Abstract The paper discusses the precarious position of the Elkhorn Coral and identifies the features of an effective conservation policy at the national and/or international level. This includes keeping human beings and animals away from the reefs, developing non-intrusive bulwarks as a protection from large-scale hurricanes and distancing industrial works and run-off from the reefs. The paper concludes that an effort should be undertaken to build up an international coalition of environmentalists and sympathetic policy-makers who can remind political elites around the globe of under-reported marine species such as the Elkhorn Coral.
From the Paper "One of the most obvious problems currently bedeviling the Elkhorn Coral is its susceptibility to disease. According to the United States Office of Protected Resources, the Elkhorn Coral has had problems with rampant disease since the dawn of the 1980s (para.4). Indeed, by the middle-1980s, scientists were becoming increasingly alarmed by the spread of calicoblastic neoplasms or cancerous lesions among Elkhorn Coral colonies in the Florida region - most notably among those colonies housed at the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary in Key Largo, Florida (Peters, 895)."
Abstract This paper describes the rise to power of Octavian in 27 BCE, looking at how Cicero first supported Octavian as a potential leader of the Roman Republic and a bulwark against the threat of Antony's dictatorship over Rome and later opposed him when Octavian took sides with Antony. The paper then describes the defeat of Brutus at the hands of Antony and Octavian, the demise of Antony at the hands of Octavian and Octavian's final ascent to power.
From the Paper "Cicero hated tyrants and spent much of his later political life seeking a leader who would restore the Roman Republic. To this end, he tried to use Octavian as a potential bulwark against the threat of Antony's dictatorship over Rome, but to Cicero's great dismay, Octavian was only the lesser of two evils. He, too, sought absolute political power and, using Cicero's popularity and controlling the Senate, he reached his goal (in 27 BCE, crowning himself princeps, and later, emperor.) In many ways, Cicero opposed Octavian's rise to power, especially when Octavian joined forced with Antony in a triumvirate with Lepidus. In 43 BCE, this "second" triumvirate had Cicero executed as an enemy of the state. "
Abstract In this paper the author takes a critical look at the changing U.S. policy in the Middle East since 1991. He examines how prior to 1991, American policy was aimed primarily at using some countries led by Israel as a bulwark against communism in the Cold War years. He highlights that with the end of a bipolar world there was a radical shift in American policy towards the Middle East. The paper examines how this was brought about by the threat America saw to its most vital interest -oil in the region as a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait; at the same time, with the sudden demise of the hitherto counterbalancing factor, the Soviet Union, the stage was set for a decisive policy. In conclusion, the author argues that the American policy of planting democracy in societies that do not have the necessary preconditions and institutional frameworks of accepting and absorbing the system could mean risking backlashes and other actions.
From the Paper "In the absence of the Soviet factor, American policy in the Middle East has become more intrusive; American policy could have a positive impact if its moves towards establishing its policy are perceived as being salutary. A prime test case of this policy is the way its role is seen in the Israeli-Palestine issue. (Cantori, 1994, p. 452) The immediate years after the Gulf War led to a hyperactive engagement in the region under president Bill Clinton, for whom resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict was a principal goal. In his presidency, America assumed the role of an 'honest broker' in bringing about a peaceful settlement of issues bedevilling the region. However, before substantial headway was made, a new regime took guard under Bush Jr., under whom the same vigour was not enforced. American interventionism, which became low-key under the new dispensation, has led to suspicion in Arab quarters that America, with its uncompromising tilt towards Israel, has not been the 'honest broker' that it promised to be."
Tags: policy, arab, gulf, administration, political, foreign, affairs
Abstract This paper examines how the book "The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan" by Yasushi Inoue introduces the reader to many aspects of the Samurai class in Japanese history and to the role of Bushido. The paper explains that the primary focus of Bushido is on loyalty and honor, tied to the mastery of the martial arts and the physical requirements for being a warrior. It then looks at how these elements are included as part of the texture of this novel, written in modern times about the Japan of the sixteenth century, a turbulent time in Japanese history through which the Samurai and its code provided a bulwark against deeper change.
From the Paper "The Zen school placed its greatest emphasis on self-power, on the active mobilization of all one's energies towards the realization of the ideal of enlightenment. In its more austere forms Zen Buddhism had no time for rituals or philosophical study. It found favor with the samurai class for all these reasons. Their fortunes were then in the ascendant, and their members, men who lived constantly under the shadow of death, needed a spiritual way that would give them an authentic path of spiritual development. At the same time, Zen had an aesthetic side in the Zen virtues of spontaneity, simplicity, tranquility, and aloneness. "
Abstract This paper examines how the electronic defense system in America (one of the world's most powerful states) is protected and how vulnerable it may be. The paper explains what the consequences of a security breach could be, and what additional steps we should take to protect ourselves. The paper then discusses computer terrorism. The writer believes that being the world's hyper-power is a bulwark in many ways against attack, but the elevated position of the US does not leave it invulnerable. The writer concludes that the US needs to integrate its human resources and to "lean" a little more on the expertise and crime-fighting capabilities of allies, and if it does those things, the risk of computer terrorism will be reduced.
From the Paper "The most obvious step that the American military takes in combating hackers and terrorists is to prepare its young cadets for the challenges these individuals pose. Unsurprisingly, the Air Force Academy, the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School have all spent the last six years conducting something called the annual Cyber Defense Exercise. This competition pits student representatives from each school against professional hackers, with the school that enjoys the most success against the "pros" receiving top awards."
Abstract This paper discusses funding for education in the United States. It incorporates a paradigm shift in American education, one which gives the image of choice to parents and children, and reduces schools from their current large, monolithic, bureaucratic and procedures-oriented paradigm to a small, diverse, experimental and self-directed paradigm. The paper calls for a fundamental shift in education thinking. Rather than a coercion model, in which children are obligated to attend a certain school, the model will be a "demand-pull" paradigm, in which children and their parents choose to send their child to a certain school for the specific advantages that that school offers.
Outline:
Introduction
Changing the Meme
The Historical Meme: Education was a Bulwark of Democracy
Paradigm Shift: Failure of one meme
Paradigm Shift: Rise of another meme
Vouchers
Home Schooling
Charter, Magnet and Other Schools
Conclusion
From the Paper "The theories of the central role of education in our democracy has been expanded upon by John Dewey and his followers in the early 20th century. Dewey argues that education plays a key role in open-mindedness. Prior to making humans more efficient and effective, it is important to ground their moral and intellectual capabilities. Dewey felt that the functions of education were to produce moral, thinking and curious individuals who could engage in discussion (preferably face-to-face) with others. Such dialogue was necessary to analyze current political events, to convince other individuals and groups of the 'rightness' of one's cause, or to change one's mind in case of a better-realized solution, and to implement new ideas through political consensus based on an open discussion of the need for change and how to arrive at it "
