Foreign policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Foreign policy - Essay Example China’s economy has grown steadily over the past thirty years; it is the nation with the highest level of foreign reserves currently. The country is acknowledged as the manufacturing capital of the world with a number of exports that rivals most nations of the world. A number of the issues associated with China’s prosperity have emerged; a number of them are predominantly ideological and social. The Chinese government has struggled with internal conflicts between itself and Tibet as well as challenges with Taiwan. Criticisms have also been brought out against the country concerning cyber security as well as its respect for democracy and human rights. For the first time in history, Australia must engage with a centre of power that lacks political and cultural similarities to the nation. In the past, major investors in Australia were largely democratic and western, so it was not difficult for foreign policy experts to forge partnerships between these nations. However, China is a unique case for the country because of the unconventional nature of its social-political climate; some reconciliations and transitions must take place before sustainable relations can be reached (Camilleri, Martin and Michael, 2013). China and Australia’s symbiotic association can largely be attributed to Australia’s mineral resources and China’s huge demand for these resources. On the other hand, several Chinese students come to Australia to acquire a higher education while other older citizens think of Australia as a preferred tourist destination. Australia has been influential in getting China to participate in multilateral institutions, most of which dwell on regional cooperation. Now the largest import source for Australia is China as it brings in about 15.3% of the nations’ inputs. Goods exchanges are not one-sided among these two nations as Australia exports 22.6% of its items to the above country (Capling, 2008). Regardless of the

Personal Reflections on the Self Essay Example for Free

Personal Reflections on the Self Essay I  certify that  the attached  paper is my original work and has not previously been submitted by me or anyone else for any class. I further declare I have cited all sources from which I used  language, ideas, and information,  whether quoted  verbatim or paraphrased, and that any assistance of any kind, which I received while producing this paper, has been acknowledged in the References section. I have obtained written permission from the copyright holder for any trademarked material, logos, or images from the Internet or other sources. I further agree that my name typed  on the line below is intended to have, and shall have, the same validity as my handwritten signature. Students  signature (name typed here is equivalent to a signature):   Marjorie Neal When we talk about self, it is generally meant to be a reflection of an individual’s identity and separate from others and the environment (Huitt, 2009). The most widely used concepts when it comes to self are the self-concept and self-esteem. Self-esteem is the sense of self worth and dictates how we feel about ourselves where self-concept is dictated by how an individual answers the question â€Å"who am I? †(Myers, 2008). Research has shown that self-concept is the basis for all motivated behavior because self-concept that provides individuals with possible selves and those possible selves create the motivation for behavior (Huitt, 2009). Self-concept is built through the process of taking action and reflecting on the action one has taken as well as what others tell him about what he has done (Huitt, 2009). We are not born with a self-concept. Self-concept is developed through interaction with the environment and one’s reflection of that interaction. Self-concept has four parts: self-image, self-esteem, ideal-self and self-efficacy My sister had all the friends that my parents approved of, she got the good grades, she was not in special education classes and at home report cards and progress reports were constantly compared. I never heard that I was doing a great job or that I had improved on this subject or that it was always how wonderful my sisters grades were compared to my C’s that I worked very hard for in the early years. By the third grade I was behind in reading and math so I had to go to special classes to get help on those subjects. I not only felt inadequate at home but the other students in school made me feel very stupid and not good enough. I was picked on at school and called all sorts of names from stupid to Margarine to Rhino. Looking back it was kids being kids and picking on me because they could see that it bothered me. I used to come home in tears and all my parents said was to ignore them and they would stop but they did not stop. I was in the â€Å"loser† group and there was no getting out of it. By third grade I believed them. When I entered Junior High School, I started off in the lowest group for my classes, the one that all the troublemakers were in and all the â€Å"stupid† kids. I got tired of being lumped with those kids and decided I could do better so I decided I was going to work hard and talk to my teachers about moving up a group. In sixth grade I went from group four to group three at the half way point in the year. This gave me a bit of a boost but I still was not happy. I wanted to be one of the smart kids like my sister was so that my parents would be proud. So in seventh grade I worked harder and talk to my teachers and I was moved from group three into group two. I was feeling better about myself and continued to push harder until I was finally in group one by the end of the eighth grade. Being in group one meant I could take the college level classes I wanted to take in High School, it also meant that I was just as good as my sister was but that did nothing for me at home because I was struggling to pull C’s and my sister was still pulling A’s. Nonetheless, I was proud of my accomplishment and myself so I tried college level classes in High School. I did fine in college English but not so good in Math. I found that high school was very difficult for me and after all those years of trying to be as good as my sister I still could not pull the same grades no matter how hard I worked at it. I gave up and stopped taking college level classes with the hope that the other classes would be easier for me and I could pull the A’s and B’s that my parents were so proud of my sister for getting. When I continued to struggle my freshman and sophomore year I gave up and decided that I was going to do what it took to get those C’s and nothing more. I became very discouraged. Then my parents separated and we moved from my hometown to the Cape with my aunt so I had to change schools half way through my sophomore year. I was happy with that, a new group of kids to meet and different expectations by the kids I already knew in that school so this was going to be easy and that was my easiest semester ever. I finally got the good grades that I was looking for and my mother stopped criticizing me for my choice in friends. She actually approved of most of my friends. My sister at that point became the problem child. Then it all fell apart. My mother decided that she was going to take a job in Boise, Idaho and my sister and I had to move with her across the country. I had finally adjusted to the idea of my parents getting a divorce and now she was going to take me away from all of my life long friends and everything I knew. My attitude, self-esteem and everything went right down the toilet. When we got to Idaho I didn’t care anymore. I was going to do what I had to do to graduate and get out of my mother’s house so I could go back to Massachusetts where I knew people and I was home. I made poor choices in friends, poor choices in behavior, and poor choices in my schoolwork all because the only thing I could see was anger. I was so angry with both of my parents, my mother for making me move to Idaho and my father for not fighting to keep us in Massachusetts. It was like my opinion did not matter and once again my sister was the queen. All the good I had done in junior high and down the Cape did not matter anymore. I graduated from high school, turned down a military career and moved back to Massachusetts where I met my first husband. It was a marriage destined to fail. My first husband was very abusive verbally and emotionally. He constantly made me feel like I was not worth the dirt I walked on. I was diagnosed bipolar two years after we got married and he never took the time to learn about it, said he didn’t believe in mental illness and did not help me find the help I needed so it was a very rocky ten-year marriage. I did get two wonderful children out of the marriage though, of that I was thankful and challenged. After my first husband and I divorced, I met my current husband. He is the exact opposite of my first husband. We have a very good relationship. It was the relationship with my first husband and all the abuse that I went through in the ten years we were married and my childhood experiences that made me who I am today.

Genetically Engineered Food Essay -- GMOs Genetically Modified Foods

Genetically Engineered Food As Scientists commence the unraveling of genetic mysteries the food we eat is undergoing significant changes. From supermarket produce, milk and eggs to tofu, sprouts and garden burgers most have genetically altered ingredients. As with all new products tests are necessary. Guinea pigs, used in those tests, show the effects of the Genetically Engineered (GE) feed. So far the tests have shown elevated breast cancer from ingesting milk from cows consuming (GE) hormones. Others tests have shown possible deadly allergic reactions to foods altered with proteins from peanuts or shellfish. Most dramatically in 1989 and 1990, a (GE) brand of L-tryptophan, a common dietary supplement, killed more than thirty. Animal rights groups would normally protest these immoral experiments exposing them for what they are, wrong. Unfortunately, the guinea pigs, that are being fed this altered diet, have no voice, they are you and I. Americans are unknowingly consumer tons of (GE) food daily. Science and f ood have collided in the worst possible way. In just this last decade scientist have made epic strides altering plants and animals. Genetically altered products are found in our food, clothing and beverages. The lab has become the place where agricultural improvements are made. What all this means for the consumer is that we are allowed to make informed decisions and that must cease. The customer must at least be allowed to make a choice as to which food or beverage products they will consume. Currently foods that contain genetically altered ingredients are not required to differentiate themselves from non-altered foods. Manufactures continue to refuse all requests to label (GE) products. Genetically altered plants ... ... engineered crops threaten monarch butterflies." 21 Apr. 2000. http://www.bckweb.com/nerage/home.html Organic Gardening. Genetic Engineering: Answers and Actions One quarter of all U.S. farmland is growing GE crops, 93.75 million acres. Actions the organic gardener must take to stem the tide of altered crops. http://205.181.115.212/watchdog/geneng_Jan00.html Rifkin, Jeremy. Biotech Century: Playing Ecological Roulette with Mother Nature's Designs. The Presence of Others. Ed. Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin, 2000. 244 - 254. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York, Tor books and 1805. Specter, Michael. "The Pharmageddon Riddle." The New Yorker. Apr. 10, 2000: 58 - 71. Steinbrecher, Dr. Ricarda. "What is Genetic Engineering?" Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine of Green Social Thought, Vol. 18. Winter 1999: 9 - 12.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Essay

Known as Netaji (leader), Mr. Bose was a fierce and popular leader in the political scene in pre-independence India . He was the president of the Indian National Congress in 1937 and 1939, and founded a nationalist force called the Indian National Army. He was acclaimed as a semigod, akin to the many mythological heroes like Rama or Krishna, and continues as a legend in Indian mind. Subhas Chandra was born on January 23rd 1897 in Cuttack (in present day Orissa) as the ninth child among fourteen, of Janakinath Bose, an advocate, and Prabhavatidevi, a pious and God-fearing lady. A brilliant student, he topped the matriculation examination of Calcutta province and passed his B. A. in Philosophy from the Presidency College in Calcutta. He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. His parents’ wishes kept him away from the Indian freedom struggle and led him into studies for the Indian Civil Service in England. Although he finished those examinations also at the top of his class (4th), he could not complete his aprecentship and returned to India, being deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. He came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian National Congress (a. k. a. Congress). Gandhiji directed him to work with Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, the Bengali leader whom Bose acknowledged as his political guru. Bose was outspoken in his anti-British stance and was jailed 11 (eleven) times between 1920 and 1941 for periods varying between six months and three years. He was the leader of the youth wing of the Congress Party, in the forefront of the trade union movement in India and organized Service League, another wing of Congress. He was admired for his great skills in organization development . The Influence of Bose Bose advocated complete freedom for India at the earliest, whereas the Congress Committee wanted it in phases, through a Dominion status. Other younger leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru supported Bose and finally at the historic Lahore Congress convention, the Congress had to adopt Poorna Swaraj (complete freedom) as its motto. Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom and the inability of the Congress leaders to save his life infuriated Bose and he started a movement opposing the Gandhi-Irvin Peace Pact. He was imprisoned and expelled from India. But defying the ban, he came back to India and was imprisoned again! Clouds of World War II were gathering fast and Bose warned the Indian people and the British against dragging India into the war and the material losses she could incur. He was elected president of the Indian National Congress twice in 1937 and in 1939, the second time defeating Gandhiji’s nominee. He brought a resolution to give the British six months to hand India over to the Indians, failing which there would be a revolt. There was much opposition to his rigid stand, and he resigned from the post of president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block (1939). The second World War broke out in September of 1939, and just as predicted by Bose, India was declared as a warring state (on behalf of the British) by the Governor General, without consulting Indian leaders. The Congress party was in power in seven major states and all state governments resigned in protest. Subhas Chandra Bose now started a mass movement against utilizing Indian resources and men for the great war. To him, it made no sense to further bleed poor Indians for the sake of colonial and imperial nations. There was a tremendous response to his call and the British promptly imprisoned him . He took to a hunger-strike, and after his health deteriorated on the 11th day of fasting, he was freed and was placed under house arrest. The British were afraid of violent reactions in India, should something happen to Bose in prison. The Mystery Begins†¦ Bose suddenly disappeared in the beginning of 1941 and it was not until many days that authorities realized Bose was not inside the house they were guarding! He traveled by foot, car and train and resurfaced in Kabul (now in Afghanistan), only to disappear once again. In November 1941, his broadcast from German radio sent shock waves among the British and electrified the Indian masses who realized that their leader was working on a master plan to free their motherland. It also gave fresh confidence to the revolutionaries in India who were challenging the British in many ways. The Axis powers (mainly Germany) assured Bose military and other help to fight the British. Japan by this time had grown into another strong world power, occupying key colonies of Dutch, French, and British colonies in Asia. Bose had struck alliance with Germany and Japan. He rightly felt that his presence in the East would help his countrymen in freedom struggle and second phase of his saga began. It is told that he was last seen on land near Keil canal in Germany, in the beginning of 1943. A most hazardous journey was undertaken by him under water, covering thousands of miles, crossing enemy territories. He was in the Atlantic, the Middle East, Madagascar and the Indian ocean. Battles were being fought over land, in the air and there were mines in the sea. At one stage he traveled 400 miles in a rubber dinghy to reach a Japanese submarine, which took him to Tokyo. He was warmly received in Japan and was declared the head of the Indian army, which consisted of about 40,000 soldiers from Singapore and other eastern regions. Bose called it the Indian National Army (INA) and a government by the name â€Å"Azad Hind Government† was declared on the 21st of October 1943. INA freed the Andaman and Nicobar islands from the British, and were renamed as Swaraj and Shaheed islands. The Government started functioning. Leader of Masses and the Military  Bose in INA Uniform 1943 Early Success and Tragic End Bose wanted to free India from the Eastern front. He had taken care that Japanese interference was not present from any angle. Army leadership, administration and communications were managed only by Indians. Subhash Brigade, Azad Brigade and Gandhi Brigade were formed. INA marched through Burma and occupied Coxtown on the Indian Border. A touching scene ensued when the solders entered their ‘free’ motherland. Some lay down and kissed, some placed pieces of mother earth on their heads, others wept. They were now inside of India and were determined to drive out the British! Delhi Chalo (Let’s march to Delhi) was the war cry. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the history of mankind. Japan had to surrender. Bose was in Singapore at that time and decided to go to Tokyo for his next course of action. Unfortunately, the plane he boarded crashed near Taipei and he died in the hospital of severe burns. He was just 48. The Indian people were so much enamored of Bose’s oratory and leadership qualities, fealressness and mysterious adventures, that he had become a legend. They refused to believe that he died in the plane crash. The famous Red Fort trial wherein Bose’s generals and the INA officers were tried, became landmark events. Initially, the British Government thought of a court-martial, but there was a countrywide protest against any kind of punishment. For common Indians, Axis and Allied powers hardly mattered, but they could not tolerate punishment of fellow countrymen who were fighting for freedom. The British Government was in no position to face open rebellion or mutiny and a general amnesty for INA soldiers was declared. While Bose’s approach to Indian freedom continues to generate heated debate in the Indian society today, there is no denying of his burning patriotism, his tireless efforts to free India from inside and outside and his reckless adventures in trying to reach his goals. His exploits later became a legend due to the many stories carried by the disbanded INA soldiers who came from every nook and corner of our great country. Had he lived, Subhas Chandra Bose could have given a new turn to Independent India’s political history. But he lives on eternally in the Indian mind, more famous after his death.

Jubilee Essay

â€Å"Jubilee† is a narrative written by Margaret Walker and was first published in 1966. The writer, instructor as well as intellectual was born in 1915 and is best recognized for her civil war narrative Jubilee as well as for her influential anthology of poems concerning ethnic assertion. Walker’s narrative is one of the initial tales to present the African-American’s nineteenth century experience within the South from a feminine as well as a black’s perspective. The narrative won the Houghton Mifflin’s Literary Fellowship Award, and is a fictionalized explanation of the life of Margaret Duggans Ware Brown, Walker’s great-grandmother who was born in Dawson in Terrell state as a slave and lived during reconstruction inside South West Georgia. The narrative is based on tales Walker’s maternal grandmother narrated to her. (Walker. M, 1999) The seriously celebrated historical narrative/long fiction centers on the story of Vyry, a bi-racial slave in the Civil War in America and deals with a number of subjects like racism, freedom, slaves or slavery, Civil war, women, christianity, reconstruction, African- Americans among other major themes. The narrative is set in Georgia and afterward in diverse sections of Alabama during the mid-1800s prior to, during, as well as following the civil war. The following is an explanation of the setting in place and time, the manner in which the author takes the reader there, the major characters, the history studied from the narrative, what the reader can study concerning civil war, slavery and reconstruction, whether the author views slavery as paternalistic or autocratic as well as what the narrative states concerning why reconstruction was not successful.