Humanitarian intervention Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Humanitarian intervention - Case Study Example These abstract definitions, which are often social constructs, become even more problematic when viewed through the lens of legitimate ethical concerns. Does a foreign power have the right to intervene and restore order when the disruption of food supplies results in the starvation of massive numbers of children' Does a world military power have the moral obligation to inflict democracy on a people that are oppressed economically, politically, and socially and do not have the benefit of free elections and choice' These questions have come before the international bodies such as the United Nations (UN) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in recent years as the Palestinian oppression, the atrocities in Kosovo, and the genocide in Darfur beg for resolution and are met with impasse and impotence on the world stage. Humanitarian relief and armed intervention is an issue too complex to be limited by preset rules and needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis with morality a nd ethics as the only relevant veto powers available. The problems that are presented by international bodies in pursuing an armed humanitarian intervention are very clearly evident in the conflict that arose in Kosovo in 1998-1999. International law presented several obstacles to any unilateral or multi-lateral actions without the near unanimous consent of the United Nations. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter explicitly prohibits military intervention into the internal affairs of any state, and that prohibition extends regardless of ideology (democratic or dictatorial), morality of the ruling government, or intervention for humanitarian purposes (Henkin, 1999, p.824). According to UN rules, certain ruling members have a veto power and in the case of Kosovo, Russia and China were willing to block any unanimous consensus on military intervention. Due to post Cold War animosities, "geography and politics rendered unanimity by the permanent members in support of military action (especially in the Balkans) highly unlikely" (Henkin, 1999, p.82 5). The United Kingdom, with support of the US, moved forward without the approval of the UN, opting instead to invoke the collective approval of NATO as a legitimate international body that took precedence over the UN based on regional concerns and authority. Legal scholars generally agree that the NATO action in Kosovo was in violation of international law, though it can be justified through ethical and moral reasoning. While there is some debate on the ultimate effectiveness of the campaign and the amount of suffering alleviated, the focus should remain on the intent of the action. There is no doubt that there were political pressures that moved the impetus to provide humanitarian relief. The NATO action in Kosovo was taken to provide humanitarian relief, avert further catastrophe, prevent the destabilization of key parts of Europe, and to maintain the legitimacy of NATO (Wedgwood, 1999, p.829). Taken one at a time these goals may be insufficient, but their collective weight makes the action more acceptable. However, the fact that this was a Caucasian country and a Euro-centric action cannot be overlooked. Would this action have been initiated if the population were a black African nation' According to Coady (2002, p.26), "responses to exterminations need close examination lest they do contain elements of mere prejudice,

Discourse Analysis of the movie Dumb and Dumber Essay

Discourse Analysis of the movie Dumb and Dumber - Essay Example   Although there are two apparent speakers in this dialogue (i.e. Mary and Lloyd), the utterances are all, in fact, constructed by one speaker which is the scriptwriter making it a synthetically constructed conversation. However, the speech act of the conversation is well planned and rehearsed, which has a positive impact on the overall appeal of the dialogue. The original script of the conversation, however, incorporates the various aspects of conversational interactions such as adjacency pairs, turn-taking, topic initiation and development, feedback and conversational openings and closings. To analyze the context of the discourse, Lloyd, a limo driver, is taking Mary to the airport and this is when the conversation takes place. It is one of the most essential ways in which people come together, exchange information and maintain social relations. Therefore, the setting of the discourse is very much natural in the normal contexts of dialogue and social relations. It is important to realize that the movie is categorized under the group of â€Å"humor† films, featuring slapstick comedy and nauseate humor. In fact, the hilarity or amusement of the comedy is expressed linguistically, in the choice of words of the funny man, Jim Carrey, who is playing the role of Lloyd. Throughout this whole exchange of words, Lloyd doesn’t say anything that has no linguistic value, so he is clearly able to produce a grammatically correct sentence. Significantly, the only flaw that occurs in the conversation is that Lloyd is not able to select from all the correct expressions available to him to reflect the â€Å"illocutionary† force that is suitable most to this particular  encounter.  

Michael Jordan Vs Kobe Bryant

Michael Jordan Vs Kobe Bryant Compare and Contrast of Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant Everyone always argues about whos the best NBA player between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Both of these superstars are fascinating and exciting players to watch on the basketball court. Taking a closer look at the comparison of Jordan and Bryant requires more than just fans bias and common assumptions. Most longtime fans would agree that Michael Jordan is the superior player. However, some of the younger fans choose Kobe over MJ. They both bring unique athleticism to the NBA, but the real question, who the best player is? Although Bryant has not quite reached the same point in his career that Jordan has, it is still safe to compare the honors and awards each player has earned throughout their playing days. While these achievements are not necessarily everything, it is definitely a significant piece of information. Jordan has six NBA championships to Bryants three. Jordan has been named MVP five times. Bryant has zero MVPs to his name. Jordan has ten scoring title, Bryant has three scoring titles. Jordan has been elected best defensive player of the year, something Bryant has never done. Jordan made a direct impact on the game when he arrived to the league and was the NBAs rookie of the year in 1984. Bryant developed his game after a couple of seasons before making any impact on the league. To conclude, Jordan accomplished more achievements in his career than Kobe . Many Jordan fans argue that Bryant never could win without Shaq, while Bryant fans state that Jordan never won without Pippen. However, most people fail to remember the NBA title won in 1998 by Jordan and the Bulls. This championship was so special because Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, remained injured due to their back throughout the entire playoffs. This caused MJ to put the team on his back and lead the Bulls to another title by himself, something Bryant has yet to do. Also, a key example of Bryants failure to finish off in the NBA Finals was in 2004 when he had four future hall-of-famers in the starting lineup. In attempts to take over, Bryant took multiple unnecessary shots as he got shut down by Tayshaun Prince and the Pistons. The Detroit Pistons dominated the series, winning four games to one. However, no one ever shut down Jordan . To conclude, Jordan could win with or without Pippen. In respect to Bryant, in recent years, he has accomplished feats Jordan never did. There are two most notable feats. The first is the 81-point performance Bryant made in a single game. Jordan s closest game to that only left him with 69 points. The other remarkable achievement occurred this year when Bryant scored at least 50 points in four straight games. Throughout Jordan s illustrious career, he never reached this number. However, Jordan did score at least 50 points in three straight games on multiple occasions. In respect to Jordan , he averaged more points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks throughout his career than Bryant has in his career. Jordan s playoff numbers exceed Kobe s as well. Nobody has outscored Jordan in the playoffs, considering his average for points per game is higher than every other player in NBA history. Jordan average 33.1 points and Kobe average 28.1 points. Also, Jordan holds the record for the highest points per game average in a single playoff series as well as for the NBA Finals, which was 63 points. In conclusion, with all the statistics, awards, and championships, Jordan seems like the easy pick over Bryant as the superior basketball player. His skill set, selfless attitude, and basketball smarts outclass Bryants. Jordan is considered by many the greatest basketball player ever. If Bryant wants to be seen in the same light, he has a long, rough basketball road ahead of him.

US Involvement in Nicaragua :: essays research papers fc

US Involvement in Nicaragua Some might say that Nicaragua has been merely a pawn in the US battle against Soviet-Cuban Communist control in Latin America. Relationships between the US and Nicaragua go back to the Gold Rush and Cornelius Vanderbilt’s attempts to expedite the travel between the two coasts of the US. Vanderbilt bought the rights to shuttle fortune-seekers across Nicaragua to avoid their having to cross the width of the United States or travel around Cape Horn. Eventually, controversy among the Nicaraguan people led to a civil war in 1853. The US was further drawn into the conflict when the left-wing army hired an American, William Walker, to fight for them. Walker and his mercenaries quickly conquered Grenada, the stronghold of the Conservative parties and found themselves in charge of the army. Walker, however, had his eyes on the presidency, which he eventually took. Walker was not the end of US intervention in Nicaragua. The government had aligning aspirations with Cornelius Vanderbilt a nd decided to build their canal through Nicaragua, which was less disease ravaged than the other contender, Panama. However, due to previous treaty agreements, the US would have to share control of any canal built through Nicaragua with Great Britain, and so the plan was abandoned. Instead, the US built an exclusively controlled canal through Panama. From 1893 – 1909, a general by the name of Zelaya had exclusive control of the Nicaraguan government. However, in 1909, with US support, this government was overthrown and a pro-US government was established. Throughout the early 1900’s, US Marines helped quell minor rebellions throughout Nicaragua and occupy much of the country. Finally, in 1933, the marines leave under the premise of peace with the guerilla leader Gen. Sandino. A man named Anastasio Somoza is put in charge of the National Guard, and therefore controls the country with an iron fist. Until 1979, the Somoza family serves as the totalitarian government in Ni caragua, fixing the elections so power remains in the family. Throughout this 40 year period, several minor insurrections are staged by the newly founded Sandinista National Liberation Front. These are easily put down by the military regime, until 1979. Throughout this period of relative peace in Nicaragua, many dominos are being set up around them throughout Central America. In 1959, Castro controls Cuba and the US begins to worry about the communist influence in Latin America.

Paths of Glory

Based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb, Stanley Kubrick directed the movie Paths of Glory in 1957. Kirk Douglas plays the role of Colonel Dax, a commander of the French army in World War I. Held in their trenches against the threat of German cannons, the regiment is ordered on a suicidal mission to capture the Germans. When the mission fails, French generals order three soldiers to be tried and executed on the charge of cowardice. Dax is selected defense attorney for the chosen soldiers. Kubrick explores the political planning and selfish personal ambitions that result in battlefield slaughter and irrational executions.The movie is constant in its disapproval of war and the pleasure-seeking of military leaders who arrange the deaths of thousands from the comfort of their headquarters. In the beginning of the movie, General Mireau verbally ordered artillery fire on his own men because they had not left the trenches to attack the enemy. This order was denied because it was not written and signed by the general himself. Verbal orders cannot be given out for it could be false. With a signed order, proof is seen from the signature.General Mireau refused to sign the order and instead became very upset. His outrage brought him to the decision to kill three soldiers. A meeting was held between General Broulard, General Mireau and Colonel Dax. General Broulard wanted to execute one-hundred of his own men for cowardice. Of course Colonel Dax disagreed. Therefore, General Broulard brought the number down to a dozen. The result was to choose one man from each regiment and then execute them. There were three regiments so there would be three men randomly picked by their lieutenant.Colonel Dax then requested that he be chosen as their defense attorney. He also had the responsibility of choosing someone who would be in charge of executing these men if they plead guilty in their trial. I would say that their trial was taken place in a Kangaroo court. Kangaroo court is defined as a self-appointed tribunal that disregards or parodies existing principles of law or human rights. All three men chosen for the execution walked in the court ready to be tried with Colonel Dax as their defense attorney.The judge, along with everyone else involved, seemed to already have a decision without knowing the character of each man, evidence and what their attorney had to say. The first man who spoke before the court was a guy who admitted he made it out of the trenches and into â€Å"no man’s land†. According to him, everyone around him was left dead except for one guy who was still left standing. They both headed back to the trenches so they could stay alive. He mentioned that he probably should have moved forward but instead he retreated.The second man who spoke before the court admitted that he advanced from the trenches until he was ordered back. All the court cared about was how far he got out of the trench. They didn’t care that he was ordered to re treat. When Colonel Dax mentioned the two medals the second man received over time, they were not interested. Finally, the third man was being tried. When he was climbing out of the trench, he was knocked out â€Å"stone cold† because of a corpse that fell on him. The court showed no mercy on any of these men. They were all plead guilty and sentenced to death.How can a man be a coward if he remained alive while everyone else lay dead? Why would he or any man for that matter continue going forward alone instead of retreating back to save their own life? How is a man a coward if he is doing nothing but obeying orders? What would make a court plead someone guilty of cowardice when that person has a medal in bravery? Why would a court execute a man who never had the chance to leave the trench because he was knocked unconscious by a dead body? All of these questions had to be going through Colonel Dax’s head.General Mireau asked Colonel Dax the question, â€Å"Are you prot esting the authenticity of this court? † He replied with the answer, â€Å"Yes sir. I protest against being prevented from introducing evidence which I considered vital to the defense; the prosecution presented no witnesses; there has never been a written indictment of charges made against the defendants, and lastly, I protest against the fact that no stenographic records of this trial have been kept. The attack yesterday morning was no stain of the honor of France, and certainly no disgrace to the fighting men of this nation.But this Court Martial is such a stain, and such a disgrace. The case made against these men is a mockery of all human justice. Gentlemen of the court, to find these men guilty would be a crime, to haunt each of you till the day you die. I can’t believe that the noblest impulse for man – his compassion for another – can be completely dead here. Therefore, I humbly beg you†¦ show mercy to these men. † Later on during the mo vie, Colonel Dax summons Lieutenant Roget to his quarters and orders the officer the assignment of supervising the firing squad – a job which requires putting a bullet in each prisoners head. You’ve got the job. It’s all yours,† Colonel Dax says. Lieutenant Roget tries to back out and convince Dax he is unfit for the job since he has never done such a task. Dax feels that if Roget had the audacity to pick a soldier of being dead based on the charge of cowardice, he can uphold the responsibility of ending their life. In this scene, Colonel Dax made it a point that Lieutenant Roget made a personal decision with his own reasons instead of picking from random because he was ordered to. Why did Lieutenant Roget choose Cpl. Paris to be executed?Before the assault, Dax ordered three officers (Lieutenant Roget, Corporal Paris and Private Lejeune) to go on a reconnaissance patrol into the darkness of no-man’s-land. The lieutenant â€Å"forfeited† hims elf, leaving the other two soldiers by themselves just because he was scared. Unfortunately, Private Lejeune did not make it out alive. When Corporate Paris returns back to French lines, he enters Lieutenant’s bunker to talk with him. Roget, shocked to see Paris, says, â€Å"I thought you’d been killed. † â€Å"You didn’t wait around to find out, did you Lieutenant?I mean you ran like a rabbit after you killed Lejeune,† Corporal Paris snaps back. Lieutenant Roget did not appreciate the tone and accusations being pointed at him whatsoever. He clearly lets Paris know that he is an officer and he should never be spoken to like that. Paris continues by saying, â€Å"Oh, well, I must be mistaken then, sir. An officer wouldn’t do that. A man wouldn’t do it. Only a thing would – a sneaky, booze-guzzling, yellow-bellied rat with a bottle for a brain and a streak of spit where his spine ought to be. You’ve got yourself into a me ss, Lieutenant. Roget cynically expresses his superiority and counter-reprimands him for insubordination, threatening a superior officer, and refusing to obey an order and inciting others to do the same. Paris threatens to bring charges and accuses his superior officer of drunkenness on duty, wanton murder of one of his own men, and cowardice in the face of the enemy. That is why bringing Corporal Paris to execution was personal for Lieutenant Roget. With proof that will hopefully save the three soldiers lives from execution, Dax ask to see General Broulard to report the new information he has just learned.With disregard to the information, Broulard replies, â€Å"Maybe the attack against the Ant Hill was impossible. Perhaps it was an error of judgment on our part. On the other hand, if your men had been a little more daring, you might have taken it. Who knows? Why should we have to bear more criticism and failure than we have to? These executions will be a perfect tonic for the en tire division. There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die. You see, Colonel, troops are like children. Just as a child wants his father to be firm, troops crave discipline.And one way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then. † Dax had sworn statements by the men who witnessed General Mireau ordering artillery fire on his own men during the attack. He implies that the execution would not proceed if all the court knew Mireau’s actions to fire on his own men. General Broulard is not justified in holding his position with respect because he had the choice to stop the execution but chose not to. He believes that killing three innocent men shows an example in maintaining discipline. He chose not to stop this for he did not want to look bad upon.I believe that if he would have stopped the execution like Colonel Dax wanted him too; it would not look bad on Broulard. Full responsibility would have been over Gene ral Mireau for poor judgment and the lack of morals. General Mireau made this decision based on his ego and authority. Stanley Kubrick brings in the theme class distinction by making it clear that everyone is afraid. If ranked higher in power, fear can be overlooked in the form of authority. Lower classes were shown to be located in trenches while those better off became Generals and Colonels.To those in power, other soldiers were chess pieces to their decisions. That is where Kubrick uses the theme nationalism. The cliche â€Å"means to an end† is a good example of what General Broulard believed. He believed that if three men getting executed were what it took for the rest of the regiments to follow orders, then that is what it took to be successful in the war. He made decisions on what he believed was best even if it was morally wrong. The execution gave him and General Mireau a superior patriotic feeling, and that is where Colonel Dax conflicted with both Generals.

Museum Of Modern Art George Seurat

Art AS communication 3 December 2013 Museum Paper On November 9th, 2013, St. Josephs College hosted a field trip into New York City. The purpose of this field trip was to transport us into the city, and have the students visit a major art museum. There were a few different choices, the students had, but most went straight to the Metropolitan Museum of Art because the admission to the museum was whatever you want to contribute. However, we took a different approach.My friend and I went straight to The Museum of Modern Art, also known as the MOMA. I looked briefly the night before at each museum to get a feel for what I wanted to see, and what I did not. Once I saw this artist was at the MOMA, that's when I knew I wanted to actually see it in person. The artist that I very much wanted to see was George Seurat. Prior to this class, I have never heard of this artist. I never knew who he was, or knew the style in which he painted. It was only a few classes before the trip that I truly lea rned to appreciate this artist.I have never seen an artist who has the patience and delicacy to place these dots on a canvas, sometimes smaller than a crumb, to create a work of art. George Seurat was a French Post-Impressionist painter who drew in a style called pointillism. Pointillism is â€Å"the theory or practice in art of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance they blend together. † (Merriam- webster. com) This style of painting is consistent with his other works through this time period. The piece of art I chose for my paper is the â€Å"Port-en-Bessin, Entrance to he Harbor† by Seurat.This painting was made in France in 1888 and is roughly 21. 65 inches by 25. 59 inches. The painting is oil on canvas and describes a harbor in France. When I first saw this painting I didn't realize it was a piece by Seurat. It looked as if it was work done in a different style than pointillism. I chose this one because, in my opinion, this style of painting deserves the most respect out of any of the artist. In this painting you can see how each little dot is done in order to create one large image. The first thing I noticed in this painting was the defining line between the shore and the water.Seurat uses different shades of green and a very pale color to illustrate the effect of grass and sand. For some reason that part of the painting kept me looking for a little bit and following the shore line up the painting. Next my eyes brought me to the water and the floating dock towards the middle ground slightly to the left of the painting. Here you can see he used two complementary colors to really attract your eyes to that point. The almost wood color f the dock and the light blue water really reinforce each other and keep you looking there for a brief second.The water had me confused at first. You can see within the harbor itself, there are three larger dark blue circles. I thought they were deeper parts of the water an d Seurat was trying to create depth here, but I soon ruled that out. I later realized with the weather that is portrayed here, that those are clouds exiting the harbor and that there was a lot going on here. I believe this is where Seurat wanted his focal point to be. The very center of the painting shows the sharp angles of the sails against the dark shadow of the cloud meeting the water.It is not just the contrast that brings your eyes here, but it is the way the boats are positioned. As with the shore line mentioned earlier, the boats are creating this line in which your eyes Just follow. Seurat uses directional force here starting with the boat on the right and creating this sense of movement towards the boat to the left, leading out into the ocean. He uses the shapes of the sails, and the direction they re advancing, to lead your eyes out, to the background, into the ocean where the rest of the boats are.Actually going into the city to see the original work in person was import ant to me because you can only appreciate this style of art once you are in front of it. Looking up this picture online doesn't do it Justice because the colors are off and it looks strikingly different from the original. Also an important thing to note is you can really see the small and medium dots he used in this painting. When you zoom in online, the resolution is off and it gets blurry before you can see detail.Not to discredit any other artist, but I think this style of painting requires much more time and dedication to create the final image. Overall, I have enjoyed this trip, and the class for that matter, because it showed me there is more to art when you can break it down using the elements and principles and see what the painting is really about. Works Cited â€Å"Pointillism – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. † Dictionary and Thesaurus – Merriam-Webster Online. N. p. , 7 Aug. 2012. Web. 29 NOV. 2013. .

Free Essays on Motivation For Achieving Success

The Role of Motivation for achieving success for university students The role of motivation for achievement is very important for all students and especially for the students of higher educational institutions like universities and collages. In universities many students have problems with low academic motivation or even an absence of it, which leads to a passive attitude towards studying. In universities and collages students are more independent in forming their attitudes concerning studying, which will affect their further life, rather than in high schools. That is why it is extremely important for university students to be self-motivated in order to be successful. By motivation for achievement we consider a person’s aspiration to accomplish his work well, qualitatively, and to improve the results of the work. People with high level of motivation usually realistically evaluate their abilities in setting their goals, strive to overcome difficulties, and achieve success. Heckhausen thought that motivation for achievement could be determined as an attempt to increase a person’s abilities to do something or to keep them as high as possible. According to him, motivation has two main characteristics: a desire to achieve success or to avoid a failure. A desire to achieve success expresses a person’s confidence that he will accomplish his task, but the avoidance of a failure shows the fear to fail or not to fulfill the expectations. People oriented on failure are those people who are not self-confident and who always underestimate their abilities. People oriented on success believe that they can handle the requirements and tasks they are expected to do, have self-confidence and do not show constraint. With the feeling of optimism, they are inclined on success, are aware of their abilities, and mostly achieve their goals. (2001) According to Roediger L. Henry et al., the students who have a desire to achieve success are those wit... Free Essays on Motivation For Achieving Success Free Essays on Motivation For Achieving Success The Role of Motivation for achieving success for university students The role of motivation for achievement is very important for all students and especially for the students of higher educational institutions like universities and collages. In universities many students have problems with low academic motivation or even an absence of it, which leads to a passive attitude towards studying. In universities and collages students are more independent in forming their attitudes concerning studying, which will affect their further life, rather than in high schools. That is why it is extremely important for university students to be self-motivated in order to be successful. By motivation for achievement we consider a person’s aspiration to accomplish his work well, qualitatively, and to improve the results of the work. People with high level of motivation usually realistically evaluate their abilities in setting their goals, strive to overcome difficulties, and achieve success. Heckhausen thought that motivation for achievement could be determined as an attempt to increase a person’s abilities to do something or to keep them as high as possible. According to him, motivation has two main characteristics: a desire to achieve success or to avoid a failure. A desire to achieve success expresses a person’s confidence that he will accomplish his task, but the avoidance of a failure shows the fear to fail or not to fulfill the expectations. People oriented on failure are those people who are not self-confident and who always underestimate their abilities. People oriented on success believe that they can handle the requirements and tasks they are expected to do, have self-confidence and do not show constraint. With the feeling of optimism, they are inclined on success, are aware of their abilities, and mostly achieve their goals. (2001) According to Roediger L. Henry et al., the students who have a desire to achieve success are those wit...