History Discussion

Please answer the following 6 questions completely in 100-200 words apiece. APA citations and references are required. Your work will be submitted into an anti-plagiarism program designed to detect the use of phrases or sentences otherwise found on the world-wide web.

1. What accounts for the rather late emergence of African countries as independent nation-states? Is there something peculiar about Africa that delayed its drive for independence? (Begin with a specific African country, and argue your case.)

2. Why has the Arab-Israeli conflict been so persistent? What religious and cultural factors have contributed to the persistent state of unrest in the Middle East and, in particular, in the Holy Land?

3. What impact did Gorbachev’s ideas of glasnost (openness), perestroika (restructuring), and demokratizatsiia (democratization) have on Communist society? Were these principles compatible with collectivization and a command economy? Did Communist leaders favor these principles or did they feel that their hands were tied once they were introduced into Communist society?

4. How would you evaluate the social welfare programs in most European states? E.g., in England and France, almost all health care is covered from cradle to grave. Do you think such social systems would work in the United States? What do you think of the current talk about health care reform in the United States? Elaborate.

5. Discuss how you see the "war on terrorism" as of this date. Do you think the United States should be engaged in such a war? Give reasons for or against this "war" and whether or not we are giving up our own principles to wage this war.

6. Which of the current threats to the "commons" (global warming, acid rain, etc.) do you feel is the most serious? Explain why. To what extent do you think citizens of the developed world are aware of these threats and to what extent are they responsible to alleviate these threats? Are the United States and other developed countries responsible to protect less developed countries and their indigenous peoples?