Is The Us A Hegemon Essay Example for Free

Is The Us A Hegemon Essay A hegemon can be defined as a paramount power or state that can influence the course of events globally (free dictionary, 2008). By this very definition, America qualifies to be referred to as a hegemon. Since the collapse of the Cold War, the US has emerged as the most powerful nation on earth. Its influence is felt in the political, economic and military realms where its hegemony remains largely unchallenged. US administrations have not shied away from flexing their power and this has been increasing experienced in political matters where the US has pushed its agenda for new world order based on democratic ideals. No country is above the law. However, because of their position globally, powerful nations do at times take actions that are in direct contravention of laid down rules and procedures. In its attempt to democratize the world, the US has acted as though it was above international law. The invasion of Iraq is a case in point. Despite the Security Council’s condemnation of the planned invasion, the US and Britain went ahead to wage war and eventually topple Sadamm. President Chirac of France spoke out strongly against the trend by the US in taking unilateral decisions that contravened international law as it could set off a bad precedent (Litchfield, 2003). The detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is a blatant disregard of the Geneva Convention that stipulates how prisoners of war are to be treated (UNHCR, 2008). By torturing the detainees and denying them their rights, the US has chosen to ignore international laws set up by the Commonwealth of Nations (Leonnig and Mintz, 2004) In summary, the US has taken advantage of its hegemonic status to carry out illegal acts as per international law. These actions do not augur well for international cooperation and peace as other nations will be tempted to act unilaterally and in direct contravention of the same laws that are meant to ensure world stability

How To Writing A Research Essay :: essays research papers

How To Writing A Research Essay The toughest part of the essay, for me, was taking all the information I had gained and reduce it to a mere few pages essay. After all, quality is better than quantity. I feel that if I shortened my essay, it would be weaker because I couldn't include everything that I had researched. This would mean that much of the time I spent and the information I had gathered in my research was going to waste. Reviewing the finished product, I realized that my shortened essay did in by half the pages did what my old one could not do in a few hundred -- it made a concise, focused argument. By focusing my essay, I was able to include only the best and most important points from my research, while discarding more extraneous ones. I learned that a research writer is like a funnel; he or she must take in a wide range of information at the beginning, and turn it into a narrow argument in the end. An essay is more than just uniting facts from your research, it is an opportunity for you to voice your own opinion. An essay with just facts is informative, but not very interesting and get boring. It tends to lose your audience.. A strong essay is one that uses facts to support an argument based on the writer's analysis of the topic. Even though this is easier said then done. Always keep the essay question in mind during your research. Ask yourself: "What do I need to know in order to answer the question?" Have a system of how you are going to answer that question. Find plenty of information to support your argument. Throughout your research you will surely find challenges.

Community Service Essay

Before actually partaking in community service, I always thought of it as a means of overworking students for the employers to save money, but after actually getting myself involved in it†¦I realized that doing community service is actually a privilege for us the volunteers. It gives us an opportunity to gain experience, widen our skills and get a better understanding of the hard labour and it is a process that essentially goes into the outcome of a product or service. Community service has literally made me realized how little I contribute to my country, how little I know about my country and has brought to my attention and conscience that I should try my best to assist more—free of wage—in the continuous growth of my economy. Doing my service at St. Rose Nursery, has opened my eyes to the not so easy process of growing flowers, plants and trees; for example how important fertilizers are and what a big difference the right fertilisers make—and also the diff erent types of fertilizers and their functions . Before I never really understood the beauty of them nor did I realize how much work went into nurturing and harvesting them, but now I am more aware and more concerned about the health of trees and how they are treated and even situated in a pot or the ground. On my first day at St. Rose Nursery, I was given a tour of the compound and while getting the tour, I could not help but feel relaxed and free. The ambience of the nursery changed my mood and thought completely; it had me wondering why do we stress out ourselves? Also it made me realize that I should take time to get in touch with nature and myself. After being introduced to the employees, I felt intimidated because I was the only female surrounded by five males so I saw that as a challenge in terms of them underestimating me and my abilities but after talking to them for a little I felt right at home and was able to be myself and even challenge myself by learning to pot plants, fertilize them and water them all in one day. They were all so helpful and very explanatory and took the time to show me exactly what to do before I did it, at the end of the day I excelled and  accomplished far more than they expected; the good energy at the nursery led me to spend longer hours there than I actually expected to spend per day. Throughout my time at St. Rose nursery, I would like to believe that I have brought a youthful and eager emotion to the compound; despite the fact that we worked in separate areas. I believe that I have shown them that a woman can be productive in the nursery field and can also keep up with their speed and even surpass them; I stared of potting only 1 plant per 2 minutes and by the end of the day, I was able to plant 2 plants per minute—it was fun and we turned it into a game—I observed the workers fertilizing the plants and heard the headman tell him that he was applying too much so I made an attempt to fertilize the next batch of plants and was told that I had done a good job! Not too much and not too little; I felt pleased and proud of myself—I had done better than someone who had much more experience in that field than me. It is funny how one can assume that plant nurturing to be a simple and senseless skill, well I learned the hard yet interesting way that it is far from simple and a lot of thought and precision goes into the whole process, from the pot the plant goes into, the climate & atmosphere and type of soil that it is planted in. I have learned from this experience that it is possible to push myself a bit further when trying to accomplish a certain task in a given amount of time, I have learned that I am far more patient than I thought and most importantly I have learned that I personally stress myself over minor issues instead of taking time to breathe, relax and find a solution for it; through this I have come to the conclusion that I should find more time to clear my mind and possibly do something that I find interesting, productive and selfless to release my stresses of life. I have learned that even though I am an introvert, working with people is not that bad after all it just takes gett ing used to them and knowing how to work to suit all their different personalities. I also learned that working with other people really helps to get more work done faster. I honestly can say that I enjoyed the interaction with people who were not of my norm; I enjoyed the whole learning about new trees and their fruits,  smells, blooming and reproduction time. I enjoyed planting and reposting plants and most importantly I enjoyed the view of the surroundings. This endeavour was a challenging one in terms of patience and precision but in the end it all paid off, because I was blessed with the opportunity to enhance my gardening skills and was given the opportunity to be social with people who I would normally be afraid to talk to or even be around. Before transposing myself into the real life community service equation, I thought to myself and made an oath to myself that my main aim was to simple complete my thirty hours of community service as fast and as soon as possible, but after starting and observing the nursery, I realized that it would provide me with far more knowledge and far more fun and experience than I expected and I realized that it would be in my best interest to use it to my advantage to gain a greater skill. I believe that service to others is important because it is a good way to give back to the community and also to increase one’s level of experience and variation. I believe in my distant future I would once again volunteer my time to another estate to expand my comprehension and also to help improve my community and help improve myself as a person. The people at the St. Rose Nursery are very hospital and down to earth, to the point where I can honestly say that there is nothing I would change about their mannerism. To potential volunteers, I would like to advice them to go into the experience open minded and willing to learn. I would also suggest that they find something that is within their comfort zone or something at that they at least have a strong interest in learning or have a passion for, simply because if one does something that they do not like or will not like, then they will not enjoy the experience to the fullest and similarly if one does something that seemed interesting to them before they actually partook in it, then they would draw from that experience that it is simply not something they would like to do in the future and would have learned a valuable lesson.

How Does John Steinbeck Present the Character of Crooks Essay

Crooks (named for his crooked back) is the stable buck who works with the ranch horses. He lives in the harness room by himself because of the segregation law set by Jim Crow; he is also the only black man on the ranch. Crooks likes to read books this shows he is cleverer than the other men on the ranch and likes to keep his room neat, but he has been so beaten down by loneliness and prejudicial treatment of that he is also starting to treat people with hatred. His Physical disability is one of the many ways that he suffers on the ranch. John Steinbeck tries to make the novel realistic by showing how black people were treated and isolated in 1930s America. Crooks may not be the main character in the novel, he is important because he fitted in the society at the time of the novel in 1930s America. Steinbeck uses Crooks to show how life was for black people in 1930s America. The Character is firstly introduced when candy was showing George and Lennie around and when he was talking abou t how angry the boss was when George and Lennie were late to work. Candy tells them that the boss takes his anger on crooks,† Ya see the stable bucks a nigger†, â€Å"the boss gives him hell when he is mad†. White People in 1930s America had no discomfort in using derogatory language, this was normal for people it was the local language in 1930s. Candy says â€Å"nice fella too† and â€Å"he reads a lot† Proving he is intelligent and nice guy. People show hatred towards him because of the colour of his skin. He and many coloured people were separated from the whites in 1930, because of the Jim Crow laws. George asks Candy ‘‘what kind of man is the boss’’ he quickly brings up that the boss had brought whisky for them at Christmas, he also explains what happened when they let crooks in, Crooks got into a fight one Christmas with a white man. Steinbeck presents the character of Crooks in a detailed description; John Steinbeck t ells us that Crooks’ room is in the harness where all the horses sleep, this shows that he is segregated from all the other men on the ranch.

How Im Discovering Myself essays

How I'm Discovering Myself essays I never knew what the true meaning of "discovering yourself" meant until I had taken this class. I have found out a lot of what my strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles were just by doing some very simple exercises. The assignment that I enjoyed doing while covering this topic was the "Discovery Wheel" In our textbook the meaning of the discovery wheel is an opportunity, to tell the truth about what kind of student you want to become, and it can also be used as a picture to how you see yourself "From Master Student To Master Employee" (Ellis 2011). Although the discovery wheel is not meant to be used as a negative judgment or a permanent picture of who I am it does make me aware of what kind of student I can be or could be for the duration of my education. When I did this exercise, I did it with an open mind. When I had finished the discovery wheel and looked at the outcome, I wasn't very shocked with some of the results however it did make me sit back and think about what I have done that has changed in my life? The answer was very simple for me maturity in general, seven years of being out of school, family, and work. I found that I am a lot more focused this time around. I've come to realize how many things that I once viewed as major things have changed. What I learned from the discovery wheel was what decisions I need to make to be successful in school so that I can complete my degree program. I believe if you have a goal set and you have the tools required to succeed you will be able to reach your goals and go beyond what you have set for yourself. Part of this class highlighted the point of setting and completing goals. I feel that I benefited from this exercise because I was able to fine tune some of my learning styles. By doing a self-evaluation of myself, I was able to see a picture of what will happen if I don't work on approving the areas that I am weak in. When I completed the exercise, my strong points we...

Narrative Essays - WWE Hall Of Fame, Masked Wrestlers, Bob Pratt

Narrative Essays - WWE Hall Of Fame, Masked Wrestlers, Bob Pratt Narrative The entire gymnasium was silent. Every single person in the gym was standing at this moment, with his or her eyes fixated on the small, skinny girl, whose figure duplicated that of the microphone she was holding. Hearing her voice reminded me the birds that chirped and sang ever so delightfully to awaken me each and every morning. As I stood on the end line with my team, my eyes scanned the horizon. Seeing the bleachers filled to capacity made me realize how lucky I really was. I had tingles going through my body, like it was Christmas morning or something, as everyone anxiously awaited the game to begin. This is what high school dreams are made of. As the crowd sat silently, the players slowly huddled around. This is the moment that the team had dreaded all season long, and it has happened only two plays into the match. An aerial view would show the circle of players gathered around a fallen man, number nine. This would be a long match if this superstar did not return to the game, he had worked himself into becoming the heart and soul of this team, in that he was main driving force of inspiration each match. Just by watching him you could see that everyday he was giving 110% and nothing less. He was a prime example of someone who loves the game they play. As he lay there screaming in pain and grabbing his ankle as if he had a healing touch, nobody knew what to do but stand there and watch. The entire arena was completely silent, even the opposing teams fans didnt know what to do. The kid that everyone called miller- time, who was wearing a cut volleyball on his head and had his extremely large gut painted red and white, the teams school colors, paused in midst of his wild behavior. See this was an unfortunate tragedy that you think only happens in movies. But the reality of the matter was that this was real, maybe even a little too real. It seemed as though time had stopped as if a higher being took the remote control and hit the pause button so they could get another beer and go relieve themselves in the bathroom. At this time everyone was watching carefully, as if there lottery numbers were being read and they were only one number away from the jackpot, to the simple tests that the trainer on duty was performing on the fallen comrade. But each movement only brought about more pain. See let me explain why this was such a bad thing that number nine had gone down to an ankle injury. This was the 1999 State Volleyball Championship. The match had only just begun. In volleyball there are matches, each match consists of a set of games. Each game is up to fifteen points. The first team to win the best out of five games is the winner. Number nine who was only a junior had in fact become the most dominant player in the state as a junior on a team, whose roster was completely dominated by older, bigger senior. The team also has a very impressive history for winning; they had won the championship the last two years, and had won it eight times in the last eleven years. Also the team had gone undefeated for the past two seasons prior to this one. But this season was already different, in that the team had already lost a game this season. But what makes the story even more unbelievable is that the team who had beaten them in the season, Minnachaug Regional High School of west ern Massachusetts, was the team who they were playing in this state championship match. But during the regular season match, number nine didnt even get off the bench, he hadnt developed or proved himself as a capable player yet, so the coach went with one of the senior members who had done their sitting the prior season during that state championship run. The crowd began to clap politely as his coach and a fellow teammate carried off number nine. You could tell he was in excruciating pain by the

The Story of Sake

The Story of Sake The Story of Sake The Story of Sake By Mark Nichol Sake is one of those nebulous yet specific words that are employed in a limited number of circumstances. This post discusses its origin and uses. Sake (from the Old English term sacu, meaning â€Å"guilt†), which primarily means â€Å"end† or â€Å"purpose,† is used most transparently in phrases beginning â€Å"for the sake of†: â€Å"For the sake of appearances† pertains to something done solely to result in positive perception rather than sincere, practical benefit, while â€Å"for the sake of argument† introduces a hypothetical proposition that involves a contrary viewpoint, as in, â€Å"For the sake of argument, let’s say that what appears to be murder was an accident.† Meanwhile, â€Å"for the sake of it† is an idiomatic phrase meaning â€Å"for no particular reason†; hell, as a meaningless intensifier, often substitutes sake in this usage. Conversely, â€Å"for old time’s sake† pertains to something done as a nod to nostalgia. Also, one can write â€Å"for (one’s) sake,† as in â€Å"For John’s sake, we didn’t tell him about the incriminating letter,† where sake means â€Å"benefit† or â€Å"welfare.† But â€Å"for God’s sake†/â€Å"for Christ’s sake† (the latter sometimes styled â€Å"for chrissake†) is an expression without meaning except to express some heated emotion, such as exasperation. For the sake of euphemism, such a phrase is often bowdlerized to something like â€Å"for Pete’s sake,† inspired perhaps by St. Peter’s name or by the expression â€Å"for pity’s sake† as part of a plea for mercy. Variations include â€Å"for heaven’s sake† and â€Å"for goodness’ sake†; note the apostrophe indicating the genitive state of goodness, signaling that the sake â€Å"belongs† to goodness. (Even in content in which the style is for an s to follow an apostrophe in possessive case, this idiomatic style prevails.) Conversely, the phrase is sometimes rendered more forceful by replacing the middle word with a word equivalent to brandishing one’s middle finger. The compound namesake originally meant, literally, â€Å"one named for the sake of another,† referring to a child named after a parent or another adult to honor that person; now, its meaning extends to â€Å"anyone sharing one’s name.† On that model was keepsake coined; it refers to something originally belonging to, or otherwise associated with a deceased or departed person that is kept by another to honor the first person’s memory. The word forsake (past tense forsook, and forsaken as a past participle and an adjective), meaning â€Å"abandon† or â€Å"renounce,† stems from the Old English intensifying prefix for-, meaning â€Å"completely,† and sake in its original sense of â€Å"accuse† or â€Å"dispute.† The adjective godforsaken- literally, â€Å"abandoned by God†- refers to someplace or something neglected or remote. Sake is also seen in the expression â€Å"Art for art’s sake,† referring to the sentiment that art exists on its own merits and requires no justification. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Bare or Bear With Me?The Four Sounds of the Spelling OUKn- Words in English