Why Nations Go To War

WHY NATIONS GO TO WAR is a unique book and a product of reflection by author, Dr. John G. Stoessinger. First published in 1978, its Eleventh Edition with additions came out in 2010. It is built around ten case studies, culminating in the new wars that ushered in the twenty-first century: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the wars between Arabs and Israelis in Gaza and in Lebanon. In the book he analyses the most important military conflicts of the 20th century: First World War, operation Barbarossa, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the war in Yugoslavia, the India-Pakistan conflict etc.The distinguishing feature of the book is the author's emphasis on the pivotal role of the personalities of leaders who take their nations, or their following, across the threshold into war. Thus this book transmits an understanding of warfare from World War I to the present century. Dr. Stoessinger believes that the war is neither impersonal, nor inevitable, arguing that the responsibility for a war doesn't lie solely with certain events, because everything is, in fact, about the decisions that people make.He argues that many conflicts could have been avoided without the use of force or without going to war. Dr. John G. Stoessinger attended college at Grinnell College in Iowa as an undergraduate and completed his Ph. D. in International Relations at Harvard. He has taught at several universities including Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Princeton, and the University of San Diego, where he is currently a Distinguished Professor of Global Diplomacy. In addition to his teaching career, Dr. Stoessinger has also led the International Seminar on International Relations at Harvard in 1969.He was also the keynote speaker at the World Congress of Junior Chamber International during their fiftieth anniversary event in Kobe, Japan. Dr. Stoessinger has written ten books on international relations and was awarded the Bancroft Prize for The Might of Nations: World Politics in Our Time. He has served as the book review editor of Foreign Affairs, acting director of the Political Affairs Division of the United Nations, and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. He has been included in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Dr.Stoessinger is notable for his individual analyses of war, contrasted with the systemic views more commonly studied by political scientists after the Second World War. Stoessinger was only a child when Adolf Hitler invaded his home of Austria in order to obtain Anschluss. As a Jewish family, they needed to escape from the Nazis. They received a visa to Shanghai, China from Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who helped thousands of Jews escape from the Nazis. These were the beginnings that shaped Dr. Stoessinger's world view and interest in ‘WHY NATIONS GO TO WAR’.In the book’s introduction, Dr. Stoessinger tells how, when he was a student, he was always dissatisfied with the explanations found in history books rega rding wars: nationalism, militarism, alliance systems, economic factors and other â€Å"fundamental causes† that, according to him, couldn’t be directly linked to the precise moment of a war’s beginning. He argues that these â€Å"fundamental causes† of wars throughout history are those forces that people apparently don’t control, although it is people who lie at the base of a conflict.In analyzing the 10 conflicts presented in the book, Dr. Stoessinger searches for the â€Å"moment of truth†, the one in which the leaders take the fatal step towards the war, and he wonders in which precise moment the decision to go to war becomes irreversible, who takes responsibility for it and if the disasters could have been avoided. Dr. Stoessinger has set up his book to look at the events that led to specific wars of the twentieth century and then drawing parallels between the different wars that might not have been apparent or obvious at the times of t he various conflicts.The book closely examines each war or group of wars in individual chapters arranged in a near chronological order with a conclusion chapter that pulls from all of the conflicts previously presented. This approach is very well organized and helps the reader to follow the evolution of war styles. The book’s first chapter is dedicated to World War I and is expressively entitled The Iron Dice, referring to the famous words spoken on August 1st by German chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg: â€Å"If the iron dice must roll, may God help us†In general, because of the history taught in schools or because of popular history books, most people consider that the so-called fundamental causes of World War I are: the deteriorating balance of power in Europe and the new competitive alliances, the arms race, Germany’s militarism and her claims regarding a larger colonial empire etc. Loyal to his theory, Stoessinger ignores these causes and chooses to analyze the leader’s actions in the war’s eve. According to the author, all of the political leaders involved were aware of the war’s inevitability and, in spite of this, they couldn’t stop it.More than once, these leaders have denied their responsibility, placing it in the hands of God or destiny. But it wasn’t God who could control the evolution of events and stop the war, was he? Dr. Stoessinger’s main theory is that the events weren’t, in fact, incontrollable and that it was the people who made the crucial decisions. And these people weren’t some evil leaders with a thirst for blood and destruction (how the Kaiser is so often portrayed), but worried people stuck inside their own illusions.Stoessinger believes that the crucial events that pushed the European countries to war were the following 1) The pledge that Germany made to Austria-Hungary regarding her policy towards Serbia 2) The ultimatum Vienna gave to Serbia and its rejection by the Serbs 3) The German efforts to mediate the conflict and tame Austria 4) At last, the declaration of war made by Germany against Russia and the invasion of Luxembourg and Belgium. In the first section of his novel, The Iron Dice: The causes of WW1, Stoessinger offer an alternative explanation of the causes of World War I, one that includes human reactions and feelings.He says: â€Å"The notion that WW1 is beyond men's control is wrong: Mortals made these decisions. They made them in fear and in trembling but they made them nonetheless. In most cases, the decision makers were not evil people bent on destruction but were frightened and entrapped by self-delusion. They based their policies on fears, not facts, and were singularly devoid of empathy. Misperception, rather than conscious evil design, appears to have been the leading villain in the drama. † Although Dr. Stoessinger's essay is well thought out and well written, It is hard to agree to the thesis compl etely.It seems that all the European countries had good reasons for wanting a war as well. â€Å"Serbia was right in wanting to expand, Austria in wanting to survive. Germany was right in fearing isolation, Great Britain in fearing German power. † All these countries needed to wage war since the balance of power was no longer balanced. All of these countries had good motives for a war, therefore, it is illogical to place the blame just upon the leaders of those countries, rather than analyzing the circumstances that made the countries want to wage war.As much as we would all like things to be simple, they are not. Finding a couple of unfortunate leaders in power guilty seems to be the easiest solution. However, the truth is just not that simple. The truth is that everyone was to blame, the circumstances that created the need for war, the short war illusion that everyone entertained, and the governments who felt the need for a war. The responsibility of preventing World War On e rests not solely upon the shoulders of a few selected individuals. However that is the theory maintained by Dr. Stoessinger throughout the book.The distinguishing feature of the text throughout the book remains the author's emphasis on the pivotal role of the personalities of leaders who take their nations or their following across the threshold into war. Most statesmen who made the crucial decisions behaved like fatalists. The terrible denouement was foreseen, but couldn't been prevented. Historians have been affected by this fatalistic attitude (events passing beyond men's control). Stoessingers view is that this is wrong mortals made decisions basing their policies on fear, not facts. Stoessinger views the World War I as preventable.The perception of statesmen and generals were absolutely crucial. Following dimensions of this phenomenon: 1. A LEADERS PERCEPTION OF HIMSELF 2. HIS PERCEPTION OF HIS ADVERSARY'S CHARACTER 3. HIS PERCEPTION OF HIS ADVERSARY'S INTENTIONS 4. HIS PERCE PTIONS OF HIS ADVERSARY'S POWER AND CAPABILITIES 5. HIS CAPACITY FOR EMPATHY WITH HIS ADVERSARY Most leaders saw themselves as stronger than they really were and their adversaries as weaker than they really were. These misperceptions led directly to distorted perceptions of adversarial intentions which then precipitated quickly into all out war.If the leaders of the various nations involved would have viewed reality rather than their own distorted misperceptions, it may have been possible to avoid conflict on such a massive scale or even avoid war altogether. This seems to be a recurring theme throughout the book. One of the important theories attributed to Stoessinger is the theory of perceptions. Stoessinger believes that, in the eve of major conflicts, many of the political leaders involved have misjudged the situation and have thus led their countries to war.These false perceptions manifest on 4 levels: firstly, a false perception regarding the leader’s own person, of the ir role in the world and of their loyalty towards the possible outcome of the conflict. The second level regards the opponent and often includes demonizing his image and the inability to objectively understand a situation. On the third level, we are dealing with the misperception of the opponent’s intentions and, on the fourth level, with misjudging the opponent’s abilities.Stoessinger has emphasized the importance of the political leaders’ personalities and the fundamental part they play in the evolution of international relations. The second chapter discusses Hitler and his invasion of Russia in 1941. Again, misperceptions played a key role in the events that unfolded. This time, more emphasis was put on the character of the aggressor and his adversary. Hitler essentially had a one track mind. He decided to attack and eliminate the Russian people and paid no attention to the lessons learned by Napoleon when he had attempted to conquer Russia.Hitler was convinc ed that it would be a quick and easy victory. Stalin, on the other hand, believed that since they had previously been allies, Hitler would not invade Russia. Stalin continuously ignored intelligence that came from British and American sources, including eighty-four warnings in the year preceding the attack, because he was suspicious of Anglo-American motives. He preferred to place his trust in Hitler, a fellow dictator. In the end, Hitler invaded Russia and had misjudged the Russian people.They were fighting for their very existence which is probably the most powerful motivation ever. He had failed to plan for the Russian winter because he thought it would be a quick and easy victory, and ended up losing many men to cold and starvation, much as Napoleon had previously. Stalin had placed his trust in the wrong entity and was greatly disillusioned and was unprepared for the attack when it came. Again, the misperceptions of the leaders involved ended in a great loss of life. The third chapter deals with the Korean War and misperceptions of a different sort.In the later stages of the war, after the North Koreans were driven back to the 38th parallel, General Douglas MacArthur went beyond the original scope of the police action by driving toward Chinese border along the Yalu River. This move provoked China and brought them into the conflict. MacArthur did not believe that the Chinese army would be strong and thought he could achieve an easy victory. He ignored intelligence that told him the size of the Chinese army and chose to believe that it was smaller than it really was.His hubris added two years to the war and cost 34,000 additional American lives. Had he chosen to listen to reality instead of his own misperceptions, many lives could have been saved. The Vietnam War was full of misperceptions as well. One of the biggest misperceptions would be the type of war being fought. The United States was fighting against communism, while the Vietnamese were fighting aga inst imperialism and colonialism and to protect their way of life. Had the United States never entered Vietnam, communism would have taken over earlier, and with fewer human lives wasted.In 1978, the Vietnamese communists invaded Cambodia to put a stop to the communist regime of Pol Pot and the killing fields. Had the United States been open-minded enough to see that there were distinctions between types of communists, perhaps we would never have participated in the conflict. Dr. Stoessinger continues through several other wars including: Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, the battles between India and Pakistan, the Arab-Israeli conflicts, Saddam Hussein’s wars in Iran and Kuwait and the current American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after the tragedy of 9/11.Dr. Stoessinger summarizes the book in the final chapter. Here he reiterates his thoughts that the â€Å"case material reveals that perhaps the most important single precipitating factor in the outbreak o f war is misperception. † He also restates the dimensions of misperception and gives each one special attention. In regards to the idea that there is a misperception in a leader’s self-view, Stoessinger notes that there is â€Å"remarkable consistency in the self-images of most national leaders on the brink of war.Each confidently expects victory after a brief and triumphant campaign. † He also states that â€Å"leaders on all sides typically harbor self-delusions on the eve of war. † Stoessinger also discusses the idea that a leader’s misperception of his adversary’s power is perhaps â€Å"the quintessential cause of war. It is vital to remember, however that it is not the actual distribution of power that precipitates a war; it is the way in which a leader thinks that power is distributed.†Dr. Stoessinger uses many primary sources for his information including newspapers, documents, reports, and first-hand accounts. He also uses many secondary sources including books by other authors well-versed in the conflicts being discussed. It is very apparent that a lot of thought and research has gone into the creation of this book. The index is very complete and the bibliographies at the end of each chapter make it easy to find more information on the conflict at hand.I believe that this book has a lot of historical worth since it pulls from so many valid sources. It presents straightforward and factual information with knowledgeable interpretations of the information. I believe that Dr. Stoessinger has successfully accomplished what he has set out to do. I would recommend the book to others if they are looking for interpretations of war and how they begin. The book was interesting, though it could be a little dry at times to someone who is not well-versed in modern and contemporary history.

Human Relations Essay

Child development refers to an individual’s progress from birth to adulthood. There are several changes that occur in a normal person’s life span-physical, cognitive and psychosocial (Fitch, 1999, p. 9). The three form the domains of child development. Physical development refers to the changes that occur in the individual’s body, such as height, weight, sensory and motor abilities, as well as the hormonal changes (p. 9). On the other hand, cognitive development alludes to the intellectual changes that occur as children develop (p. 9). As children grow, they start to develop attitudes about themselves and their surroundings. As they continue to search for their identity, their psychosocial development also unfolds. There are different theories that tackle child development. Stage theories are theories that concentrate on developmental levels that are â€Å"quantitatively different† from other levels (p. 40). Quantitative, in this sense, means that each developmental level is a progression, an integration of previous behavior and information (p. 40). Furthermore, the progression from one stage to another is discontinuous, indicating that it follows a fixed sequence (pp. 40-41). Theorists who subscribe the stage theories of child development believe that all stages are universal (p. 41). There are three major theorists in child development: Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget. Sigmund Freud is considered the â€Å"father of psychoanalysis† (Thornton, 2006). Psychoanalysis is a technique developed by Freud that is used to uncover the unconscious (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 15). A medical doctor by profession, Freud was particularly interested in the central nervous system (p. 14). In his life of work, he found that most diseases are psychological in nature, rather than physiological. Thus, he came to the conclusion that human behavior is driven by the unconscious instincts (p. 446). He believed that the unconscious instincts are vital in an individual’s survival. Moreover, he accentuated the importance of sexual instincts as the most important element in personality development. Personality, according to Freud, is developed around three structures: the id, the ego, and the superego (Fitch, 1999, p. 41). The id is guided by the pleasure principles, ego, the reality principle, and superego, the moral principle (p. 41). These structures are crucial in Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, or his perceptive on child development. There are five stages in Freud’s Psychosexual Theory, each stage involving some levels of sexual energy. According to Freud, as children go through each stage, their personality is being developed. However, when a child undergoes traumatic experiences, the sexual energy that should have been at that particular stage may be affected, resulting in what Freud termed as fixation (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 47). Fixation may later lead to immaturity and certain personality traits. In the oral stage (birth to 18 months), the infant‘s focus of gratification is the mouth (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). During this stage, the infant’s id is dominant, especially because the infant has yet to differentiate the self and the environment (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 47). The infant obtains oral pleasure by sucking, chewing and biting (Morris and, p. 448). Infants who receive too much pleasure will grow into optimistic adults; those who receive little will turn into hostile adults (p. 448). During the anal stage (18 months to 3 ? ears), the child’s primary source of sexual pleasure is the anus (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). In this stage, the child’s ego is starting to differentiate from his/ her id and the child starts to establish self-sufficiency (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 47). The child starts to learn elimination and he/ she derives sexual pleasure from holding in and expelling feces (p. 448). This is also the time when toilet training begins. Strict toilet training may result in children throwing tantrums, which according to Freud will lead them into self-destructive adults (p. 448). The third stage- phallic stage, occurs after the child reaches three years of age (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). In this stage, both boys and girls seek pleasure from manipulating their genitals (p. 448). Interestingly, children become sexually attracted to opposite-sex parent (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 48). Freud calls this the Oedipus and Electra complex (p. 448). The former refers to the Greek mythological character that kills his father and marries his mother (p. 448). The latter refers to the somewhat possessive love that girls display toward their father while feeling jealous of their mothers (p. 48). The child’s superego is also starting to take control, as the child starts to take notice of his/ her parents’ values as well as that of the society. Fixation in this stage may lead to vanity and egotism in later life. Or it may lead to the opposite, wherein the individual becomes withdrawn, shy and has low self-esteem (p. 448). When the child reaches 6 up until he/she reaches puberty, the child goes into a latency stage. During this period, sexual development is at a standstill (Larsen and Buss, 2002, p. 51). The child loses interest in sexual behavior and instead begins focusing on learning skills that will help him/her become responsible citizens in the society (p. 510. ). At puberty, the child reaches the genital stage. It is during this stage wherein sexual tension builds up. It is a period of sexual maturity. The genital stage is the final stage in sexual development and it is in this stage where adolescents and adults are able to actualize unfilled desires from infancy and childhood (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). It is the time when mature sexual relationships are established.

The Dangers of Facebook

They found that 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, usually checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour. The Ohio report shows that students who used Facebook had a â€Å"significantly† lower grade point average – the marking system used in US universities – than those who did not use the site. â€Å"It is the equivalent of the difference between getting an A and a B,† said Karpinski, who will present her findings this week to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.She has not yet analysed whether a student’s grades continue to deteriorate the longer he or she spends on Facebook. Some UK students have already spotted the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate in her final year at Loughborough University, realised the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades – prompting her to deactivate her account. â€Å"I was in the library trying to write a 2,000-word essay when I realised my Facebook habit had got out of hand,† she said. â€Å"I couldn’t resist going online.You do that, then someone’s photo catches your eye. Before you know it, a couple of minutes has turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a thing. † Jones is among the few to have recognised the risks. According to Karpinski’s research, 79% of Facebook-using students believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work. Facebook said: â€Å"There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students, in consultation with their parents, to decide how to spend their time. †

Plato's theory of justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Plato's theory of justice - Essay Example At this point, Plato analyzed the different theories done by different philosophers and gave his own definition pertaining justice since he felt that justice needs a lot of interest and dedication. Plato defined justice from two main point of view: One being, justice from an individual point of view is that it is a ‘human virtue’ responsible for making someone self-reliable and of high quality1. Plato handles justice with seriousness, when he ends up using ‘Dikaisyne’, meaning justice, morality or even righteousness in Greek. Morals mold the responsibilities of man, and the term monitors the whole behavior of man whenever another human being is concerned. Plato asserts that justice is the excellence of the soul, where man alienates unreasonable longing to explore on the pleasures of the world and satisfaction of self-interest pleasure from anything they handle and are comfortable with their way of life. Plato, Unhappy with the ongoing destruction of democrac y in Athens, decided to write about it. He adopted Sophistic education of ethics which ended up with too much individualism stirring to attack the State Office selfishly up Athenians. They ended up separating Athens into two antagonistic camps of the haves and the have-nots, tyrants and the exploited2. Later on, Plato felt that the nonprofessional ship, annoying nature and too much selfishness ought to be addressed. Plato addressed the matter by using a principled society with a perfect justice system to attack, since the research he had done showed that justice is the best medicine in an evil society. Hence, it is paramount that the society questions the shape of insinuated by Plato as an important principle of an organized society. Notably, many philosophers have handled different justice theories were common. The answers to questions pertaining justice starts from the unsophisticated to the complicated elucidation. Therefore, it is paramount that the analysts ask why Plato disreg arded some justice concepts3. Cephalus, a diplomat of traditional integrity of the early trading category, founded the traditional theory of justice. In his view, justice entails honesty and reassures payments of debts to the people one owes. This is the reason Cephalus equates justice with the right behavior. Polemarchus supports Cephalus view concerning justice but alters some information. Polemarchus views justice as extending what one feel proper to one own self. This could be interpreted to mean that justice is pleasing friends while injuring the interests of enemies. The Greek traditional saying also adheres to the theory4. While Cephalus and Polemarchus to support the view, on the other hand, Plato is criticizing the view. According to Plato, Cephalus view was limited, as in a case where the formula infringes the will of right; his method does not accommodate proper acceptable opinion of life. It is wrong to bring the deadly arms to a mad man. Polemarchus was criticized by Pl ato, arguing that it is easier said that done. For example, if one is a friend in an outward manner, and the enemy in truth. How wills one go about the problem? Is there a possibility to do him right as per the definition or act according to the real feelings and administer evil, yet this was contrary to moral requirements. The notion of justice only worked on the relationships between individuals and neglected the rest of society5 . Thrasymachus, on the other han

Life Cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Life Cycle - Essay Example Problems of business call for definite answers, to be given at once; the problem of life cannot be thus disposed of. Human life is made to consist of a succession of temporary practical problems, each of them set and once for all given by the outcome of the last and each of them to be solved, or in some form to be disposed of, right away. "Nothing which has ever interested living men and women can wholly lose its vitality" (Offer, & Sabshin, 1984). One can hardly state the limits of what this may be taken to mean. Such, however, is the attitude of humanism; and at the lowest terms it offers a complete contrast to the attitude of pragmatism. In connection with the pragmatic attitude it was said that the significance of any temporal moment of life, or the meaning of any present desire, might be anything you please; "the present" is a question of the present scope of imagination. The same indefinite possibility confronts us when we think to define the boundaries of human nature. Could we think of the human being simply as an organism with a definite habitat and a restricted span of life, we might then formulate a definite "science of ethics" (Offer, & Sabshin, 1984), based upon human nature as a natural fact, undisturbed by suggestions metaphysical. But such a science of ethics would hardly merit the name of moral philosophy. The "moral nature" of man implies that he is not a mere organism but an organism which is self-conscious and critical, an organism with imagination. To human nature as thus conceived it seems difficult to assign any "natural" boundaries. Despite the uniqueness of each individual and the different ways and varied environments in which we are raised, all of us are endowed with physical make-ups that are essentially alike and with similar biological needs that must be met. In common with all living things our lives go through a cycle of maturation, maturity, decline, and death. In common with all human beings each of us goes through a prolonged period of dependent immaturity, forms intense bonds to those who nurture us, and never becomes free of our need for others; and we mature sexually relatively late as if the evolutionary process took into account our needs to learn how to live and how to raise our offspring (Lidz, 1983). Each of us requires many years to learn adaptive techniques and become an integrated person, and we depend upon a culture and a society to provide our essential environments; we rely upon thought and foresight to find our paths through life and therefore become aware of the passage of time and our changing position in the life cycle. From an early age we know that the years of our lives are numbered; at times we bemoan the fact and at times we are glad of it; but in some way we learn to come to terms with our mortality and the realization that our lives are one-time ventures in a very small segment of time and space. These and many other such similarities make possible the generalizations and abstractions necessary for the scientific study of personality development. The Meaning of Development Many people have always been eager to form theories concerning the phenomena in and around them. They felt that once they had a "theory" concerning events, they could not only understand the event better but eventually control it (Offer, & Sabshin, 1984). When theories were proven wrong, new ones replaced old ones. In our opinion, a theory concerning normal human

Zappos Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Zappos Case Study - Assignment Example This prompted him to create an online retail site specializing in footwear which grew to give rise to Zappos.com (Frances, Robin and Laura, 2011). From its inception Zappos value proposition has been to create and deliver to each customer a WOW experience. They are able to achieve this by simply empowering their workforce to deliver a shopping experience that is irresistible. They provide unrivalled customer service and free fast shipping , while at the same time offering almost one thousand two hundred and fifty brands and two million eighty hundred thousand products. As a result of this strategy they have a fanatical customer loyalty with up to 75% being repeat customers (Zappos, 2011). Zappos ability to create and capture value emanates from their nearly obsessive passion to create customer satisfaction and good customer relationships. In fact customer’s loyalty is of such great importance to Zappos that it is their primary goal to be the best customer experience and customer service company. They have a culture that runs deep down and that is customer-focused (Scribd, 2012). In order to create and capture value, Zappos directly invests huge amount of money into customer service. They will only hire employees who are customer-oriented who are able to fit into their culture of optimal employee satisfaction. Even after employing people who are customer-oriented, they further train these individuals thoroughly the art of creating customer loyalty. Zappos approach to creating and capturing value is customer centric. They make use of such strategies as offering free delivery for products purchased, they even allow for free returns when a customer is not happy wi th the product and they also have a 365 day return together with periodical service upgrades. As a result, 75% of their sales emanate from current customers and still have a tremendous rate of growth despite the poor economy (Sam Houston State University, 2011). Zappos have also developed a service culture which is built around ten core principles which stipulate that every new employee has to take four weeks of customer training on loyalty. Their employees are committed to their work and build life long relationships with customers. They make use of social sites for networking and making contact with customers and in the process obtaining invaluable customer feedback and criticism (Sam Houston State University, 2011). The growth and success at Zappos is also attributable to a good corporate culture. The culture at Zappos promotes and encourages employees to be themselves. The employee culture at Zappos is focused on good customer service and is of one mind. They care that the custo mer is happy with the product that he or she chooses to buy. This culture of customer satisfaction is entrenched deep into the beliefs of the employees, their interactions with customers and their hiring protocols. During the hiring process, there are two sets of interviews that are done. One set of interviews is done by the hiring manager together with her or his team. During this stage they check for the basics like relevant experience, and technical ability of the job applicants. The second set of the interview involves the HR department who perform the interview for the sole purpose assessing for culture fitness. They examine whether the individuals would easily fit into their culture (Fast Company, 2012). Zappos culture is built around ten core values. These values include: Deliver WOW through good service, drive and embrace change, creating a little weirdness and fun, humility by employees, be determined and passionate, do more with a little, being creative,

The Need to Establish a Film Industry in Sierra Leone Term Paper

The Need to Establish a Film Industry in Sierra Leone - Term Paper Example Further, schools and colleges were encouraged to join the industry through events such as National Art Festivals. However, all these were dropped at some point. The film has been dragging along without proper regulation and no empowerment at all. Consequently, local Sierra Leoneans can now only produce poor quality films which cannot make it to the international platforms. No wonder, only foreign films shot in Sierra Leone make it to the international level. However, it is worth noting that the spirit to revive the industry is alive. What needs to be done is to set up necessary mechanism such as film schools to empower the industry into producing quality products. Rationale For many in the West, Sierra Leone remains the land of blood diamonds and drugged-up child soldiers, even though the country has been at peace for almost a decade. The film â€Å"Blood Diamond† was the one that installed the image for many overseas. At a time when Sierra Leone was desperately looking to reb rand itself, the film scared off tourists and drove away investors. Now, we will aim to erase that image with the establishment of the new film school. The President of Sierra Leone stressed that the film industry will tell a new story of peace, democracy, humanity, and determined to progress in many areas of human endeavors. Sierra Leone’s first ever film and acting school, IDF Film School, will be established by the Director of Institut de Francais, Ahmed K. Mansaray who also doubles as a movie executive producer and director.

Post Deregulation Act of 1978 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Post Deregulation Act of 1978 - Term Paper Example The US Airlines industry was primarily a highly controlled one, with heavy regulations imposed upon the air fares, air routes as well as the air schedules. Prevalence of such restrictions within the airlines arena had serious implications upon market demand. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) restricted the entry of new players within the industry, depending upon the approval provided by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Prior to deregulation, unless the DOT endorsed any indigenous airlines company as fit and able to commute passengers within the national premises, they could not operate within the domestic territory (Siddiqi, n.d., par. 1). The outcome of creating such a highly constrictive environment of operation had serious drawbacks upon the cost structure of the companies which were active in the business. Though initially, the profit margin earned by the US airlines industry was quite high, viz., 14%, the situation worsened following the restrictions inflicted by the boar d upon the margin. According to the guidelines being implemented, the profits earned upon stockholder’s equity could not be exceeded beyond a certain ceiling, so that the players who were already present in the market could not increase the air fares above a particular point (Kwong, 1988, p. 14). Though, a low air fare was considered as an advantage for the customers who availed the service, the companies suffered from bottlenecks as their avenues for procuring capital was approaching a standstill.

Glass Artist Josh Simpson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Glass Artist Josh Simpson - Essay Example As a matter of fact, Cady carried one of his planets on Space Mission Columbia in 1995. Josh's New Mexico series are also well known. They consist of representations of the night sky in the desert - blue, black and gold hued - showing swirling galaxies and constellations. (Seekers Gallery Website) As he himself states, Josh gets his inspiration from the medium - glass when heated to high temperatures moves fluidly like honey. It has a radiance and translucence, which he finds inspiring. But it's not merely artistic vision that Josh requires to produce this work. Scientific and technical precision (knowing the hows of working with glass and at what temperatures it can be manipulated) the ability to work in uncomfortable and potentially dangerous conditions (the high temperatures of the furnace and the danger of something blowing up) and even physical strength are required, as solid glass spheres are heavy. One of the heaviest planets that Josh has fashioned is 85 lbs, which, the Artist, in The Glass Talk Radio interview states is with a Commercial University. Another of his planets, weighing 50 lbs is displayed in the Yokohama Josh Simpson Sphere Museum. (Simpson Website:Video) Josh has received a commission from the Corning Museum of Glass, New York, for a planet of 100

Study of the Political Situation and Possible Soultions in Syria Essay Example for Free

Study of the Political Situation and Possible Soultions in Syria Essay Deal or No Deal; Is International cooperation in Syria possible? In the Modern age, the major concern for conflict is a flashpoint spreading around the world like world war 2 and archbishop Ferdinand The most likely current candidate for this flashpoint is Syria, and the spreading of this conflict to the rest of the Middle East, more specifically Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and Israel, commonly referred to as the Greater Arab Spring.  The current conflict is driven by opposition government forces in the north and supports of President Bashar al-Assad; the conflict driven to a degree by ethnic groups conflicts, human rights, and freedom. The Syrian conflict, in the context of this argument, is defined as the possible steps the international community may take to stop the ongoing conflict present in Syria and what are acceptable steps that the world can take to effectively and efficiently end the current issue. The current regime is spurring on numerous human rights violation, the threat of conflict spilling over into the greater Arab Spring, and possible weapons of mass destruction proliferation. These actions must be the basis for having sufficient reasons for significant foreign aid, possible military intervention and political pressure to be applied against the current regime led by President Assad to assist in a popular overthrow to create a new coalition government. The current problems facing the country justify short term complications to ensure the long term effects and issues do not continue, despite the expected spike in conflict in the country. With refugee populations expected to increase up to 300% (Weiss), civil rights violations abound, mass killings being reported (Syria Rebels), chemical weapon proliferation (Hambling), destabilizing of the Arab spring (US Preparing), and the inevitability that Assad will not be removed from power except by force unless political compromise is reached leads me to argue that intervention in Syria, despite the perpetuation of the current conflict, is the best course of action for the health of Syria and the Arab spring as a whole for the future. The current situation, in the eyes of the international community, has warranted financial, military and political intervention and assistance to the Free Syrian Army coalition, A. K. A. the rebels, present in Syria. The current ties and alliances with Syria have been degrading to the point of nearly international isolation over recent actions. The Arab league has called for political discussion in Syria for steps toward the removal of Assad, and de facto allowed Israeli air strikes to go unchallenged (Prusher). The governing bodies with jurisdiction in the region including ,NATO, the UN, and The Arab League have all backed political discussion or non-lethal aid to be provided to end the current conflict (Seelye), with the ICC moving to try members of the regime on crimes against humanity (LaFranchi). In addition, The Middle East has allowed for multiple Israeli airstrikes in order to remove the threat posed by chemical weapons in terrorist organizations (Prusher). But above all, the deadly cocktail of humanitarian crises, arguably on the scale of genocide (Whitlow); the possible destabilization of the Arab spring with close ties to Iran in Syria; along with hostilities spilling over into Israel (Milne) may lead the Middle East to war. The current unwillingness for political dialogue and compromise between President Assad and the rebel coalition destines political intervention to fail (Dahl). In addition the sending of armament to Syrian rebels in efforts to extradite the conflict thought Qatar and Saudi Arabia have largely only increased political pressure, and has not effectively shortened the military conflict (Sanger). Thus, while foreign international military aid from Brittan and the United States can have impact, it can do only so much in the face of such a complex and long term conflict. While valid cases can be made that intervention will only destabilize the region (Milne) and that the aid provided so far is primarily reaching our enemy (Sanger), the current regime will only keep going, the conflict having potential to expand the refugee population 300% (Syria Refugee). I would argue that the conflict has reached a point of â€Å"mutual destruction† (Dahl) and that unless the balance is upset by international intervention there will be no victor, no democracy, only death (Dahl). Despite the current situation posed in Syria, a breach of sovereignty would not be supported by the opposition or the government, regardless of its necessary. Some international factions supporting the Assad Regime, such as Russia, remains that the international community should not intervene whatsoever, military aid or otherwise (Russia Warns) and the feelings of the Free Syrian Army resistance take a similar stance, stopping short of military intervention, but moving for aid and weapons. While the rebels generally support western ideals, the need for strong international allies to retain their bid for power has shifted international recognition and support (Syria Conflict) despite their flaws. While their tactics are more widely regarded than current Russian or Regime methods according to the UN and ICC investigation into crimes against humanity against the Assad regime (LaFranchi), the rebels have been accused of their own human rights violations, and should not just be taken at their word (Sanger). This complex and shifting network of alliances and sources of foreign aid for both sides leads to the conclusion that indirect aid must be sufficient until those feelings changes or the situation on the grounds markedly evolves against the rebels to back foreign invasion. The current rebel forces have been working with improvised heavy weapons (Denton pic 3) and lack of ammunition (Denton pic 4) and without further military aid may not be to continue to mount a sufficient defense against the regime. The international community must not only continue to support the rebels in Syria like the international community has done in the past with Libya and the Gadhafi regime of foreign military aid and training, then, if given the blessing of the Syrian people, could make targeted strikes to topple key points for the regime. The UN, NATO, and the Arab league, with blessing of the international community and the Syrian people must pledge military backing and support now, draw up plans of action, position troops and resources, and be ready for intervention the minute it is deemed necessary by the people or the international community to strike. To create this force and draw up these plans, these bodies must follow in the success of the French intervention in Mali with effective, but limited assistance, not turning the public opinion of the people, but a force sanctioned by the populace to end conflict and to destroy key strongholds with limited loss of lie, with continued finical and military assistance and intelligence after the forces pull out of the country. They must not repeat the mistakes made by the US and NATO in Iraq and Afghanistan with massive invasion forces, actics ineffective against dug in and supported insurgents but follow past models of involvement that have been supported internally, by the people. For these reasons I believe that if international intervention is enacted, The US, NATO, and The Arab League must have effective forces prepared and ready to go if they are to make a mean full impact on Syria for the people, sanctioned by the people. But all these stated above efforts become pointless without a stable government. Despite the necessity felt for intervention in Syria, some parts of the world, not least of all Syria, feel that international intervention must not be carried out, or will only further degrade the situation. The Russian Federation has recently condemned actions by France and Britain to veto renewed arms trade embargos to Syria in order to ship weapons to the rebels to end the conflict (Arming). The Russian government and the Islamic Republic of Iran support a hands-free approach in Syria, calling for political dialogue it the conflict. They feel that not only does it breach the sovereignty of what they feel is a duly run nation, but that people will not support such actions. One major issue is that public sentiment is impossible to accurately judge due to lack of international journalists and only the state run TV to rely on for information of public sentiment. With this in mind, the opposition argues that the public is not still behind the Assad regime, and if they are given a chance for internal political dialogue between parties, progress can be made, but only if both sides are willing to compromise. As paraphrased by the Russian foreign minister, â€Å"Only Syrians can decide the fate of Syria† (Russia Warns). In addition, the Iranian minster of foreign affairs, Ramin Mehmanparast has expressed similar sentiments against foreign intervention, pushing to support their one key remaining ally in the region. Russia and Iran aside, there are western politics who feel that international intervention and the removal of Assad will set off a powder keg in the Arab springs, and question if intervention at this point would be effective (Hof). In addition, rebel troops have recently made many advances in Aleppo, shelling of Damascus and captured their key facilitate (Rebel’s Seize), pacing additional pressure on Assad for political discussion. This case has been made in conjunction with statements by the United States that Assad’s regime, while flawed is the only thing holding together the country, and not presenting another Pakistan/Afghanistan scenario of terrorism increase, extremism support, and collapse of limited American standing in the Middle East (Clawson). While not all of these sources oppose military or non-military aid, they only do so with the premise to increase pressure on the regime to bring them to the negotiating table (Seelye). However, I feel that not only is the situation dead locked, but the current humanitarian situation and loss of life require intervention under UN’s guiding principles and the Geneva convention ruling, â€Å"such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. However this conflict will only escalate further till mutual destruction if not handled with the approval of the people. Syria must weather short term increased losses for the long term goal of ending the war, while limiting losses and restoring the country by continuing non-military and military aid to the country. That is why the mandates of the Russian and the Iranians are flawed. We must continue to support and create a new uniquely democratic and sustainable governmental system for both sides of the parties to cooperate within to ensure long term peace. As paraphrased by an Afghani general in the Afghanistan war in 2006, â€Å"You automatically think of this democratic system of America, but that is not Afghanistan, that is not Pakistan. Each country must have a unique and popular sponsorship of the government or it will fail† (Camp Victory). This same logic applies to Syria; this war they are gridlocked is the result of a government not able to adapt, not adapted to the Middle East, not adapted to the diverse and incohesive people of Syria. This conflict has resulted in losses upwards of 70,000 with millions displaced, with number of refuges expected to triple by the end of the war, losses compounding in a deadlocked conflict (Report Details). The children of Syria have faced extreme and traumatizing losses, 3 out of 4 having lost a family member, every single one growing up in a war, with many now, upwards of 2 million directly physically effected by the conflict(Syria Crises). In addition to these children becoming the new lost generation on the local scale of World War Two, many are being recruited to the conflict under 18, and appeals being made to all regional groups, from Christians to Muslims, further showcasing the severity of the conflict and need for troops in a depleted army (Syria Crises). In addition, recent reports of an ever stretched thin Syrian national army shows the increasing momentum of the resistance movement (Exclusive: Syria), possibly driving the regime to desperate measure ranging from increased chemical attacks on citizens to increases strikes on civilian targets (Whitlow). While a valid case can be made for lack of intervention in Syria for the sake of short term gains, a long term solution, despite severe but mitigable losses with sufficient international support, is what course must be taken if Syria is to be saved. The future of Syria is still undecided, what it will look like after the conflict up in the air, everyone agreeing only that an end must be reached soon. From a local perspective, the conflict is deeply dividing, as many ethnic groups have set into conflict over power. To complicate matters, these northern rebels often lack strong central organization. And since the state media sources are controlled solely by the regime, Facebook and other social-media outlets closely monitored and primary available to pro-Assad supporters, it is hard if not impossible to get an accurate breakdown of alliances and support until the civil war ceases. The Facebook feeds denounce the terrorists, the news sources have ranged from statements that that â€Å"the rebels are few† (Daily Newscast /03/13) to â€Å"the terrorists have been pushed back†; contradicting other sources, while downplaying the economic hardships facing the people (Daily Newscast 3/03/13). The primary message embedded in the state media is that the world will not get the whole picture, only a partial truth and that until the conflict stops, it is nearly impossible to asses and establish a functioning and effective government backed and run by the majority of the people, while not ignor ing or discriminating against the minority. In review, despite significant political pressure by Russia, Syria and factions in the international community, the best course of action is a three -fold plan to end the crises of Syria. We must enact a military intervention structured around similar strikes and campaigns in Libya, Mali, and the early operations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Leading up to that military intervention, due to the current political situation, the international community must step up military and non-military foreign aid in efforts to increase political pressure for change in the Assad regime and its allies. And third, once the current regime is taken out of power, a system for fair and judicial democratic elections structured to Syria must be conducted with international oversight to ensure the new government supports the views of the people (Karon), but is also able to be inclusive of the former regime minority basis of people, if not the persons in power previously. While direct military may prove to not be needed if increased pressure forces political change, unless the preconditions as precisely described are meet and upheld, the end result will be a ‘total war† of genocide and civil rights violations that will spill over into the greater Arab spring area, creating a conflict with no foreseeable end. Unless this conflict ends, The State of Syria will become no more than groups of people displaced, lost, dead, or traumatized; the first lost state of the modern age.

Overview of Portfolio Theories

Overview of Portfolio Theories Introduction The word â€Å"Portfolio† can be defined as; the totality of decisions determining an individuals future prospects† (Sharpe, 1970). Portfolio can consist of many types of assets such as plant, property, real and financial assets (P.A Bowen, 1984). Portfolio theories propose how rational and prudent investors should use their due diligence to diversify their investments to optimize their portfolios, and how a risky asset should be priced as compared to less risky asset. People have been investing in the different assets class since decades but then they realize the importance of risk and its negative implications, if not treated effectively. Every investor has his own tolerance of risk and investors defines it in his ability of taking it. The portfolio theories have been derived over time in order to effectively measure the risk and how it can be reduced by diversify in their asset. Article 1: â€Å"The Legacy of Modern Portfolio Theory† This article covers the highlights of modern portfolio theory, describing how risk and its effects are measured and how planning and asset allocation can help you do something about it. Modern portfolio theory is the theoretical conflicting of conventional stock picking. It is being put forward by the economists, who try to understand the phenomena of the market as a whole, instead of business analysts, who look for individual investment opportunities. Investments are explained statistically, as how much investor expected long-term return rate and their expected short-term volatility. It measures how much expected return can deviate much worse than average an investments bad years are likely to be. The goal of the theory is to identify your adequate level of risk tolerance, and then to come up with a portfolio with the maximum expected return for that level of standard deviation (risk). The portfolio it assumes that the investment universe consists only of two market securities, the risk free asset and risky assets. But the actual investment universe is much broader than that being put forward. The optimal level of investment is to invest on efficient frontier but doing this would mean to calculate the millions of covariance among the securities. This calculation could make the life of analyst as difficult as one could have ever imagined. To think practically, its better to put portfolio theory to work means investing in a limited number of index securities rather than a huge number of individual stocks and bonds. Index investing is the point the where portfolio theory starts to rely on the efficient market hypothesis. When you buy an index based portfolio strategy youre allocating your money the same way the whole market is which is a high-quality thing if you believe the market has a plan and it is efficient. This is why portfolio theory is one of the branches of economics rather than finance: instead of only studying financial statements and different financial ratios, you study the aggregate behavior of investors, some of whom seemingly have studied financial statements so that market valuations will reflect their due diligence and prudence. Article 2: â€Å"Theory of portfolio and risk based on incremental entropy† The article has used incremental entropy to optimize the portfolios. This novel portfolio theory has been based on incremental entropy that carries on some facet of Markowitzs (1959, 1991) theory, but it highlights that the incremental speed of capital is a more objective criterion for assessing portfolios. The performance of the portfolio just cannot be justified with the returns because we have to keep in mind the risk of achieving those returns. Given the probability forecasts of returns, we can obtain the best possible investment ratio. Combining the new portfolio theory and the general theory of information, we can approach a meaning-explicit measure, which represents the increment of capital-increasing speed after information is provided. The article has used example to make it more clear that as we try to become rich within days there involve high risk of even losing those money which we at-least own at present. The ineffective investment is like a coin toss either you have al l the money in your pocket or you end having nothing in your pocket. The same being very risk averse would not help you become rich. You there has to be a balance in selecting the portfolio and this article explain the optimal investment ratio. (pg 1) Markowitz explains us that an efficient portfolio is either a portfolio that offers the maximum expected return for a given level of risk, or one with the minimum level of risk for a given expected return. There is no objective criterion to define the maximum effectiveness of a portfolio given the expected return and risk level and different expects have different view about it. The Markowitzs efficient portfolio tells us about the indifference curve of the investor and about the market portfolio. It is not the portfolio which we need for the fastest increment of capital. So, this article has derived a new mathematical model. The model explains that when gain and loss are have equal chance of occurring, if the loss is up to 100 percent, one should not risk more than 50 percent of fund no matter how lofty the possible gain might be. This conclusion has a great importance and significant for risky investments, such as futures, options, etc. Most of the new investors of future markets lose all of their money very fast because the investment ratios are not well controlled and generally too large. we can obtain the optimal ratios of investments in different securities or assets when probability forecasts of returns are given. Comparison with Markowitzs theory The new theory supports Markowitzs conclusions that investment risk can be reduced by effective portfolio, but there are some obvious differences: The new theory uses geometric mean return as the objective criterion for optimizing portfolio and gives some formulas for optimizing investment ratios; and . The new theory makes use of extent and possibility of gain and loss rather than expectation of return and standard deviation (risk) of the return to explain investment value. Article 3: â€Å"On the competitive theory and practice of portfolio selection† To select an optimal level of portfolio has always been a basic and fundamental problem in the field of computation finance. There are lots of securities are available including the cash and the basic online problem is to agree on a portfolio for the ith trading period based on the series of price for the scheduled i-1 trading period. There has been increasing interest but also mounting uncertainty relating to the value of competitive theory of online portfolio selection algorithms. Competitive analysis is based on the worst and most unexpected case scenarios and viewpoint; such a point of view is conflicting with the most widely used analysis and theories being adopted by the investors based on the statistical models and assumptions. Surprisingly in some of the initial experiments result shows that some algorithms which have enjoyed a highly regarded repute seems to outperform the historical sequence of data when seen in relation to competitive worst case scenarios. The emerging com petitive theory and the algorithms are directly related to the studies in information theory and computational learning theory, in fact some of the algorithms have been the broken new ground and set new standards within the information and computational theory learning based communities. The one of the primary goal and objective of this paper is understand the extent to which competitive portfolio algorithms are in reality learning and are they really contributing to the welfare of the investor. In order to find out so they have used set of different strategies this can be adapted to data sequence. This is being presented in a mixture of both strong theoretical and experimental results. It has also been compared with the performance of existing and new algorithms and respects to standard series of the historical sequence data and it also present the experiments from other three data sequence. It is being concluded that there is huge potential for selecting portfolio through algorith ms that are being derived from competitive force and as well as derived from the statistical properties of data. Article 4: â€Å"International property Portfolio Strategies† The article talks about the investment decisions regarding real estate, and try to put in the Markowitz mean variance formula to analyze the real estate market. They are not confined only to local real estate diversification but they are also including international diversification. Markowitz mean variance continuum and graph is useful in analyzing the efficient securities, and they help in the selection of an optimal portfolio on envelope curve taking into account the risk preferences of an investor. But when analysts try to incorporate real estate market to the Markowitz theory the major problems regarding liquidity, heterogeneity, indivisibility and information are faced by them which restrict them from further optimal analysis. Many investors have tried to support the theory to make a portfolio by considering property as asset like equity and bond investments; although there are a lot of differences among the characteristics of assets discussed above, but one can diversify its portfolio by investing in real assets, analysts argue. The discussion was dominated by the concept of international diversification of assets including real estate. To support the analysis in UK the (Sweeney , 1988-1989) work in cited most of the times, he came up with the famous model of real estate to come up with efficient diversification strategy, he used rental value of for different countries and came up with the model of risk return theory; after that a lot of analysts including: [Baum and Schofield (1991), Brà ¼hl and Lizieri (1994), Gordon (1991), Hartzell et al. (1993), Johnson (1993), Sweeney (1993), Vo(1993) and Wurtzebach (1990)], have come up with analysis to support international diversification; but the result was som ehow was not justifying the inculcation of real estate to portfolio theory, because those assets were not correlated at all when inspected for the risk return behavior during last decade or so. This can be attributed to the failure of mean variance model to produce results, the main problems facing would be regarding data collection, technicalities, omitted categories, and ex post analysis. This is almost irrational and impossible to find the most efficient way to diversify a portfolio by including real asset as a separate asset, because of area problems, different locality, pricing conditions, economic conditions, liquidity differences, and data collection problems. As real estate market is highly uncorrelated even within the industry so the data sets are very difficult to find for analysis because of lack of empirical data on this market. Article 5: â€Å"Different risk measures: different portfolio compositions?† Choosing the suitable portfolio of assets in which to invest is an essential component of fund management. A large percentage of portfolio selection decisions were based on a qualitative basis, however quantitative approaches to selection are increasingly being employed. Markowitz (1952) established a quantitative framework for asset selection into a portfolio that is now well known. The measure of risk used in portfolio optimization models is the variance. Variance calculates how much deviation could be expected from the set of portfolio. The alternative methods of risk have their own theoretical and practical advantages and it is atypical that they are not used widely by investors. One of the reason may be because of the difficulty and complexity of understanding such models and then practically implementing those models and to decide in which measure of risk is best and gives the most realistic and useful results. It is important to identify the common risk measure and without doi ng so any attempt to measure the risk would be useless exercise. In order to cope with this, another approach is considered that is to comparing the portfolio holdings produced by different risk measures, rather than the traditional risk return trade-off. It is than being observed that whether the risk measures used produce asset allocations that are essentially the same or very different. In order to probe this concern this study tested the proposition that different measures of risk produce minimum risk portfolios that are essentially the same in terms of asset allocations, using monthly data over the period January 1987 to December 2002. The results show that the optimal portfolio compositions formed by different risk measures vary quite noticeably from measure to measure. These finding are very useful and have a practical implication for the investors because it recommend that the choice of risk model depends entirely on the individuals attitude to risk rather than any theoretic al or practical advantages of one model over another. It has been concluded that different investors have they indifference curve different from other and some of them like to take more risk as compare to other who are happy at earning low but safe returns. Conclusion It is being concluded that risk is more of a subjective term and different analysts and investor measures and perceive it in their own way. In todays word not even a single person can underestimate the importance of risk in selecting a security and emphasized is been given to diversification through proper portfolio selection process and everyone tries to optimize their returns given a certain level of risk. In order to do so they are using different statistical measures those have been derived over time to calculate risk. So selection of such method is limited to the understanding of a certain method to a certain investor and their effectiveness of results as compare to other methods.

Inequality in the European Union (EU) Essay -- European Union Essays

Cumulative European Union (EU) enlargements to include relatively less developed countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, along with the possibility of future EU status being granted to Turkey and Albania (EC, 2011), raises further questions about inequality in the European Union. The global recession has bought the issue of labour market models and resulting inequities back into the forefront political discourse, as government cutbacks necessitate the reappraisal of welfare states and labour market policy. This essay will analyse both differing labour market models and the EU labour market as a whole to explain why EU countries have heterogeneous inequities. Overall, within countries, differing interplay of welfare states, varieties of capitalism and employment structures has a profound effect on levels of inequality within labour markets; particularly post EU-crisis when rapid change exacerbated many inequalities. Additionally, the macro EU labour market would appear to create ineq uality, particularly because of the free movement of labour. It seems despite having a labour market branded as homogenous (SiniÄ Ãƒ ¡kovà ¡, 2011), Europe’s interacting varieties of capitalism and employment legislation have created a heterogeneous continent; with equally diverse inequalities. Gosta Esping-Andersen’s 1990 book The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism remains a convenient starting point for examining the capacity different labour models have to create inequality. Despite criticism for being out-dated and of limited relevance given the homogenous nature of Andersen’s typologies, their intuitive coherence means they go some way in explaining patterns of inequality in the EU (Goodin, 1999). The liberal model of welfare capitalism puts ma... ...dersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press. Hall, P., & Soskice, D. (2001). Varieties of capitalism: The institutional foundations of comparative advantage. (P. Hall & D. Soskice, Eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rosewarne, S. (2010). Globalisation and the Commodification of Labour: Temporary Labour Migration. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 20(2), 99–110. Schmid, K. D., & Stein, U. (2013). Explaining Rising Income Inequality in Germany, 1991-2010. IMK, 32(1), 1–45. SiniÄ Ãƒ ¡kovà ¡, M. (2011). Homogeneity of the European Union from the Point of View of Labour Market. Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education, 17–28. Spicker, P. (2008). Social policy: themes and approaches (p. 307). Policy Press. Standing, G. (1999). Global labour flexibility: Seeking distributive justice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

The Tragedy Of Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

The Tragedy Of Hamlet Hardship, unfortunately, is a part of everyone's life. It is unavoidable, and in Hamlets case he found out that bad luck comes in colossal amounts at a time. Most people see bad luck as getting splashed by a car in the rain, or finding out that the idiots at McDonald's forgot the fries in your order. But Hamlet got a quadruple dose of bad luck. First his father was unjustly murdered. Then the ghost of his father comes back and tells him that he is to avenge his death. To top it all off Hamlet finds out that his mother has just married his late fathers assassin. When Hamlet tries to expose the new king of killing his father, he is exiled to England because the other people thought that he was mentally ill. When Hamlet returns to Denmark he finds his secret love Ophelia being buried. Hamlet feels that he is living in a world of horror, and by the end of this miserably disheartening play, his fathers death is avenged, but at quite a cost. Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Laertes, and Polonius are all dead. I would have to say that all of the adversity in hamlets life had to have a great affect on his spirit. One can not go through life, and Hamlet had a short one, lose all of the people that you love and expect it to not dishearten you a little. And in Hamlets case it pretty much drove him insane.    The human spirit is a very fragile thing, and something as tragic as the death of a loved one can damage it greatly. As in Hamlets case, when his father was murdered, this started a sort of devastating chain reaction of the psyche. He started to "go nuts", and it showed. The people around him started noticing this drastic change in his personality. But his insanity was most evident during the play which he set up and called "The Mousetrap".   Hamlet sat fidgeting in his chair, staring at Caudius with accusing eyes. When his little trap had run it's course, Claudius had just about been broken. Hamlet watched as Claudius sweat and chewed his nails. When Claudius could take no more he stumbled out of the room and into the streets where hamlet proceeded to follow, dancing and screaming like a mad man. Hamlet could take no more of this torturous life, watching his mother hang off of the man who murdered his father. His spirit had been irreversibly damaged, and insanity was the price.    This play is a classic example of one of the greatest, if not the greatest The Tragedy Of Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays The Tragedy Of Hamlet Hardship, unfortunately, is a part of everyone's life. It is unavoidable, and in Hamlets case he found out that bad luck comes in colossal amounts at a time. Most people see bad luck as getting splashed by a car in the rain, or finding out that the idiots at McDonald's forgot the fries in your order. But Hamlet got a quadruple dose of bad luck. First his father was unjustly murdered. Then the ghost of his father comes back and tells him that he is to avenge his death. To top it all off Hamlet finds out that his mother has just married his late fathers assassin. When Hamlet tries to expose the new king of killing his father, he is exiled to England because the other people thought that he was mentally ill. When Hamlet returns to Denmark he finds his secret love Ophelia being buried. Hamlet feels that he is living in a world of horror, and by the end of this miserably disheartening play, his fathers death is avenged, but at quite a cost. Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Laertes, and Polonius are all dead. I would have to say that all of the adversity in hamlets life had to have a great affect on his spirit. One can not go through life, and Hamlet had a short one, lose all of the people that you love and expect it to not dishearten you a little. And in Hamlets case it pretty much drove him insane.    The human spirit is a very fragile thing, and something as tragic as the death of a loved one can damage it greatly. As in Hamlets case, when his father was murdered, this started a sort of devastating chain reaction of the psyche. He started to "go nuts", and it showed. The people around him started noticing this drastic change in his personality. But his insanity was most evident during the play which he set up and called "The Mousetrap".   Hamlet sat fidgeting in his chair, staring at Caudius with accusing eyes. When his little trap had run it's course, Claudius had just about been broken. Hamlet watched as Claudius sweat and chewed his nails. When Claudius could take no more he stumbled out of the room and into the streets where hamlet proceeded to follow, dancing and screaming like a mad man. Hamlet could take no more of this torturous life, watching his mother hang off of the man who murdered his father. His spirit had been irreversibly damaged, and insanity was the price.    This play is a classic example of one of the greatest, if not the greatest

Free College Admissions Essays: Im Ready to Take English to the Next L

I'm Ready to Take English to the Next Level    It is with great excitement that I submit my application to your university's English department for the Bachelor's degree program. Following is a brief autobiography, submitted in fulfillment of part of the university's application requirements.    I began to study English over ten years ago, and rapidly developed a strong interest towards the language. Soon after, I was introduced to an American-based company, the Light House Bookstore, which provides our community with both English instructional books, and language lessons. During one of my frequent visits to this bookstore, I discovered that a small church occupied the second floor of the building, the Lotung Church of Christ. After many visits, and my eventual conversion to the Christian faith, I took every opportunity to attend church events and gatherings to speak with other American members, and quickly became good friends with many of them.    I never lost my interest in the Light House Bookstore however. After many mo...

Guava leaves Essay

Nowadays people are focusing in herbal plants especially those who are common in the environment. One of the example is the guava plant (Psidium guajava Linn). Based on research this plant is good for healing and treating wounds and other skin infections. So in my research I wan’t to make a bathing soap out of it, cause I know that it is effective. People, researchers, scientists were focusing to medicinal plants. They want to prove that there are plants that are more effective against diseases especially in skin. This study refers to a plant that can be made into a bathing soap and improves its quality while using this plant (guava leaves). I want people to handle easily in treating their skin disorders. Instead of boiling the leaves, now it’s easy to apply. Boiling takes much time. Statement of the Problem: I stated that Guava leaves extract is good for skin. Based on my research, it has many constituents that is good for skin. It answers the following questions: * Is there any constituents of guave leaves that is good for skin? * What are those? * It can really treat skin disorders/ Acne? Hypothesis: * Guava leaves is good treatment for acne. * It has many components or constituents. * Constituents that is good for skin disorders, especially for acnies. Significance of the Study: You can make a bathing soap with guave leaves extract as treatment for acne. This plant is very common to our environment, and aside of its avaibility; it is easy to cultivate. It contains many components for healing skin disorders. Scope and Limitation: The study of guava leaves and getting their extract is often useful. It has the ability to treat, cure, disinfect skin disorders and capable of being a herbal plant for acnes. Definition of Terms Astringent- antiseptic properties Decoction- infusion of fresh leaves used for wound cleaning and skin to prevent infection and to facilitate healing. Good for skin disorders. Volatile- a substance that changes into a vapor at a relatively low temperature. Eugenol- oily liquid from doves. (C10H12O2) Cloves- aromatic spice from the dried flower bud of a tropical tree. Tannin- a brownish or yellowish substance found in plants and used in astringents. Saponins- soap from plants; any group of chemical substances extracted from plants that form a soapy lather mixed with water and are used to make soap and detergent. Amydalin- resin used in paints and adhesives. Resin- yellow or brown color and organic substance from plants. Malic Acid- acid from fruit; a colorless crystalline solid found in fruits such as apples. (C4H6O5) Aldehydes- organic compound; a highly reactive organic compound produced by the oxidation of an alcohol and having a CHO group especially the acetaldehyde. Ash- the powdery substance that is left when something has been burnt.

Shakespeare’s play Essay

Explore the dramatic techniques used by Henry V to inspire his men before the battle of Agincourt. William Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Henry V† is set in 1415, when Henry becomes King Henry V of England. As a young man Henry enjoyed drinking and the company of women. When he became King Henry changed, he wanted to be taken seriously and to be treated like an adult, so he gave up drinking. Henry was angry and insulted by a birthday present of a box of tennis balls from the King of France, Henry thought the King of France was suggesting that he was still a boy and not a man capable of ruling England. To prove he was a man Henry ordered the invasion of France. Henry’s first battle was the Siege of Horfieur Henry V where he inspired his troops with a speech before leading them into battle. Henry said they had to behave like tigers and show no fear only strength. The next battle was the Battle of Agincourt, Henry’s troops were exhausted after their last battle and were out numbered five to one. But Henry tries to inspire them again for the last time he starts off talking dramatically about death, â€Å"if we are marked to die, we are enough to do our country loss. † I think he is saying that if the English are meant to lose the battle then it is better that they die, than thousands more if they wait for help. Then he goes on to say, â€Å"if to live, the fewer men, the greater the share of honour† if they fight there is a chance that only a few will survive and these few men will have gained honour. After this he stops talking about death and attempts to be more positive and tries to get his troops off the subject of death and to think about the honour that will achieve. Henry attempts to make them closer and tries to unite them as a family, by saying, â€Å"I who doth feed upon my cost† and â€Å"It yearns me not if mean my garments wear† which means that he does not mind paying for them all to eat and he also is not bothered if they wear his clothes. Henry also made it clear that any one who did not want to fight that was free to leave, when he said, â€Å"That he which hath no stomach to this fight let him depart. His passport shall be made and crowns for the convoy put into his purse†. I think that by saying this Henry means that any one of his troops is free to go, he will even give them money to get home, but if any choose this option then they would be giving up their chance for honour. And people would remember them as men who were not manly enough to go into battle. Henry continues his speech by reminding his troops that, â€Å"This day is called the Feast of Crispian†, this is a Saint’s day that the English would have celebrated with a feast. Henry says that â€Å"He that outlives this day and comes safe home. Will stand a-tiptoe when this day is named, And rouse him at the name of Crispian† he is telling his troops that when the celebrate the Feast of Crispian they will always remember the battle and remind themselves by showing their old scars to neighbours and friends because men that were not in the battle would not remember it but those that took part would always remember it, â€Å"Then will he strip his sleeve and show his cars, And say â€Å"These wounds I had on Crispin’s day†. Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot. But he’ll remember, with advantages†. Henry mentions some of his troops by name â€Å"Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester†, then offers a toast to them, â€Å"Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered†. By using their names I feel Henry makes it seem like the speech is directed to the troops individually and personally this makes them feel special and inspired them to fight harder for Henry. Again Henry uses this technique to make his troops feel that they are part of his family that he is one of them by saying, â€Å"But we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers†. Henry goes on to say, â€Å"For he today that shed his blood with me. Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile†, by saying this Henry was ensuring that any of his troops who were injured in the battle would be inspired to keep fighting because Henry would regard them as his brother. Henry ends his speech by saying, â€Å"And gentlemen in England, now abed, shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks†, by say this he is inspiring his troops that they are more manly and should feel honoured to be fighting today as any man in England that had missed the battle and stayed at home would feel ashamed when they heard of the great victory and therefore feel less manly. The battle of Agincourt was a great victory for the Henry’s tired English troops, they overcame great odds to win. I feel that Henry used this dramatic speech in the play to motivate and inspire the English troops on to victory against the French by lifting their spirits, promising them great honour, also by making them feel part of his family, almost like brothers fighting side by side and by promising them a battle they would never forget.

PhD Dissertation Chapter 1

The Fundamental ComponentsChapter One, one of any research thesis or dissertation, should lay down the basis and the objectives any researcher would want to achieve in such undertaking.This chapter consists of the background and Theoretical Framework of the Study, Statement of the Problem and the Hypotheses, Significance of the Study, the Definition of Terms and Delimitation. The statements made in these subsections should be clearly stated.  In the first subsection, the background will formally introduce the topic and discuss the rationale of choosing the problem as well as its theoretical framework.  Another one is that the Statement of the Problem and the Hypotheses should be couched in clear and measurable terms. This part describes the purposes why the researcher is conducting the study and enumerates the hypotheses to be tested.Third, the Significance of the Study will cite the benefits that could be derived as a result.  Next, the definition of terms should give the conc eptual as well as the operational meanings of the terms in relation to the present study.  Finally, the Delimitation part will set the limits and scope of the Study.The AnalysisThe subject of the present analysis is the Chapter of a Dissertation Proposal.The Background of the StudyAs stated previously in the explanation of the Background of the Study, the Chapter 1 of the present research lacks a Research Title to serve as a basis of the Chapter 1 component of the dissertation. Having no title, the researcher or the reader of the present work will have a hard time guessing what the Chapter was all about. Thus, he will only have to guess the appropriate title of this research which is missing. The research describes the different â€Å"excellent models† used by other developed countries. Since this is the case, these models to my mind bear no relevance to what the research is all about neither to be used as a link to the research title.Though I must admit that the researcher stated his intention or reason for conducting these research â€Å"is to provide theoretical background to the ‘claim’ that the TPEM is strongly based on management theory† this thus not negate the fact that in using to explain his intention through â€Å"TQM and performance-based models, Resource-based View (RBV) and the stakeholder theory (ST)† he employed a research paradigm which was not properly explained either in in-text or via graphical representation. How can the researchers establish a prior relationship â€Å"between enablers and performance indicators is important before testing their causal linkages?† It should be properly explained.The Problem Statement and Research ObjectivesThe Statement of the Problem section provides a description of the purpose of the study and enumerates the Hypotheses to be tested.  The researcher in this part stated the the enabler consist of leadership, organizational culture and values, strategies and obje ctives, best practices, innovation, and change management; and the results set comprises of productivity, employee satisfaction, customer relationship and stakeholder focus and the performance results. To my mind these are the variables that will be used to attain the researcher’s desired end.The Statement of the Problem here is couched in general terms which is very difficult to determine what statistical tool to be used or is it measurable using statistics. To wit: [h]ow similar is TPEM to other previous performance models such as MBNQA, EQA and Kanji’s. What similarities or differences that co-exist between TQM based models such as MBNQA, EQA or Kanji’s and other performance-based models such as Competitive fitness model, Blue-chip characteristics, and World class manufacturing model; {s]ince TPEM is claimed to be beyond quality management perspectives, does the model have strong foundation in management theories.   What theories could explain its performan ce factors or enablers and what are the theoretical roots of model’s performance factors; and [d]o the dimensions identified as enablers (called capabilities, and stakeholder focus in this thesis) affect company performance.This statement should be reduced into simple terms that could be measured, even in practical terms, by a given statistical tools; otherwise, it will be very hard to come up with a concrete answer for these statements.  Ã‚  In like manner, some of the objectives or the specific questions that need to be answered are couched in general terms or even misplaced, to wit:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"[t]theoretically clarify the TPEM within management theories; to clarify each enablers (organizational capability and stakeholder focus) as determined by TQM and other related performance-based models; to clarify the company performance dimension of the result portion of total performance model; to establish a suitable measurement items for each dimension of capability, stakeholder focus and company performance; to validate the dimensions of the model; to test the relationship between each dimension of the capability, stakeholder focus against company performance; to test the structural linkage between organizational capability, stakeholder focus, and company performance with the stakeholder focus as a mediating variable; and to test the goodness of fit of the model.†How can we measure through clarification the company performance dimension of the result portion of total performance model? How can we establish in a statistical terms a suitable measurement items for each dimension of capability, stakeholder focus and company performance? How can we validate the model’s dimension? How can we measure the structural linkage between organizational capability, stakeholder focus, and company performance with the stakeholder focus as a mediating variable? To me this is quite broad and diffused.In the question â€Å"to test the relationship between each dimension of the capability, stakeholder focus against company performance† this should be stated in this manner: Is there a relationship between†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..stakeholders focus and company performance? Lastly, never state in the object the kind of statistical tool to be used as in this case â€Å"to test the goodness of fit of the model.† Use the word â€Å"association or relationship† in forming the specific objectives.  In general, the objective part needs to be re-written in order to respond to the Problem Statement. Otherwise, the aims of the research will not be attained.Significance of the StudyIn this section, the researcher should focus on the study’s significance to its purported end user. Never explain literature or describe the models. Stay on the unique significance of the present study to the community or organization where the researcher belongs.Definition of TermsThe definition of term lacks the conceptual and operational definition of terms of selected words unique to the study. The researcher only includes a purported definition without even citing the correct reference of each term of words. Also, the researcher failed to include the operational definition of this words as used in the thesis or dissertation.ReferenceShearer, C (1994). Practical Continuous Improvement for Professional Services, ASQC  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Quality Press, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, p. 163-165.

The Failure of the Road Map to Peace

Abstract The failure of the Roadmap to Peace has become an object of substantial debate. This essay examines the conflict utilizing the concept of ripeness and third party intervention in order to determine the impact. The evidence presented illustrates the lack of details produced a lack of direction which led to strategy failure. This study will be of value to any person studying conflict resolution. 1 Introduction The Roadmap to peace was created to bring quiet and balance to the Middle East. This essay examines the failure of the Roadmap process through the perspective of ripeness and third party intervention. With each process, this essay identifies the strengths and weaknesses associated with the method in order to create better understanding. Beginning with a base overview of the Roadmap to peace this essay sets out a fundamental building point. Following this with an assessment of the ripeness of the peace process will allows for an illustration of potential, adding to the narrative. Next, will be an examination of third party intervention and the opportunities that this created in the Roadmap process. A combination of these sections will enable the creation of reasonable conclusions based on evidence. In the end this essay considers initial policy, modern practice and future potential with the clear and stated goal of demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of international conflict resolution. 2 Roadmap to Peace2.1 OverviewWith the failure of the American President Bill Clinton to forge a lasting peace in the Middle East before leaving office, the second intifada broke out hampering peace efforts and increasing regional violence between Palestine and Israel. This sudden onslaught rapidly deteriorated any building goodwill between the states and made any form of resolution very hard to create. The Roadmap was an effort constructed by the major powers Russia, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union in an effort to create peace between Palestine and Israel. With a real need to implement a form of resolution and partnership in order to promote international concerns, the Middle East plan was built to resolve many long standing issues. Citing the rising tensions in the region, the world powers, led by the United States President George W. Bush, adopted the Roadmap, a concept taken from a 2002 speech created the foundation for the Road Map to Peace. With a c lear political impact to be felt by the failure or success of the program, the Western Powers and Russia felt that the time had come to answer the violence with a bold initiative directly aimed at changing the status quo. The strategy itself was enacted with three distinct segments in mind, which in turn would provide markers illustrating the progress . The first phase envisioned a form of acceptance between the antagonists which would lead to an end to the on-going violence in the region . As part and parcel of the reform needed, the Palestinian state would undergo elections and fundamental development, thus enabling a better informed and therefore less violent population. Israel in turn would pull their military assets back as well as allowing normalization of operations in Eastern Jerusalem. This process would allow for a general rising of health conditions alongside the improvement in the aid situation that was being experienced by the general population. A final component of the first phase of the Roadmap dictated a total freeze on expansion settlements, and the further exploration of alternatives . Each of these first steps was designed with a broad intent, but few details. However, the intent w as to deescalate the tension and creates a perception of partnership that would allow for both Israel and Palestine to find common ground, thereby inherently reducing the underlying violence and hardship. The second segment of the Roadmap was to take place over the course of the 2003 year. Building on the projections of the first portion, the second phase begins the real work of creating an independent state. This process of development for Palestine required a substantial economic recovery as well as a considerable increase in the quality of social services available . With increased funding, and environmental assistance this segment encompassed the physical rehabilitation of the Palestinian state in order to establish a viable national presence. Once again, the critics of this segment cite the lack of detail compared to the overarching goals. Yet, with the accomplishment of these goals, Israel would restore communication and cooperation with the Palestinians, thereby increasing the communication and opportunity for partnership in the region. The third and final section of the Roadmap consisted of a second international conference that would herald the passage of the Palestinian state into international recognition. As a consequence of the success of the first and second sections, it was judged that the Palestinians would have a permanent status as an independent state which would in turn effectively end the conflict . During this third segment many of the most vexing issues surrounding the conflict including the borders of the city Jerusalem would be addressed in order to cement a lasting peace. Further, this final effort would encompass the refugee and settlement issues with a final decree thereby settling each of the commonly held elements of the conflict. Described as a performance driven strategy, there was no real method of enforcement, compelling the states involved to meet the standards of the Roadmap. With a great deal of mistrust resting between the Palestinians and the Israeli’a the expectation of trust and good faith on the part of every player was a significant assumption. With an initial directive of immediate ceasefire on the part of Palestine alongside the immediate cessation of building by Israel was meant to convey in a very direct manner, that the peace process was moving forward and would impact the most sensitive elements of the conflict. This fundamental endorsement of the two state solutions to the regional conflict by world powers signalled the beginning of a political push to solve the long running crises. Both players did not agree to abide by the agreement, Israel nor did Palestine truly meet the guidelines, making the effort to keep the Roadmap on track both frustrating and pointless.2.1 Failure of the Roadmap2.1.1 RipenessMany elements are at the core of the failure of the Roadmap policy, including clarity, ripeness of goals and the overall intervention efforts by the larger world powers. With spiralling rates of violence taking their toll on each side, it was deemed time for intervention by the world powers prior to the creation of the Roadmap. However, not each party involved in the conflict agreed with that assessment. Wallensteen (2002) identifies the concept of ripeness as the moment of defining readiness for change. With the onset of dialogue and the uptick in desire for a regional solution to the confli ct, both the Palestinians and the Israeli’s seemed ripe for a compromise. With very little ahead of either party without a form of conflict resolution, the long term outlook was dim and growing dimmer. The ripeness of the opportunity led the four major world powers to create and implement the Roadmap to peace even with the lack of clarity . With a clear moment for seizing the reins and changing the narrative, the players in the negotiations sought to accomplish a long held goal in a relatively short period. Further, the foundation goals of the endeavour coordinated with the needs of the population in the moment, yet, the overall lack of clarity and details only led to confusion and skewing of purpose throughout the implementation process. This same concept of timing was conceived as an integral component of the conciliation resolution effort envisioned in the end goal. However, the lack of any real method of compelling motivation on the part of either Palestine or Israel both states quickly reneged on the agreement and failed to live up to the expected standards. Another central element of the motivation behind the peace plan was the coveted alliance of the moderate states in region that the American president sought. In a very real way, every step of the peace process in the Middle East was conceived as a result of the need to ensure adequate oil supply from the region. This added many layers of complexity to the already complicated regional environment. As Tristan (2014) notes in his detailed evaluation, despite the lofty goals of the Roadmap, there was not a noticeable advance in the agenda between the beginning of the peace process in 2002 and the scheduled cessation of the conflict in 2005. This wasted opportunity led to a disengagement that resulted in a re-emergence of violence that soon destroyed any good the preceding efforts had achieved. Taking away an opportune moment and drastically stoking the anti-Western resentment in the region was the invasion of Iraq only a year after the creation of the Roadmap. This contradiction in goals only served to further divide the local area as well as weaken any real oversight that the agreement on. Central to this argument is the need for continual communication and commitment in order to progress, which with the lack of monitoring failed to serve the intended purpose of driving the process forward. With the timing of the American invasion coinciding with the peace effort there was a clear opportunity to view the real views that the West espoused. As the war deteriorated and became a perceived vendetta pursued by the American President any lasting credibility that the Roadmap had was soon lost. Despite the need for resolution and the continuing commitment for solutions from the neighbours, Israel initially declined the offer of the Roadmap, instead supplying a long list of conditions that would serve to offset any initial losses a compromise may entail. No matter the funding and benefits offered, the elements of the situation allowed Israel the leverage to institute a series of demands. This recognition of ripeness allowed the Israeli’s to accomplish much of the dismantling of the Palestinian infrastructure immediately, making these elements critical to any lasting accord. Lacking any clear detail or direction, the Roadmap was unable to address many of the issues at the regional level, making any form of progress hard. There was a real perception of rudderless direction with no real commitment by the creating powers. Tocci (2013) argues that the outbreak of the second intifada was the signal of the ripeness of moment in the Israeli and Palestine peace process. With a clear indication by the United States that it would accept the assistance of others to promote peace in the region, the international components all seemed ripe for working and finding a long term solution . Yet, the complex nature of the conflict negated any possible progress, frustrating every party involved. In summation: There was a clear perception of opportune timing to be had in the intifada and the desire to de-escalate the conflict by every party involved. This benefit was bolstered by the American Presidents wish to provide a path to a moderate alliance in the region that would ensure oil production in the West . Taking away momentum from the proffered Roadmap, thus letting the moment slip past, was the lack of clarity in the fundamental plan, which was large on goals and slight on how to accomplish them. This was further complicated by a lack of understanding of the outside parties that only resulted in creating or exasperating current conditions. Coupled with the outbreak of the American and Iraqi conflict that illustrated a negative aspect of the Western power, the moment for change was soon lost among the need to serve one owns interest . With the outside powers having to concrete on the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan there was scant time or funding to provide any meaningful support for the Roadmap, which in turn consistently diminished the efforts of each person involved.2.1.2 Third Party InterventionThere are three reasons for outside parties to become involved in an international conflict. With elements including traditional alliance compulsions, ethnic or population ties or the presence of humanitarian emergencies are at the centre of these interventions. Many studies contend that the multi-faceted partnership is more effective than the United Nations at implementing an effective assistance effort. Others argue that these situations often present outside entities with opportunities for profit that have nothing to do with the local region. This particular factor makes it very hard for nations such as Palestine and Israel to view the assistance offered by the third party nations with trust. As with any infrastructure built on apprehension, there will be a wide margin of error that will work towards the failure of the overall goal. Most third party ef forts are centred on finding a method of compromise that each side can appreciate. By finding factors that appeal to each of the local concerns there is a real opportunity for find common ground that can lead the way to compromise. However, in some cases both sides refuse to yield, making any form of progress slight. Others favour the contingency method of third party intervention which entails the identification, initiation and seq8uencing of the primary elements in order to create a workable solution. In each case, it is necessary for the third parties to find common ground in order to formulate beneficial policy. Third Party intervention in the Middle East was deemed a plausible conflict resolution process by the outside powers that were concerned about the region and its resources . In a very real way, the Roadmap was a product of the need of the larger nations to ensure their line of oil supply and production, which in turn dictated that an alliance of the moderate states in the region come together to accomplish this goal. The four nations outside of the region that were intimately involved with the Roadmap were the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United nations. Each of these entities had their own priorities when dealing with the Middle East, yet, the need for them to come together was made evident the continuing violence and unrest in the region. This conciliatory approach to resolution in the region was obstructed from the outset by the Israeli demands that shifted the tone of the negotiations from the beginning. President Bush involved the very prestige of his office in the attempt to reconcile the nations and this initial balking on the part of Israel immediately dampened the prospects for progress in the region. In this case, the American regime was forced to reverse course and allow these changes before even the first step of the Roadmap could be realized. This created a very clear perception of Israel holding the upper hand in the negotiations. A similar reaction to the third party solution was experienced in Palestine with a dramatic upswing in violence. With no real details in the initial offering each side of the conflict felt oppressed the outside powers played a direct role in the population’s discontent. From the very beginning there was the perception by those involved in the process that the parties were going to do what they would despite any opinion held by the outside powers. This realization of this fact fuelled the growing frustration that surrounded the entire Roadmap implementation method. The quartet of powers deemed the primary obstacle of peace to be the inability of both Israel and Palestine to reign in their most extreme components. This perception of lawlessness on the part of the extremists made the cessation of violence only attainable after both sides agreed to tone down the violence. This initial step was agreed upon by the quartet yet; both Israel and Palestine were hard pressed to truly diminish the rate of violence espoused by their population. The only real point of agreement to be found between the states of Israel and Palestine is that another protracted war will very likely destroy both entities. With this element serving to bring the parties back to the table despite the setbacks, there has been a consistent, if not weak, effort to find peace in the region for generations. Turner (2011) argues that the very attempt at building statehood in this manner has first polarized and then paralysed the effort, making the goal unattainable. This fact is enhance d by the lack of regional understanding that the third parties had in regards to local matters. The third party resolution efforts recognized that the areas of settlements and refugees were delicate topics for both the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. Utilizing summits to attempt to coordinate efforts between the powers, the very direct intervention of the United States President, actively working through Russian and the European Union to build support for the Roadmap, there was an initial sense of accomplishment. This first cessation of hostilities brokered by the outside parties resumed quickly after President Bush left the region, making much of the efforts of the previous months negligible. With facets including the release of political prisoners directed at directly building trust between the states, the third party negotiators found a common goal in the realized reduction in violence. Van Der Maat (2011) contends that the difficulty in the realization of conflict resolution by third parties is the lack of true economic or military vulnerability. With nothing to lose , there is the perception by the local population that the world powers are there only to suit their own ends, which in turn undermines the entire process. Levine, Taylor and Best (2011) illustrate the concept that the third party negotiators during any form of conflict resolution are more likely to take the consolatory approach. While this approach can serve to bring disparate groups to the table, a base lack of understanding will only serve to drive the factors further apart. This very train of events seems to have occurred in the Middle East with the fundamental failure and abandonment of the Roadmap. However, this same study highlights the factor the coming together of multiple third parties was likely to increase the rate of success by dividing the load. In summation There was a real perception that the third parties involved in the Roadmap process had their own agendas, which in turn diminished their integrity. With each outside nation offering incentives for compliance, it was in the best interest for both Palestine and Israel to agree to the broad outline proposed. Yet, despite the points agreed upon during various summits there was real lack of progress as the situation would soon devolved to the prior state. Even though there were some economic repercussions, the lack of any direct military or economic damage in the Middle East created the perception of continued arrogance on the part of the Western powers by the local populations. This continued to increase the tension no matter the financial or economic incentive that the third parties were able to offer. Despite the studies attributing higher rates of success to partnership in third party conflict resolution efforts, the combined lack of details, time and resources contributed to the fina l failure of the concept. 3 Conclusion This essay has focused on the failure of the Roadmap to peace in the Middle East utilizing the concepts of ripeness and third-party intervention. The evidence provided has created a compelling narrative that illustrates many of the shortcomings of the peace strategy as well as many of the mistakes made by the outside players in the conflict. Driving the lack progress on nearly every level was a base lack of understanding and detail. Despite the American effort to lay out a broad outline that could in turn become a detailed plan, there was no real motivation for Palestine or Israel to comply. Not only was there a perception of political and economic motivation on the part of the outside entities there was continued perception of poor planning and lack of details. The elements for resolution were in place at the beginning of the process making the initial portion of the Roadmap seem ripe for implementation. Yet, allowing for only a broad design diminished the effectiveness of the program as well as reducing the faith in the third party negotiators. With the onset of the Afghanistan and Iraq affair, the perception of the outside powers continued to deteriorate, making the Roadmap ever more difficult to achieve. Despite the conciliatory approach taken by the third parties during the peace process, the refusal by the Palestinians and Israeli’s to abide by the basic agreements fuelled further dissent. No matter the timing and the desire to find common ground, the complex nature of the disputes between the populations were not be remedied with the shallow solutions provided by the American and Western nations. Further, the self-interest of the outside nations only built on the distrust that the local population continued to evince. Not even the public relations efforts that the President Bush attempted, there was not a method of appeal that lasted for any length of time. This basic fact kept the Roadmap from every truly developing, making each progressive goal nearly impossible to achieve. 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