Web Communities Essay Example for Free

Web Communities Essay The movie Julie and Julia directed by Nora Ephron and starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams released last year 2009 is the story of Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), a call canter agent in Lower Manhattan Development Corporations in New York in 2002. Her job is answering phone calls and providing assistance to all the victims of September 11 attacks and other related complaints. This movie made an impact to all people who loves to cook besides having regular work. What makes this movie significant is that it is based on Julie Powell’s blog which has indeed made an impact. Her blog eventually went on to become a book in 2005 titled Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen which was later renamed Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously when printed on paperback. Her book, as well as that of American culinary icon Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep), My Life in France, would be the basis of the film’s story. From one dream, the story itself influenced everybody. All the wonderful ideas and dreams to make it happen are really hard to do. But in this movie, the two main characters give their insight on how they make their dreams come true and they believe on it. As Julie takes on the challenge to cook all the recipes in the book of legendary chef Julia Child titled, Mastering the Art of French Cooking which was published in 1961. She plans to cook all of her 500-plus recipes within a year. At the same time, Julie would write a blog to share her cooking progress and she also shares it to everybody through online blogging that her husband Eric taught her how to write a blog. He is a very patient husband who strongly believes in her that she is a good writer and she can accomplish the challenge. At the same time, the scenes from the movie would shift to Julia Child, depicting the early years of her cooking career in Paris (Ephron). On the first day of the challenge, Julie writes all her plans on that day and what kind of recipe she will cook. At first, it seems that everything awkward or strange. She also wonders if there is anybody listening on her while she is writing down her progress. From time to time, whenever she updates her blog, it seems like she is talking to herself. She is also expecting that someone would leave comments for her. One day, while she was in the office, she received the first and only comment from somebody, and she never expected that it would come from Julia Child herself, who commented that Julie must be clueless about what she is doing. Each passing day, she is having difficulty in some of the recipes because of the instruction and it also shows her aversion to eggs but she took it as a challenge to cook and eat it for the first time in her life and realized she loves it. So many days passed for her to complete the challenge, and blogging gives her a lot of devotion until she finally accomplished it. (Ephron) Blogging is made for personal writing about ones person life, writing and updating it with whatever one wants to write, whether it is about a hobby or some other interest one would like to share with others. When people read blogs, it would arouse their interests and from there create a chain reaction as more and more people would write a blog on a similar topic they share and sooner or later, became something worth discussing. Blogging has a way of attracting people who share common interests and the end result is the creation of web communities. Although this is also mirrored by real-life communities, one advantage web communities have is it is more far-reaching and can go beyond borders and touch base with anybody around the world which is virtually connected online. This is one of the wonders of the Internet as it connects people the world over transcending borders and uniting them with a common interest. Works Cited Julie and Julia. Dir. Nora Ephron. Perf. Amy Adams Meryl Streep. 2009.

The Problems in International Marketing Communication

The Problems in International Marketing Communication Whether its a manufacturing company or service company,Communication is a very crucial element its marketing process. This is clear in the definition of Marketing: the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large [1]. Marketing communication is also considered as one of the four most important elements in every marketing process, the 4 Ps of the Marketing Mix. The 4 Ps are: Product, place, price, promotion. . Every company specifies the product or service it wants to sell product, where these products are delivered place , how to set a price price, and how to promote its products promotion. Marketing Communication falls under the promotion category. Three vitals roles fall under it: providing needed information and elaboration on a product, persuading target customers of a specific brand, and encouraging them to take actions and buy their products. It serves both types of customers: existing customers, and prospective (potential) customers. It serves the existing customers by maintaining relationships with them. This can be done by database systems for customers and direct selling. Marketing communication serves the prospective customer by communicating the information and advice this customer needs. Such information are like: cost of the product or service, specific features, benefits and functions [4]. Elements of the communication mix: Below are some ways to communicate information: Medium Explanation Advertising A paid insertion of a message in a medium Public relations the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between the organization and its publics( users, potential users, and employees) Sales Promotions Activities done to attract customers and boost temporary sales. Examples: the buy one get one offer, distribution of free samples. Personal Selling Face-to-face communications between buyers and sellers Telemarketing Taking orders by phone (inbound), Selling through phone or teleselling (outbound) Ambient Advertising Messages places on items such as bus tickets, stamp franking, till receipts, petrol pumps, and so forth. Any message that forms part of the environment Press Advertising Any paid message that appears in a newspaper or magazine TV Advertising Commercial messages shown in breaks during and between TV programs Database Marketing Profiling customers on to a database and sending out personalized mailings or other communications to them. Example: Sukar.com sends emails with pictures of products and price offers. E commerce Use of websites to promote and sell products Corporate Identity The overall image that the company projects; the companys personality Branding The mechanism by which marketing communications are coordinated Off-the-screen selling Using TV adverts linked to inbound telephone operations (taking orders by phone). Also, home shopping channels such as QVC. Figure 1 Source: Blythe J. (2006) Essentials of Marketing Communications, 3rd edition Figure 2 Message channel Advertising media and/or personal sales force Encoding: Message translated into Appropriate meaning Noise Competitive activities, other salespeople, confusion, and so on Decoding Encoded message interpreted into meaning Information source Marketer with a product Feedback Evaluation of communications process and measure of action by receiver Receiver Action by consumer responding to decoded message The senders culture (A) The receivers culture (B) Source:Cateora P, Graham J. (2008) International Marketing [ 3 ] The Challenges of International Marketing: Cultural Diversity: Marketers need to develop understanding and empathy with their target audiences. Marketers need to assure that customers receive their messages without any altering of the meaning intended in the first place. Meanings of words can be denotative or connotative. Denotative means: having the same meaning for everybody. Connotative means: having a meaning which is unique to the individuals. The customers opinion of the advertisement is subjective. Strawberries mean the red small fruits. For some people, which are allergic to strawberries, it means allergy and disease. This is easy when the marketer and audience share the same background and outlook. [2]. In international marketing, , the audience customers are diverse, the same message can be understood differently from one to another. So, the message has to be clear enough to be understood by almost all types of receivers. Only 30% of communication used words. Examples are: numbers, space, artifacts, and kinetics. If the company is international, then their audiences are from diverse cultures. A message might resemble a meaning in a country and a very different meaning in another country. For example: the sign of the thumb and index finger circle means OK in America. In Brazil, on the other hand, it is considered a rude gesture. So, if a marketer is targeting Brazil and America at the same time, he/she should use unique advertisements for each country. Toyota introduced the Prado SUV in China. The names sounded the Chinese word for Rule by Force. It reminded the Chinese people of invasion by Japan 1937. It was not a nice memory at all. [3] Production and Cost Limitation: A challenge that faces international marketers is that they have to be as creative as possible, especially when there are severe production limitations. Some magazine papers in some countries are made of severely poor quality. A product like a shampoo might have to depart from the print media if it is of low quality. In Egypt, the poor quality billboards and poor-quality televisions have led big companies like Coca-Cola to advertise their products on boats that sail along the river. Direct Mail In Southeast Asia, printed press is not widely used. Thus, Direct mailing databases form a basis mean of advertising. Any international company that wants to market in Southeast Asia needs to use the Direct Mailing pattern. The problem about it is that the sender has to pay only a part of the mailing fee. The receiver has to pay the rest. The Challenges on the Marketing Message: An information source an international marketing executive that has a product message to communicate. Encoding converting the message from the source to the receiver. The message is transmitted to effective clear symbols. Themessage channel the sales force and/or the media that transfers the coded message to the intended receiver. Decoding The interpretation and understanding by the receiver. Receiver The targeted customers. Feedback The customers opinion on the message. He gives it back to the information source. Noise any external obstacles that hinder the communication process: physical and non-physical competitors, other salespeople, and confusion) What is obvious from the above figure is that the message starts from a point and ends in it. The message is produced by the information source the sender. Then it is encoded into an appropriate meaning. After that, it goes through a message channel: advertising media, personal sales force. Later, it is interpreted into meaning. Then, the receiver responds to it. Afterwards, the receiver evaluates the communication process feedback. Finally, the feedback is transferred to the information source. This is the flow of the international communication process. The noise is any external obstacles that come in the way of any of these steps. It hinders the transfer of the message. Any problem that affects any of these steps will affect the correct understanding of a message. A problem with the information source: The marketer is supposed to know the needs of the international target market ex: The whole world , and not limit them to the needs of the national market ex: USA. A good example is the mobile phone industry. If a company is doing well with selling luxurious mobile phones, it doesnt necessarily mean that it has to do well in selling the same phones in another country. The first countrys market need is luxury Ex: Qatar, while in the other country is it only communication Ex: Syria. Such problem can happen if the information source or the marketer relies on the self-reliance criterion (SRC). The information source might depend onhis own markets success and assumes it will succeed in marketing to other countries. If it sells well in one country, it will sell in another [3].Clearly, this assumption is definitely wrong. Also, general lack of knowledge of the target markets need will result in sending a wrong message through media or personal selling to the existing of prospect consumers. Encoding A marketer for certain relaxing drug chooses the white color for an advertisement, assuming that it has a relaxing effect. Patients might relate it to hospitals this will have a negative effect on buying the medicine. Thus, to transfer the correct message, all factors relating to the target market have to be taken into consideration. In the United States and Canada, Toothpaste is important because healthy teeth are perceived as important. In European countries, on the other hand, it is mainly used for breath control. So, an advertisement of toothpaste for European citizens has to stress breath control instead of healthy teeth. 3-Â ­The Message Channel The channel has to be carefully chosen to assure the message is delivered and understood by customers. Sending messages through internet means, there has to be a reading role from the receivers side. If the medium internet is used for an intended market in which there is a lot of illiteracy, the message will certainly not be understoodby those intended customers. The language For advertising for a product on TV for instance, the language of the audience have to be considered. If the advertisement reaches countries in the Middle East, they have to be translated to the Arabic language to assure proper understanding. This is not applicable on all products. For instance, Arabic is the spoken language in the Middle East in a lot of industries. At the same time, English is used in the technical industries in the Middle Eastern countries. So an advertisement in the technical field requires using the English language, even if it is intended for Middle-Eastern customers. Decoding Chevrolet launched a brand name for a car model called Nova. It means New Star. According to the Spanish language, on the other hand, Nova means It doesnt go. Another similar example is Coca Colas Come alive slogan being decoded as Come out of the grave. [3] Although Europeans and American speak the same language, but their perception and way of thinking is different. An ad transferred from the United States with an American Celebrity standing atop a mountain with a Lipton teas mug didnt make sense for East Europe citizens. [3] So, Errors at the receivers side are mainly due to: Improper message because of improper knowledge of use patterns Poor encoding (building a messages meaning) Poor media selection. The wrong mean for the wrong message. Poor decoding by the receiver Least possible bad luck Ex: When The Paris government didnt get along with the attack in Iraq in 2003. A lot of French products were boycotted. Frenchs Mustard was mistaken for being French, while it was named so after its founder Robert French. It was accidently boycotted along the other French products. Feedback As much as delivering the message correctly is important, acquiring feedback is important. Companies have to do surveys and research on how effective was the responding to its marketing messages to decide whether to carry on with them or not. If the feedback of receivers was not taken into consideration, this will allow the same mistakes to be carried on again and again. A detailed research with causes and effects of factors regarding the marketing messages on the customers is very essential and important. It will assure success in the future messages. Media Limitations and Personal Selling: An international marketer might be forced to use other promotional means if he/she is exposed to media limitation. In Italy, a television commercial for instance is limited only to 10 showings a year, and with no exposures closer than 10 days. [3] This will definitely hinder the use of advertising and the marketer is forced to look for other promotional means. In Latin America because of media limitations, Coca Cola and Pepsi-Cola shifted to carnival trucks. Carnival truck make frequent trips to rural villages to promote their products. The carnival truck stops in a village, gives a TV show about them for a low admission price. The price is an unopened bottle that is exchanged for a cold bottle and also for a coupon for another bottle! These kinds of promotions attract customers widely, and are considered aw ways to deal with media limitations. Studying of the behavioral habits of an intended market produces positive results. This strategy was done by Nestle in France. A lot of French take off for a long vacation in the summer time, taking all their family members in the car heading to campgrounds. Nestle, as a result, provided rest stops along highway for changing and feeding babies. This strategy allowed the French people to be aware of the samples of Nestle diapers and food products. By that, it branded its name by sampling and promotion. Local Laws: -May not permit premiums or free gifts be distributed. Some countries may control the amount of discount given at retails -Permits for all sales promotions. A waste of all the promotional strategies that are undertaken in other countries in which it is legal it will affect personal selling negatively Challenges for international emailing marketing: Message form: The amount of message that works in one country doesnt necessarily work in another. In USA, it is common to post main headlines of articles with the links to the full article. In other countries, like the Middle East, customers expect to see the full article. This depends on how the consumer is used to receive knowledge. -Personalization and salutations: Examples: Dear John, Dear Saraetc. In US, the use of salutations has a positive effect on the recipients. On the contrary, other countries consider it as invasion of privacy and people of this country dont feel comfortable receiving emails with salutation. -Local norms: There are many norms that cant be predicted if you are unaware of local norms. For example, in the U.S. its quite common to post prices exclusive of tax. In some other countries, this is simply not done and may even be not allowed by local law. In France, its common to ask recipients to print out a form and fax it back, whereas in many other countries this would be considered absurd. -Local laws: The most obvious laws that apply to international e-mail are anti-spam requirements, some countries may have additional laws and requirements for doing business electronically, especially related to privacy and use of personal information. -Send time: When to send is another important question. Countries have different time zones depending on their geographical location. While 3 pm Canada timing is an appropriate time to send emails for customers, it is a very inappropriate time in countries on the other side of the world. [4] -Stereotypes and marketing communication: First to define stereotypes: It is a commonly held popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of stereotype and prejudice are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups based on some prior assumptions. Sometimes, there are certain perceptions or ideas people relate to a specific country, and these ideas might be wrong. For example: If an Egyptian company is advertising for a perfume with a drawing of the Egyptian flag. Egypt is not considered as a leading country in producing perfumes. France, on the other hands is considered so. So, European citizens might assume that this perfume is not worth buying. Hence, they will not respond positively to the commercials of perfume from USA. [5] Country of Origin Effect The issue about international marketing products, whether by personal selling, TV Advertising, or even off the screen selling, is that marketing the product outside its home country is not as easy as marketing it inside it. This is due to the many factors that need to be known about the consumers in countries the company is intended to export to. Such factors are like consumer behavior. [5] Consumer behavior dictates when, why, what, and where a consumer buys or doesnt buy a product. Conclusion If any company doesnt last for three years, this means the company is a failure. To assure success for a company, the marketing mix have to be well designed whether its a service or a manufacturer company. A very important and crucial aspect of the marketing mix is promotion, which is understated under Marketing Communication. To Assure proper communication of a message, all the above factors have to be taken into strict consideration: The message, the means, the market, the external legal and local factors. The message have to well-designed before it is sent. Thus, being aware of legal and local restrictions of countries is essential for giving green and red lights to marketing communication strategies. The marketing strategies have to be tested on the various markets, to prospect the outputs. Then, proper knowledge of the market needs is studied. Then, the right routes of communication are chosen to assure transferring of the message. The message has to be matched with the receiver s point of views. The major problem facing international advertisers is designing the best messages for each market served.[3] Taking some factors in consideration and neglecting some cause big problems, because in international marketing everything is related to one another.Since the sales amount depend largely on Marketing Communication, the sales department depend largely on the marketing department. Thus, The effective Marketing Communication is one of the keys to success of two departments in a company. Hence, no one in a company can deny the effective outcomes of effective commination.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (or as they say in French le Organisation du traità © de lAtlantique Nord (OTAN)), began as a military alliance of governments due to the North Atlantic Treaty ( 4 April 1949). From its inception NATO, with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, has focused on a structure cooperative defence. It translates this structure as having the member states responding to a joint and mutual defence against attack by a non- NATO aggressor. From the original 12 member states there are now 28 participants in this organization dedicated to keeping the alliance strong and vital in a changing world order. Initially, NATO began as a political body, more prone to discussion rather than action. This changed when the Korean War spurred the member states into action and they set up a military command structure under the leadership of two U.S. supreme commanders to effectively deal with the situation that was brewing in Korea. As the first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated the organizations goal was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.[4] The alliances of WWII with the Russians had taken a beating as the battles became ideological with communism on one side and democracy as represented by the west and NATO was on the other. As for the Germans, there was a basic distrust since they had been responsible for both world wars and it was only four years after their surrender that NATO was formed. Eventually Germany became and is a vital and full-fledged member of the organization. The alliance had some initial credibility issues, since the ever changing relationships between European members and the US were in flux (as always). There was a significant feat that NATO would be unable to stand together against a Soviet invasion. As a sign of its coolness towards the alliance, and basically as a vote of no confidence, the French developed their own nuclear arsenal and withdrew from NATOs military structure in 1966 and hasnt rejoined that aspect of NATO since. In 1955, in retaliation to NATO, the Soviet Bloc countries started their own alliance The Warsaw Pact, and thereby created a common antipathy towards each alliance. In 1989, precipitated by the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany, NATO focused its attention on the turmoil of the Balkan states and the troubles brewing in that region. At the same time NATO forged stronger and more durable associations with their former Warsaw Pact adversaries and succeeded so well that quite a few of these states joined the alliance between 1999 and 2004. On 1 April 2009, the NATO membership grew it its present 28 states with the entrance of Albania and Croatia into the alliance.[5] Due to the 11 September, 2001 attacks against New York and Washington, NATO has refocused its mission to fight terrorism, instead of the Eastern block and re purposed itself to meet new and more difficult confrontations in other regions of the world. The alliance has provided troops to Afghanistan as well as trainers to Iraq in order to fulfill its treaty obligations to a member state, in this case the United States, that has been attacked. As part of its ever evolving nature, NATO and the European Union (many of whose members are also members of NATO) signed a package of agreements called The Berlin Plus Agreement on 16 December 2002. The crux of this agreement gives the EU the possibility to use NATO assets in case it wants to act independently in an international crisis, on the condition that NATO itself did not want to act-the so-called right of first refusal.[6] Thus if NATO, as the alliance refused to act in a crisis, the EU therefore has the option to respond. NATO members provide 70-plus% of the worlds defence spending.[7] The United States contributes 43% the total military spending of the world[8] with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy spending an additional 15%.[9] The remaining alliance countries make up the remainder of the 12% that accounts for this huge outlay of funds, materials and personnel, making NATO ready to meet any crisis. History The history of NATO is a history of treaties that came in the wake of the Second World War. In 1948 he Treaty of Brussels, signed by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom was the forerunner to the NATO agreement. The signing of this treaty coupled with the insidious Soviet Berlin Blockade gave rise to the Western European Unions Defence Organization that same year. [10] There was an understanding though that in order to thwart the rising military power of the USSR, the United States had to be brought into the picture to enable the west to have a solid counterbalance of power. This strategy precipitated a need for a new military alliance. Talks began at once and in less than a year, the North Atlantic treaty was signed between the 5 signatories of the Treaty of Brussels and the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. There was a lot of hostility regarding the treaty and it even caused some Icelanders to advocate and participate in a pro-neutrality, anti-membership riot in March 1949, just days before the final signatures on for April. The Parties of NATO agreed that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. Consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence will assist the Party or Parties being attacked, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm ) The phrase Such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force does not necessarily mean that other member states will respond with military action against the aggressor(s) has raised many questions over the years. Member states are obligated to respond to a crisis concerning the alliance or any one of its members, however these states have the freedom to choose how they will respond. (Hence Frances decision to withdraw from the military structure, as it never wants to commit its troops to a fight) This clause negates Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels that states that the members will aid the attacked member militarily. Further, the article limits the organizations scope to Europe and North America, which explains why the Falklands War did not result in NATO involvement. However, there was justification for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars involvement as the organizations that attacked the Member state, the US , were not national and merely located in another location . With NATO, some consistency of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology has been brought into existence. This has often meant that European member countries adopting U.S. practices and techniques. There are about 1300 Standardization Agreements (STANAGs) codifying these standards. For instance the 7.62ÃÆ'-51 NATO rifle cartridge of the 1950s became the standard firearm cartridge among many NATO countries while Fabrique Nationale de Herstals FAL was NATO rifle in Europe and used until the early 1990s. In addition to consistent firearms and rifles, signals became standardized, enabling any NATO aircraft to land at any NATO base without confusion. Even the NATO phonetic alphabet has made its beyond NATO into civilian use. Cold War Perhaps the defining moment in early NATO was the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. This police action became a critical test for the alliance as it confronted what appeared to be all Communist countries working together to destabilize the Koreas. This forced NATO into developing military plans.[11] This war was also the precipitator to the nascent cold war between the West and the East and their ideological disparity. In 1952, NATO began to codify its requirements for a Long Term Defence Plan. The Lisbon conference first suggested that there be 96 divisions dedicated to the alliance, however in 1953, this number was devolved to 35 divisions, with an increased dependence on nuclear weaponry to make up the difference. There were 15 at the ready divisions located in Central Europe and Italy and Scandinavia hosted another ten. Another outcome of the Lisbon Conference was that the Chief Civilian post of Secretary General of NATO was created (Baron Hastings Ismay was appointed). (12, 13) By September of 52, the first NATO exercises were held and Operation Mainbrace brought 200 ships and over 50,000 troops and sailors to practice defending Norway and Denmark. It was a huge success. By the end of that first year, Greece and Turkey joined the alliance. This forced some very contentious negotiations, with the United States and Britain disputing as to the logistics of bringing these two countries into the command structure.[14] All through the controversy that was openly under discussion, covert operations were underway to set up a solid resistance in case of a successful Soviet invasion (Operation Gladio). This resistance was original to the Western European Union, however it seemed more logical and effective to transfer these plans and operations to NATO control. Despite the disputes there were signs of unity a bonds began to grow among the different between NATOs armed forces so that the troops themselves were more cohesive. This included the NATO Tiger Association and competitions such as the Canadian Army Trophy for tank gunnery among the different units and countries. By 1954, the Soviet Union felt that it should become a part of NATO in order to keep the peace in Europe.[15] This did not sit well with the NATO member countries, as they feared that the real motivation of the Soviet Unions was weaken the alliance from within, sewing discord, so they rejected the proposal. However, despite earlier declarations of keeping the Germans down, the admission of West Germany into NATO on 9 May 1955 was described as a decisive turning point in the history of our continent by Halvard Lange, Foreign Minister of Norway at the time.[16] German military forces and manpower were a deciding factor into allowing their former enemy into the alliance. Without the extra soldiers fielding enough forces to resist a Soviet invasion[17] would have been impossible. The upshot of this admission though was the Warsaw Pact, signed on 14 May 1955 (6 days later) with the Soviet Union, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, and East Germany as members. This formal response to Germanys admission into NATO , defined in no uncertain terms, the two sides of the Cold War. French withdrawal Charles de Gaulles presidency of France from 1958 caused a constant strain on the NATO alliance. De Gaulle ongoing objections to the United States role in the organization was the basis of his never ceasing disputation with NATO. He felt that the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom was undermining the alliance and he wanted France to be the predominant member state. De Gaulle wrote to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on 17 September 1958, where he basically demanded a tripartite directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the United States and the United Kingdom in NATO. He also stipulated that NATOs coverage be expanded cover French geographical areas, most notably French Algeria, so that NATO could assist Frances counter-insurgency against Algerian rebels. De Gaulle did not like the response Eisenhower and Macmillan gave him so he began to pull away from a unified alliance and create independent defences for his country. He wanted to play both sides of the alliance in case East Germany invaded West Germany. He was determined to have a separate peace with the Eastern bloc and had no desire to involve France in a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict. In 1959, despite being a signatory to the alliance, De Gaulle began his severing his allegiance to the alliance. In March 1959, France withdrew its Mediterranean Fleet from NATO command. In June 1959, de Gaulle proscribed foreign nuclear weapons on French soil. By this act, the United States began transferring military aircraft out of France and returning control of all air force bases that NATO operated in France since 1950 to the French by 1967. De Gaulle wanted only his own military and nuclear arms on his own soil, despite his supposed solidarity to the alliance. In 1962, during the Cuban Missle Crisis de Gaulle showed unity with NATO, however afterwards he sustained his unrelenting determination of creating his own independent defence through the removal of Frances Atlantic and Channel fleets from the NATO command structure. Therefore it was no surprise to anyone within the alliance that by 1966, all French armed forces were removed from NATOs integrated military command, and all non-French NATO troops were asked to leave France. All his actions caused the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) to move from Rocquencourt, near Paris, to Casteau, Belgium, by 16 October 1967. While France remained a member of the alliance, its removal on the surface seemed to preclude any sort of committed defence of Europe from possible Communist attack. On the other hand, France did have forces stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany throughout the Cold War. A chain of clandestine agreements between U.S. and French officials, ( Lemnitzer-Ailleret Agreements) delineated the way French forces would fit together and return to NATOs command in case hostilities commenced during the Cold War. [18] Although on the surface France and DeGaulle had manipulated themselves into an independent there was nevertheless a way for France to unite and fight with NATO in case of war. It wasnt until 1995 that the French position on the military structure of NATO began to change. Dà ©tente NATO was able to keep from actual military engagements as an alliance throughout most of the Cold War. The organization was prepared in case of such a scenario. In 1968, NATO argued that since the United States controlled nuclear weapons until a decision to go to war and NATOs own nuclear sharing arrangements with the US were no in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty that was being signed. Since few states actually knew what NATOs nuclear position actually was, whatever the alliance declaimed was considered truth and there was no challenge to their stance as far as controlling nuclear weapons was concerned. NATO countries officially defined two balancing aims of the Alliance on 30 May 1978. The first was to follow their initial directive and maintain security throughout the alliance. The second was to pursue dà ©tente. The purpose of these two complementary aims was to match the NATO defences to those of the Warsaw Pacts offensive capacity without inciting an extra arms race. In 1979, since the Warsaw Pact countries built up their nuclear capabilities in Europe, NATO approved the deployment of U.S. GLCM cruise missiles and Pershing II theatre nuclear weapons in Europe. These new warheads strengthened the western position regarding nuclear disarmament. This Dual Track policy meant that peace was pursued on one hand while meeting weapons build up on the other. Essentially it was a game of one-upmanship conducted by both sides. This occurred again in 1983-84, when NATO responded to the positioning of Warsaw Pact SS-20 medium-range missiles in Europe, by deploying modern Pershing II missiles. These missiles have the ability to hit military targets quite hard such as tank formations, should there be a war. These dual actions led to peace movement protests throughout Western Europe in light of the fact that the danger level ratcheted up in case peace talks were unsuccessful. Escalation Most of Europe was divided between the two alliances. Members of NATO were often shown in blue, with members of the Warsaw Pact shown in red on any maps depicting their allegiances. President Ronald Reagan of the United States was determined that the buildup of the tension between the US and USSR should be exacerbated even more by having NATO deploy those Pershing II and cruise missiles in Western Europe, primarily West Germany. These Pershing II missiles are tactical nuclear weapons intended to strike targets on the battlefield in the event that the Soviets invaded West Germany. The Soviets fed into the Reagan paranoia and played into his deployment plans on 1 September 1983, when they shot down a South Korean passenger airliner when it crossed into Soviet airspace. Reagan characterized the shooting down of the plane a massacre. With world opinion on their side the U.S., galvanized support for the deployment of the missiles. This deployment stood in place until the later accords between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev were reached and the hegemony of the Soviet Union began to dismantle.. Gamesmanship in the membership was still around although during the late 1970s and early 80s there was some stagnancy. In 1974, when the Turks invaded Cyprus, Greece withdrew its forces from NATOs military command structure. Finally though, in 1980, they were readmitted (Turkish cooperation was necessary) Finally in May 1982, Spain was able to join the alliance as its former dictator had died and the newly democratic country was free to become part of NATO. Spain joined the alliance. In November 1983, NATO maneuvers simulated a nuclear launch and it caused widespread panic in the USSR. General Secretary Yuri Andropov, who was in ill health at the time, was worried that the maneuvers, were actually a genuine first strike. In response, Soviet nuclear forces were readied and air units in East Germany and Poland were placed on alert. It was a tense situation and although U.S. intelligence felt that the Soviet response was merely a propaganda effort, there are many who feel that ailing Andropov was convinced that a NATO first strike was imminent. Post Cold War When the Cold War ended and the Warsaw Pact dissolved in 1991, the main adversary of NATO was gone. There was a strategic reassessment of NATOs purpose. While this reassessment and realignment of the nature and tasks of the alliance were underway, the ultimate result is that NATO has expanded into Eastern Europe and former Warsaw Pact countries are becoming part of the alliance. NATO has also extended its activities into new areas. In 1990, NATO welcomed the German reunification. This meant that the former East Germany was part of the Federal Republic of Germany and therefore alliance. This had been agreed in the Two Plus Four Treaty earlier in the year. There was still a need for Soviet approval of a united Germany to remain in NATO so it was stipulated that foreign troops and nuclear weapons would not be stationed in the eastern part of the country (the former East Germany). Because of this new treaty, there has been an ongoing controversy between scholars and diplomats regarding the expansion of the NATO Alliance. Once scholar, Stephen F. Cohen argued in 2005 that a commitment was given that NATO would never expand further east,[19]. On the other hand but according to Robert Zoellick,( then a State Department official involved in the Two Plus Four negotiating process,) feels that Cohen is wrong as there was no formal commitment of the sort made in the treaty regarding any other country besides Germany.[20] In May 2008, The Daily Telegraph held an interview with Mikhail Gorbachev who felt along with Cohen that there was a commitment made. Gorbachev said the Americans promised that NATO wouldnt move beyond the boundaries of Germany after the Cold War but now half of central and eastern Europe are members, so what happened to their promises? It shows they cannot be trusted.[21] NATOs military structure was cut back and reorganized in the post Cold War era, with new forces such as the Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps established. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe agreed between NATO and the then still existent Warsaw Pact, mandated specific reductions in personnel, weapons, and nukes. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the military balance in Europe shifted and this was recognized in the Adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty. Finally in 1995, after nearly a 30 year absence, France rejoined NATOs Military Committee in 1995. French President Nicolas Sarkozy reformed Frances military position and enabled the country to return to full membership on 4 April 2009. This date also saw France rejoin the integrated military command of NATO, even as it still maintains its own nuclear deterrent independently of the alliance.[22] Balkans interventions After years of military preparedness and no fighting during the Cold War, NATOs first military operation came during the former Yugoslavia civil war. It was called Operation Sharp Guard and ran from June 1993-October 1996. NATO provided maritime enforcement of the arms embargo, and set ic sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Six months into the embargo and blockade, (28 February 1994) NATO took its first military action, by shooting down four Bosnian Serb aircraft. These planes violated a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over central Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATOs Operation Deliberate Force, a bombing campaign started in August, 1995, against the Army of the Republika Srpska, after the Srebrenica massacre. Operation Deny Flight, the no-fly-zone enforcement mission, started in 1993, continued the end of December 1995. The NATO air strikes forced an end to the war in Bosnia. This culminated in the the Dayton Agreement, that provided NATO with authority to deployed peacekeeping force, under Operation Joint Endeavor, first named IFOR and then SFOR. This deployment ran from December 1996 to December 2004. Following the lead of its member nations, NATO began to award a service medal, the NATO Medal, for these operations in appreciation of its troops efforts in a difficult endeavor. NATO was now a fully fledged military organization that was as capable as any single member nation on conducting a military operation to successful conclusion. What had been words on paper was now put into practice. From 1994 to 1997, NATO and its neighbors set up several forums for dialogue in order to keep conflict at a minimum. The Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council were all results of these forums and led the way to a more inclusive membership in the alliance. On 8 July 1997, three former communist countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO and their final admission occurred in 1999. By 1998, the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council was established to keep communications open and free flowing between the former adversaries. NATO saw its first broad-scale military engagement in the Kosovo War, where it waged an 11-week bombing campaign, called Operation Allied Force. This was again against what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as the Serbians massacred and cracked- down on Albanian civilians in Kosovo. While a formal declaration of war never took place the NATO action was successful. Yugoslavian leader Slobodan MiloÃ…Â ¡eviĆ¡ agreed to NATOs demands and Kosovos native Albanians were free to stay or go. During Kosovo, NATO deployed one of its international reaction forces, the ACE Mobile Force (Land), to deliver humanitarian aid to Kosovan refugees. [23] NATO then established the KFOR, a NATO-led force under a United Nations mandate that operated the military mission in Kosovo. In August-September 2001, the alliance also mounted Operation Essential Harvest, a mission disarming ethnic Albanian militias in the Republic of Macedonia.[24] NATOs work in the military arena was expanding and becoming vital to international interests This expansion and necessity led the United States, the United Kingdom, and most other NATO countries to oppose efforts that require the U.N. Security Council to approve NATO military strikes, as had happened against Serbias invasion into Kosovo in 1999. France and some others claimed that the alliance needed U.N. approval of course probably more as a way to thwart the US/UK more than any ideological reasons. The U.S./U.K. side that Russia and China would have exercised their Security Council vetoes to block the strike on Yugoslavia and thereby condemned all those ethnic Albanians to slaughter. Russia and China could in fact exercise these same vetoes whenever future conflicts arose where NATO intervention was required. This would essentially cripple and the purpose of the organization. NATO adopted the Alliance Strategic Concept during its Washington Summit in April 1999 that emphasized conflict prevention and crisis management[25] as a prelude to any sort of military intervention unless required and approved by the alliance. After the 11 September attacks Everything changed after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. At this time, and for the first time, NATO invoked Article 5 of the NATO Charter. The Article states: Article 5 The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security . Essentially, an attack on any member shall be considered to be an attack on all members. This invocation of Article Five was ratified on 4 October 2001 when NATO determined that the attacks were indeed eligible under the terms of the North Atlantic Treaty.[26] Eight official actions were taken by NATO to respond to the attacks. Among them were Operation Eagle Assist and Operation Active Endeavour. Operation Active Endeavour is to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction as well as to enhance the security of shipping in general in the Mediterranean . Despite this early show of solidarity within the alliance there was another crisis barely more than a year later. France and Belgium vetoed the procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. Germany did not use its right to break the procedure but said it supported the veto. So that all efforts to assist that member fell into abeyance and should Turkey be attacked, there is no agenda in place to quickly form a reprisal. On the other hand the invasion of Afghanistan provided NATO with a chance for a more public unity. On 16 April 2003, NATO took command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Germany and the Netherlands, the two nations leading ISAF at the time of the agreement requested this action and all NATO ambassadors approved it unanimously. The handover of control to NATO took place on 11 August, and marked the first time in NATOs history that it took charge of a mission outside the north Atlantic area. By January 2004, NATO appointed Minister Hikmet Çetin, of Turkey, as the Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) in Afghanistan to be responsible for advancing the political-military aspects of the Alliance in Afghanistan. On 31 July 2006, a NATO-led force took over military operations in the south of Afghanistan from a U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition and has been protecting the area since. Bowing to US Pressure, NATO even has set up a training program in Iraq to assist in that countrys efforts. NATOs involvement in both arenas has expanded its role in the war against terrorism and the alliance has been instrumental in assisting the now 8 year old conflicts in their efforts to bring the terror organizations in both countries to a halt.

My Family History Essay -- essays research papers

My Family History Family history is very important to an individual. By knowing where you come from, you can have a better perspective of your life. Having a clear understanding of your family background allows you to better appreciate the things that you would normally take for granted. The house, the car, and the average clothing may look better when one sees the sacrifices their family has made. They will see that their family has worked very hard just so their family can experience the better things in life. A persons roots and origin is one of the most important things to explore. It alone can bring you closer to self-discovery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are two sides to a person’s family and one side of my family has been traced all the way back to slavery. My father’s side of the family originally came from a Georgia plantation. Although my father is Afro-American, his great-great-grandfather was a general who owned slaves. From Georgia my father moved to New Jersey. After settling in New Jersey, my father enlisted in the military and began his life as a military man. My mother’s side of the family is all from Puerto Rico. My grandparents moved my mother and her sister to America when they were very young. They moved to Macedonia, Illinois. When my mother got older she too enlisted in the military as a nurse. My mother met my father while they were both serving in the military in Germany. After they both finished their time in the military, my mother mov...

The Monkeys Paw :: essays research papers

The Monkey's Paw By (author) W.W.Jacobs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The mystery of the Monkey's Paw is a cleverly thought out short story. This story had three main parts. These parts were the first wish, the second wish, and the third wish.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first wish was the only tragic wish that was granted. Mr.White, his son Herbert, and an old man were sitting around playing chess. There was a knock at the door and Mr. White answered it to let the man in. His name was Sergeant-Major Morris. He sat down in the seat nearest the fire, and after several glasses of whiskey he began to talk. He talked about some of his war experiences, and then of India.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  His last story was about a magical mummified monkey's paw. The sergeant-major tells the family that the old dried out monkey's paw has a spell put on it by an old fakir. The story continues and then Mr.White and the sergeant-major trade. Later Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds. A man comes and visits the Whites telling them that their son Herbert had been killed, and then he gibes them 200 pounds. The consequence of Mr. Whites first wish is the main reason he uses a second and third wish.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mr. White did not want to use a second wish but his wife insisted that they wish their son back to life. Mr. White wishes his son back to life, but nothing happens so they go to sleep. They are sleeping when they hear a knocking sound at their front door. Mrs. White goes downstairs to answer the door even though Mr. White told her not to answer the door. Mrs. White approached the door while Mr. White looked for the monkey's paw.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the very moment Mr. White unlocked the door Mr. White found the monkey's paw and made his third and final wish. Just as he made his wish the knocking stopped, and his wife opened the door. What was the last wish? The author never really says, but one can assume that he wished he had never made

Compare and Contrast China

Compare and Contrast Essay The Mongols and the Franks similate in many different ways that lead to such rapid conquest throughout different regions in the world. Some of the similarities were how both of the famous rulers, Charlemagne (Franks) and Genghis Khan (Mongols) divided up their land to family descendants such as Kublai Khan. Some main areas in which they differ is through their way of living, culture and there religions that they practiced and allowed to be practiced such as Christianity and Islam.The Mongols and Franks have similar traits such as great rulers, which led to the conquest of massive land areas, and also being nomadic. They differ in agriculture techniques/ practices and religion such as Christianity and Islam. The Mongols and Franks raised their empires to be very successful in the manner of conquering many regions in a very quick time. The most important ruler for the Franks was Charlemagne and Genghis Khan was the one who started the Mongol reign throughout all of Asia.Another way that they also similate is through their nomadic lifestyles. The Mongols, as well as the Franks, traveled very quickly to maintain land in a faster manner and to increase the sizes of their empires. This increased trading routes and also led to many more diseases such as the bubonic plague. Although the Franks and Mongols shared great leaders, they have quite a few differences as well.One difference is that the Mongols were pastoral, which is living on horseback with their domesticated animals. On the other hand, the Franks were mainly an agricultural based society, raising livestock and using plows in the fields. Another way these to empires differ is through culture. The Mongols were tolerant of the cultures that they conquered, meaning that they let the people they conquered practice the religion/rituals the might do as long as they stay loyal to the Mongols.Meanwhile, the Franks gave the barbarians no say in what they can do in their free time. That means they were to all convert to Christianity or they will die. Simple as that. The Mongols also practiced Islam, along with Christianity, which would set another difference between these two diverse areas. In conclusion, the Mongols and the Franks had similarities in the rise of the empire and also had differences but these are what made each empire be successful for such a short period of time.

How does Shakespeare manipulate and vary the mood throughout Act 2 Scene 3 of Twelfth Night?

In the opening to this scene Shakespeare creates a comic atmosphere by the use of jovial characters; Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. They are carousing in a drunken, noisy celebration and are shortly joined by Feste. However the merry atmosphere is cut short by the introduction of Feste’s song. The song, despite the fact that it is a love song seems to allude to death with the reference to the lover’s journeys end. This could be Shakespeare’s way of reminding the audience that love will not last for ever, creating a rather dismal mood. However shortly after, Feste delights in another song which provides the audience with subtle hints of what is to come further in the play. The audience later learn that the song is what sparks Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew’s trick on Malvolio, as it urges that they must live in the present as ‘in delay there lies no plenty’ suggesting that other characters in the play will too realize that time is short and the speed of the plot will start to increase when characters decide to confess their love creating a sense of excitement. Youth’s a stuff will not endure. ’ Suggests to the audience that Olivia’s beauty is fast fading and if she wishes to find love she must come out of her mourning state. It also alludes to Viola as her beauty will too start to fade and she will no longer appeal to the Duke but he will never know that she is a woman unless she removes her disguise. Shakespeare returns the scene to its comical nature with entrance of Malvolio. He is traditionally wearing night attire and as an audience we struggle to take his authority seriously while he looks so ridiculous. Yet the comical moment is cut short with Malvolio’s reminder to Sir Toby that he can be thrown out of the household if he will not separate himself from his misdemeanours. Sir Toby continues to sing of how he can never change his ways and so therefore must leave, however when probed by Feste that he is too cowardly to stand up to Malvolio social ranks are resumed. We see Sir Toby turn from a merry character to one who can be vicious when he verbally attacks Malvolio addressing the fact that he is in fact nothing more than a steward. Again Shakespeare has changed the mood from humorous to quite serious. This serious mood continues when Malvolio threatens Maria. Yet it is vital note that it is this threat which too encourages Maria to conjure her plan to destroy Malvolio. This is surprising to the audience as she is the one who is most likely to be affected from the outcome of this trickery as Malvolio is her boss. We are left feeling unsettled as to what the will be the outcome of her physic. Nevertheless Maria reminds the audience that Malvolio is a cheat and fraud who is self-obsessed and we feel less unsettled and more willing for them to follow through with their plan. Ultimately in the scene Shakespeare has varied the mood greatly. Despite the fact that it is a comedy in this scene a serious note runs throughout. It is also important to note that this scene runs in a cycle as we start with Sir Andrew and Sir Toby wanting to get drunk and the ending of the scene also finishes with them wanting to get drunk suggesting that the play may run as a cycle too. He uses songs to hint to the audience of events to come and also address the fact that time is running out.