Abstract
This paper discusses the isolation and estrangement of modern man in society in terms of philosophy and architecture. It employs the concepts of architecture of Rem Koolhaas, the sixties architectural group Archigram, deep ecologist Arne Naess, author John Berger and phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty in order to qualify the author's ideas and reasoning.

From the Paper
"Modern society is in many ways an adverse environment for people to live in. Myriad factors assaulting the integration of man into society have resulted in isolation and estrangement leaving man lonely-an island ..."

Tags:isolation, estrangement, Archigram, generic city, walking city, deep ecology, wounded cities, Rem Koolhaas, Arne Naess, Ron Herron, John Berger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, phenomenology

Abstract
This paper explains that, for all of recorded history, Western cultures have operated on an implicit foundation of anthropocentrism, which assumes that human beings are the most important beings in the world. The author points out that ecocentrism, also known as biocentrism, is the exact opposite of anthropocentrism in that it sees the ecosystem itself as central. The paper relates that the first principle of the deep ecology movement, as formulated by Arne Naess and George Sessions in 1984, gives expression to the essence of ecocentrism. The author further states that the deep ecology platform is a foundation that might make it possible to save the planet, humans and most of the other still surviving species; however, none of the above will come easily to most people, accustomed to considering humans as the center of the universe and the pinnacle of all creation.

From the Paper
"However, sacrifices will have to be made. One cannot drive a luxury SUV through a Garden-of-Eve like paradise - one of them has to go. The trick will be for enough people to realize it is the SUV that needs to go. Of course, the SUV is meant as a metaphor for the many excessive luxuries that so many people insist on, generating a consumerism that has sustained the multinational corporations that are devouring the resources of our planet. Thus, what needs to happen is a total shift in what we value."

Tags:anthropocentrism, implement, excessive, population, preserve

Abstract
This paper discusses three books; "Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security Policy" by John Lewis Gaddis, "Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Detente" by Jeremi Suri and "The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times" by Odd Arne Westad. The paper looks at how Westad attaches a generous share of blame on the U.S. throughout the book for laying the political/ideological groundwork for the Cold War. The paper then shows how Suri does not seem to take the U.S. or the Soviet Union to task as firmly as Westad, in terms of American and Soviet expansion of its interests into Third World countries. Finally, the paper outlines how Gaddis persuasively slams the Cold War strategies of the U.S. The paper comes to the conclusion that Westad has written a book that is far more expansive and inclusive than the other two.

From the Paper
"In Chapter 4, Westad, who attaches a generous share of blame on the U.S. throughout the book for laying the political / ideological groundwork for the Cold War, insists that it was the U.S. that "...had done much to create the Third World as an entity" (Westad, p. 157). He goes on to point out that the U.S. was never shy about intervening in other countries' affairs; Iran is mentioned, vis-a-vis the Eisenhower / Dulles / CIA coup that installed the Shah of Iran; and the U.S. covert military / political interference in the Congo and especially in Guatemala. In fact Westad argues that the U.S. - through its agenda of supporting laissez-faire economics - helped keep much of the Third World struggling, stuck in poverty. In many cases the U.S. did indeed oppose European colonialism (the French in Indo China, the Dutch in Indonesia and the French and British in the 1956 Suez Canal episode), Westad admits."

Tags:Third, World, Vietnam, Mikhail, Gorbachev, superpowers

Abstract
This paper examines how Odd Arne Westad's "The Global Cold War", is an account of the American and Soviet strategic policies that governed global diplomatic and military behaviors over the Cold War's tumultuous duration. The paper also examines how the books primary focus is on the many states and nations on the periphery of this conflict which were directly impacted.

From the Paper
"Several of the more historically prominent moments of tumult to be sparked by the Cold War held to suggest in retrospect that moral differentiation between colonialism and nation-building is baseless. Indeed, the victims of both American and Russian occupation would suffer immensely, experiencing the regression and devastation of foreign aggression and war with little means for self-directed defense. In Chapter 5, the author calls to conversation the issues of Cuba and Vietnam, both of which would find themselves of geographical relevance to the philosophical and strategic positioning of opposing worldviews. Outcomes would include the standoff of the Cuban Missile Crisis--which to date represents perhaps the closest that we as a global community have come since World War II to deploying nuclear weaponry--and the quagmire of Vietnam, which is a war that clearly produced no victors. In both instances, it would become quite clear that the ambitions of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would spill out into the sometimes divergent interests of puppet states."

Tags:America, Soviet, Russian, Cuban, Missile, Crisis

Abstract
This paper reviews Burstein and de Keijzer's "Big Dragon China's Future: What it Means for Business, the Economy, and the Global Order" in which both authors predict that by the 2030s China will be the world's largest economy. This paper discusses the various companies that have suffered due to the shifting politics of foreign policy between China being in favor one day and out the next. This paper also details the views of Jeffrey Garten, a writer for "Harvard Business Review" who sees China as enticement for foreign investors, yet stresses caution should be used in developing any business relationship with China. This well-written paper covers several areas regarding China's economy including a U.S. initiative supporting China's membership in the World Trade Organization, expansion of U.S. public-private partnerships to invest and help solve particular problems in China and development of China's policy mutually with U.S. allies. "Big Dragon" profiles many individual Chinese entrepreneurs and others who are bringing a new China into being. This paper also focuses on Zhang Wei, one of China's more successful entrepreneurs, who went from government researcher to heading a company employing 400 in only three years. Despite the differences between practices in China and other countries, many corporations are willing to take a big gamble on China, seeing that their future is dependent on their performance in China.

From the Paper
"Over the course of his history, Zhang has captured the essence of the Chinese business world of "catch-as-catch-can". His corporation has various types of holdings, often-different one from the other. Zhang has bridged the gap across the Pacific with the United States with his position of "master franchise holder in China" of an American company, Fun World. What makes this situation particularly unique is that it is one of the first companies in China "to buy an interest in a U.S. company." At the time Big Dragon was written, Zhang was "negotiating an arrangement that would shift manufacturing of all the equipment for the centers to China." Zhang hopes to take the U.S. company over altogether, including the export of the concept to "other countries and selling the franchisees Chinese-made equipment." Zhang has encountered some problems along the way, problems that are compounded by China's culture and lack of laws, which govern specific business issues. One is that franchisees have stolen the company name and have opened their own centers."

Tags:china, politics, economy, business, international, trade, globalization, policy

From the Paper
"Among the leaders of the modern Church Growth Movement, the writings of C. Peter Wagner, Win Arn, and Elmer Towns exemplify the dynamic activity of the Holy Spirit as it empowers Christian churches of all denominations to broaden their horizons well beyond the status quo of merely maintaining a fixed quantity of members by replacing those who die, fall away, or move to other communities. While desperately needed in many churches across America today, the church growth movement espoused by these men (and many others) may offend a significant number of evangelical churches and ministers because it challenges them to move from their comfortable surroundings and pulpits and actively pursue strategies which are designed to make the church house burst at the seams with overflowing membership and attendance. A scary ..."