Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Business Ethics - Essay Example The plot revolves around the business interrelation that exists between China, Iran and the United States of America. It begins with a missile that vanishes in Iran. This creates tension among security forces in the US and the CIA is the most affected. Funny enough this does not worry them as they have something else bigger to worry about. In relation to this, the new owner of the Emirates oil company gives a deal to China and cuts out a company from the US that reacts by firing all its workers who are not of the native origin and goes further to combine with an undersized firm which has just landed on an oil contract in Kazakhstani. The US unit of justice notices bribery in the oil firm’s law unit finds its way out by identifying a scapegoat. Bribery is against business ethics and it brings a bad picture of the company. The CIA needs to find a scapegoat as well after the mission of eliminating Emir-apparent backfires. This can be described as unethical skills of doing busines s because it is engaging in criminal activities so as to gain certain interest. Bob Barnes a CIA agent looks into the whole saga which is considered to be a double cross. An economist from America sacrifices his son to come into contract with sheik which entailed advising him that the CIA wants him dead. The movie features current events in the business world such as oil trade. The world depends on oil and people would do anything to ensure that they have this commodity even if it means breaking business ethical rules.

The Non - Importance of Money Essay Example for Free

The Non Importance of Money Essay Money cant buy happiness How many of you have heard of this quote? How many of you agree with this? Don’t answer, this quote is one of most well-known that I know of. How many of you agree with this? Tell me now, would you be happy, if you had all the money you wanted, but no family? Would you still be happy if you lived in a war-torn country, but had all the money in the world? Would you be happy, if you had all the money in the world, but no friends? No, I doubt you would. I mean just the other day, I was with a friend during the job assembly and the speaker was talking about the money that you earned for a certain job, now my friend and I were having a deep conversation and then she said that she wanted more. More, then it dawned on me that she meant more as in More money. I guess having more money would sounds fun and interesting but is it really worth it. I mean just imagine sitting down on a bed with tv, your favourite pack of chips and just watching movies, all day everyday. Its sounds fun but seriously I mean what would you do with all that money. Buy clothes, get a new car, get a mansion. Yeah, yeah ou can get that but what use is it if you don’t spend it with someone like for example a friend, or  Psychologists, philosophers and ordinary folks have debated this question for years. In the last decade, the field of psychology took a dramatic turn from only looking at mental illness, to exploring what makes people feel fulfilled, engaged and happy. This Positive Psychology Movement has produced an expansive amount of researchers who are looking at things such as happiness, positive emotions, optimism and healthy character traits. At some point, every one of these top researchers explored the effects of money on happiness and positive emotions. What we are finding out is that happiness is the ultimate currency. Not only do happy people enjoy life more and have more fun, but they also practice positive lifestyle habits and have stronger immune systems. When faced with illness, happier and more optimistic individuals have been shown to be more proactive in their medical care, more compliant with treatment and medication, have quicker recoveries and show better health outcomes. So, if  we want to be healthier and happier, it’s worth figuring out where money comes into play. When we talk about happiness, we need to look at it from two separate aspectslife satisfaction as a whole vs. moment-to-moment moods. I can be satisfied with my overall life, yet still have moments when I am not happy. Vice versa, some folks can be dissatisfied with their current circumstances and wish for change, but still have many moments of joy throughout the day. Interestingly, money affects our feelings about both aspects of happiness. Income is often thought to be a good measure of happiness and well-being. However, when researched, it was found to be less significant than predicted. Although individuals with higher income levels report overall satisfaction with their lives, they often enjoy themselves less on a daily basis and experience greater moments of stress than those with lower incomes. When does income make a significant difference in our level of happiness? If we struggle to afford good housing, food, or education, both life satisfaction and mood plummets. Edward Diener, a premier researcher in the field of Positive Psychology, found that once a persons basic needs are met, additional income does little to raise his or her sense of satisfaction with life. Many other cross-cultural and longitudinal studies have also shown a very low correlation between material wealth and happiness, except in cases of extreme poverty where people were deprived of basic needs. So, how much income is needed to be comfortable and meet our basic needs? A study from Princeton Universityfound that a larger paycheck does lead to a happier life—but only to a certain point. According to the study, people who earned greater than $75,000 annually had no greater happiness. Does this mean we should all be happy when we reach an income of $75,000 and not strive to make more than that? Does it mean that money doesn’t afford many pleasures and gratifying experiences that are not available to those of lesser means? Absolutely not. What really affects our happiness more than how much we make is our attitude toward money and the way that we handle it. When we hold fast to the belief that money directly determines happiness, life becomes a constant pursuit of accumulating more. So, when is enough, enough? Martin Seligman, father of the Positive Psychology Movement and author of Authentic Happiness, states: Another barrier to raising your level of happiness is the hedontic treadmill, which causes you to rapidly and inevitably adapt to good things by taking them for granted. As you accumulate more material possessions and accomplishments, your expectations rise. The deeds and things you worked so hard for no longer make you happy; you need to get something even better to boost your level of happiness. Sonja Lyubomisrsky, author of The How of Happiness, concurs: having money raises our aspirations about the happiness that we expect in our daily lives, and these raised aspirations can be toxic. Unfortunately, raised aspirations don’t only lead us to take things for granted and impair our savoring abilities. They steer us to consume too much, tax the planets resources, overspend and under save, go into debt, gamble, live beyond our means, and purchase mortgages that we can’t afford.On one hand, we can interpret the above by concurring with the age-old expression, Money is the route of all evil. On the other hand, there are plenty who agree whole-heartedly with the sentiment, Anyone who says money can’t buy happiness hasn’t experienced having enough to do so. So how can you develop the right attitude toward money and keep it in a healthy place in relation to your happiness level? Here are some tips: Cover Your Needs If you are struggling to meet your basic needs, do all that you can to foster a more secure future. Get the help of professionals, whether it’s with career planning, financial planning or government assistance. There are many no-fee or low-fee agencies who can offer you guidance. Save for the Future Determine the amount of savings that would allow you to feel a sense of security toward handling emergencies and your future. Develop a savings plan that works for you, and be consistent. Foster Connections Focus on building stronger relationships with your loved ones. Research has shown the happiest individuals have the strongest commitment and connection to family and friends. Money doesnt guarantee happiness, but good relationships most certainly do! Dont Make Comparisons Savor the pleasures of your spending without comparing yourself to others. Comparison almost always leads to feelings of inadequacy, and often for no good reason. Bask in the joy of your new car without coveting your neighbor’s more expensive one. Appreciate your long weekend vacation instead of wishing for an around-the-world cruise. Create Experiences and Accumulate Memories Spend your energy on having experiences that will make memories instead of having stuff. Many of lifes greatest pleasures cost very little money—and can even be free! Socializing, spending time in nature, embarking on work and/or hobbies that are meaningful, volunteering, and listening to music are some of the many activities that people report bring them the greatest joy. Additionally, here are some examples of experiences that are generally worth spending money on due to the enhancements they can bring to your life: Experiences that help us to grow and develop as individuals, such as education, lessons and entrepreneurial pursuits. Small pleasures, such as a massage or a private Pilates lesson, rather than an extravagant purchase. Gifts for others, rather than for ourselves. Donations to charities that have a personal connection to us. Purchases that have been worked and saved for. Do I think that money can buy me happiness? No, but it can sure bring enjoyment to my world. I will continue to believe that my happiness is not dependent on money. Although important, if I had to make do with less, I could simplify my life, and I would still be happy. I am surrounded by family and friends I love and enjoy, and do work I find amazingly meaningful, purposeful and rewarding. I will continue to work hard and enjoy the fruits of my labor, and hopefully never, ever take all that I have for granted. I hope you will do the same.

Foils In Hamlet Essay -- essays research papers

Night and Day Many authors use foils to better illustrate the nature of the character. Foils are characters who compliment yet contrast the main character. With the use of foils the reader can get a better understanding of the main character through the dialogue of the foils. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we find Prince Hamlet foiled by many characters. Each foil revealing something different about Hamlet. One such foil in this play is undoubtedly Laertes, the son of Polonius. There are a few ways that Laertes mirrors Hamlets character, the revenge they both seek , the anger they both have, and they both mourn Ophelia’s death. Just as a foil can mirror a character, it can contrast it. Laertes seeks instant almost thoughtless revenge whereas Hamlet is a bit more cautious and needs further evidence. Both Hamlet and Laertes have a different relationship with Claudius, one is deceived by him and the other sees right through his deception. Both return to Denmark after the passing of King Hamle t, which is the first indication that Laertes will act as a major foil to Hamlet. The tie they share with Claudius is a perfect example of the contrasting ways of Hamlet and Laertes. Claudius is in one way or another responsible for every death in this play. With the death of King Hamlet and the accidental murder of Polonius, we find both Hamlet and Laertes seeking revenge. Hamlet is told by the Ghost that Claudius is responsible for King Hamlets death. Almost as if it were his noble duty, he plo...

Environmental Hazards Essay

If someone was to ask you, â€Å"What is an open dump? † What would you say? Would you know what to tell them? An open dump is abandoned piles of household garbage, bags of yard waste, appliances, old barrels, used tires, and demolition debris can threaten the health of wildlife, the environment, and humans. They can cause such health, environmental, and safety issues as fires or explosions, the inhalation of toxic gases, injuries to children playing in or around the dumpsites (I have personal experience of cutting my foot on broken glass as a child playing in an open dump), diseases carried by flies, rodents and mosquitos, and other hazards. Open Dumps, 1996 – 2011). Early Landfill Believe it or not, landfills go way back in history. Of course, back then they were called â€Å"garbage dumps. † For instance, early American settlers used to deal with their garbage by dumping it over the back fence, burying it in their back yards, or dumping it in rivers. They also would burn their garbage. (Amsel, 2005 – 2013). We can go even further back in history with this subject. Case in point: Did you know the cause of the bubonic plague (14th century) was too much garbage in the streets? Allow me to explain. The bubonic plague, also called, the â€Å"black death,† spread through Africa, Asia, nd Europe, killing 75 million people. What these people did not know at the time was they had too much garbage in their streets. There was so much it was in piles. These piles of garbage in turn attracted rats. The rats had fleas. The fleas carried the disease. With rats carrying the disease from place to place, the lack of sanitation made it the worst epidemic in human history. (Amsel, 2005 – 2013). Many of the early landfills were made in wetlands. These wetlands were thought to be wasteland at that time. These landfills leaked into lakes and rivers and built up gases, such as methane. As garbage rots, it gives off a flammable gas, called methane. Because of this many garbage dumps would catch fire or explode! The first garbage burning plant was built in 1885 in New York on Governor’s Island. It was called an â€Å"incinerator. † There were 300 incinerators burning garbage in the U. S. by 1914. (Amsel, 2005 – 2013). Leachate – The most serious problem with landfills is groundwater contamination. As water percolates through the ground (like water does in a coffeemaker), chemicals can be released in the ground and get carried along in a process called leaching. The resulting water with the various pollutants is called leachate. As the water percolates through Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), a noxious leachate is generated that consists of residues various decomposing organic matter mixed with various metals from rusting items in the landfills. This can funnel directly into the groundwater without correct precautionary measures. (Wright, 2011). Methane – Municipal Solid Waste is about 2/3 organic material. Because of this, it is subject to natural decomposition. Buried wastes are anaerobic, meaning they decompose without oxygen. A major by-product of this process produces a combination of about 2/3 methane and 1/3 hydrogen and carbon dioxide, called biogas. This is a highly flammable mixture. This has caused homes to explode at up to 1000 feet away and has caused some deaths. Also, gases seeping up to the surface have killed vegetation by poisoning their roots. (Wright, 2011). Incomplete Decomposition – Commonly used plastics resist natural decomposition because of their molecular structure. Microbes are unable to digest them because they are polymers of petroleum-based compounds. There have been biodegradable plastic polymers developed from other sources, such as cornstarch, lactic acid, cellulose, and soybean protein, as well as petroleum. Wright, 2011). Settling – Finally, as waste compacts and decomposes, it settles. This problem was recognized from the beginning and there have been no buildings built on landfills. Settling creates shallow depressions that collect and hold water. These can also be deep holes. This can be addressed by continuous monitoring and filling to restore it to a level surface. (Wright, 2011). Modern Landfill Modern landfills are designed to address the previous mentioned issues. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has upgraded requirements for landfill siting. New landfills are to be sited well above the water table on high ground. The floor is contoured so water drains into a tile leachate collection system. The sides and floor are covered with a plastic liner and at least two feet of compacted soil. This allows any percolating leachate to drain into the leachate collection system and be treated as necessary. Layers of refuse are positioned so the fill is built up in the shape of a pyramid. It is then with at least 18 inches of earthen material and then seeded. This cap and the pyramid shape help the landfill in shedding water. The entire landfill site is surrounded by groundwater monitoring wells and periodically checked. This checking must go on indefinitely. (Wright, 2011). Mariannhill Landfill, South Africa I chose the Mariannhill Landfill, South Africa for innovative practices in making it more productive and reducing its environmental impact. In reading the description of this landfill, it seemed more like a recreation area and less like a landfill. I could tell a lot of thought and planning went into this. This landfill contains several â€Å"cells† to hold waste. Soil from the landfill area is removed and put in storage. The resulting hole is the cell. Once the cell is full the soil is replaced. Vegetation is also removed and placed in a large holding nursery on the site. This is called Plant Rescue Unit or PRUNIT. There is a barrier system in each cell to prevent harmful waste by-products from seeping into the environment. Leachate is treated on site. This is done by a biological primary treatment with sludge followed by a â€Å"polishing treatment† by a reed bed. The Mariannhill site treats landfill water to reduce leachate until the water is reusable. Mariannhill has also set up a landfill gas extraction scheme. It has been operational for four years as of 2008. It also has a bird hide and conservation area with nature trails that link up with existing green space in the metro. (Mariannhill Landfill Conservancy, 2008). This has been a truly eye-opening assignment. Little did I realize as a child that some of the areas I was playing in were so dangerous. I’m not sure if my parents knew, but they always told me to stay away from places like that. I am so thankful these places (older landfills and â€Å"dumps†) are practically figments of the imagination now. We need to take better care of our planet! Let’s all chip in!

Education as a Social Institution Essay

The social institution referred to as Education is comprised of the school system and it is in the school system where knowledge and skills are developed along with cultural and social values and norms. Additionally, through the school system culture and society continue and further those social values and norms thus fulfilling a need prescribed by society. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the theories of functionalism, conflict, and interactionism perceive the social institution of education. As the functionalism theory states, each social institution exists in order to fulfill a social need in addition without the social institution in question, social order would falter. The conflict theory states, a social institution creates and/or furthers social inequalities and assists in maintaining an ascribed social status in the social order however, as the social order is continuously in flux, the social order tries to find a balance in and for society. The interactionism theory tries to understand why individuals who maintain a presence within a social institution act and/or react to each other under certain stimulations (Vissing, 2011). The social institution of education is comprised of what we term as schools therefore throughout this paper the terms education institution, schools, and the school system will be used interchangeably and accordingly. Each individual within a society is introduced to and educated in a system of values and norms pertaining to their particular society beginning at an early age and continuing through the individual’s lifetime additionally, the school system plays a large part in that education as the youth of that particular society develop into adults. The instructors or teachers within the school system act as role models to elicit proper behavior and strengthen cultural and societal norms (Beaver, 2009). Along with the academic curriculum taught in schools, schools also act as a large socializing agent where students are introduced to their first tertiary peer group. Education is a social institution and through the school system it fulfills a social need because the school system is our first tertiary peer group, the school system introduces us to societal norms, and the school system imparts to society, knowledge and skills. As a socializing entity, school is a basic and necessary universal structure for society. Using an interactionism view, this is so, because it introduces us to, reintroduces us to, affirms, and/or reaffirms most of society’s values and norms through a tertiary peer group consisting of other students and the instructors. The school structure shows the student through example and instruction how to integrate into and act within the group setting and the value/reward system of participating in a team setting. This is accomplished through the instructions and guidance presented to them from the instructors. The student is also influenced by the expectations of the instructor, the expectations of their peers, and the manner in which their peers perceive them and their accomplishments (Vissing, 2011). Additionally, failing to meet academic schedules the student may appear irresponsible to their peers and the instructors as they academically fall behind others in their peer and age groups. It has been noted that students generally meet the expectations made of them, in other words if students are expected to perform well they do so, conversely, if they are not expected to perform well they do not (Vissing, 2011). Therefore, the student’s academic achievement level may be determined by the manner in which the instructors view the students and the student’s behavior and achievements. For example, if an instructor views a student as a trouble maker the student will be labeled and treated as such thus deterring the student from reaching his/her full potential. Looking at this issue with the view of the student as the priority, the student’s academic achievement may be a determinant or a direct result of the manner in which the student views school and why the student views the school in such a manner. A student will not excel academically if they do not enjoy attending school in general, or attending specific classes therefore, what are some causes for a student feeling this way. It is evident that the interactions between the students and instructors play a large role in how the students feel about classes and school in general. Two major factors come into play here and they are, the instructors â€Å"social and emotional support for students and the nature of [the instructors’] expectations for students’ academic performance† (Hallinan, 2008). This interaction between student and instructor is of great value as it influences how a student perceives themself and their environment within the school system. For example, students that perceive they are being overlooked or their capabilities are being undervalued by the instructor will perform poorly. Conversely, when an instructor shows the student some attention, and shows them they are capable and of value as a student, the student will perform to the best of their ability. However, for either of these scenarios to persist the instructor must be consistent with their interactions with the student. Moreover, if the instructor’s expectations and interactions are not consistent with regard to the student then the ability in predicting the student’s success in school or their feelings toward school becomes problematic. The predictability of a student’s feelings toward the school system becomes problematic under these conditions because the equation used in this case is a feedback loop based on how well the instructor matches their expectations to the student’s academic abilities. Moreover, the main variable in the equation of predicting a student’s feelings toward the school system is the student’s reaction to the instructor’s expectations of them when trying to determine how satisfied the student is with a class or school in general (Hallinan, 2008). What we see with the interactionism theory is how the instructor can influence the student’s outlook and ultimately the students’ academic outcome by how they interact with the student and their overall expectations of the student and their academic abilities. Additionally the interactionism theory shows how the students peer group may also account for their success or failure in school and individual classes because of the influence the peer groups perceptions of the individual student’s academic performances. Lastly the interactionism theory shows how the students overall feelings and self-perceptions toward the school system as a whole, individual classes, and their own academic performance may also affect the students success and/or failure. What the conflict theory shows is how the school system supports the continuance of the social inequalities between the elite class and the lower class individual in relationship to their achieved status in a culture/society while maintaining the status quo. This allows the elite class of a society to control and direct the school system and its curriculum in a manner that will ultimately benefit that upper class (Beaver, 2009). The conflict theory also acknowledges the competition between peers that promotes a more rounded comprehension of subject matter through stronger and/or competitive study skills and this concept of competition follows a student through school and into the workforce. Additionally, the concept of competition is promoted through a system of rewards both in the school system and in the workforce such as the honor role, the dean’s list, acceptance into honor societies, or becoming employee of the month or year. The school system accomplishes this with its curriculum so that the lower class student will accept the inevitability of a position in the working class and catering to the upper class student by grooming them to acquire and maintain positions in the ruling class (Beaver, 2009) (Vissing, 2011). Additionally, the conflict theorist proposes that the school system controls the thinking patterns and reasoning powers of the students and the manner in which the student acts and reacts in social situations (Vissing, 2011). In addition, through example the students are introduced and instructed in the social values and beliefs of their society and culture. This seeming agenda of the school system is better explained by Yvonne Vissing (2011) when she states, â€Å"this role of education [is called] the â€Å"hidden curriculum†. [It is because] inequality results in a variety of forms, including structured differences in quality of educational institutions available to the rich versus the poor† (p 167). However, this hidden curriculum is not a set curriculum but it is implied and taught in such a way as to be unnoticed by the student’s daily attendance in school system. To explain the hidden curriculum an example of comparison between two different societies will be used. In society-a one of the more important values is individualism; individualism implies the right to freedom of thought and action by the individual. Therefore, in society-a, the school curriculum is designed to promote self-identity and self-esteem. However, in society-b, the value of individualism is looked upon as an undesirable social trait and the students are taught through implication that to be singled out is shameful and social esteem is of more importance than self-esteem. Therefore, in society-b, the curriculum is designed in such a way that students are taught that group honor is of more importance than self-honor is (Davis, 2010). The conflict theory also shows how the business world has a large stake in the type of students the school system turns out and these needs are addressed through a school’s curriculum. Additionally, as the business world, which is directed and controlled by the elite, advises certain change in the curriculum in the school system to meet its needs the school system in some cases modifies and adjusts its curriculum to meet those changing needs. However, this raises the question, in fulfilling the needs of the business world does the school system always advance and groom the best candidate for a controlling position in the workforce or is there a bias in place where instead the most likely candidate is advanced and groomed for those positions (Beaver, 2009). According to Daniel Ashton, in England a collaborative program between government and education tries to address the issues between the school system (Educational Institution) and the business world. One of the issues that is being addressed is, the gap between industry and the school system relating to â€Å"workplace skills† and present educational curricula. The manner in which this gap is being addressed is with an assessment of a person’s natural abilities to assist in developing that person and those abilities to help â€Å"build a dynamic and vibrant society† (2009). It is worthy to note here that among the youth in lower class urban and rural America the perceived likelihood that a high quality education will be of any significance in their future working status is small. Additionally, this is because the sub-culture of the urban and rural lower class American is where they feel comfortable, and the middle/upper class urban/city culture of America is not only unfamiliar to them but also uncomfortable to them. Moreover, as the higher educational concepts are unfamiliar and have no real bearing on their daily lives the lower class student can at best only absorb the higher educational concepts by rote alone if at all (Becker, 1955). Even though many rural school systems persist in advancing the conceptual educational theories, many students in these rural areas still find it difficult to advance and succeed outside their natural comfort zone. Therefore, the ability to excel beyond the working class is deterred by the many technical and vocational training schools in these areas (Becker, 1955). We see with the conflict theory how it supports social and status inequalities through class stratification, the status structure, and through peer competition. Additionally it shows there is a hidden curriculum or agenda that controls the thought pattern of students headed into the workforce of society where they are expected to accept a status of the controlled or controlling members in the workforce based on their family status level in society. In addition, it shows how the business world has a stake in the level and focus of the curriculum administered to the student in relationship to the workforce and social skills the student has acquired upon graduation as they nter the workforce. Lastly, it shows how education is split into generalized higher education, specialized higher education, and vocational education and training in support of both professions and trades in the workforce and business world. Emile Durkheim’s view of education was that over time the school system became comprised of an ordered composite of social disciplines and social structures with the ability to intermesh with like and unlike social structures. However, Durkheim also postulated that society as a whole had a greater ability to modify its structure than that of the social structure of school system (Clark, 1973). Therefore, looking at Education through the school system from a functionalism point of view, the school system is a viable social structure as it fulfills many primary and secondary social and cultural needs. Some of these primary needs are the teaching and reinforcing of cultural values and norms, in addition to the teaching of â€Å"work ethics† and certain general and specific aspects about the work environment the students will eventually enter. One of the more important concepts schools teach in the area of the ‘work’ environment, both in school and out of school, is how to accept success and/or failure and how to move forward under both conditions (Beaver, 2009) (Vissing, 2011). It is also important to look at some of the secondary social needs fulfilled by the school system. In the early introduction to the school system, the student is immersed into a tertiary peer group where they begin to socialize with many others in their age range. In today’s society schools also act as a form of day care system and with extracurricular (sports) programs after the academic period the students are kept â€Å"off the streets and out of the competitive workforce until they have reached a certain age† (Vissing, 2011). In the attainment of viable and competitive employment in the current and future workforce, the school systems offer many specific elective disciplines for many professions and trades in society’s business industries. This system of elective classes assists the student in assessing and being assessed in their abilities and compatibility of a particular profession and/or trade. Additionally, to assist the student and satisfy the business industry the school system has incorporated specialized schools that follow a narrowed or focused curriculum in order to fulfill the burgeoning needs of particular industries in the business and economic worlds. However, these types of schools hold an additional outcome for the more generalized school and its students. Even though a larger number of people enjoy the financial benefits supplied in their profession of choice, the student who graduates from this type of school has a less rounded education than the student who graduates from a traditional school. Additionally, for the business world, the only purpose for this type of education is to fulfill its needs for semi-qualified workers and the benefit derived from this type of education for the worker is that of being employed in a trade and/or profession of their choosing and acquiring the achieved status they desired. Therefore, through this type of narrowed and focused education both the student and the business world are satisfied and share a sense of success (Tufts, 1909). The control of how and what is taught in the school system is directed and enforced by the dominant culture of a society. Therefore, in all school systems students are taught nationalism, nationalism is formed of the values and norms particular to each individual country and that countries culture/society, and each culture will present that nationalism with a bias leaning toward that particular nation/culture. For example, in the United States of America the schools teach about the struggle we had in becoming a nation, the meaning of our national flag and how we honor it with our pledge of allegiance to the nation it represents. What the school system does not teach is the degradation caused to the aboriginal peoples of this country by the dominant imperialist mindset of the people who conquered those aboriginal peoples. Our dominant culture may be intrigued by and even be sympathetic toward the culture and society that was decimated in the making of this dominant nation/culture however, that culture and its values and norms are of little significance in the indoctrination of the nation’s society of its dominant cultural values and norms (Becker, 1955). Although the primary function of the school system is the indoctrination of the student in knowledge and skills to be used later in the work arena it is the latent function of the school system, i. e. : the social interactions within the peer groups the students are introduced to, is of greater importance. The functionalism theory shows that as a bureaucratic structure the education institution is steeped in tradition, and is less likely to change than society is as a whole. The functionalism theory additionally shows the needs of society being fulfilled, through the social values, norms, national icons, work ethics, and accountability of the society it serves. Additionally, the functionalism theory shows how the values of accountability and ethics are accomplished with active peer group integration. In addition, work ethics accomplished through academic structure and schedules. Lastly, we see how the national icons on the dominant culture are instilled on a society with little regard to the subjugated culture that may have been in place prior to being overshadowed or have immigrated to that culture. Using three sociological theories and looking through the school system at the social institution referred to as Education we see how this institution affects society as a whole and fulfills certain social and cultural needs. With interactionism, we see how the expectations of the group affect the individual’s self-expectations and actions within the group, society, and particular culture. Interactionism additionally shows how the school system introduces and instructs students how to interact with each other and society in a positive and healthy manner. When we look at the school system with the conflict theory, we see how it supports the inequalities between the class stratification and the status structure in a society, both at the individual level and the collective level while maintaining the status quo. Additionally, the conflict theory shows how the elite class uses the business sector to influence the curriculum in the school system, which also contributes to the continuance of social inequalities. Moreover, the conflict theory shows how the school system has the power the control the thinking patterns of a society through a ‘hidden curriculum’. What functionalism shows us about the school system is the school system is a viable social structure as it fulfills many primary and secondary social and cultural needs. It additionally shows us some of those social needs, which are the teaching and reinforcing cultural values and norms. In addition, that the school system teaches students â€Å"work ethics† along with specific and general aspects about the work environment they will eventually enter. Moreover, when we look at the educational institution using the functionalism theory we see how the school system confirms the validity of education as a social institution by fulfilling certain needs of a culture and society. Lastly, we see the interrelationship between these three sociological theories and the educational institution. This is shown to us through our peer group, teacher, business, social, status and workforce expectations and interactions. Additionally, we are shown how the educational institution can and does affect our self-esteem, self-perception, and achieved status level.

The Son of Sam and Terror of New York essays

The Son of Sam and Terror of New York essays The Son of Sam and Terror of New York "At one a.m. on July twenty-ninth a man was cruising in the Bronx when he spotted two young women sitting in a parked blue Oldsmobile. He swung around a corner and abandoned his car, pushing the bag-covered pistol into the waistband of his trousers. With his characteristics gait he shuffled back toward the women, Donna Lauria, eighteen, a medical technician, and Jody Valenti, nineteen, a student nurse. They were parked in front on Lauria's home; her parents had just returned from a restaurant and had spoken to their daughter before going into the house. Donna had promised to follow in a minute. At 1:10 a.m., the man walked up to the passenger side of the Oldsmobile Cutlass, pulled his revolver from the paper bag, and assumed a semi-crouch. He pulled the trigger five times. (True Crime 1992, 164) As the car window shattered, Donna Lauria raised her hands to protect herself. One of the .44 caliber bullets struck her in the right side of the neck, killing her quickly. Another bullet hit Jody Valenti in the thigh. She screamed and fell forward, landing on the car horn. The man dashed back to his car and drove away"(True Crime 1992, 164) This was the start of a terrifying year for New York. A demon was among the city. This demon possessed the mind of a twenty-three-year-old pudgy Jewish man. The demon was a six thousand-year-old spirit, which communicated to him through his neighbor, Sam Carr's Labrador retriever. (Reicher 1996) Born Richard David Falco but better known now as the Son of Sam or the .44 Caliber killer had no real sense of identity from birth. The result of an affair between his mother and her married lover he was unwanted even before birth. As soon as he was born adoption papers had been filed. Unlike many children stuck in the system for years, the baby was adopted. Pearl and Nat Berkowitz, a Jewish couple, adopted him and changed his name to David Berkowitz...

Romare Bearden essays

Romare Bearden essays Romare Bearden is among the greatest artists of his generation. His complex and powerful works represent the places where he lived and worked: the rural North Carolina, the urban area of the northern cities, primarily Pittsburgh and New York's Harlem, and the Caribbean island of St. Martin. Religious subjects and ritual practices, jazz clubs, and literature are dominant themes in his work. Romare Bearden was born September 2, 1912. Bearden's date of birth has been the subject of much debate. Dates have ranged anywhere from 1911 to 1914. However, according to the Register of Deeds in Charlotte, his year of birth has been recorded as 1912. Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Bearden moved as a child to New York City with his parents. Although Bearden left Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, as a small child, he returned often through the mid-1920s to visit his paternal great-grandparents who were property owners in Charlotte. He also traveled to Pittsburgh where he attended his last two years of high school, living from 1927 through 1929 with his maternal grandparents who ran a boardinghouse for steel mill workers from the south. These two cities as well as New York offered Bearden countless motifs that were the basis for much of his art throughout his career. The Bearden home in New York became a meeting place for Harlem Renaissance personalities including writer Langston Hughes, painter Aaron Douglas, and musician Duke Ellington, all of whom certainly would inspire the young artist's imagination. During a career lasting almost half a century Bearden was best known for his revolutionary use of collage. He would produce approximately two thousand works. Bearden graduated in 1935 with a degree in education at New York University. In 1936, Bearden enrolled in night classes at New York's Art Students League where he studied under German Expressionist George Grosz. Grosz reinforced Bearden's interest in art...

Deadly Cartoons

Deadly Cartoons FREE SPEECH ZONES The recent #garlandshooting was allegedly provoked by controversial cartoons of Prophet Mohammed displayed in a community center in Texas, U.S. As shown here, these award-winning artistic expressions according to news report are religious sensitive and provoking materials that made some people in the Islamic world very angry. Similar to Charlie Hebdo magazine’s satirical cartoons of Prophet Mohammad that later led to the killing of 12 people in Paris early this year, these cartoons also received a deadly response. Clearly, our inherent freedom to voice or express one’s opinion has lethal consequences when abused or intended to ridicule a leader of a major religion. Academic institutions recognized the right to free speech but similar to artistic expression; it must be restricted to a safe level. The purpose of Free Speech Zones is to restrict student protest, activism, and free speech to certain places on campus to avoid disruption of classes and other educational activities. However, although the constitutionality of this content-neutral conduct restrictions rule is strongly criticized, it had reduced occurrence of derogatory comments that stigmatizes individual on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, and others. VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES AND SCHOOL VIOLENCE The content-based restriction is a law that restricts free speech on the basis of content, subject matter, or speaker’s viewpoint. For instance, a school may allow public speeches supportive of school-board policies but prohibit protester’s speech opposing critical school board policies as it such constitutes a viewpoint restriction. U.S. Courts according to study, normally allow schools to apply reasonable restrictions on oral, written, or symbolic expression such as banners promoting violence (read Fraternity Violence), use of illegal drugs, and others. Overall, schools can apply reasonable restriction on speech or expression that is likely to affect public safety. ARTISTIC CENSORSHIP Censuring work of art (see Art Essay) is made difficult by controversies associated with the term â€Å"objectionable content†. The appropriateness of artistic work, for instance, varies from person to person thus a student’s sculpture of a nude female torso that received an A+ from his art teacher may be displayed draped under a cloth if the old and conservative female school principal strongly objects to nudity. In the same manner, cartoons depicting and making fun of a highly respected religious leader are appropriate and display-worthy artistic expressions for some, may be so humiliating to others. In fact, these offensive works of art and creation of individuals enjoying the freedom of expression already frustrated millions of people and recently took a number of lives. SEXUAL CONTENT ON TV HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON TEENAGERS It is, therefore, critical to apply content-based restrictions on similar artistic expressions to avoid further conflict and deadly responses from the affected side. Satirical artistic expressions undoubtedly constitute artist’s personal viewpoint, promote violence, jeopardize public safety, and therefore deserving of reasonable restrictions. Some major U.S. publications already imposed self-regulation and avoiding publishing of offending cartoons or provocative images. Along with news media’s total restriction on provoking cartoons, free speech zones and artistic censorship in educational institutions, there is a strong possibility that anger of tens of millions of Muslims caused by previously unrestricted satirical artistic expressions will be reduced to a level that a deadly response is no longer necessary.

Classical Criminology vs. Biological Determinism Essay

Classical Criminology vs. Biological Determinism - Essay Example Human beings in his theory are believed to be hedonistic, acting in terms of their own self-interest, they are rational and are capable to consider the course of action that is really in their self-interest. In 'On Crimes and Punishments', Beccaria stays that in just society punishments ought to be proportional to the degree of crime, they ought to bring to mind the crime in the mind of observes, to strengthen the connection in the people's mind between the crime and the punishment. [Beccaria, p. 13-15] Beccaria's Classical Criminology claims that people by their nature are 'selfish and pursue their self-interest; they want to avoid pain and increase their happiness' [Ellis, L. & Walsh, A., p. 17-18] Also they are 'rational, capable of calculating what is really in their self-interest, and therefore can be considered to be free' [Beccaria, p.7-8] Biological determinism, appeared in the 1920s, stays that 'biological factors such as an organism's individual genes completely determine how a system behaves or changes over time'. [Gibson, M., p.34] Considering certain human behavior, for example, committing murder, biological determinism look only at 'innate factors, such as genetic makeup', ignoring non-innate factors, such as social customs and expectations, education, and physical environment. As for the human nature, Lombroso thinks that 'all human behavior is innate and cannot be changed or altered'. The theory of biological determinism claims that 'humans - their appearance, behavior, and even long-term fate - are entirely determined by genes' [Ellis, L. & Walsh, A., p.36]. Biological determinists deny that effects of environmental variables on a gene, and a single mutation can have far-reaching effects on the phenotype. Lombroso also states that everything in a person innate. According to his theory, the criminals cannot be reformed - they were 'born that way', that suggest a kind of defense for the criminal. [Lombroso, C., p.17] Moreover, biological determinism divorces human action from human responsibility, where the blame for actions is placed on the genes exclusively; it also negates the idea of free will entirely, because all behavior is said to be controlled by the genes. Based on the theory of the social contact, Beccaria suggests that 'if people lived without government, their interests would conflict and their lives be that of perpetual war. There would be no secure and hence little happiness'. [Beccaria, C., p.117-119] So that, he continues to think that 'therefore, people agree to give up some of their freedom for the sake of their overall security and happiness' - they make promises not to do some activities, but do others. These promises he calls 'laws', and stays that 'laws are the terms under which independent and isolated men come together in society, in order to enjoy what remains in security and calm' [Beccaria, C., p.39]. Beccaria says that people's behavior need to be controlled by the government with the help of laws, while biological determinism assume that human behavior is governed by the genes, and 'the environment here is not at all important in the determination of appearance, behavior, and functionality'. [Ellis, L. & Walsh, A., p. 76] As for the government, Classical Criminology (Caesar Beccaria, in particular) perceives it as the 'sum' of the individual promises - so that, people have created the government in order to defend their mutual promises by laws and

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example Firstly, the exigence, or problem presented is the issue of an abundance of poor children of beggar women present on the streets of Ireland, and the burdens that these children bear upon the countries economy and poverty stricken parents. This is an exigence, as such a problem can certainly be modified or improved via human interference. Swift uses persuasive language to describe this problem in a way which exemplifies and presents it in a very particular light which suits his argument. The second part of the rhetorical situation here, is the audience, being those citizens of Ireland which are capable of contributing and making a difference to the problem as Swift suggests. Lastly, the constraints of the situation are presented as being related to time and money. However, the author conveys them as being possible to overcome by explaining specific ways in which the constraints and problem can be solved and/or improved. One of the principal ways in which Swift attempts to move the audience is by the use of pathos. Pathos is identified as being the use of language, words, style and tone with a view to appealing to the emotions of the reader in some way. Swift achieves this quite effectively in several ways throughout the article. For example, he uses very specific words and phrases which directly appeal to emotional sensibilities such as ‘melancholy’, ‘poor innocent babes’, and ‘inhuman’. Such specific terms and phrasing are quite shocking and very fervently appeal to emotions. The author also uses whole sentences in this context, which can be seen throughout the article, for example, ‘that horrid practise of women murdering their bastard children, alas!’ By describing the action as ‘horrid’ and using personal exclamations such as ‘alas!’ with an exclamation mark, Swift is making very strong and direct attempts to convey t he unfortunate events to the audience in ways which appeal to their

Contemporary Philosophical or Political Thought Essay

Contemporary Philosophical or Political Thought - Essay Example Kant has been one of the most influential intellectuals in the world of philosophy with his most discussed philosophical theory of ‘groundwork of the metaphysics of morals’ where he introduced and laid firm foundation the ideas of ethics. In his work, Kant seeks to put down important theory of morality and prove how the principle applies to the people. He put across the idea that the behavior of the principle that a person wishes to do verifies the appropriateness of his or her action. During his era, there was a lot of serious concentration in his mind set about philosophies as due to the influence he used to face. During his school life, he studied some works of well-known historical philosophers such as Gottfried Leibniz and Christian. Any philosophy student could support Kant’s response in philosophy because he has set platform for current philosophers who are working on his ideologies to see on their applicability in the society. Kant drives his point home fr om an ordinary thinking morality to superior ideology of morality, which he regards it, as categorically essential. Kant believes that uncontroversial starts from our ordinary shared moral senses, and evaluation of major common sense conceptions such as ‘the good’, and bear a strong thought of morality. With respect to morality, Kant showed that the origin of ‘good’ does not lie outside individual’s thinking; either in natural phenomena or God’s gifted, but it is more of a good will itself (Wood 129). A good willpower is one that operates from sense of duty according to the worldwide moral rule that an independent person liberally gives it. In basis metamophysic of morality, Kant listed three formulations of the definite imperative that are approximately similar. In Kant’s first formulation of ‘universal laws of nature’, it demands that the individuals should select maxims as if they should act as natural law. The interpret ation of this formula regarded as ‘universalizability test’ states that subjective opinions of individual’s deeds give someone an explanation to act. The second formulation is known as ‘formulation of end in itself’, states that the reasoning being by its nature an ending, and therefore as an ending itself, must provide in each saying as the factor forbidding all purely relative and random endings. The third formula of autonomy is a combination of the previous formulas and it is the foundation for ultimate determination each maxim. It says that, all maxims, which originate from independent legislation, need to match with a probable kingdom of life. This implies that people should act according to their own mindsets as any other individual in the common realm of endings (Jacobs 98). Kant declares that, because of the restriction of discussions in the absence of indisputable proof, no individual could certainly understand whether there is a God and lif e after death or not. For the sake of ethics and as a basis for explanation, Kant declared that human beings have reasons to put trust in God, though they could never understand Lord’s existence empirically. The factor open-minded approach

Choose from the list of topics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Choose from the list of topics - Essay Example Just because a behavior is unusual to some, does not make it unusual to others. For example, Catholics can choose to attend their religious services once a week, not at all or every day, depending on the neighborhood in which they leave. While it might seem unusual to some to want to go to church every day, are they hurting anyone? As a Muslim, I am required by my faith to pray five times a day. May I choose to pray more? Of course I may, but if I were to pull out my prayer mat and pray more than five times a day, I may be seen as unusual. That does not, however, mean that I need to be treated for a religious disorder, because I am not harming myself. I can also pray more than five times a day while conducting my daily life without much interruption. Since unusual religious behavior is a rather broad term, I have used rather broad examples above. However, there are religious behaviors that are not only unusual, but harmful to a person physically and mentally. In some religions, there is a consumption of alcohol. If a person felt that by drinking the alcohol that was served until it was gone, they would become closer to their God, then this is a behavior that would not only be considered unusual but also harmful. Alcohol poisoning, drunkenness, and other factors must be taken in play. Another example to consider is a person who feels that they cannot and should not leave their house of worship, for any reason. A person that feels that only within those walls were they safe from death, fear, destruction, sickness, or any other factors. This, clearly, is not only unusual harmful mentally but also impedes living of their daily life, and therefore, the root cause of this behavior must be treated psychologically so that this person may resume their daily life. Temptation is, by its very nature, all around us. Every day we face temptation in varying degrees. Evil is all around us, and tries to tempt us into making the wrong decision; by being strong, we avoid the evil actions. We cannot, however, avoid the evil or blasphemous thoughts, from wishing the person that just cut off our car on the freeway would crash to glancing twice at the person that looks just a little bit better-looking than our significant other. Normal religious behavior is to accept the guilt for these actions and ask for forgiveness, after which we are forgiven and can go on about our daily lives until the next temptation pops up in our face. A person that feels that they must pray for forgiveness, even out in public, for the transgressions that have occurred should not be considered unusual, as they are simply practicing their faith and quietly asking for forgiveness. However, if a person was praying constantly, excessively, refusing to stop and wracked with guilt over the slightest transgression, that would be both harmful to them as well as prohibit them from living their daily life. They should then be treated for a religious disorder. Along those same lines, if a person felt that they were doomed to hell, becoming depressed and despondent because of what they saw as the many numerous transgressions that they had committed, they should be treated for a religious disorder. They have become a danger to themselves, sinking into deep depression and unable to live their daily lives as they are constantly dwelling on these so-called transgressions and what they see as a need for forgiveness. Persons in this state

Integrated emergency management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Integrated emergency management - Essay Example What is the aim of Disaster risk reduction? It has an intention to reduce economic and social hazards vulnerabilities to emergency disasters. In empirical terms when managing a disaster its always right to apply professionalism, embrace the use of technology, good planning and proper management to avert a risk that can kill or rather injure large number of people and animal .The effects of disasters goes beyond loss of lives but also property worth of millions is destroyed and the community life disrupted(Kassim 890) The emergency managers should indentify and prepare adequately to mitigate the catastrophe when they occur. Businesses are starting to realize the need for disaster management because when the hazards occur the business community losses major stakes in investments (Howari 1090).Emergency management in the recent past event management has been a collaborative effort by all stakeholders both the government and the nongovernmental organisations. There have been major factors that have led to increase of awareness for establishment of disaster management in the U.A.E .There have been a principle of autonomous imm unity at all state levels in the 25 years. Furthermore legal provision such as the tort of liability for state and local government has led to more emphasis o disaster risk management. The government or individual person can be sued if convicted with tort of negligence .There are some situations some disasters can be avoided such as leakages in chemical plant. The chemical fumes may adversely affect the surrounding population and the person who is assigned the duty of being the custodian is liable for negligence. Another school of thought suggest that it’s the professionalization of the emergency managers have developed the urge to have integrated system to manage disasters(Roger Bird 48) The need to manage emergency was developed because of the adverse effects realize when these

Choose from the list of topics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Choose from the list of topics - Essay Example Just because a behavior is unusual to some, does not make it unusual to others. For example, Catholics can choose to attend their religious services once a week, not at all or every day, depending on the neighborhood in which they leave. While it might seem unusual to some to want to go to church every day, are they hurting anyone? As a Muslim, I am required by my faith to pray five times a day. May I choose to pray more? Of course I may, but if I were to pull out my prayer mat and pray more than five times a day, I may be seen as unusual. That does not, however, mean that I need to be treated for a religious disorder, because I am not harming myself. I can also pray more than five times a day while conducting my daily life without much interruption. Since unusual religious behavior is a rather broad term, I have used rather broad examples above. However, there are religious behaviors that are not only unusual, but harmful to a person physically and mentally. In some religions, there is a consumption of alcohol. If a person felt that by drinking the alcohol that was served until it was gone, they would become closer to their God, then this is a behavior that would not only be considered unusual but also harmful. Alcohol poisoning, drunkenness, and other factors must be taken in play. Another example to consider is a person who feels that they cannot and should not leave their house of worship, for any reason. A person that feels that only within those walls were they safe from death, fear, destruction, sickness, or any other factors. This, clearly, is not only unusual harmful mentally but also impedes living of their daily life, and therefore, the root cause of this behavior must be treated psychologically so that this person may resume their daily life. Temptation is, by its very nature, all around us. Every day we face temptation in varying degrees. Evil is all around us, and tries to tempt us into making the wrong decision; by being strong, we avoid the evil actions. We cannot, however, avoid the evil or blasphemous thoughts, from wishing the person that just cut off our car on the freeway would crash to glancing twice at the person that looks just a little bit better-looking than our significant other. Normal religious behavior is to accept the guilt for these actions and ask for forgiveness, after which we are forgiven and can go on about our daily lives until the next temptation pops up in our face. A person that feels that they must pray for forgiveness, even out in public, for the transgressions that have occurred should not be considered unusual, as they are simply practicing their faith and quietly asking for forgiveness. However, if a person was praying constantly, excessively, refusing to stop and wracked with guilt over the slightest transgression, that would be both harmful to them as well as prohibit them from living their daily life. They should then be treated for a religious disorder. Along those same lines, if a person felt that they were doomed to hell, becoming depressed and despondent because of what they saw as the many numerous transgressions that they had committed, they should be treated for a religious disorder. They have become a danger to themselves, sinking into deep depression and unable to live their daily lives as they are constantly dwelling on these so-called transgressions and what they see as a need for forgiveness. Persons in this state

Facilities management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Facilities management - Assignment Example iness of the owner organization (e.g., the core function of a school is teaching, and custodians or HVAC system maintenance personnel are support personnel.). It is the role of the facility management function (whether it is a separate department or small team) to coordinate and oversee the safe, secure, and environmentally-sound operations and maintenance of these assets in a cost effective manner aimed at long-term preservation of the asset value, and also other janitorial duties such as making sure the environment is properly cleaned and sanitized for its tenants. In those cases where the operation of the facility directly involves the occupants and/or customers of the owner organization, the satisfactory delivery of facility-related services to these people will be an important consideration too; hence, the term "end-user satisfaction" is often used both as a goal and a measure of performance. I further explain the topic by considering a case study of â€Å"THE GHERKINS â€Å" as a high performance work place to make the topic clearly understandable with examples that what are the key features that collectively cover the facility management field . CASE STUDY: The beautiful and exumberant 30 St Mary Axe, also famous as the Gherkin and the Swiss ReBuilding, is a skyscraper in Londons main financial district, the City of London . It was constructed in December 2003 and inaugurated in may 2004 . The building of 30 St Mary is situated on the former site of the Baltic Exchange building and it was designed by Norman Foster an his business partner Ken Shuttleworth and Arup Engineers and was erected by Skanska . The building consists of 40 floors and the building tower is 190 metres tall The eye-catching location of 30 St Mary makes it prominent for the beholders and its location is perfect for commercial and business purpose . As it is located at the centre of London’s financial district there are a number of major transport hubs , wide range of restaurants ,

Domestic markets Essay Example for Free

Domestic markets Essay Theoretically, opening up domestic markets to international trade would increase the level of competitiveness in the market place, making businesses find better ways of producing goods more efficiently (at a lower cost). This is because trade encourages greater specialisation, which dramatically lowers costs and more intense competition, which is central to innovation. The graph below shows the correlation of trade and chinas economic growth. As you can see there is a positive correlation between trade and GDP, suggesting that trade is an important factor for the economic growth in China. However, Chinas trade surplus (the value of exports net of imports) is a better measure of the contribution of international trade to the economy. Since 1990, the trade surplus has averaged about 2 to 3% of GDP, exports have grown faster than imports and China has had trade surpluses in all but 1 year from 1990 to 2003. The trade surplus peaked at 4. 5% in 1997-98. Chinas trade surplus of $25 billion amounted to 1. 8% of GDP in 2003. Chinas trade liberalisation has created an attractive business environment and therefore has had a significant impact on FDI inflows. Foreign Direct Investment is usually imported in a country by multi-national companies seeking to take advantage of particular laws (such as cheaper land value, cheaper taxes etc ) to reduce the cost of production and to gain a competitive edge over rival companies. Similarly with international trade, an increase in FDI would increase a countrys GDP, because FDI brings in valuable funds which can be used to increase industrial output, create new job opportunities and sometimes, technology transfer which could increase innovation. However, the already lack of investment, coupled with an uncertain political climate and other unfavorable factors, at first severely hindered Chinese attempts to attract FDI. In the graph below11, you can see that in 1980, the flow of FDI into China totaled less than $200 million. In 1997, however, the flow of FDI exceeded $44. 9 billion, more than 225 times larger than the flow in 1980. Beginning in 2000, investment surged again through a combination of massive government infrastructure spending and investment in manufacturing facilities by both foreign and domestic investors. Preparations to host the 2008 Olympic Games contributed to a further frenzy of construction projects. Chinas late-2002 accession to the World Trade Organization spurred many companies, both domestic and multinational, to invest in China in anticipation of greater market opportunities (appex. 2) During this time, China was the largest recipient of FDI among developing countries, and the second largest in the world. Several factors have contributed to the increase in FDI inflows. China liberalised its FDI regime concurrently with the implementation of its economic reform and open doors policies in the late 1970s and especially since the early 1990s (Appex. 3). Implementing a series of laws and regulations governing FDI, China has substantially reduced investment barriers and improved its investment environment by opening more regions and economic sectors to foreign investors. In addition to such policies, it has the worlds largest population providing an abundance of cheap labour (Appex. 4) and a potentially huge market. Recognising the potential since the early 1980s, countries in the region such as Hong Kong and the Asian Tiger economies have become important capital suppliers. To understand Chinas rapid expansion in foreign trade, it is important to acknowledge how vital Multi-Nationals companies (MNCs) have been to its export growth. It should be noticed that Chinas opening to foreign investment occurred simultaneously with an opening to foreign trade. Even without large inflows of FDI, export capacity might still have expanded but perhaps at a less rapid pace. However, unlike Chinas trade values, FDI had seen a small decline in the years 1999 and 2000. When you combine both FDI inflows with GDP in China over the last 10 years, you can see that even if FDI decreases or remains level, economic growth via GDP still increase, suggesting that FDI is not as important to economic growth as trade. It is also important to note that Chinas FDI performance must be viewed in an international perspective. In terms of FDI inflows per capita, China ranks lower than all OECD countries save for one, and even ranks relatively low among developing countries12. Much of Chinas FDI is short-term, in labour intensive manufacturing, with foreign investment in high-tech machinery and the services sectors lagging behind, Though investment in processing and assembling declined 10%, the manufacturing sector garnered 70% of FDI from 2000-2005. Telecom, electronics, and chemicals also received significant shares of foreign investment. 13 China could be encouraging FDI in high technology based manufactures as a way to encourage domestically owned firms to move up the value-added chain. However, trade and investment liberalisation cannot by itself improve Chinas economic growth. Arguably much of Chinas rapid economic growth is due to changes in government policies that created a socialist market economy in which the private sector plays a key role. Enterprises either owned or controlled by government entities now account for less than 30% of industrial output. We must not forget that the domestic industry has also been a driver of Chinas phenomenal economic growth of the past 30 years. Industrial development has hastened since reform began in the late 1970s, growing at an annual rate of over 11% between 1978 and 2000 compared to an average GDP growth rate of 9.6% during this period, as you can see from the graph on the next page. Chinas GDP growth and industrial growth rates14 The importance of industrial output in the Chinese economy has increased over time, from 21% of GDP in 1952 to 51% at present. Changes in the composition of Chinas GDP, 1952-200215 Government polices provided several short-term burst of productivity within the industry, in 1980 when China began the renovation from a centrally planned to a more market based economy, industrial output rose 16. 5% from 1981-1985. Before any Government reforms, growth rate of GDP was 5.3%, but post-reforms saw the growth rate increase to 9. 7% (Appex. 5) Economists such as Wayne Morrison and Mathew Shane have concluded that productivity gains (i. e. increases in efficiency) were another major factor in Chinas rapid economic growth. The improvements to productivity were caused largely by a reallocation of resources to more productive uses, especially in sectors that were formerly heavily controlled by the central government, such as agriculture, trade, and services. For example, agricultural reforms boosted production16, freeing workers to pursue employment in the more productive manufacturing sector. Productivity can be increased by using factors of production more efficiently, by improving the quality of the basic factors of production, for example, increasing the skill or education of labor. Consumption spending contributed too much of Chinas early growth following economic reforms in the early 1980s. The aggregate demand and supply diagram below shows the level of output at any given level of aggregate demand. As consumption was increasing in China from 1878 to 1882, this would lead the aggregate demand line to shift to the right, where the economy is approaching full capacity output. The increase in demand induces businesses to take more employment and increase output. However, inflation will occur as costs will rise and then prices, as businesses try to pass the costs on to consumers. However, over time, the role of consumption has declined and the contribution of investment has generally risen. Since 1978, gross capital formation (investment) accounted for an average of 37% of GDP, while the share due to consumption expenditures averaged 62%. Consumptions contribution to GDP peaked at about two-thirds in the early 1980s and fell to 55% in 2003. By comparison, consumption accounts for 70% of GDP in the United States. Chinas substantial consumption contributing to growth of GDP17 This lower rate of consumption has made way for the impressive level of domestic savings to increase in China, which has helped stimulate economic growth. When reforms were initiated in 1979, domestic savings as a percentage of GDP stood at 32%. However, most Chinese savings during this period were generated by the profits of state-owned enterprises, which were used by the central government for domestic investment. Economic reforms however, led to substantial growth in Chinese household savings. As a result, savings as a percentage of GDP has steadily risen; it reached 49% in 2003, among the highest savings rates in the world. 18 Chinas rise as an economic superpower is likely to pose both opportunities and challenges for the world trading system. Chinas rapid economic growth has boosted incomes and is making China a huge market for a variety of goods and services. In addition, Chinas abundant low-cost labor has led multinational corporations to shift their export-oriented, labor-intensive manufacturing facilities to China. This process has lowered prices for consumers, boosting their purchasing power. It has also lowered costs for firms that import and use Chinese-made components and parts to produce manufactured goods, boosting their competitiveness. Conversely, Chinas role as a major international manufacturer has raised a number of concerns. Many developing countries worry that growing FDI in China is coming at the expense of FDI in their country. Policymakers in both developing and developed countries have expressed concern over the loss of domestic manufacturing jobs that have shifted to China. Conclusion Throughout my investigation I have demonstrated the importance of trade liberalisation and Foreign Direct Investment to Chinas record breaking economic growth. It is however, very hard to put an exact figure to show the extent of how beneficial trade and FDI have been to Chinas economic growth, but undeniably they have all been part of a cycle, each factor helping stimulate economic growth in certain ways. I do believe that to an extent trade liberalisation and FDI are interdependent on each other, the opening up of markets to free trade has spurred more FDI than it would have if it had not liberalised. Nevertheless, trade liberalisation and FDI cannot by itself improve Chinas overall economic growth. The benefits of trade liberalisation and FDI to particular sectors of the industry will rely not only on their theoretical comparative advantage but also upon their ability to restructure and upgrade operations through technological improvements to take advantage of market opportunities. All factors including industrial output, increased productivity and efficiently within the industry, high level of consumer saving, early consumption and Government policies have all had an impact on the outcome of economic growth. China has the potential to continue its rapid growth in the foreseeable future. The factors that have propelled growth over the past 30 years are still in place. Chinas economy is still a long way from mature status where growth rates tail off. If the Chinese Government wishes to keep their economic growth at such a high rate, they must face challenges such as exchange rates, structural imbalances and a troubled banking system, in order for them to continue to grow As long as China maintains an open attitude toward foreign investment and invests heavily in infrastructure and other capital, it will continue to grow rapidly.

Politics Essays Radical Islam Uzbekistan

Politics Essays Radical Islam Uzbekistan Radical Islam Uzbekistan Preventing Radical Islam and Conflicts in Uzbekistan If one thing hasn’t changed in Central Asia and especially in Uzbekistan after US War on terrorism, it’s the authorities fear of â€Å"Hizb-ut-Tahrir† and â€Å"IMU† Islamic movements banned in all Central Asian countries, with its headquarters in Europe, that strives to recreate an undivided Muslim caliphate, encompassing all Muslim lands. Soon after Uzbekistan gain independence after Soviet Union’s collapse, Uzbekistan like other 15 former Soviet countries began its own way in socioeconomic and democratic development. As we can see from 1991 till about 1998 Uzbekistan achieved some progress comparing other four Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Great potential of Uzbekistan like rich natural resources, industrial and agricultural sectors and human resources (Uzbekistan is most populous country in Central Asia and during Soviet period was fourth most important country in whole Soviet Union) and other factors helped Uzbekistan to become the first country in Central Asia in the early stages of Independence. It is still the region’s most militarily capable and populous country, and large Uzbek minorities live in neighboring states. But those great reforms of too corrupt and repressive government were short term and self interests of President, his family and too much corrupt centralized Government and their authoritarian rule showed that Uzbekistan could not achieve those ideal results, which were promised before by President. Socioeconomic decline caused and still causes many conflicts inside country and Uzbekistan’s unequal relations with its neighbors and efforts trying to be dominant country in the region resulted many conflicts among other Central Asian Countries. Uzbekistan is multinational country consisting majority of Uzbeks and 85 percent of the country is Muslims (99 percent Sunnites). My great fear is that soon after Uzbekistan President’s rule ends, who has been on the post more than 18 years, a civil war for Uzbek throne will be began by Fundamental Islamists Groups and main Governmental clans and it may last long time spreading to other Central Asian states and could be bloody. That the conflict in Uzbekistan poses a threat is largely a result of government policies that have led to a combination of authoritarian rule, economic decline, social discontent, and a polarized political arena in which radical Islamist groups have begun to occupy an important underground role. These domestic pressures are played against a backdrop of poor relations with neighboring states, and in a region characterized by instability and may cause many conflicts. Authoritarian Regime The government is highly centralized and personalized around President. Uzbekistan has neither any opposition nor democratic parties. Uzbekistan is now considered as one the ten most repressive and authoritarian countries in the world and the situation is becoming more and more severe. Evidence continues to mount that Uzbekistan’s â€Å"unique state-construction model† is falling apart. However, now after recent Andijan (an east city of the country) massacre in 2005, where thousands of people led by mainly local businessmen protested against President’s brutal regime, the President showed no intention to leave his post killing hundreds of innocent civilians. Decisions are largely made by President only and parliament is nothing but a puppet show. There is widespread evidence of human-rights abuses by the security forces against political opponents of the regime. Media has no democracy and the main role of media is propaganda and informing people that Uzbekistan is achieving great results in development and plays great role in International arena, and praising the President for his merits. Besides, the fact is that one cannot get access for Independent Internet web sites which shows the real picture. Any International media, organizations, and NGOs criticizing Uzbekistan is banned and prohibited in the state. Elections are held both to the presidency and to parliament do not meet international standards of free and fair elections. OSCE and other International Organizations refused many times to participate in elections announcing all elections of Uzbekistan against democratic standards. However, the first election for presidency after independence was fairly democratic, but still taking into account the fact that current president Mr. Karimov was at that time a First Secretary of the Communist Party of the state (same as President of a State), the elections were viewed as not free and fair by international observers. After independence Mr. Karimov encouraged anti-Russian nationalist sentiment and millions of Russians and many other nations fled Uzbekistan. Activities of missionaries from some Islamic countries with absence of real opportunities to participate in public affairs contributed to popularization of radical interpretation of Islam. In 1999, 2000, and 2004 some terroristic acts were held in Uzbekistan and even an attempt to kill President but President Karimov nearly escaped an attempt. The government blamed the â€Å"Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan† (IMU), â€Å"Hizb-ut-Tahrir†, â€Å"Wahhabism† and other Radical Islamists Groups in the attacks. In result of law-enforcement operations, thousands of people were suspected and imprisoned. During the early stages of independence, many observers considered Uzbekistan’s relative socio-economic and political stability to President Islam Karimov’s authoritarian policies. Despite the country’s often abysmal human rights record, and over the protests of human rights organizations and increasingly repressed opposition groups, most international financial assistance (including security aid) has continued to flow. Ironically, in past the Uzbekistan government’s frequent abuses out of concerns regarding Islamist radicalism in the region, the international community has inadvertently helped create exactly the conditions that it has always feared the most. Growing political repression and poverty now provide a fertile breeding ground for violence, instability and increasingly active Islamist extremist groups. The authoritarian approach has at best postponed, but not defused, economic and political crisis. It requires relatively enormous financial, human and other resources for the government of Uzbekistan to maintain authoritarian rule and keep control over competing internal factions based on regionalism, ethnicity, and patronage networks. The establishment of near absolute power by the executive branch has only been achieved though a brutal crackdown on moderate voices and through power-sharing arrangements with leftover Soviet-era bureaucrats in the â€Å"power† ministries. Tashkent’s authoritarian domestic approach has sparked a political crisis marked by mismanagement, the emergence of a strong Islamist opposition, broad economic dislocation, endemic corruption, growing dissatisfaction with the government, poor relations with neighbors and continuing regional turmoil. Radical Islam Thus as mentioned before, Uzbek government’s eliminating all oppositions and democratic leaders created exactly the conditions that it has always feared the most. Socioeconomic decline, human rights abuses, corrupted government acts and other factors caused many people who are tired of government to follow only existing leaders Radical Islamists Groups leaders. Two major groups opposed to the regime have been active after independence. These are the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and â€Å"Hizb ut-Tahrir†. Main ideology of these groups is almost the same: to overthrown the President’s regime and to create a â€Å"Caliphate† Islamic State according to â€Å"Sharia† (Islam Constitution) not only in Uzbekistan but also in some other Central Asian countries. The main difference of these two Islamic groups is that Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is a military violent group, while Hizb-ut-Tahrir is more a politic group and against violence, which is based on Islamic Ideology. However, both of them are considered as Radical Islamist Groups. IMU Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan The unrest that led to the formation of the IMU began in late 1991, when some unemployed young Muslims seized the Communist Party headquarters in the eastern city of Namangan, incensed at the mayors refusal to give them land on which to build a mosque. The men were led by Mr. Tohir Yuldeshev, and Mr. Jumaboi Khojaev. Mr. Yuldeshev, a 24-year-old college drop-out, was a well-known â€Å"mullah† in the Islamic underground movement, while Mr. Khojaev was a former Soviet paratrooper who had served in Afghanistan where he was said to have developed a high regard for the â€Å"mujahidin† against whom he fought and revitalized his Muslim faith. The group led by Yuldeshev and Khojaev, who later adopted the alias Juma Namanganiy, after his hometown (Namangan city), were members of the recently formed Uzbekistan branch of the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP). Disillusioned at the IRPs refusal to demand the establishment of a Muslim state, these men set up their own splinter movement, â€Å"Adolat† (or Justice) which called for an Islamic revolution in Uzbekistan. President Karimov banned â€Å"Adolat† party in 1992, arresting many of its members. The groups leadership fled to Tajikistan, enlisting with the IRP there. With the outbreak of that countrys civil war, Yuldeshev moved to Afghanistan, later beginning a networking odyssey around the worlds Islamic states, visiting Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. He also met with various intelligence agencies, requesting funds and sanctuary. He received both from Pakistans Interservices Intelligence, and was based in Peshawar from 1995 to 1998. It has been claimed that Yuldeshev was also funded by intelligence services and Islamic charities in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey. He also met with Chechen rebel leaders during the first Chechen war of 1994-96, as well as establishing underground cells of the â€Å"Adolat† party across Central Asia which would be crucial in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) campaigns five years later. Meanwhile, Namangani fought in the Tajik civil war, establishing a reputation for himself as a daring fighter and becoming a revered and charismatic leader. When the war ended, Namangani at first refused to accept the cease-fire. Eventually he was persuaded to do so, settling with his family and some fifty of his men at a farm in the village. Here he began working in the transportation business and, it has been alleged, first became involved in heroin smuggling as a way of feeding his growing camp of followers, which attracted many of Central Asias Islamic radicals, disaffected at the ceasefire in Tajikistan which many viewed as a sell-out. Proceedings from drug smuggling were also used to finance the group which, in 1998, became known as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). This connection with drug trafficking has continued, and the organization reportedly handles 70 percent of the heroin and opium traffic through Central Asia. The IMUs creation was announced from Kabul by Namangani and Yuldeshev, the latter having settled here by this time as a guest of the Taliban. Yuldeshev was also given a residence in Kandahar, where Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Talibans spiritual leader, and Osama bin Laden also lived. By now Yuldeshev had met Bin Laden, who recognized the Uzbek as a potential ally in Central Asia, a region where al Qaeda had few contacts and cultivated him as such. Namangani and Yuldeshev decided to move their operations to Afghanistan in 1997 in the face of fresh crackdowns in Uzbekistan, provoked by a series of bloody murders attributed to the Uzbek Islamic extremists. Moreover, the ceasefire in Tajikistan made it an unreliable sanctuary, while the Taliban made natural allies for Yuldeshev and Namangani, not least in that Uzbek President Karimov was supporting the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan. The United States believed that bin Laden supplied most of the funding for setting up the IMU, with some Uzbek and Tajik officials saying the al Qaeda leader encouraged Yuldeshev and Namangani to organize such a the group in the first place, which declared a â€Å"jihad† against the Uzbek government and sought to establish an Islamic state in Uzbekistan. The organization is also believed to have received funding from Saudi sources, including some close to Prince Turki al-Faisal, the head of Saudi intelligence. The IMU, like the Taliban and al Qaeda has no overarching political manifesto, being more interested in implementing â€Å"sharia† not as a way of creating just society but simply as a means to regulate personal behavior and dress code for Muslims a concept that distorts centuries of tradition, culture, history, and even the religion of Islam itself. The organization also lacks the legitimacy of the Tajik Islamicists, drawing its idea of Islamism from foreign sources, namely, Saudi â€Å"Wahhabism† and the Talibans version of â€Å"Deobandism†. Central Asias Ferghana Valley, where the Uzbek, Kyrgyz, and Tajik borders converge, has been the main area for IMU operations, and the organization has launched punitive campaigns here in 1999, 2000 and 2001, which have affected all three countries and disrupted relations between them. There were some fights between Uzbek military forces and IMU units came through borders of Tajikistan and Kirgizstan. Uzbekistan responded by laying mines on much of its border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which have led to the deaths of scores of local people. Moreover, Uzbek Air forces bombed a village in Kirgizstan which was occupied by IMU warriors. These and other events led to disrupted relations among Central Asian countries. In addition, the IMU was responsible for a series of car bombings in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent which killed many people in 1999, as well as numerous kidnappings. The group also fought in the civil war in Afghanistan, and is currently fighting alongside Taliban and al Qaeda forces. Pakistani sources claim that the IMU may have supplied bin Laden with fissile material for manufacturing an improvised nuclear explosive device. More recently, significant numbers of IMU fighters were involved in the battle in the Shah-I-Kot valley, and there is little doubt that the organization has suffered heavy losses at the hands of U.S. and coalition forces. There has also been speculation that Namangani was killed in earlier U.S. air raids. If so, his death did not stop his men putting up fierce resistance at Shah-I-Kot. Moreover, the IMUs power base lies not in Afghanistan, but in the Ferghana Valley itself, a region the organization has found to be a fertile recruiting ground, largely due to the brutal and counterproductive reprisals of the President Karimov regime. It may well be there that any final show-down with the remnants of the group that poses the greatest threat to Central Asias security will take place. Hizb ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (The Party of Islamic Liberation) stands apart from better known radical Islamist movements by its apparent opposition to the use of violence. But its views are highly radical, advocating the overthrow of governments throughout the Muslim world and their replacement by an Islamic state in the form of a recreated â€Å"Caliphate†. It has grown quickly in Central Asia and been met with a heavy-handed repression that threatens to radicalize members still further and sow the seeds of greater Islamist extremism in the region. Hizb ut-Tahrir first emerged among Palestinians in Jordan in the early 1950s. It has achieved a small, but highly committed following in a number of Middle Eastern states and has also gained in popularity among Muslims in Western Europe and Indonesia. It began working in Central Asia in the mid-1990s and has developed a committed following inside Uzbekistan, and to a lesser extent in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Estimates of its strength vary widely, but a rough figure is probably 15-20,000 throughout Central Asia. Its influence should not be exaggerated it has little public support in a region where there is limited appetite for political Islam but it has become by far the largest radical Islamist movement in the area. Hizb ut-Tahrir is not a religious organization, but rather a political party whose ideology is based on Islam. It aims to re-establish the historical â€Å"Caliphate† in order to bring together all Muslim lands under Islamic rule and establish a state capable of counterbalancing the West. It rejects contemporary efforts to establish Islamic states, asserting that Saudi Arabia and Iran do not meet the necessary criteria. According to Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Islamic state is one in which Islamic law Sharia is applied to all walks of life, and there is no compromise with other forms of legislation. Hizb ut-Tahrir claims to reject violence as a form of political struggle, and most of its activities are peaceful. In theory, the group rejects terrorism, considering the killing of innocents to be against Islamic law. However, behind this rhetoric, there is some ideological justification for violence in its literature, and it admits participation in a number of failed coup attempts in the Middle East. It also has contacts with some groups much less scrupulous about violence. But despite the allegations of governments, there is no proof of its involvement in terrorist activities in Central Asia or elsewhere. Government responses have been contradictory and often ineffective. In much of the Middle East, the organization is banned from acting openly, and many of its members have been imprisoned. Central Asian governments have taken particularly harsh stances, with Uzbekistan leading the way by arresting and sentencing thousands of members to long prison terms. In some other Muslim countries, such as Indonesia, Hizb ut-Tahrir acts more or less openly, as it does in much of Western Europe. Wider policies of governments in Central Asia have probably contributed to the growth of Hizb ut-Tahrir, particularly in Uzbekistan. Repression by the Uzbek government has given it a certain mystique among some of the population, and the lack of alternative forms of political opposition or expression of discontent has ensured that it has attracted members from the mass of those opposed to the regime for political reasons. Poor economic policies have further undermined support for the government, and induced discontent among traders a key Hizb ut-Tahrir constituency. Uzbekistan’s restrictive border regime has also increased support for a group that advocates a universal Muslim state, with no national distinctions. For a small but significant group of predominantly young men, Hizb ut-Tahrir gives an easy explanation for their own failure to achieve change in their personal lives, in society or in the state system. It provides young men with some meaning and structured belief in an era of otherwise confusing and difficult social change. It also offers occasional material benefit and social support in states characterized by extreme poverty and social breakdown. Repression of its members, and often of those merely associated with them, has radicalized the movement, and had an impact on wider societies. Given the radical ideas of the group and the conspiratorial nature of its political struggle, it is understandable that governments are concerned about its impact on stability. But too often governments in the region, particularly in Uzbekistan, use Hizb ut-Tahrir as an excuse for their own failure to carry out political and economic reform and for continuing suppression of religious activity outside narrow official structures. Too often the international community has turned a blind eye to this repression. The West, and the U.S. in particular, is in danger of damaging its reputation in the region by close association with Central Asian dictatorships. Concern over Nuclear Terrorism Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asia and especially Kazakhstan with Uzbekistan played an active role in the development of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) due to its massive reserves of uranium tapped for fissile material. As the Soviet Union collapsed, the Soviet military-industrial complex left behind significant amounts of WMD as well as poorly guarded reactors and facilities for uranium enrichment. These facilities have been of increasing concern for the states in the region, as well as the United States, as nuclear weapons and material could get into the hands of terrorists or rogue states. The Institute of Nuclear Physics in Tashkent has been considered as especially vulnerable to terrorism due to the presence of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in the country and their ties to Al Qaeda. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin-Laden’s top deputy, reportedly bragged that they would send their people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other Central Asian states, and they negotiate, and Terroristic groups would purchase some suitcase nuclear bombs. The truth behind this could be disputed, but the fact remains that the United States have since 9/11 invested large sums to prevent such a development in Central Asia. Clans Warfare The Samarkand and Tashkent (two biggest cities of the state) clans are believed to be the most powerful on Uzbekistan’s political scene. And it looks like the rivalry between the two has deepened lately. President Islam Karimov, a native of Samarkand, a former finance minister in the Uzbek Soviet republic, came to power in 1989 with the support of the head of the Samarkand clan. Since the early days of independence, Karimov not wanting to damage his own position has attempted to achieve a balance of power among different political groups. However, that has fueled rivalries even more. Actually, President Karimov benefits from the rivalry most of all. He can be calmly sitting in his office, watching, and feeling very safe. What happened recently to top officials, and what is likely to happen to many others is nothing but clan rivalry. The rivalry between the Interior Ministry (MVD) and National Security Council (SNB) (former KGB) is typical in ex-Soviet countries. But in Uzbekistan this rivalry has deepened lately. One is inclined to think that all processes are driven by inter-clan relationships. The two strongest clans for the time being are the MVD and the SNB. They compete and fight with each other all the time. Does President Karimov, who has skillfully maintained the balance of power among the clans for several years, have full control over the situation? Or has he been influenced by those clans? Analysts say that Karimov doesn’t have full control. President Karimov benefits from the rivalry among the clans. However, he is playing a dangerous game, as one of these clans is likely to overthrow President Karimov and put in power someone from their clan instead of him. I don’t know how long this agony will last, but society could explode any moment, triggered by some insignificant event that will then have a chain reaction. People are on the edge. The authorities haven’t grasped the situation. They don’t understand how strong people’s despair is and what the people are capable of doing at this moment. But within more than 16 years of Independence any conditions for a peaceful and democratic handover of power have not been created, statehood remains clannish, and no politicians with public personas have appeared in the last 16 years. Conclusion Closed political systems, lack of freedom of speech, lack of economic progress, socioeconomic decline and unreformed and brutal security services all contribute to the growth of radical opposition groups. In order to avoid future conflicts the followings should be implemented by the Government of Uzbekistan such as: Decentralization, the delegation of power to a lower level, and the expansion of the power and opportunities for local self-governance bodies and local government authorities in Uzbekistan today must be combined with the establishment of judicial oversight independent of executive bodies, the strengthening of the role of civil-based organizations and the development of an independent mass media. Without the simultaneous development of all the aforementioned components, decentralization and the promotion of local self governance may result in continuing management by the authorities of the local community organizations, limiting the citizens’ participation in local governance. Such a reduction of people’s participation in community actions is likely to increase social tension. The government should permit secular as well as religious opposition groups, including the â€Å"Birlik People’s Movement† and the â€Å"Erk Democratic Party† and other Islamists Parties, to register as political parties. Moreover, government should to allow Representatives of Islam to join and actively act in the Parliament. The government should allow human rights groups of Uzbekistan to register officially as non-governmental organizations and should direct the security services to stop intimidating their staff. More resources should be channeled directly into improving national living standards, rather than enlarging the already considerable role of regional police and military forces. The constitutional right to practice religion in private and public, freely and without interference, should be upheld. The government should implement the constitutional separation of state and religion and end its practice of designating state-sponsored Islamic leaders. The separation and equality of the executive, judiciary and legislative branches declared by the Constitution should be upheld. The government should combat unlawful practices by security agencies, such as the harassment of journalists and human rights activists. The International Community The International Community has a key role to play and it is in the security interests of the international community to ensure that political opposition to unpopular regimes does not by default coalesce into a more militant group, with a more violent and dangerous agenda than the present-day some Radical Islamists Groups. The international community, in particular the United States, the European Union nations and Japan, must be more discriminating in their response to the problem of Islamist extremism, recognizing that unquestioning support for secular dictatorships only antagonizes Central Asian Muslim communities, thus encouraging extremism and an anti-Western orientation. Government donors to Uzbekistan should make it clear that their assistance will be predicated on political liberalization, including such measures as registering opposition parties and human rights organizations to encourage the establishment of a legitimate political opposition and an unhindered civil society. The U.S. Russian and Chinese governments should withhold security assistance until Uzbekistan’s human rights record, including performance of the security services, improves significantly, and, in keeping with the International Religious Freedom Act, should condition the future of the Joint Commissions on Uzbekistan’s efforts to combat human rights abuses based on the religious convictions of its citizens. The United States, the EU and Japan should demand investigations into the case of the Human Rights Defenders and other Political â€Å"Enemies† of Uzbekistan who are right now in jails of Uzbekistan or were killed by regional police and military forces. The international financial institutions should condition their aid on the Uzbek government making considerable progress in opening the economy, developing the rule of law and fostering democracy. Bibliography and References Uzbekistan at ten Repression and Instability, International Crisis Group Report, Brussel/Osh, 21 August 2001 Civil society, religious freedom, and Islam Karimov: Uzbekistans struggle for a decent society, John R. Pottenger, Routledge, March 2004 Uzbekistan: Transition to Authoritarian on the Silk Road, Neil J. Melvin. Amsterdam, Harwood, 2000 Islam and Central Asia, S. Eisenhower and R. Sagdaeev, Washington, DC. The Eisenhower Institute, 2000 Civil conflict and the construction of democratic polities in the Muslim world: The cases of Algeria and Uzbekistan, European consortium for political research Joint Sessions of Workshops Uppsala, 13-18 April 2004 Central Asia Caucasus Analysthttp://www.cacianalyst.org/index.php Fergana.ruhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/index.php?cid=2 History of Uzbekistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Uzbekistan International Crisis Grouphttp://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1432l=1 Stop dictator Karimov! Stop totalitarian regimes around the world! http://dot-stopdictatorkarimov.com-614467.namezero.com//id6.html Terrorism Projectshttp://www.cdi.org/terrorism/imu.cfm Hizb ut-Tahrirhttp://hrw.org/reports/2004/uzbekistan0304/6.htm