...There Ever An American Empire?, Professor Antony Hopkins evaluates American history from its origins as a British colony to its current status as a world power. In its most basic form, Professor Hopkins’s argument is the United States was never an empire in the classical sense of empires such as the British, French, and Dutch, but due to acquisition and intervention during the Cold War to counter the spread of communism, the United States gained a reputation for being an empire. Essentially, the United States’ involvement across the world did not originate from an expansionist mindset, but the desire to establish temporary, strategic holdings in the geopolitical Cold War. However, the latter half of the 20th century witnessed massive decolonization on the global scale. The world observed America’s interference with new and developing countries and linked such practices to attempting to fill the void colonial powers left. Such accusations continue into the present as the US intervenes in various areas of the world where it holds economic or political interest, such as the Middle...
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...changing the course of the world's history giving it a new dimension to ponder on for the next centuries. Rise of communism, one of the world's most controversial ideologies, was linked to the catastrophic episode. Nonetheless, powerful empires like Austria, Turkey, Russia and Germany saw their rise and fall in communism. In addition, the war resulted to the most number of deaths and annihilation compared to other cataclysmic events in history. In the light of these horrendous outcomes, an undying curiosity arose among renowned historians and researchers in search for answers as to who was the protagonist of the war. The underlying question has been whether Germany was solely responsible for World War I given their military strength and diplomatic prowess. Notorious Professor V.R. Berghahn and Professor Samuel R. Williamson clash in a battle of wit in attempts to shed clear lights on Germany as the cause of World War I. Professor V.R. Berghahn believes that there is great depth of literature that evidences the role of Germany in the heinous unfolding. These evidences, both military and diplomatic certify the German empire as the main protagonist of the First World War (1914-1918). On the other hand, Professor Samuel R. Williamson strongly disagrees with Berghahn's proposition. He argues that many other countries apart from Germany played a central role in the build up to the war. As a result, we cannot, therefore, place the burden of responsibility to one country alone. We...
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...In today’s globalized world, the theory of world politics that above all else remains most applicable is Realism. As long as human beings have walked this earth, their primary interests have always been exactly the same. Humans have always had a natural interest to survive, and usually will meet this interest at all costs. These natural interests humans have to better position themselves for survival hold true even if it is at the expense of others, which is evident throughout world history and politics. Historically humans have also always struggled for power, and act mostly in their own self-interests in order to position themselves for more power, which ultimately means a better chance of survival. In order to achieve this, these groups work to attain as many resources as possible. Each and every one of these characteristics that humans share are also some of the most basic assumptions of Realism, proving how applicable it is in every society all over the planet (Ferraro Lecture). These viewpoints are very common throughout world politics and always have been. Therefore, as long as humans walk this planet, the ideas of Realism will do so as well. Humans have had a natural interest to survive since the beginning of their existence. One of the most basic fundamentals of realism is that the primary concern of every nation state is survival. This not only means survival for ones self, but for their families and their communities. This basic human instinct has shaped every aspect...
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...DIFFERENT CAUSES OF POPULATION DECLINE IN RUSSIA Russia is experiencing unprecedented decline in its population, a decline never witnessed in modern human history. This drastic decline is not a result of war or a single epidemic, but rather an amalgamation of demographic factors which cannot be reversed in the near future: extremely high death rates, birth rates well below replacement levels, lower life expectancies. These demographic challenges have been worsened by the rising rate of HIV/AIDS infection that Russia is experiencing. In the Foreign Affairs Magazine January 2009 edition, the U.S Secretary of Defence Robert M. Gates talks of “...adverse demographic trends in Russia...” as he talked about military threats in his defence strategy. Population decline could affect the status of Russia as a great power in the long run, particularly its economy, internal social stability and military. Professor Graeme Herd (2003), in his book “Russian Regions and Regionalism” notes the decline in Russia`s population has adverse effect on the following sectors: health reform, pensions, internal migration and the expected ethnic, religious and societal security challenges. Geographically, the Russian federation covers roughly 6.6 million square miles with a population of 142 million in 2010 and a population density of 21.5 per square mile (as of 2010). Russia has 160 different nationalities within its borders. As the ethnic Russians decline in population, the others increase like Muslims...
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... By Professor Philip M. Parker, Ph. D. Chaired Professor of Management Science INSEAD (Singapore & Fontainebleau, France) www.icongrouponline.com ©2011 ICON Group Ltd. ii COPYRIGHT NOTICE ISBN 1-114-72662-1 All of ICON Group Ltd. publications are copyrighted. Copying our publications in whole or in part, for whatever reason, is a violation of copyright laws and can lead to penalties and fines. Should you want to copy tables, graphs or other materials from our publications, please contact us to request permission. ICON Group Ltd. often grants permission for very limited reproduction of our publications for internal use, press releases, and academic research. Such reproduction requires, however, confirmed permission from ICON Group Ltd. Please read the full copyright notice, disclaimer, and user agreement provisions at the end of this report. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER Neither ICON Group Ltd. nor its employees can be held accountable for the use and subsequent actions of the user of the information provided in this publication. Great efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the data, but we can not guarantee, given the volume of information, accuracy. Since the information given in this report is forward-looking, the reader should read the disclaimer statement and user agreement provisions at the end of this report. www.icongrouponline.com ©2011 ICON Group Ltd. iii About the Author Dr. Philip M. Parker is the Eli Lilly Chaired Professor of Innovation...
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...Peter the Great and the Growth of Russia Czar Peter the Great of Russia was czar (emperor) of all of Russia during the late 17th and early 18th century. Peter Romanov was born on June 9, 1672, fourteenth child of Czar Alexis of Russia with his second wife Natalya, with the name Pyotr Alekseyevich Romanov. Peter the Great was co-ruler with his half-brother Ivan V, until Ivan died in 1696. After the death of Ivan he became the singular czar of Russia and had supreme power over everything. He used his power to force the stubborn Russia into being modernized (Peter the Great). During his rule, peter developed a powerful nation with very modern and developed systems of church, military, and schooling, as well as a strong economy (Trueman). Peter, for the greater good of the nation, wrote a decree saying that the eldest son will always receive all of the inheritance so that the families money will not be spread so thin that there will be no rich households. This was much different than what the citizens were used to (Decree on Single Inheritance, March 23, 1714). This, like many other laws that were made at the time, had a large impact on Russia. His ideas were useful but many people disagreed. There were several rebellions against his rule....
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...of Nikolai Lobachevsky Nikolai Lobachevsky was born and lived in Russia from 1792 until 1856. During this historic time in Russia, one era of rulers ended and another began. In 1796, 7 decades of women rulers came to an end. Catherine the Great died in 1796 after thirty-four years as Empress of Russia. The throne then falls to her son Paul I, whose reign is cut short when he is murdered in his bed in 1801. After Paul’s demise, his son, Alexander I ascends the throne.[4] Alexander I was going to have his work cut out for him. Due to the Russians lack of trust in Western ideas at the end of the 18th century, advances in science and math in Russia where practically non-existent. In fact, the “modern” Saint Petersburg Academy was nearly abandoned. At this low point, the school had only 14 full-time staff members. Upon becoming Tsar, Alexander was determined to reform the suffering education system. He knew that advances in the areas of math & science would help to improve the strength of the military as well as make an impact on the economy of his nation. Just in the first three years after inheriting the throne, Alexander reopened the Dorpat University and opened 3 new universities, including Vilna in 1802, Kazan in 1804, and Karkov in 1804. With the opening of these new institutions, he still faced one major challenge: Who was going to teach the students all this math and science? As hesitant as Russia was, foreign instructors were hired to fill this role. The issue with...
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...Willy Hernandez Professor Kerem International Business 17 October 2012 Russian International Relations What are the most important differences between international oil and gas markets? How is Russia situated in these markets? International oil and gas markets are vitally important to any nation with these resources. They alone can create many opportunities for jobs, investments, trade, and political reforms. When one of these resources are discovered, it catches the attention of the world because these goods are known as “scarce resources”, and so, the international demand for them are very high. Recently, Russia has tapped a massive amount of gas and oil reserves because as the Soviet Union disintegrated Russia began to plot what would bring them the most revenue to stabilize their economy. According to Journey to Sakhalin: Royal Dutch/Shell in Russia, “As a result; oil and gas dominated Soviet export earnings, reaching as high as 75% of the total.” Meaning that international consumers were willing to pay premium prices for Russia’s resources. However, critics pointed out that Russia failed in tapping potential markets where they could earn more money raising there GDP and possibly helping their economy. One example given is that if Russia’s leading gas firm, Gazprom, decided to tap the Asian markets, they could simultaneously stimulate the Russian/Asian transport industry. Russia is focused more on their gas resource than their oil because it is much more abundant than...
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...Pol 300 Contemporary International Problems Assignment 2 – Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy By Monique A. Frey-Jackson August 25, 2014 Professor PAZHWAK, NILLAB President Kennedy, a Doctrine: A doctrine is a form or a system that is put into place whether it is a direction of establishing foreign policy or control politically, that is put into action by a political administrative leader, a community, citizen, group, societies and states. The Presidential doctrine from President Kennedy at the time of the Cold War from 1961-1963 was, “Respond flexibly to communist expansion, especially to guerrilla warfare.” In 1962, when a surveillance plane by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Soviet Union, took pictures of a nuclear missile site in Cuba, there seemed to be a great need for diplomacy. But looking at the relationship prior to that between the United States and the USSR, it was great when they were allies, as the United States gave the Soviet Union millions of dollars of weapons and additional support for their fight against Nazi Germany. The US and Russia became allies, in the liberation of Europe. As the war started to come to the end, countries that were occupied by Soviet forces, which also included “most” of Germany, people wanted to either choose democracy or communism, as the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill described this territory as being behind an “Iron Curtain”. The Iron Curtain...
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...COMPARATIVE ESSAY BETWEEN ALEXANDER II AND III Tsar Alexander II and III while father and son had very different ambitions as Tsar and different view for the future of the empire. Alexander III succeeded to his father’s throne in 1894. His reign is looked upon by most historians as a time of repression that saw the undoing of many of the reforms carried out by his father. Certainly that was a time of great economic and social change but these had led, in the West of the nation, great pressure on political system. However Alexander was deeply suspicious of the direction in which his father had taken Russia and the internal reforms that he instituted were designed to correct what he saw as the too-liberal tendencies of his father's reign. In fact his first task was to review a proposal, approved by his father in 1881, called ‘constitution’, that would have appointed committees to discuss legislation and the administration of the country. Therefore Tsar Alexander II and III where at their very different since we can see that Alexander II made a lot of changes in areas like serfdom, civil rights, justice and law, education, popular representation, national rights and dissent. On the other hand, with reference to national rights, the two Tsars were at their most similar. In fact the both firmly believed that the Tsar autocratic structure must remain untouchable. However When Tsar Alexander the II came to the throne in 1855 the desire of reform was widespread. Tsar Alexander II gave...
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...A point in history known as a turning point is an event or period of time that influenced history significantly. The 20th century was full of turning points that have had multiple effects on their nations and the world in general. Communism is an economic system that exploded during the 20th century. The two most notable nations that used communism, were China and the Soviet Union. Karl Marx conceptualized communism during the Industrial Revolution. He and Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto, that explained how it worked. Marx believed there would be a “working class revolution”, where the poorer working class would violently overthrow the upper and middle classes. They would then reinvent their country, and use communism as the...
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...Gilberto Ovalle GEA2000 9/13/15 Population Implosion in Russia and Europe A few years back, the world’s population past 7 billion people and is constantly predicted to increase. With technological and medical advances, people are living longer and reproducing more. Yet, in parts of the world such as Russia and Europe there seems to be an implosion in population as people take social precautions to ensure a more stable lifestyle. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s Russia’s population has shrank from 149 million to 143 million due to dangerous lifestyle choices, despite the in-migration of millions of people from the former USSR. As communism disintegrated, Russian families began to have fewer children and the rate of abortions kept rising (1). In 2004 there were 13 abortions to every 10 births (2). Additionally, the rate (15 per 1000) is higher than the stabilizing birth rate (13 per 1000), with over 150,000 yearly deaths. Parallel to the increasing death rate life expectancy in Russia has steadily been headed downhill, from 71 in 1991 to 63 in 2012 in males. The main reason behind the plummeting life expectancy is due to a large consumption of alcohol, averaging to 3-4 bottles of vodka a week (3), smoking, AIDS, Murders, and accidents. Also, Russia’s capital, Moscow, is one of the two more economically developed cities in the whole country making it more expensive to live in; this makes living there more attractive than poorer cities or towns...
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...Package Professor Fales The Best, The Worst, The Wackiest During my interview with Nadia Vasilevsky, I came across an article that goes back before year 1995. “The Best, The Worst, The Wackiest…And The End”. It was an article from the Washington Post, my grandfather, has written it. It goes back in time and describes all the different circumstances in Russia. More like a news blog of current time. My grandmother gave it to me and let me read it. It really caught me off guard; I just wasn’t expecting to find something big like this. I think it’s pretty cool. “All I knew about what was going on in Russia was what I gleaned from the news. And the news, of course, is mostly focused on politics and catastrophic events, such as the Kursk submarine sinking and terrorist attacks. For that reason, I wanted to keep this blog as apolitical as possible, and as focused on the ordinary lives of ordinary people as I could make it. I wanted to know how Russians were really living -- not just how their politicians and oligarchs were faring.” This came straight from one of the posts in the blogs paper. His overall mission was to find and see what life in Russian really was like years later. Russia was really suffering in poverty after my great-great-grandfather passed away. His family all wanted to have a fresh start, so moving to America sounded like a good idea. After living in America for a couple of years, my grandfather wanted to go back and visit Russia for the...
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...Russian Terrorism The devastating defeat of Russian forces in the Crimean War exposed the backwardness of Russia. In response, Tsar Alexander II passed a series of reforms, which were intended to liberalize Russian society. They included the abolition of serfdom, the modernization of the government, the opening of universities to people of all socioeconomic classes, the granting of semi-autonomy to the Russian territory of Poland, and the relaxation of some laws that were punitive to various religious groups (Burleigh 27). While these reforms had good intentions they failed to have the intended effects. The educational reforms did allow more people to be admitted to universities, but they did little to change life conditions for these new people. For example, women left universities with no new societal roles in which they could utilize their education. In addition, educated people of lower classes had few employment opportunities available for them upon graduation (Alexander and His Times). The tough situation for the newly accepted students caused students to rise up and take control of their professors (Burleigh 28). The emancipation of the serfs was also not entirely successful. This is because it left awkward agreements between former serfs and landlords that forced serfs to reimburse their former masters for the financial loss of losing them as unpaid workers. These agreements caused tension and some unrest in rural areas. Even in Poland, the limited self-rule...
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...Market GLOBAL OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS•TEXT AND CASES Philippe-Pierre Dornier, Ricardo Ernst, Michel Fender, Panos Kouvelis PROFESSOR: PAPADOPOULOS T. CHRISSOLEON COURSE: CASE STUDIES – SPECIAL TOPICS IN SERVICE SECTOR 2014 DERVENI VASILEIA (100) 1/5/2014 CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION 3 THE PROPOSAL 3 TALK TO ME INC. 3 THE RUSSIAN ENVIRONMENT 4 DOUBTS ABOUT THE PROPOSAL 5 DECISION ANALYSIS 5 What really happened 6 REFERENCES: 6 INTRODUCTION The present case study refers to Talk to Me Inc., a company specialized in telecommunications that examined back in 1995 whether or not to expand in the Russian market. The company’s background and action so far, as well as the environment of Russia played a catalytic role in making the decision of expanding in the soviet country. THE PROPOSAL The case begins with the proposal of the Russian Ministry of Communications to Talk to me Inc., known as the 50/50 project. The purpose of this project is to develop an entirely new telecommunications network in Russia and got its name from its goals. In particular, the 50/50 project’s aims were to connect 50 Russian cities, to establish 50 long-distance transit switches and 50 thousand kilometers of digital lines. The 50% of equipment required for the project would be manufactured in Russia and the 50% of the funding would come from Russian resources. This project was expected to last 10 years, with an estimated Budget...
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