Abstract When Democrat Harry S Truman succeeded Roosevelt at the conclusion of World War II, he was committed to accommodating the Soviets and structuring a peaceful post-war global system. Before his Presidency ended, the United States was involved in an armed conflict in Korea, and the Cold War was firmly entrenched. Thirty years later, Republican President Ronald Reagan was elected on a strong anti-Soviet stance. A decade later, he had overseen the end of the Cold War. This discussion assesses the foreign policy of these two presidents and compares and contrasts the shifts during their time in office.
Abstract Recent marine accidents have resulted in significant human, pollution, and damage costs. This paper explains how the International Safety Management Code (ISM) seeks to improve personnel, operational, and environmental safety performance by providing a framework for effective safety management. ISM is based upon widely accepted quality and safety management methodology. It discusses how recent studies indicate the code is less than effective. Merely implementing the minimum requirements of ISM does not do enough to significantly enhance safety performance in the marine industry. The writer argues that international shippers must work towards achieving a true safety culture to ensure effective safety and environmental performance. This should be part of a company's global strategic plan.
From the Paper "The International Safety Management (ISM) Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention was introduced by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1993 after several notable marine accidents (Anderson, 2002, p. 7) and the capsizing of the passenger ferry Herald of Free Enterprise which resulted in the loss of 193 lives (Rodriguez & Hubbard, 2001, 8; Sagen, 1999, p.58)."
Abstract A paper that uses historical perspective and political hindsight to explore the political, social, and economic reasons that Truman may have had for dropping the atomic bomb. A balanced essay that explores the issue from both sides and remains objective.
From the Paper "In early August 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two bombs quickly yielded the surrender of Japan and the end of American involvement in World War II. By 1946 the two bombs caused the death of perhaps as many as 240,000 Japanese citizens (Bernstein 50). The popular, or traditional, view that dominated the 1950s and 60s, put forth by President Harry Truman and Secretary of War Henry Stimson, was that the dropping of the atomic bombs was a solely military action that avoided the loss of as many as a million lives in the upcoming invasion of the island of Kyushu. In the 1960s a second school of thought developed--put forth by "revisionist" historians--that claimed the dropping of the bomb was a diplomatic maneuver aimed at intimidating and gaining the upper hand in relations with Russia. Today, fifty years after the two bombings, with the advantages of historical hindsight and new evidence, a third view, free of obscuring bias and passion, can be presented. First, the dropping of the bomb was born out a complex myriad of military, domestic and diplomatic pressures and concerns. Second, many potentially viable alternatives to dropping the bombs were not explored by Truman and other men in power, as they probably should have been. Lastly, because these alternatives were never explored, we can only conjecture over whether or not Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs was a savior of lives, and by extension, we may never know if Truman's monumental decision was a morally just one."
Abstract This paper puts forward Pillar's analyses about terrorism and how it can be eliminated. It also outlines certain evidence that Pillar gives in his work to support his claim.
From the Paper "Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy by Paul Pillar focuses all of its attention on terrorists attacks on the United States and the approach used by the United States in combating these attacks in the right and meaningful way. Recently the Chicago Council conducted a census on Foreign affairs and discovered that the most captious threat to the United States was International Terrorism. America being a super power is under a continuous danger of being threatened of its security. Of course the government and the United States President takes this issue very seriously in order to safeguard the well being of the country's citizens but the question is are they doing it in the right manner?"
Abstract This paper reviews different literature discussing the economic implications of the Vietnam War on the U.S. Economy. The books analyzed are "Lyndon Johnson and The Wars for Vietnam", "Nixon's Economy: Booms, Busts, Dollars, and Votes", and "The Economic Consequences of the Vietnam War". The paper concludes with the finding that the U.S. economy was significantly damaged by American involvement in the war and that American presidents of that period were aware of the damage being done to the economy but pursued war nonetheless.
From the Paper "Perhaps the most eloquent work in this regard is that of Anthony Campagna (1991) with his book titled "The Economic Consequences of the Vietnam War." Campagna in this book traces the historical performance of the US economy along with the country's involvement in the unwanted War. According to him the US involvement began during the Truman administration when the US promised to help the French government in their governance of the Indochina region. The US after the World War II followed a containment of Communism foreign policy and to help the French meant containment of the Asian and China region effectively."
Abstract By 1945, as Hitler's Germany was coming to an end, the future of the European continent seemed uncertain. Soviet troops were just forty-five miles outside of Berlin, and the Allied troops were just about to cross the Rhine. The questioned remained: how would the war affect the balance of power and the political landscape in the years to come? On Feb 4, 1945, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Roosevelt met to answer this very question at Yalta, a seaside Crimean resort on the coast of the Black Sea. While the conventional wisdom of modern historians is that Churchill and Roosevelt did not wield their collective power, this paper argues that it was Stalin who failed to realize the opportunities available to him and conceded too much. The paper shows that the negotiations can be viewed from a classic "Power-Interest-Rights" perspective. While Stalin negotiated from a position of power, FDR and Churchill negotiated from positions of rights and interests, respectively. It is the consensus of this paper that Stalin failed to use his dominant position of power, giving Churchill and FDR unnecessary concessions. The paper includes illustrations and tables.
Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Yalta Negotiations
Three Approaches to Resolving Differences
Three Allied Leaders
German Dismemberment
German Reparations
The Role of Post-War France
The Polish Question
The United Nations
Final Thoughts
The Negotiation Time Line
Value Creation Worksheet
Bibliography
From the Paper "Roosevelt was, above all else, a consummate politician. In fact, he would not meet alone with Churchill to avoid fanning the flames of Stalin's paranoia. Few men could see more clearly their immediate objective; however, his long-term vision was impaired. In 1945, he was the leader of the strongest nation in the world. The U.S. suffered no bombing, no displacement of its population and no hardship compared to the British and Soviets. In addition, the U.S. had an enormous, well-trained military and had almost perfected the atomic bomb. Roosevelt was optimistic, upbeat and knew how to rally the country."
This paper discusses the factors behind the United States's involvement in the Spanish-American War and the effects the American victory had on the United States and world politics.
Abstract This paper explains that, though the beginning of the hostilities of the Spanish-American War is generally attributed to the sinking of the Maine, United States involvement is actually a result of other factors as well, including public sympathy with the Cuban Revolution and the imperialist policies of leaders like William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. The author points out that reactions of Roosevelt and many politicians marked a growing trend towards increasing its influence and landholdings around the world based on America's "manifest destiny" to spread its religion and political democracy across other, "less civilized" nations. The paper states that the greater legacy of the Spanish-American War was the growth of United States imperialism that was established through increased trade with foreign countries and military control.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Factors behind United States Involvement in the War
Sympathy with Cuban Revolution
Sinking of the USS Maine
Imperialism
Criticism
After the War
From the Paper "Beneath this supposedly worthy goal, however, lay the desire for more power. Admiral Alfred T. Mahan, an influential writer and one of manifest destiny's most vocal proponents, also believed that foreign markets were the key to disposing the surplus of products that were being manufactured in factories in the United States. This necessitated a large merchant marine fleet to ferry the products to the colonies. The merchant fleet would also need protection from a strong naval force. Finally, coaling stations had to be established in various parts around the world, to fuel the merchant and navy ships."
This paper discusses that globalization has become one of the most strongly debated topics in the modern world, debated largely over the very technologies that have made its exponential growth possible.
Abstract This paper explains that globalization is the most fundamental of all forces of cultural change and is debated in much the same way that it has always been debated, isolationism vs. internationalism. The author points out that, regardless of whether globalization is more positive or more negative for any given population, its extreme growth will have cultural effects of which most people would never even dream. The paper stresses that one fundamental change in the world scene has been the foundational nature of law, which more closely reflects international ideals and not necessarily those of the nation introducing them.
From the Paper "Another interesting historical example of cultural change associated with globalization is the Orientalism movement resulting from European travel and return from the Islamic world. Orientalism, largely a homogenized, romanticized and poorly interpreted version of the cultural reality within a very diverse region, was so pervasive that entire regions changed their production output to meet the demands of the Western countries for Oriental goods. It also can be said that, often times, the authentic and fundamental arts, crafts and trades changed their output not to meet actual demand for profit but to meet the stereotyped European ideals of the cultural foundation."
Abstract The thesis of the paper is that the U.S. must continue to aid Israel financially. Relying on empirical data and relevant communiques and news articles, the writer supports this thesis by providing the following arguments: Israel is a democracy under terrorist threat; Israel's security is fundamental to the region's stability; aid to Israel maintains a military balance that reduces the likelihood that nuclear weapons will be employed. Major objections are addressed.
From the Paper "In these difficult times, it is critical that the United States government does everything in its power to disrupt terrorist activity worldwide, while maintaining or improving global stability. It is therefore vital that other countries with similar concerns and interests have adequate military capability. Israel is also a state that is currently engaged in an anti-terrorist war, fighting against guerrillas whose ideology makes them enemies with all who do not share their views, but particularly with Westerners. Notwithstanding the budding democracies of Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East as well as America's only reliable ally in the region. A secure Israel is essential to stability in the Middle East. Israel's protection can be insured only if it has sufficient military power to defend itself from terrorism and offer a counterweight to the hostile states in region Considering these factors, the United States must continue to provide financial and political aid to Israel."
Tags: arab, east, foreign, hamas, idf, israeli, middle, terrorism
Provides an overview of United Nations policy formulation and policy implementation in the context of international public administration organizations.
Abstract This paper examines, through a literature review, instances of policies that were developed and not effectively carried out, as well as recent requirements for the formulation of policies put into place at the UN. It looks at how a sustained public information campaign is extremely important for the success of the UN's attempt to reinvent its system of policy formulation and policy implementation due to all the "bad news", including terrorism and war and AIDS, etc., dominating the TV and print news agencies.
From the Paper "There are myriad examples of the UN's good work ? in many and diverse areas where there are desperate human needs throughout the world ? and also, on the other hand, there is no shortage of evidence that some policies, although they were drawn up with the best of intentions, failed in their mission, or were thwarted either through no direct fault of the UN, or because the UN's policy implementation could not match the promises in the policy formulation. One example of the apparent failure of a policy which was to be implemented was recently reported by the British Medical Journal (Tayal, 2003). The journal claimed that a UN policy designed to tackle the health and human rights needs of "indigenous people" ? a policy which was formulated in 1995 ? has not been very effective in its implementation."
This paper discusses the Cuban Missile Crisis, a confrontation between President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev over the placement of Russian missiles in Cuba in October, 1962.
Abstract This paper discusses that the Cuban Missile Crisis confrontation involved an American blockade around Cuba to prevent the Soviets from delivering any more missiles or other weapons to Cuba. The author points out that the event recently was compared to September 11, 2001, as a time when Americans realized that the oceans no longer protected us from enemy attack. The paper stresses that the speeches Kennedy made on American television demonstrated his concern about public opinion and his desire to have the American people watch carefully as he challenged the Soviets.
From the Paper "Kruschev believed that if he could get the missiles into Cuba, he would close the gap between the Soviet Union and the United States and gain a strategic advantage. Kennedy certainly saw this possibility as well. Kennedy knew that American strategic interests lay in keeping the Soviets from gaining this advantage and in keeping the Soviets out of the Western Hemisphere, asserting the Monroe Doctrine that told all other powers to keep out of this part of the world. Kennedy also knew the Soviet capacity in terms of missiles and other weaponry, though he could not be sure that the Soviets would not use those weapons even if they could not follow up an attack with as much power as could the United States. Morgenthau also cites the mass of intelligence data gathered from the Russian spy Penkovsky, a trove called Ironbark, which told the United States what weapons the Soviets had and much more about their operations."
Abstract This paper discusses the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was was introduced in 1994. It examines how, before and after its introduction, there were many concerns that it would be harmful and not helpful and how, despite these concerns, it was introduced. It looks at how, almost ten years later, it appears that the NAFTA has been a big success. While there are also some negatives, the benefits are so great that the few problems are minor. It considers NAFTA to show where it came from, what it achieves, and what benefits it has provided.
Outline
First Stages of the North American Free Trade Agreement
An Overview of the North American Free Trade Agreement
A Brief History of the North American Free Trade Agreement
The Successes of the North American Free Trade Agreement
Economic Benefits
Manufacturers
Agriculture
Benefits for all Businesses
Global Trading
Environment
Labor
Consumers
Conclusion
From the Paper "The NAFTA began in 1990 when President George Bush announced that one of the government's goals was to establish a free trade zone for the Americas. At this time, free trade agreements had been created in other parts of the world for some time. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was created in 1960 and had been working on creating a European free trade zone since then. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was created in 1967 and had been working on creating free trade zones across Asia since then. In 1990, this was giving European and Asian countries an advantage that America did not have. This resulted in Bush's plan to create a North American trade zone."
Abstract This paper looks at how assumptions made about the Cold War by U.S. policy makers in the 1940s and 1950s affected U.S. relations with Latin American countries. The paper then proceeds to evaluate the validity of those Cold War assumptions.
From the Paper "During the 1940s and the 1950s, U.S. foreign policy makers were faced with an unprecedented and unexpected threat from the Soviet Union. Because of this threat, this period of U.S. History became known as ?The Cold War.? ?For a time early in 1945, it seemed possible that a lasting friendship might develop between the United States and the Soviet Union based on their wartime cooperation.? The Soviet ally whom the United States had relied upon during World War II had metamorphosed into a danger to U.S. international security, rather than a friend. The USSR's influence, by the end of the 1940s, had spread across Eastern Europe and threatened Western Europe. The United States began to see communism itself as an infection, spawned by Stalin, rather than as a complex ideology. U.S. policy makers feared that communism, which they equated with Soviet foreign influence, could spread anywhere around the globe where revolution might be fermenting."
Abstract This paper discusses the crises on the Korean Peninsula, focusing on the tension caused by North Korea as a result of its conducting a nuclear weapons program. The paper also illustrates the conditions that led to the critical condition on the Korean peninsula. This paper also highlights the reaction of countries, such as the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea towards North Korea's nuclear weapons development.
From the Paper "While the United States worries about the deadly nuclear weapons created by North Korea, South Korea on the other hand is perturbed about North Korea's economic conditions and the possibility of troop demobilization on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone. North Korea posses the following problems to the international communities, namely its determination to follow its own path to development renders the society nearly impervious to foreign advice and assistance. The array of institutions and processes which have been available to most other developing countries has been largely rejected by Pyongyang."
Abstract This paper discusses that the world of nations is becoming embittered because the United States demonstrated an unethical utilization of military and political power in the Vietnam War and the Iraqi War. The author believes that the War on Iraq, like the War in Vietnam, was a mere ploy of politicians attempting to prove their superiority. The paper relates that the Vietnam War was fought to free the Vietnamese from a dictator the U.S. previously supported and that the war on Iraq was fought, again, to free the Iraqis from a dictator the U.S. previously supported.
From the Paper "The Vietnam War was fought on the basis of freedom, democracy and the need to hinder the spread of the evil of Communism. The slogan of the times was that if the spread of communism was not stalled America would soon lose its freedom and democracy the world over would be wiped out. These words may seem dramatic to the rational mind but to really understand the mood of the time such words must be used. The government of the time played on the emotional fear of the people through propaganda to make them believe that unless they supported the Vietnam War they would be unpatriotic and cause the nation to lose its sovereignty. Though Vietnam was thousands of miles away the war soon reached the borders of the US for as the war began so did dissent."
