using both "you and I" in line 1, walking the lonely walk on the city's sad streets. He notices the foggy evening coming down on him, as he begins to grow more and more hesitant, but he doesn't decide at the moment when he wonders, "should a middle-aged man even think of making a proposal of love'" This is evident in "Do I dare Disturb the universe'" he asks. From lines 49-110, Prufrock he tries to strike a balance between his desire and his doubt. His doubt is more profound in lines 87-110, were h

John Gatto knows what he is talking about. After teaching in a state with one of the highest per student budgets in the nation, which used many of the most progressive teaching theories, and still produces some of the lowest test scores in the nation, his frustration comes from a wealth of experience. Teachers start their careers with a sincere desire to build into the lives of students. But when their hands are tied by multi- cultural disconnectedness and a socialist teaching culture, the frustration which is shown by Mr. Gatto is likely only the tip of the iceberg representing the depth of the nationwide problem. From Atlanta to Minneapolis, news papers are filled with stories of failing students, failing schools, and school systems which are confused as to the source of the problem. Maybe it is time that the teachers and principles admit that they are the source of much of the problem, and set about to restore accountability and high academic expectations, rat

The act of murder is always a compelling element in fiction. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" and William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" are excellent murder stories. By creating dynamic characters, using vivid detail, and employing the element of suspense, Poe and Faulkner engaging and lively stories that give us a glimpse into twisted murder crimes. This paper will compare and contrast elements of these stories that make them unique and a pleasure to read. Although Montresor and Emily are very different characters; however, they have one thing in common in that they commit premeditated murder. For example, Montresor does not he his motive for murder nor does he show any remorse about it. We are told that Montresor has made sure the house is empty prior to Fortunato's arrival. We are told that, "there are no attendants at home . . . I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the hou