Wednesday, July 31, 2019

How Did John F. Kennedy Act Through the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. What was at stake in the crisis, and how do you assess President Kennedy’s response to Khrushchev’s provocation? Was Kennedy prudent or rash, suitably tough or needlessly belligerent? By Jeremy Leung 299722 USA & The World 131-236 The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the closest that humankind had ever become to experiencing a thermonuclear war. In October 1962, the world watched perilously, as U. S. president John F. Kennedy warned his people of the amalgamation of Soviet arms in Cuba. John F. Kennedy refused to accept â€Å"offensive† Soviet artillery in such close proximity to the U. S. , but Soviet chairman Nikita Khrushchev had already planned a stealthily build-up. Kennedy henceforth demanded Khrushchev to disassemble offensive artillery and employed a strict naval quarantine, an action that Khrushchev initially refused and deemed â€Å"illegal†. For several days, as two of the world’s superpower’s refused to meet an agreement, the world faced the daunting and horrifying prospect of a nuclear war. Eventually, Khrushchev had accepted a peaceful resolution, as he withdrew Soviet offensive arms in return for a promise that the U. S. would not invade Cuba. With the Soviet exodus from Cuba, President Kennedy’s popularity had risen sharply as journalists labelled him the â€Å"architect of a great diplomatic victory. †[1] Kennedy’s ability to remain calm under the pressure of a potential nuclear war had won praise from his colleagues and the American public, who rewarded him with re-election. In a diametrically opposed view, conservatives assert his actions were not decisive enough in securing America’s national security. This essay will seek to analyse both the praise and the criticism in evaluating John F. Kennedy’s actions through the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For many Americans, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and in particular the build-up of Soviet arms within Cuba represented a time in which their national security and safety was at stake. This build-up of Soviet missiles in Cuba was deemed by the media as â€Å"an action aimed to inflicting an almost mortal wound on us†[2]. This impending threat was dealt with such severity that a committee was formed that comprised of U. S. government officials who were to advise President John F. Kennedy on important matters. As a senior member of the committee, which was known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm), Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillion remarked â€Å"The crisis was unique in the sense that it was the first time that there was a real, imminent, potential threat to the physical safety and well being of American citizens†. [3] This observation from Dillon portrays the fear that much of the American public felt, who taught and prepared their children through schools to â€Å"duck and cover† in the event of a nuclear war. 4] Yet, it appeared at the time that the build-up of arms within Cuba was not only a confrontation to the U. S. , but a direct threat to national security that was felt and feared by both the public and leading politicians. To substantiate this, Defence Secretary Robert McNamara recalled on the 27th October, â€Å"As I left the white house and walked through my garden to my car to return to the pentagon on the beautiful fall evening, I feared I might never live to see another Saturday night†. 5] In addition to this, Robert Kennedy wrote afterwards that the world was brought â€Å"to the abyss of nuclear destruction and the end of mankind†. [6] Both these accounts demonstrate the extreme severity in which Congress perceived the Soviet threat. On the 26th of September, U. S. Congress voted strongly in favour to â€Å"prevent in Cuba the creation or use of an externally supported military capability endangering the security of the United States† with a 386-7 majority in the House of Representatives, and an 86-1 majority in the Senate. 7] This represents an overwhelming view in both houses of the U. S. Congress that action needed to be taken upon the build-up of nuclear arms in Cuba. The reasons why McNamara and Kennedy and other U. S. politicians were so fearful of a nuclear was because according to U. S. analysts at the time, the 24 MRBM’s (Medium range-ba llistic missiles) and sixteen IRBM’s (intermediate-range ballistic missiles) that were found in Cuba had significantly increased the number of U. S. targets that the Soviet’s could lethally attack by forty percent. 8] Furthermore, having missiles within Cuba allowed the Soviets to bypass the U. S. warning radars, especially the Ballistics Missile Early Warning system, which was stationed in the North Pole. [9] By bypassing the U. S. warning radars, it certainly amplified the risk of a surprise strike upon certain American air bases and important command posts. [10] To address this risk, the U. S. army went from â€Å"Defence Condition Five† (peacetime alert) to â€Å"Defcon 3† (war alert) which further illustrated the high levels of precautions the U. S. government were taking in order to protect itself from an offensive attack from the Soviet. [11] It was quite clear from these precautions that the impending nuclear threat in Cuba threatened the lives of American civilians, troops, and government officials. In the event that the situation escalated out of control, the two world superpowers could have engaged in a third World War that, with nuclear technology had the potential to kill hundreds of millions of civilians and soldiers. 12] Fortunately, the Cuban Mission Crisis never escalated this far, as Kennedy maintained control of the situation and eventually caused the Soviet’s to retreat. Kennedy’s actions in peacefully resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated responsibility and purposefulness, which overall had confirmed public confidence in the President. In the first ExComm meeting, evidence was presented of medium-range missiles in Cuba that had the potential to hit Washington, Dallas, St. Louis, and all Strategic Air Command bases in between. 13] Soon after, further evidence was presented to ExComm of the development of 1,000-mile medium-range ballistic missiles and 2,200 mile intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It was also predicted by the experts presenting this evidence that forty nuclear warheads had the capacity to hit targets as far as Wyoming and Montana. [14] Robert Kennedy had predicted that these arms had the power and potential to kill as many as eighty million Americans. [15] President John F. Kennedy was faced with two important options; to implement a naval blockade, or to invade Cuba beginning with an air-strike. 16] Kennedy decided upon enforcing a naval quarantine in Cuba, which was later labelled by Khrushchev as â€Å"outright banditry† and an action that would push â€Å"mankind to the abyss of a world missile nuclear war†. [17] The quarantine was a first step that involved confiscating all offensive military equipment that was being shipped to Cuba. If, in the event Khrushchev refused to remove Soviet missiles, John F. Kennedy promised â€Å"further action† would be taken. [18] As the leaders of the two superpowers stood eyeball to eyeball, and the world braced itself for a possibility for a thermonuclear war, Khrushchev had agreed to ithdrawal weapons that Kennedy had deemed offensive, while Kennedy pledged not to invade Cuba. [19] The U. S. response, in the form of a blockade was a wise choice as it applied the greatest level of force upon the Soviet Union while minimizing the risk of a thermonuclear war. Traditionalists, supported to this choice. Traditionalists refer to the individuals who advocated the traditional interpretation, and were coincidentally the individuals who wrote the most content during Cuban Missile Crisis. 20] Sorensen, a traditionalist, who was also an advisor to Kennedy, believed that Kennedy responded superbly to the crisis, as he conducted himself in a responsible and composed matter thr oughout his confrontation with Khrushchev. [21] Sorensen believed that this was perhaps the President’s finest hour, as he â€Å"never lost sight of what either war or surrender would do to the whole human race†¦ [And] he was determined to take all necessary action and no unnecessary action†. [22] Sorensen also noted the fact that Kennedy had not just national interests in mind but, civilians in other countries. Sorensen named this the â€Å"Kennedy Legacy† which he defined as â€Å"a pervasive sense of responsibility for the future of our children†¦ for those who live in the country and those who live in other lands†. [23] It appeared that through Sorensen’s recount of the events leading up to the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile crisis show admiration for Kennedy’s actions, as he believed Kennedy remained in control of events, despite being constantly provoked by Khrushchev. Sorensen also highlighted the Presidents poise in the confrontation, as he refused the temptation of making a reckless decision to attack Cuba and thus start a nuclear war. Like Sorensen, Robert Kennedy described every American, in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, as feeling â€Å"a sense of pride in the strength, purposefulness and the courage of the President of the United States†. [24] Furthermore, McGeorge Bundy, another traditionalist member of Excomm, praised President Kennedy for â€Å"his personal management of the nuclear confrontation. †[25] Similarly to Bobby Kennedy and Sorensen, Bundy acknowledged, and commended the President’s â€Å"strength, restraint and respect for the opinions of mankind. [26] It is quite clear through these personal recounts of Bundy, Sorensen, and Kennedy, that there was a consistent view across Excomm and the traditionalists that President John F. Kennedy demonstrated decisiveness, intelligence, and compassion while seeking to mitigate the risk of war by causing Khrushchev to compromise. These traits were also seen by the American public with public opinion approval ratings increasing to eighty percent after the crisis, as journalists compared him to past heroes such as Wilson and Roosevelt. 27] Overall, President Kennedy’s actions within the Cuban Missile Crisis not only led to great respect by his colleagues and the public, but more importantly reduced Cold War tensions between Russia and the U. S. A. This was evident in the aftermath of the Cold War that saw an installation of a phone link that allowed direct communication between Russian and American leaders, along with the signing of a nuclear test ban treaty which endorsed a harmonious coexistence between the two superpowers. [28] Within the waves of praise towards the United States President for his dealings with the Soviets, there were also few individuals who voiced their concerns over certain decisions Kennedy made. Following questionable decisions by Kennedy that led to the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the U. S. policy within Cuba only consisted of diplomatic and economic means, and only until later were trade restrictions forced. Thus, for a period of two years leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy allowed the Soviet’s amalgamate a significant amount of arms provided they were â€Å"defensive. Using this word â€Å"defensive†, the American President was justifying and legitimizing the build-up of arms in the backyard of the U. S, as it allowed Cuba to asseverate itself as the hemisphere’s third largest military authority. [29] By Kennedy’s failure to initiate an intrusion upon Cuba’s burgeoning military at an early, yet critical point, it communicated to the S oviet’s that there was possibility for them to upset the balance of power within any country, as long as they were granted authorization by local governments. By not invading Cuba, the Soviet’s and Cubans proceeded to integrate armed forces that had the potential to cause serious damage upon Western civilization, power and influence. In addition to failing to stop the military build-up in Cuba, there was also controversy in Kennedy’s decision to implement a naval quarantine in Cuba. Kennedy’s choice to quarantine, rather than imposing a full air-strike upon Cuba had its weakness. At this critical point within the Cuban Missile Crisis, this provided the U. S. n opportunity to impose a severe defeat upon its enemy. The moment of crisis, the threat of communism, along with the risk of perhaps disruptive world peace all suggested that Kennedy could have caused a decisive answer to the problems escalating in Cuba. Kennedy’s government, instead of quarantining Cuba from naval imports, could have forcibly demanded the departure of Russians, along with their weapons within Cuba altogether. [30] This would have not only eliminated Russian threat within close proximity to the U. S, but could have also provided the Cuban people with a democratic republic that consisted of free elections under UN supervision. [31] Kennedy instead, elected for a naval blockade, which could have potentially left open a possibility for the Soviet’s to import arms via the air. In addition to this, the blockade failed to give the U. S. any assurance or certainty that the Soviets would retreat from Cuba. If, however, Kennedy elected for an invasion and demanded Khrushchev to leave, it would have eliminated all doubt of a Soviet retreat and ensured the protection of America’s national security. Overall, throughout the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world sat perilously as the two superpowers engaged in a confrontational battle that had the potential to escalate into a possible third world war with overwhelmingly destructive consequences. In two world wars, millions of people were slaughtered in battles that continued over years; however it was possible, with the advent of nuclear technology that hundreds of millions of civilians and soldiers could die within hours. 32] Khrushchev continued to use Soviet resources to accumulate a large missile base within Cuba in America’s backyard, which called for President John F. Kennedy to act and protect the national security of the U. S. In deciding on implementing a naval quarantine around Cuba, Kennedy avoided an airstrike and possible invasion, by giving his opponent time to reassess his actions. Through constant pressure from Khrushchev, Kennedy stood decisive and resolute, as he resisted the temptation of gambling with the safe ty of the world and continued to monitor the sea and intercept suspicious naval activity around Cuba. Kennedy proceeded and continued to implement the blockade, which was clearly an attempt to avoid any direct military means, by providing Khrushchev with a threat of danger, yet also allowing him with the option to retreat. Although this was seen as â€Å"weak† from conservatives, it is important that Kennedy always continued to pressure his Soviet counterpart whenever he sensed hesitation or deception. [33] Kennedy never wielded from his objective, as he forced a peaceful resolution that left his colleagues in awe of his poise and determination dealing with such a crisis. Thus, by Kennedy reacting in a suitably tough fashion, Khruschev provided the U. S. President with the ultimate accolade that if he â€Å"had been in the White House, instead of the Kremlin, [he] would have acted like Kennedy. [34] Words: 2562 Bibliography Primary Resources Blight, James & Welch, David. Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis and the Soviet Collapse. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993. Bundy, McGeorge. Danger and Survival: Choices about the bomb in the first fifty years. New York: Random House, 1988 Bundy, McGeorge. â€Å"The Presidency and the Peace†, Foreign Affairs 42 (1964). Kennedy, Robert. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: W. W. Norton, 1969 Lowenthal, David. â€Å"U. S. Cuban Policy: Illusion and Reality†, National Review (1963) McNamara, Robert. Blundering into Disaster: Surviving the First Century of the Nuclear Age. London: Bloomsbury 1987 Munton, Don & Welch, David. A. The Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Sorensen, Theodore. Kennedy. New York: MacMillan, 1969. Sorensen, Theodore. The Kennedy Legacy. New York: Harper and Row, 1965 Secondary Resources Divine, Robert A. The Cuban Missile Crisis. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1971. Garthoff, Raymond. â€Å"The Meaning of the Missiles†. Washington Quarterly 5 (1982), 78 Horelick, Arnold. The Cuban Missile Crisis: An analysis of Soviet calculations and behaviour. World Politics (1964) Medland, William. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962: Needless or Necessary. New York: Praeger Publishers,, 1988. Scott, Len. The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Threat of Nuclear War. London: Continuum Books, 2007. ———————– [1]Robert Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, (Toronto: Burns and MacEachern1971), 4. 2] David Lowenthal, â€Å"US Cuban Policy: Illusion and Reality†, National Review, 29 January 1963, 63, quoted in Arnold L. Horelick, â€Å"The Cuban Missile Crisis: An Analysis of Soviet Calculations and Behaviour†, World Politics 16/3 (April 1963), 64 [3] James Blight & David Welch, â€Å"Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis and the Soviet Collapse: (New York: Pantheon Books, 1993), 163 [4] Len Scott, The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Threat of Nuclear War: (London: Continuum Books, 2007), 48. [5] Robert McNamara, Blundering into Diaster: Surviving the First Century of the Nuclear Age (London: Bloomsbury, 1987), 11. 6] Robert Kennedy, Thirteen Days, The Cuban Missile Crisis (London: Pan Books, 1969), 27. [7] McGeorge Bundy, Danger and Survival: Choices about the Bomb in the first fifty years (New York: Random House, 1988), 391. [8] Raymond Garthoff, â€Å"Memo on the Military Significance of the Soviet Missiles Bases in Cuba,† October 27, 1962. Department of State declassifified document, reprinted in Garthoff, â€Å"The Meaning of the Missiles,† Washington Quarterly 5, no. 4 (Autumn 1982), 78 [9] Scott, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 48. [10] Ibid, 48 [11] Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 61. 12] Don Munton and David A. Welch, The Cuban Missile Crisis (Oxford University Press: New York, 2007), 1. [13] Willi am J. Medland The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962: Needless or Necessary (Praeger Publishers: New York, 1988), 4. [14] Ibid, 5. [15] Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 28. [16] Ibid, 28 [17] Medland, Needless or Necessary, 38. [18] Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 61 [19] Munton and Welch The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1. [20] Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 35 [21] Theodore C. Sorensen, Kennedy (New York: Harper and Row, 1965; paperback ed. New York: Bantam Books, 1966, 795. [22] Ibid, 795. [23] Theodore C. Sorensen, The Kennedy Legacy (New York: Macmillan, 1969), 274. [24] Kennedy, Thirteen days, 67. [25] McGeorge, Bundy, â€Å"The Presidency and the Peace,† Foreign Affairs 42 (April 1964): 353-365 [26] Ibid. , 359 [27] Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 58. [28] Medland, Needless or Necessary, 56. [29] Lowenthal, US Cuban Policy, 61. [30] Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 91. [31] Ibid, 93. [32] Munton and Welch The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1. [33] Divine, The Cuban Missile Crisis, 101. [34] Ibid, 104

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Dance in my life Essay

Ever since I was a little girl dance has always been an important part of my life. When I was five, my mom enrolled me in dancing classes after my sister, never realizing that dancing would ever lead to anything serious. For the first year, dancing was a side hobby to help keep me busy after school. Even though dancing was really fun to me, it did not become serious until my dance teacher looked me in my eyes and said â€Å"Lexus you have a big and lovable heart and I want you to dance with that heart of yours because I know that you have what it takes to become a great dancer.† That moment I knew that dance was going to always be a passion of mine. Over the years dance has helped me to grow in other ways. From it I have learned that hard work really does pay off. I learned that discipline and self-control are not only a vital part of dancing, but a necessary part of life. Also, I have recognized that motivation and perseverance are keys to success. What matters is not who wins in the beginning, but who is still on her feet in the end. Perhaps the most important lesson dance has taught is responsibility. Kaleidoscope has helped me in a lot of areas; even though I am small and tiny, I am very athletic, strong and I have a high self-esteem that anything is possible as long as you put your heart to it. I am encouraged now more than ever to try my best in class even if I look stupid because practice makes perfect. Becoming a Kaleidoscope officer hasn’t been a dream of mine till this year. Last year I thought I didn’t have what it took to become one, but this year, seeing how much you encouraged me to become a better dancer, it encouraged me to become a better person. When I tried out for Kaleidoscope, I wasn’t expecting to make it because I wasn’t in a dance class and I didn’t know Mrs. Karl personally at all. One day after school my friend told me to try out with her because she was scared to try out by herself. When I walked into the dance room I would have never thought I would be staying in that dance room. When I tried out, I took it as if god was giving me a chance to dance again and to fulfill a dream of mine. The term leader is someone who is in an advanced position to take the initiative in order to go forth and show the way but also to be able to make intelligent and creative decisions quickly and efficiently. Dance teams are all about unity. An exceptional dance group glides across the floor with all of its dancers moving as one. There are no individual standouts. No weak links. But there is one person whose job is to make the team as strong as  possible, on the floor and off. It’s one thing to be a good team player, but it’s another to be a good leader. Few will have the opportunity to feel the weight of the responsibilities and the happiness of knowing you are making a difference. Becoming a leader of any type of organization in my eyes is a huge job. It’s teaching respect by showing respect. It’s helping the other dancers, including myself, to strive and push themselves to be the best dancers I know we all can be. Having the title of being a Kaleidoscope Officer doesn’t mean being the boss of everyone, being in front of every dance, or just thinking that the Officer should come before everyone else. Officers are the inspiration of the team. They’re the person that everyone looks up to. Being a natural born leader is also a big role of a dance team. That means having self-confidence, good communication skills, courage, clear desire to make progress towards a goal, and a fair degree of understanding your fellow teammates. Being a leader requires focus on the big picture, doing what’s best for your team even on your worst days. If you’re negative, the team will take on the same attitude, even if everyone else has had a great day. As Officer of your dance team, I’ll definitely encounte r some sticky situations, like have to confront one of my teammates when they aren’t practicing full-out or not trying they’re hardest.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Case Memo Fashion Channel

Ms Dana Wheeler, Senior Vice President, Marketing subject: Suggestions for forthcoming Marketing Plan date: 10/12/2013 TFH is indeed in a rather tricky situation at the moment. Although I agree with you that there is an undeniable need for some substantial changes, I am equally concerned about the negative reception of these changes by our viewers and even our employees. According to me, the aim right now should be to steer our channel way from the risks of declining viewers and advertising prices.However, in order to achieve this, I do not at the same time think it would be wise to expose ourselves to higher concentration risks than is necessary. Therefore, my recommendation is to opt for the third scenario as mentioned in your projections, which targets both ‘Factionists' and ‘Shoppers & Planners'. This strategy could help maintain or limit the damage to our existing viewers, and potentially increase our network rating by 20%; and our annual CPM average from $2 to nearl y $3.This could result in a consequent increase in ad revenues to upwards of $320 million, which is a much better projected delivery than of the first two options. I have explained some reasons below to support this argument. The current CPM is projected to fall by 10% next year if our present audience-mix endures. Change in this area, is therefore vital to Tech's ability to grow and address increasing competition. Attracting a multi-cluster of viewers, may increase numbers, but will not do much to avoid the probable drop in CPM.It would be necessary therefore to place importance on attracting a specific viewer demographic which has could contribute towards increasing our ad revenues. As you are aware, the demographic segment of female viewers aged 18-34 commands a higher CPM in the market. Additionally, of the four attitudinal clusters identified in the report from SGF Associates, ‘Factionists' are found to be comprised of the highest portion of the demographic mentioned abov e. Planners and Shoppers' on the other hand seem to be comprised more of our existing viewers' demographic, hill ‘Sustainability' and ‘Basics' are broader clusters, with lower involvement and interest in fashion. It is quite clear from this that the first cluster would be an obvious target for our future marketing. However, given that it comprises of a relatively small portion of the television viewing population of the US, targeting ‘Factionists' could jeopardize our current viewer numbers and therefore our network rating.In light of this, I consider it strategically much more sensible to offset this risk by including Planners & Shoppers' in addition to ‘Factionists' in our strategy, which could result in achieving a healthy rating, while increasing the number of higher-value viewer (in terms of CPM) demographic. Also, unlike the first scenario, this would avoid over- expansion of our viewer demographic, which is something most advertisers are weary of. I th erefore would advise you to seriously consider Scenario 3, which seems to be efficient, both, in terms of performance, as well as in terms of risk.

Case study examining a firm in the US from a microeconomic standpoing Research Paper

Case study examining a firm in the US from a microeconomic standpoing - Research Paper Example Apple operates in both oligopoly and monopolistic conditions. Apple Inc. is American technological company with headquarters in Cupertino, California. Apple is a huge, tremendous corporation that is the business of design and selling smartphones and computers. Apple is also a strong competitor in the business of offering online services. The company was founded in 1976. The three founders of Apple are Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak. The company became Apple Computer Inc. in 1977. The name was changed to Apple Inc. in 2007. Currently, Apple is the second largest information technology based on revenue earned. It is bettered by Samsung Electronics, which holds number one position. The company employs 72,800 employees who are permanent and work full time. It has 425 retail stores that are found in over fourteen countries. Moreover, the company is responsible for operating its online businesses, which are Apple and ITunes stores. The company enjoys brand loyalty and high revenues. The paper examines Apple Inc. from a macroeconomic perspective. Supply and Demand have a direct influence on business operations. Supply affects the amount of products in the market, which will eventually affect the price of products. Price increase with a decrease in demand.. Demand refers to the desire of consumers to obtain a service or product. The interplay of supply demand leads to the price elasticity, which explains how changes in price affect demand for products and services. Apple is a multinational company, which means United States and global economic conditions affect its operations. It is obvious Apple is affected by the dynamics of supply and demand, which are at the center of all markets. Apple Inc. has been affected by increase in the number of people who have use computers and smartphones. The increased demand for smartphones and computers is due to the need for growth. In response, the company has been able to register

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Discussion--Political and Legal Environment Essay

Discussion--Political and Legal Environment - Essay Example A strong legal framework is necessary to protect the intellectual property of businesses. In places such as China companies are subject to theft of intellectual property due to piracy and counterfeit products. The political environment of a country is as important as the economic environment. It is hard for companies to negotiate incentives and governmental help in places were the governments do not have good relations with corporations. â€Å"The political environment is a key component of the business environment that dictates greatly on the success of your home business† (Bluntpolitics). The regulations of governments can impose barriers that increase the cost of doing business in a country. In the United States the tough environmental regulations are forcing companies in certain industries to leave the country in search for locations with more relax environmental regulations. Labor laws also influence the profitability of a company. Countries with low minimum wages are att ractive for companies that have labor intensive operations. The moral conduct of a country affects the operations of a corporation. In many parts of the world bribing a governmental official is part of doing business. I am completely opposed to bribing others. Bribes are an unethical event that should always be avoided at all costs. Whenever a company gives a bribe to another person or governmental official they will enter into an unpleasant arrangement that could backfire because the person that bribes them might continue to pressure the company for more money. The sub-Saharan African region is the place with the greatest incidence of bribery worldwide (Google). Companies must also protect their intellectual property whenever they are going business outside the United States. It takes a lot of money in research and development to create new products. In the pharmaceutical industry companies spend an average of $359 million to develop a new drug (Ca-biomed). I fully support

Saturday, July 27, 2019

What were the status and the roles of Jews under Islamic Rule Discuss Essay

What were the status and the roles of Jews under Islamic Rule Discuss 3 issues - Essay Example The Nazi forces had committed many atrocities against the Jews. They burnt the papers, which contained many important discoveries of Albert Einstein. The paper presents an overview of Jews under Islamic rule. Muslims used to support other religion generally. Muslims believe Islam is only the religion. Muslims feel that the Jews are wrong in believing theirs is a god’s religion. Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet and messiah whom Christians are worshipping as god. Christians have paid much attention towards Jews in the west, whereas in Muslims countries, the Jews were given less importance but they were wealthy. Christians and Jews are friendly in Europe with good religions atmosphere. Whereas in Muslims countries the Jews were treated as minority amongst other religions which resulted in they did not become intruded in Muslim areas. It’s every country’s responsibility to protect it citizen’s basic human rights. Human rights violation should be considered as a serious offence, legal and appropriate action should be taken against those who violate these rights. Countries like Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and most of the other Islamic countries don’t even consider providing and implementing basic human rights. Jews comes under the minority section and have been given less importance. In Islamic countries the important hurdle is the Shariat1 law. This law prevents basic amenities to the minority sections. According to this law women were not equal to men, they should always be under veil, only her members could see her face, men can marry as any times as they want, women should get married only once and many other stringent laws are under implementation. The Israel and Palestinian conflict has taken center stage in the world politics. It also reflects a fight between the Jews and Muslims and those who are in support with both the religions respectively. It is seen as a war between

Friday, July 26, 2019

How public opinion and the media influence health care policy Essay

How public opinion and the media influence health care policy - Essay Example Any one or all of these processes can prompt or even hinder political action thereby advancing an issue to an elevated level of consideration and has the ability to instigate substitute solutions or hammer it down absolutely. On the contrary, need of community approval and dominant resistance has the ability to keep an issue low on the public's agenda and subsequently on the policy agenda as well. While it is usually the government officials who eventually make a decision about which issues will be acted upon, interest groups, researchers, academics, consultants, the media, political parties and the public does have the dominant capability of influencing and determining the ultimate course of action. An excellent example is Andrea Baker's analysis of AIDS coverage suggests that the media may have encouraged policy-makers to respond to the AIDS crisis by helping to educate them about the potential threat to mainstream constituents. (Andrea J. Baker, The Portrayal of AIDS in the Media: An Analysis of Articles in the New York Times in The Social Dimensions of AIDS: Method and Theory, D.A. Feldman and T.M. Johnson, eds. New York: Praeger, 1986, pp. 163-178.) Public interest groups, now with the amplification of tec... Media attention to a problem influences decision-making since policymakers appreciate the role of mass media in shaping public opinion and they want public opinion to constantly be on their side.We live in a fast-paced world and because sometimes the public's attention span is limited, the media may cover a story prominently but only for a short period of time. The media has to constantly and unwaveringly press on significant issues by keeping them alive and discussed as this has a direct affect on public policy. The media may help to educate policy-makers, who often cite mainstream news media as important sources of information about policy issues, including health care (Carol H. Weiss, What America's Leaders Read. Public Opinion Quarterly, 1974, pp. 1-21) The media only covers an issue when it is interesting and issues related to the general and specific health of the people are gaining more and more importance with each passing day. These are sometimes complex issues that necessitating a great deal of sustained media attention, and education, background information, solid scientific study and impeccable experts on health issues are invaluable to the overall success of the efforts of the press, the public and policymakers. The media acts as a communiqu device within the policy community welcoming people scattered both inside and outside the government dealing with similar problems each day, to communicate in indirect ways. The interaction of government officials may not be on a daily basis, but they along with most of the public read newspapers or receive some form of news via the media. Communicate with the public and policymakers can be thus achieved by effectively

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Managerial Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managerial Accounting - Assignment Example he preparation of the Income statement were the exclusion of the previous costs regarding the raw material, work in process and finished goods which were in the opening stock of the company at the start of the year. Let’s start with the cost of goods manufactured statement. While preparation of the cost of goods manufactured statement, the opening stock of the raw material should be added to the current year purchases as it forms a part of the material that will be used during the year. However, the ending raw material should be subtracted because it the amount of inventory which was not used in the production process. This gives the raw material used. (Accounting for Management n.d.) The labour cost that was directly incurred with the raw material should be added to the raw material used cost along with all the expenses which were incurred in connection with the transformation of the raw material into work in process or finished goods. Rather than subtracting all the expenses directly from the sales, expenses should be bifurcated in proportion to the expenses incurred in connection with the factory such as the depreciation of the factory, insurance concerned with factory and the utilities paid for the factory building which were $31,000, $8,400 and $4800 respectively should form a part of the cost of goods manufactured statement. The work in process opening cost should be added to the cost of manufacturing and the ending work in process should be subtracted i.e. $14,000 and $16,000 respectively. After adding all the costs, the cost of goods manufactured stood at $572,200. The cost of goods manufactured obtained from the statement should be added to the opening finished goods stock which was ignored and the ending stock of finished goods should be subtracted from it which will produce the gross profit of the company that was $225,800. (Investopedia) The expenses of the company which were solely incurred with the selling and admin such as the 30% and 40%

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

SOCIAL SCIENCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

SOCIAL SCIENCE - Essay Example Traditionally, there were models like biomedical model, which did not consider the human side of a patient. Jewson (1976, p. 235) analysis that in the biomedical model the â€Å"patient† was â€Å"designated a passive and uncritical role in the consultative relationship and his main function† was to â€Å"endure and wait.† According to Doyal (1983, p.31) in the traditional models â€Å"the disease had become more important than the person who harboured it.† However, there has been a shift to models that consider other factors such as social, psychological and environmental in shaping the context of a disease and illness. An example is the bio-psychosocial which has sought to understand medical conditions through the analysis of a variety of factors. The model acknowledges that in a disease context, there are many factors such as behavior and attitude towards the illness, social as well as psychological factors (Engel, 2012). The narratives from the patient s are today extensively applied to explore the patient experiences with illness (Charon 2001; Kleinman 1988). In this case, the awareness of the binary relationship between disease and illness has revolutionarised the medical practice. This is the difference between the biomedical constructs of the pathophysiological processes and individual’s subjective experience of the patient explored in other models that consider disease as a result of myriad factors (Kleinman 1988). The exploration of patient narrative is relevant in the case of diabetes because patients and physicians have different perceptions, concerns and goals (Anderson 1986; Freeman & Loewe 2000). In this assignment, a patient’s story on her experience with diabetes will be explored with an aim to construct the cultural, social and psychological meaning and locate the facts in contemporary theoretical perspectives. The real names

See instructions Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

See instructions - Research Proposal Example Furthermore, in terms of my primary resources, I will conduct interviews with students, teachers, and the police, regarding what they think the motivations of vandalism are and what proper situational (school management and police) and offender-centered resolutions are. I will also conduct a survey in class regarding the prevalence, motivations, and resolutions to vandalism in College Park. I will ask another teacher and student first for the pilot testing of the interview and survey questions to improve my instruments’ validity and reliability. For the final project, I will conduct interviews with students, teachers, and the police, regarding what they think the motivations of vandalism are and what proper situational (school management) and offender-centered resolutions are. I will interview three from each group- students, teachers (including Gloria Aparicio Blackwell, Director of Community Engagement, and Andrea Goodwin, Director of Student Conduct), and the campus police- using convenient sampling. I will ask them these questions: Besides this interview, I will also conduct a survey in class regarding the prevalence, motivations, and resolutions to vandalism in College Park. I will ask another teacher and student first for the pilot testing of the interview and survey questions to improve my instruments’ validity and reliability. The survey questions are: I will prepare for these interview and survey through asking for participants this week and conducting them as soon as possible. I will contact the target audiences too beforehand to acquire their permission. I will ask them to read the interview questionnaire beforehand if they have time and to tell me if there is anything I need to

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Proposal for Student Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposal for Student Activity - Essay Example This is because powerpoint presentations will only include the main points of the chapter and will help the students quickly overview each chapter. At end of each chapter, they will be instructed to present their .ppt presentations in front of the whole class so that they get to better understand what they have learnt and may remove any confusions and doubts in the question-answer session at the end of each presentation. This will also help them develop their public speaking skills and gain confidence to speak in front of their class fellows and professor. Another advantage is that they will be able to use powerpoint software to make complex presentations in future. This is all about integrating ICT (information and communication technology) in the classroom which fulfils the most modern needs of today’s classrooms in terms of technology. Doing so will also empower the students because they will be able to convey their knowledge and ask questions at the end of every presentati on. Before implementing this proposal, I will distribute a survey among the students to figure out what percentage of them wants to carry out my plan and how many of them are uncomfortable with idea. Those who will not be willing will be asked the reason and the issue will be solved at immediate basis. The only issue that comes to my mind is that some students may not be expert at using computers or the powerpoint software. Teachers will be arranged to give them some classes on this topic so that they are able to make their independent presentations. This is a prerequisite for the eventual succession plan. I am well-suited to carry out this plan since I am very much impressed by the ICT concepts of today’s technological world and I want to equip the students with the most sophisticated means of education and learning. â€Å"ICT has a distinctive contribution to make to the aims of the national curriculum as a whole† (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority). I am also interested to propose student activities for the ‘Office of Student Life’ and will do my best to achieve my succession plans. The Office can surely entrust me with funding for carrying out this plan because I possess character certificates from previous institutions and believe in that honesty is the best policy. I am able to work on a collaborative platform with the fellow officers and can communicate effectively. I can pass on my ideas to others while convincing them with logics and sound arguments. I am also expert in clarifying technical concepts to the non-technical audience and that is why in this proposal I am taking into special consideration those students who are not expert in computers and am proposing that sessions will be arranged to help them out. My activity club will surely give many benefits to the Office and the university as a whole because its mission is to incorporate ICT tools in classrooms and improve student learning. The purpose of introducing I CT in education is to enhance learning and educational activities of students and support the teaching process by means of computers, internet and the latest technologies (Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford 19). According to Saverinus Kaka, â€Å"education sector can be the most effective sector to anticipate and eliminate the negative impact of ICT. Technology (internet) in another side can be the most

Monday, July 22, 2019

Mill Locke on Liberty Essay Example for Free

Mill Locke on Liberty Essay Through out history, many philosophers have discussed the rights of mankind such as existence, liberty and especially property. In the work â€Å"The Second Treatise of Civil Government† written by John Locke, mankind’s natural rights are critically examined one by one. This essay aims to discuss whether John Stuart Mill’s harm principle that he mentions in â€Å"On Liberty† can be exercised while not violating the natural rights of mankind or not. First of all, in order to find out the consistency of Mill’s harm principle with Locke’s natural rights, briefly one should examine Locke’s definitions of state of nature and state of war. For Locke, when men live together reasonably and have right to judge each other, without a common authority such as a government it is called state of nature. For Locke, state of nature is a reasonable state that mankind live peacefully. And when men use force, or assert a design of force over other men and threat their lives, where also no common authority is present it is called state of war. Apart from the state of nature, in the state of war, Locke says that â€Å"every man hath a right to punish the offender, and be executioner of the law of nature† which drags men into continuous and endless wars and quarrels. Consequently, because of living in state of war, men could not make use of their natural rights such as right of existence, liberty, property, health, and punishment and judgment. One may instantly, without giving you a chance of defend, kill you, take away your freedom, seize you property and can do many other evil and unlawful actions. In order to prevent the brutal outcomes of state of war, Locke highlights the need of common legislative authority over the members of the community which will lead men to state of society where possessing natural rights would have a meaning and use. From these points, with a general survey, one can establish relations with Mill’s harm principle in consistency with natural rights. Mill’s harm principle lets government or such common legislative authority use power, force or other instruments over persons against their will in order to prevent someone to harm any other. And what Locke is seeking by introducing common legislative power is not much different with Mill’s presentation of harm principle. Let me support my stance by explaining the close relation between the natural rights of mankind and the principle. Right of existence and right of freedom cannot be secured in the state of war. The stronger members of the community would take hold of the others liberty which naturally have to be free from all superior powers and make them his slaves by at the same time threaten their lives, torturing and killing them. And putting forward that they can do anything they want and live in fully satisfied because of the natural right of liberty. But that is not the liberty of men. In such cases, rights of existence and liberty are attached to the willpower of the strongest although they are natural and given by god. True liberty is as Locke defines the freedom of men to follow their own wills and make their choices under the supervision of common legislative powers. So that for Locke such wills and actions that threatens others right of existence will not considered as natural right of freedom and not protected by government and vice-versa government will apply sanctions over whom uses right of freedom in bad faith. Then one shall say that Mill’s harm principle is put into practice over Locke’s natural rights of liberty. They joined together in the state of civilized society holding each other. Another very significant natural right that Locke talks about is property right. Firstly, he says that everything which lies on the earth created by god or nature belongs to the mankind in common. But mankind needs to use those unpossessed crops and fruits of earth in order to satisfy their needs and support and comfort of their being. Inevitably, concept of property is needed. Locke, at that point, says that whoever puts his or her labor on something that belongs to nature and community becomes the owner of that thing and constitutes title on it. The apples which in nature and owned by everybody, when gathered from trees by someone by mixing labor into, becomes the apples of the laborer or gatherer. By that way, I mean by mixing labor on something as Locke signifies, natural right of property can be established over something which is before common. However the question is, can one use Mill’s harm principle without violating Locke’s natural property right? The process of mixing effort on something is unclear. One may exert any kind of force and work to get the property of anything and may say â€Å"I have put my work on it† although actions may not legal, unjust, unfair and not protected by government. Another aspect is how someone can know and set apart the common and the owned property? Again he may put his effort on something which is already owned by another. The rule, first come, first served is not so determining and in practice many conflicts may occur. In both cases someone may get hurt by another’s actions. So in a sense, it seems harm principle is needed to be accepted by the government in order to prevent such harmful actions performed by ones who try to own something. In my opinion, in such cases putting into practice the harm principle is not a violation over property right, seems more like a limitation on behalf of mankind. Moreover, as Locke also explains everyone should not labor more than he could make use of, otherwise indirectly others may be affected by scarcity and lack of resources. At that point again harm principle can step in, and in order to prevent someone to acquire more than what he needs, common authority may exercise power on selfish ones. In conclusion, one may say that harm principle generally can be exercised by community while not violating the natural rights but limiting it on behalf of members of the society. Because as I tried to show that without such instruments, I mean harm principle, people who had bad faith in, can use natural rights in evil things.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Innovation And Risk At Heathrow Terminal Five Construction Essay

Innovation And Risk At Heathrow Terminal Five Construction Essay This study of the Heathrow Terminal 5 (T5) examines how innovation, risk and uncertainty were managed within a distinct megaproject depicting joint uncertainties encountered during the life-span of the T5s project. The paper intends to provide an understanding of how organizations react to risk and uncertainty by merging and matching routines and innovation. It demonstrates how approach to risk and uncertainty are formed by the contractual framework in hefty multià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ party projects. The paper attends to a gap in the literature of risk and uncertainty is management to deliver innovation in large-scale megaprojects. Megaprojects are infamous for high chance of failure that typically induces organizational strategies for risk avoidance. Yet tactics for managing risk and uncertainty are crucial to the practices and innovation that prevail over the challenges of effectively delivering largeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ scale, complex projects. The likelihood of a fifth terminal at Heathrow appeared as early as 1982, when there was question of whether to extend Stansted or extend Heathrow (backed by BA). BAA officially publicized its proposal for T5 in May 1992, presenting a formal planning application on 17 February 1993. A public inquiry into the proposals commenced on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years. In conclusion, more than eight years after the initial preparation application, on 20 November 2001 the British government took the decision to fund planning permission for the construction of a fifth passenger terminal at Heathrow. Heathrow Terminal 5 was planned as the base for all British Airways domestic and international flights. It was designed for handling 30 million passengers annually; its design is compatible with the biggest airliner in the world presently, the airbus A380. T5 is spread over 260 hectors, which house large four storey terminal building and a satellite building. Both the facilities are connected via an underground mover transit system. Other airport infrastructure includes a 4,000 space multi storey car park, a big hotel and an 87 meter tall air traffic control tower. T5 is linked by road to the neighboring M25, an underground railway station with branches of the Heathrow Express and the London Undergrounds Piccadilly Line provides fast transportation to and from central London (Doherty, 2008) PROJECT LIFE CYCLE The series of decisions shaping British Airports Authoritys (BAA) approach to innovation and risk management on T5 will be discussed in brief and viewed against the T5 projects life cycle. Define Planning Design and Organize Construction and Control Closing and Integration into airport operations PROJECT SCOPE (DEFINE STAGE) Heathrow Terminal 5 project is a representation of a megaproject, incorporating enormous investments in buildings, systems, technology and human processes. The project was a mammoth project in many aspects, from the time-span of the project to the actual magnitude of construction and the complex combination of services that were to be commissioned during the life-span of the project. The increasing need for more flights and the present airports reaching their capacity of efficient operations was the main reason behind the initiation of this project. as naturally understood by the nature of the project the project charter was the British government through British Airports Authoritys (BAA), BAA was the driving force behind the execution of this mega project and they worked through many suppliers and contractors. Dividing the projects work into many sub-projects (NAO, 2005). General Project Info (Source: Doherty, 2008) Cost  £ 4.3 Billion Start of Construction Summer of 2002 Estimated Customer Handling Annually 30 Million PLANNING PHASE The project received the go ahead for construction in 2001 after a long lasting planning which began in 1986. The planning was delayed due to a historically long enquiry lasting from 1995 to 1999; the enquiry resulted in about 700 restrictions on the project including the rerouting of two rivers to meet the stringent environmental requirements. 30th March 2008 was set as the project opening date in 2001 and a budget of  £4.3 billion was established in 2003. In the planning phase, BAA primed, developed and cultured the approach that would be utilized in the delivering of the project. Due to the high importance and the involvement of many risk factors, it was determined that the project director should take up a position on the companys main Board. So the delivering of regular project progress reports from planning through design and construction to commissioning and the acquiring of the resources and high level support needed in overcoming any problems hindering its progression can be easily handled. Planned Terminal Dimensions (Source: Doherty, 2008) Terminal 5 A 396m (long) X 176m (wide) X 40m (high) Terminal 5 B 442m (long) X 52m (wide) X 19.5m (high) Size of Terminal 5 Site 260 Ha Cark Parking Space 3800 Spaces DESIGN PHASE The major design activity started in 1989, with the design of the main building. A large integrated project tram was formed comprising of architects and designers to work with BAA. The work on the design drawing went on during the projects construction phase, to address issues like the adaptation of the airport facilities to the new A 380 airliner. FORESIGHT IN DESIGN PHASE When in the design stage there are important considerations about not just designing a facility that caters to the current requirements, but also caters to the projected requirements of the future and in the case of case of such massive projects, the design foresight is not just for the near future. What will travelling through Heathrow Airport be like in the next century? Will we still have to wait in queues? Will we still be travelling as frequently as today or just use virtual travel? Over  £1million a day is spent by BAA on building sections of airport and a comparable sum on retaining and developing them. The buildings will be there for decades so we want to make sure that they will answer to tomorrows needs. The Airports of the Future will be a reaction to the characteristics of the future and these are tangled and inter-reliant: ASPECT EXAMPLES Environment climate, resources, pollution, noise Technology communications, users interfaces, intelligent buildings, materials Future Society global politics, (de)regulation, security, tax, welfare, culture Future Business globalization, supply chains, retail, money, employment patterns Future Passengers demographics, lifestyles, expectations Future Aviation alliances, aircraft developments, market segmentation, congestion During this phase, Norman Haste, T5s first Project Director, stressed that many large projects fail due to the lack of investment in the design: this is when you achieve your biggest wins. Youre never going to achieve them during the construction phase. To permit digital harmonization of design as well as the integration and testing of components during the construction phase, single model environment (SME) was developed. The SME was a real-time CAD system which enabled a virtual environment and allowed the visualization of the designed elements and entities. This greatly assisted in the decisions to move forward in construction. (Yin, 2004) CONSTRUCTION PHASE The activities were divided into two phases of construction. The infrastructure and buildings were constructed from July 2001 to March 2008 and from January 2006 to March 2008 the integration of systems and the retail fit-out was carried out. RECRUITMENT AND TASK DIVISION The project manager divided the construction phase into the following four activities: Buildings Rails Tunnels Infrastructure Systems 300 highly trained and experienced group of skilled workers were put under a small team of senior managers of BAA. The responsibility of 16 major projects and 147 sub-projects was shared by these teams. The value of these projects ranged from  £1m. These groups were responsible for 16 major projects and 147 sub projects, with the smallest valued at  £1m ranging to  £300m. (Wolstenholme, 2008) CLOSING PHASE INTEGRATION INTO AIRPORT OPERATIONS Over three years were spent in preparation of the systems, people and processes before the opening. The last six months were spent in testing and trials, simulating 72 real operational situation testing involving about 2500 test subjects. In spite of being completely aware of the potential risks that could arise at opening and the extensive simulation testing prior to the opening the BAA BA team was unable to prevent the major complexities arising at the commencement service. The initial five days of service saw misplacement of 20,000 bags and cancellation 501 flights, sustaining $31m in costs. The first full schedule of operations was achieved after 12 days of opening. MANAGING RISK AND UNCERTAINTY Formal contracts are formed to manage risk and uncertainty in a project the basis of these contracts take shape from past experiences and assessments. BA realized this during planning that the scale and complexity of the T5 project demanded a new approach as many uncertainties could not be predestined. BAA recognized that a standard commercial agreement would not be suitable. To recognize, isolate and deal with risks BAA had to develop a contractual approach which cultivated a routine-driven culture and attitude whilst leaving space for flexibility when dealing with random or unplanned events. (Done, 2008) It was concluded that a desired outcome can only be achieved by rewriting the rule book; they created a new type of agreement which was based on two fundamental principles: The client bears the risk The client works collaboratively with contractors in integrated project teams. RISK BEARING The agreements of the T5 projects were a form of cost-plus incentive contracts, in which the incurred costs on the contractors are reimbursed by the client; additionally the contractor is rewarded for exceptional performance with a cut from the profit margin. The risks are shared between the contractor and the client in other forms of cost-incentive contracts but in T5 contracts BAA assumed full liability for the risk. (Done, 2008) INTEGRATED PROJECT TEAMS Incorporated project teams were created at the beginning of the planning inquiry to build the general plan of the facility. T5s construction was considered as a string of consumer products delivered by teams. The intention was a creation a virtually integrated supply chain composed of incorporated project teams under the lead of BAA staff, consultants, contractors or other organizations. The agreements did not state the work to be carried out by first tier suppliers; instead it was an obligation from suppliers to provide competence when and where it was required on the project. This method allowed BAA access to competent individuals with the competencies and experience to carry out the detailed tasks, irrespective of the needs of their head organization. The formation of virtual teams eliminated the chances of the risks from being transferred to a sole supplier and didnt allow a single supplier to be held responsible for any letdown in achieving projects objectives. The teams were anticipated to work in cooperation with each other towards accomplishing project objectives by solving problems and acting on any experience gained, instead of pointing fingers at others for any failure in the pursuit of commercial advantage. BALANCING ROUTINES AND INNOVATION The T5 case demonstrates that in projects of huge magnitude the risks and uncertainties can by no means be fully eradicated, but careful and extensive planning can reduce the chance of unfavorable outcomes or provide a mechanism or a list of actions to be taken in-case of an unexpected occurrence. However, when megaprojects run into unidentified problems or emerging events as they eventfully always do a well-prepared or pre-planned reaction is not sufficient at all times. Sometimes fresh or distinctive solutions must be found to prevail over the barriers in progress. Therefore, managing risk and uncertainty in megaprojects entails in finding a well thought-out balance between executing routines and supporting innovation. This is expressed as a trade-off between developing the capability to exploit repetitive processes to cope with risks, whilst being able to explore and implement customized solutions when unexpected events take place. (Shenhar, 2007) ROUTINES The scale, regularity and obviousness of actions performed on a project provide opportunities to develop recursive and stable project and operational processes. These routines that are planned in a illicit order, cut down into core repetitive responsibilities, based on homogeneous design modules and components and frequently repeated processes. Practices must be formulated to cope with basic risks that could obstruct the advancement of the whole project. INNOVATION In a lot of cases, however unforeseen troubles and opportunities to perk up performance cannot be taken care of by resorting back to an existing inventory of routines. Such situations can be so unanticipated or odd that they entail new and ground-breaking ways of solving them to attain or surpass their performance objectives. Our research identified two levels of organizational flexibility and innovative capability in response to uncertainty: The overall project Sub-project levels THE OVERALL PROJECT A main uncertainty which can prove to be threatening to the projects progress, demands a response from the projects senior management or clients organization. When the Heathrow Express project grinded to a halt to a standstill due to a collapsed tunnel a resolution was made possible as the clients project directors and managers enjoyed the liberty to put into practice and adjust the cost-reimbursable approach based on the past experience gained from the Glaxco research facility. SUB-PROJECT LEVELS A big project is time and again carried out as a plan divided into major projects and sub-projects. As comprised of LOR and Mott MacDonald, managers responsible for an individual project within a larger program need the independence and liberty to draft solutions to troubles or occurrences that they come across. Our research recognized quite a few other cases of integrated project teams operating innovatively around issues that stalled progress specific sub-projects within the overall T5 main project, for example the use of digital modeling and construction of buildings and facilities, including air traffic control tower, airside road tunnel and main terminal roof. FAILURES BAGGAGE SYSTEM FAILURE The baggage handling system installed at T5 is the largest baggage handling system in Europe installed at any single terminal. There are two systems; a main a main baggage sorter and a fast track system. An integrated team from the system was designed by an integrated team of BAA, BA and Vanderlande Industries of the Netherlands, the system handles both intra-terminal and inter-terminal luggage and has the capacity to process 70,000 bags per day. Automatic identification, explosives screening, fast tracking for urgent bags, sorting and automatic sorting and passenger reconciliation are the processes the system performs as it handles the baggage. On the opening the system failed and the initial five days of service saw misplacement of 20,000 bags and cancellation 501 flights, sustaining $31m in costs. The first full schedule of operations was achieved after 12 days of opening. On investigation it was discovered that the cause of problem was the dissimilarity of the staff with the new system, although there was a lot of time and time and money invested in the training of the staff, emphasis on training was also huge due to the complexity of the system. Still the results were unfavorable and costs were faced due the failure (HCTC, 2008). CONCLUSION Big projects demonstrate low innovation and high risk, although the success of such projects depends of increasing the innovation and reducing risk factors, a clear identification of risks and uncertainties is needed to find equilibrium between the routines and the innovation. Responsiveness to react to unforeseen events is greatly reduced if the focus is more on the routines and on the other hand focusing on just innovation lead to less control oriented environment leading to chaos. Our objective has been to scrutinize the affects of the contractual framework in the Terminal 5 project, on the balance of innovation and routines. Economists and Lawyers would take up dissimilar point of views, but focus is neither on economic consequences and choices nor with legal construction and interpretation. We are more focused on analyzing the strategy of an organization during the complete life span of the project, which mitigates the risks and uses innovation to achieve project objectives. We have established that the contractual framework is vital in finding an appropriate balance between innovation and routines. Megaprojects need routines to address risks and create a room for innovation to deal with uncertainty. Routines generate a consistency of approach such as the CIPP, T5 Project Delivery Handbook, and progressive design fixity to address risks recognized before project execution. However, predefined and planned routines are not enough to cope with unusual events or incidents, not previously acknowledged during the planning stage. A megaproject must keep scope for deviation and innovation as a reaction to such uncertainty. In the T5 case the contract provided a framework for a deliberative process and opted for the resolution to problems with and between suppliers to address unexpected problems. Organizations and managers accountable for the whole project and sub-projects had the self-sufficiency, elasticity and space to search experiment and put into practice exclusive solutions to unanticipated problems encountered during the life-cycle of the project.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Human rights education for indian armed forces

Human rights education for indian armed forces HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION FOR INDIAN ARMED FORCESCHAPTER INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY When asked what should be done about human rights, the French philosopher Voltaire answered:- â€Å"Let the people know them!† Over the years there has been considerable deterioration in the internal security environment in various parts of our country. JK and NE states have been the theatre of ethnic, regional and state sponsored turmoil for decades for various reasons, the primary one being isolation of the region from rest of the country and the lack of social and economic development of the area. The rise in the law and order problems and failure of the government to control the situation eventually led to the long drawn involvement of the armed forces in the region. The efforts of the security forces to control insurgency and terrorism in the area have brought up the issue of violations of human rights by the security forces. The paradoxical situation now is that while there is an increasing and widespread concern for observance of human rights by the security forces operating in the environment, gross violations of the same by the militant organisations continue unabated. â€Å"Extremist organisations find terror desirable to attract attention whereas counter measures by security forces are restrained when militants blend into the local population, making it impossible to attack their bases or personnel without collateral damage. Here in lies the dilemma for the security forces to conduct operations effectively within the constraints of ethics and the need to respect human rights. (Jasjit Singh) Terrorism and human rights cannot co-exist. They are mutually destructive of each other. Where there is terrorism there cannot be human rights. One of the greatest threats to the future of democracy is terrorism which is increasingly becoming a way of life in the disturbed states. Low intensity conflict operations today includes in its gambit operations against insurgents, militants, terrorists, and any other non state actors that jeopardises national security and sovereignty. The armed forces are being increasingly used in Low Intensity Conflict Operations (LICO) or Counter Insurgency (CI) Operations, which brings it in the media lime light. Certain restrictions have to be imposed on the basic rights of people when combating terrorism, but those restrictions have some norms to be followed. The principles of humanity suggest that military action should not cause unnecessary or disproportionate damage or suffering. When entrusted with a task of this magnitude, human rights violations do take place, but what is important is that the state remains fully aware of its obligations to eradicate the occurrence of such instances and takes prompt measures against the erring personal. It becomes imperative on part of the organisation to educate and train the personals involved in such duties with the basic rights of an individual as a human being and the steps to prevent its violation. METHODOLOGY Statement of the Problem This paper aims to formulate and suggest the Institutionalised Human Rights Education and Training as a means to reduce Human Rights Violations by the Armed Forces operating in low intensity conflict environment. Justification of the Study Human rights now constitute the common heritage of humankind; accordingly, human rights education is a means of accessing that heritage through the universal commitment to the dignity and worth of each human. The evils of injustice, exploitation, impoverishment, tyranny, civil strife, genocide, abuses of power, and catastrophic state failures have plagued humankind from time immemorial and produced humiliation and despair. They also spur action for social and economic transformation, which human rights education helps to define and put into practice. Human rights education reinforces the human rights to peace and to development, that is, the rights of human beings and nations to be free from aggression or other unlawful use of armed force and from mass impoverishment. Genocidal practices and other massive human rights violations are a particular challenge for human rights education. Every human being should be empowered through human rights education to expose and undermine the very possibility of such practices before they emerge and to join with others in ending such practices and holding the perpetrators accountable for their deeds and those who could help accountable for their silence and inaction. The dedication of nation-states and of the United Nations system to human rights education is a first step and the modest efforts pursued during the first United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995- 2004) and this effort must be redoubled by the Armed Forces as a responsible organisation to build stronger solidarities through the message of the dignity and equal worth of every human person. Scope This study focuses on establishing a framework of Human Rights Education and Training to the armed forces in low intensity conflict operations environment. It also attempts to suggest functional parameters that will assist in adopting a universal, holistic and integrated approach to Human Rights. Methods of Data Collection The source of data has been the abundant literature on the subject available in the College Library. A bibliography is appended at the end of the text. In addition to it, explicit use of means of mass media including internet has been made. The thought process of eminent personalities and experts on the subject, both in India and internationally, have also been incorporated as they manifested in Interviews and public shows. Organisation of the Dissertation It is proposed to study the subject in the following manner:- Chapter I. Introduction and Methodology. Chapter II. Human Rights A basic Study. Chapter III. Interplay of Human Rights and Armed Forces in LIC Environment. Chapter IV. Relevance of Human Rights Education for Armed Forces. Chapter V. Approach to Human Rights Education. Chapter VI. Effective Human Rights Training. Chapter VI. Conclusion. CHAPTER II HUMAN RIGHTS A BASIC STUDY Human Rights Evolution of the Concept. In the simplest of terms, human rights could be regarded as involving all those aspects which add to dignity and free existence of human beings. Historians credit the origin of this concept to MAGNA CARTA, AD 1521. On scrutiny however, it would emerge that this document actually was a petition urging the king to concede certain rights to a particular section of his people. It neither had a direct reference to the common mans basic freedom nor the required range of application. The term â€Å"Human Rights† was introduced in the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the US constitution embodied a â€Å"Bill of Rights†. The French resolution later on in 1789, ushered in the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. Much later in 1929, the Institute of International Law, New York, USA, prepared a Declaration of Human Rights and Duties. In 1945, the Inter American Conference passed a resolution seeking the establishment of an international forum for the furtherance of human rights of the whole mankind. The World War II was probably the turning point, which drew the required attention towards human rights. The atrocities committed on ethnic grounds by the axis powers shocked the conscience of the international community. The allied powers then vowed to usher in a world order for promoting respect for the observance of Human Rights and fundamental freedom. The United Nations charter, in its preamble declared, â€Å"we the people of the United Nations Organisation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..reaffirm faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of human person, in the equal rights of men and women and the Nations large and small†¦..†. The charter then went on to declare that the purpose of the United Nations is, â€Å"to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedom for all, without distinction based o n race, sex, language or religion†. The United Nations proclaimed the universal declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The United States defined Human Rights in a policy document in 1978 , which includes the following aspects:- â€Å"Freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, torture, unfair trial, cruel and unusual punishment and invasion of privacy, rights to food, shelter, health care, education, freedom of thought, speech, assembly, religion, press, movement and participation in Government†. Human Rights The International Endeavour. The United nations Organisation in keeping with its charter to promote respect for fundamental freedom and Human Rights for all without any distinction, came out with an International bill of Human Rights consisting of the following:- Universal Declaration of human Rights, 1948. The International Covenant on civil and Political Rights, 1966. The International covenant of Economic social and cultural rights, 1966. The optional protocol (1966) providing for the right of the individual to petition international agencies. The principles on which this bill was based on are as under:- All human beings have been brought within the scope of this bill, without any distinction. Equality of application without any distinction of race, sex, language or religion. Emphasis on international cooperation for implementation of the bill. UN Declaration of Human Rights. The UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948 approved and accepted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Further on 16 December 1966, two covenants were also approved by the UN General Assembly on â€Å"Economic, Social and Cultural Rights† and â€Å"Civil and Political Rights†. These covenants are legally binding and came into force in 1976. Some of the important aspects of UN Declaration are as under:- Right to life, liberty and security of person (Art 3). Right against slavery or servitude (Art 4). No one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, in human or degrading treatment or punishment (Art 5). Equality before Law and equal protection under law (Art 6 and 7). (e) Right to effective remedy against violation of Fundamental Rights (Art 8). Right against arbitrary arrest, detention or exile (Art 9) Right against interference with individuals privacy (Art 10 and 11). Right to a free and fair trial (Art 12). Right to freedom of movement, residence and nationality and to seek asylum in other countries (Art 13, 14 and 15). Right to marry and to form a family (Art 16). Right to property (Art 17). Right to freedom of thought, religion, freedom of opinion and expression (Art 16 and 18). Right to work, reasonable working conditions and to receive equal pay for equal work (Art 23, 24). Right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and to be a member of a society (Art 20 and 22). Right to a standard of living, conducive for health, well being and social protection (Art 25). Right to education (Art 26). Right to participation in cultural life of community (Art 27). Right to a social and international order in which the right and freedom set forth in this declaration can be fully exercised (Art 28). Human Rights The Scenario in India. India does not have a known convention on human rights. However, India is a signatory to the various conventions proclaimed by the United Nations organisation. Traditionally, Indian culture has always stressed the observance of human rights. Our constitutional founders have given this aspect the due prominence in the form of fundamental rights, which has been embodied as Directive Principles of State Policy. The important aspects are as given below :- Right to equality (Art 14). No discrimination against any citizen based on religion, race, caste, sex etc (Art 15). Right against untouchability (Art 17). Right to freedom. Right to freedom of speech and expression (19(i)(a)) Freedom to assemble peacefully without arms (Art 19(i)(b)). Freedom to form associations (Art 19(i) (c)). Freedom to reside and settle in any part of country (Art 19(i) (f). Freedom in choice of profession (Art 19(i) (f)). Right not to be compelled to be a witness against himself (Art 20(2). Protection of life and personal liberty (Art 21). Protection against arrest and detention (Art 22). Right against exploitation by traffic in human beings, beggary and other similar forms of forced labour (Art 23 and 24). Right to freedom of Religion (Art 25 to 26). Right to move Supreme Court for enforcement of fundamental rights (Art 32). CHAPTER III INTERPLAY OF ARMED FORCES AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN LOW INTENSITY CONFICT ENVIRONMENT â€Å"When the soldier is fighting against an adversary in war, considerations of Human Rights are secondary principles. Practices and usage of war are the best guide. But during peace time employment, in addition to the guidelines laid down in various conventions, it is essential that the environment that the soldier has to operate is clearly understood. -Army Training Note S/1/95 Six decades after our independence, country finds itself beset with terrorism and insurgencies in many states simultaneously. The security forces have been actively involved in counter insurgency operations in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and more recently, Naxals in as many as twelve other states. Involvement of non state actors in promoting insurgency in our border states is also well established. The insurgencies and terrorism are quite different from a full scale conventional war and thus demand the utmost attention of a government and the people. The counter insurgency operations must differ materially from regular warfare for which armies train and equip themselves. Environmental Realities in LIC More often than not the armed forces are deployed for operations at a very belated stage, when the situation is almost out of control. The prevailing environment that is likely to be encountered by the army therefore assumes a great degree of importance. Some of the salient aspects of the environmental realities are given in the succeeding paragraphs:- Public. There is a prevailing sense of in-security among the general public. People tend to either silently obey the militants or to migrate to safer places. They are very reluctant to cooperate with the security forces. Militants. There is an overpowering cult of the gun and defiance of authority. They acquire sophisticated and lethal weapons by establishing nexus with powers inimical to the state. They have no desire for peaceful negotiations, unless the government out rightly succumbs to their demands. Bureaucracy, Politicians and Judiciary. These come under tremendous pressure because of the constant threat of retribution. Police/Paramilitary Forces. Militants endeavour to induce fear in them through intimidation, and other forms of retribution. This coupled with inadequate equipment and training has adverse effects on the morale and efficiency of these forces. As a result their credibility gets eroded and they fail to induce any confidence among the people. Media. The official media and some of the national dailies are viewed as the mouth piece of the government and its credibility with the masses is usually low. Reporters have scant knowledge of LICO and tend to sensationalise events. Civil Administration. The general conditions prevailing amounts to the civil administration being ineffective and the authority of the government gets eroded with the writ of the militants running supreme. Law of the Land. The law of one state is not always applicable in the other states. This facilitates the militants shifting their bases and operating from areas where they can escape the law. Once certain special laws are enacted, these are portrayed as draconian in a democratic society, thereby providing sufficient cause for propaganda and also drawing attention of the Human Rights Organisations. The militants also thrive on the various existing lacunae in our legal system. Neighbouring States. Inimical neighbours exploit the instable situation to the full extent and resort to waging a proxy war. The Nexus. Militants tend to establish a nexus with identical anti government movements. Even some religious fundamentalist extends their direct support. State and Central Agencies. There is a plethora of state and central agencies operating in such an environment. They usually lack unity of purpose and operate at cross purposes. Impact of Environmental Realities. All these environmental realities given above have an impact on the operations carried out by the army. These are as given below:- The army gets involved when things have gone out of hands of the police/para military forces to handle thereby making their task much more difficult. Operations tend to become long drawn and the army gets involved over protracted periods to effectively neutralise the militants potential. The resources required are also out of proportion invariably. The army invariably has to operate in an intelligence vacuum. Barriers of language pose additional problems. Militants also manage to infiltrate various civil and police organisations compromising security. There is often an absence of clear cut political directive, making it difficult for the army to understand the charter and to evolve its aims, objectives and plans n a long term perspective. There is inadequate cooperation from the local public, bureaucracy and the politicians. Media gets exploited by the militants to discredit the army, thereby imposing great caution on operations by the army. There is a lack of integration between various agencies, thus making problems of coordination acute. Where the militants enjoy public support, willing or forced, it is difficult to sift and isolate the militants from the public. Law of the land often provides great immunity to the militants and imposes numerous constraints on conduct of military operations. Where the inimical neighbours provide active support to the militants, a great deal of effort is diverted to check infiltration of such support. Where Armed Forces Go Wrong. It is now evident that the whole problem is intensified due to proximity of civilians to the area of operations. The following issues form part of the media campaign and cause concern to various Human Rights Organisations:- Curbing of Fundamental Rights. Operations of cordon and search, vehicle checking etc, cause harassment to people. As these operations cannot be done away with, it must be ensured that these operations are done on firm intelligence only to avoid any unwanted fallout. Rape/Molestation. Reports appearing in the media are a min of actuals and the malicious propaganda being launched by militants. Illegal Detention. As per rules, any offender is required to be handled over to the police within 24 hours of apprehension, for filing of a case. Problem arises when due to mistaken identity an innocent citizen is detained by an enthusiastic unit and the legal formalities get delayed due to efforts to extract information by that unit. Fake Encounters. Stage managed encounters in the vicinity of population centres come to the knowledge of human rights organisations. Attack on Civilians. Bomb blasts, proxy actions in populated areas and seemingly intentional killing of civilian population in hostile territory, becomes a media headline, and draws adverse propaganda. Custodial Deaths. In a bid to extract information, no suspect should be tortured. Failure to carry out a medical check up before handing over to the police authorities, could result in reasons for an eventual death of the individual at the hands of the police, being attributed to alleged torture by army prior to handing over. Compensation. All victims should be compensated at the earliest. Rules should be framed on various contingencies and offenders if any should be made to pay compensation, and punished as well. Special powers to the Army. Special powers conferred should be understood in its totality. Legal constraints like carrying police representative for cordon and search operations, frisking of women by women police, signing of â€Å"No Claim† certificates etc have to exercised with due care. Cross Fire Tactics. Militants employ this tactics of firing from a crowd or putting civilians in front of them as shields. Indiscriminate reaction by armed forces will not go well with the media and public at large. Prolonged Operations. Our experience of operations in North Eastern states have amply proved that when units are pressed to achieve quick results and prolonged operations conducted, instead of achieving tangible results, what actually took place was alienation of the population, besides causing discomfort to own troops. â€Å"To extricate information from an apprehended insurgent/militant regarding their crime, intentions, information regarding operations in progress and whereabouts of their bases, some force is required to be used against the norms of human rights. No individual will ever divulge information if treated well.† Lt Gen (Retd) VK Sood, PVSM, AVSM Human Rights Record of Army Indian army has achieved a great degree of success in this genre of conflict due to the highly successful operational style and technique adopted. This is based on a very humane approach of psychological dissuasion and winning the hearts and minds of the population. It is a â€Å"discriminate† approach, in as much as it relies upon large scale application of trained manpower as imposed to indiscriminate use of heavy fire power and airpower. Operations in LIC are complex. The difficulty in identification of the militants and their affinity to the local population, make the task of security forces difficult. In such operations, therefore, a certain amount of human rights violations are likely to take place. The Indian Army however, takes such incidents very seriously, not only because of the violations by themselves being criminal acts, but also due to the fact that it adversely affects the units discipline. ‘The Pledge We are the human rights generation We will accept nothing less than human rights. We will know them and claim them, For all women, men, youth and children, From those who speak human rights, But deny them to their own people. We will move power to human rights CHAPTER IV RELEVANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO ARMED FORCES Increased awareness of human rights over the last thirty years has led to new standards for state actors in peace and war. Since the Cold War, democratic governments have promoted constitutional reforms aimed at subordinating the military to civilian control and preventing human rights abuses.Militaries have also undergone a self examination to adapt their roles and missions to the changing strategic environment. By and large they have endorsed democratic principles and human rights. In India, we have a commitment by the armed forces to remain subordinated to civilian authority, act within constitutional bounds, and respect human rights. Reflecting changes in national security strategy, the Indian Armed forces need to play a critical role in promoting democracy and human rights. Rooted in a belief that there is an affinity between democratic systems and free market economies, and that democratic states are less likely to go to war with each other, this strategy aims to ensure that regimes consolidate democratic institutions and increase respect for human rights. The incorporation of democracy and human rights as national security policy objectives has been accompanied by operational changes in the role and mission of the forces as per our military doctrine. Existing Human Rights Safeguards Historical Legacy This Humane characteristics of the Indian Army and its soldiers have been exemplified in the history : During the Police Action against Razakars in the state of Hyderabad in 1948. Gen J N Choudhry, commander of the Indian Forces, reminded the Indian troops that they should be absolutely humane while dealing with the local population as they were their own countrymen particularly the woman, children and the infirm. (b) Similarly, in December 1961, after the military operations in Goa the then Chief of the Army Staff in a message to the troops said ‘ In Goa, you are in India and with your compatriots. Your duty is at home. Go and protect the people. Let no one suffer violence. At the end of the operations the then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in his message to the operating forces said â€Å" You, and officers and men serving under your command in Goa Operations, have my warmest congratulations on the splendid way all of you have carried out the allotted task- with efficiency, courtesy and humanity†. (c) As mentioned earlier 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered in 1971 Bangladesh operations. At the time of surrender Lt Gen J S Aurora gave a solemn assurance that â€Å" The personnel, who surrender, shall be treated with dignity and respect that soldiers are entitled to in accordance with the Geneva Convention and protection shall be provided to the foreign nationals, ethnic minorities and the personnel of West Pakistan origin†. The Indian Army has stood the test of time as regards the Human Rights issue wherever and whenever deployed for counter insurgency or conventional operations. History is on its side to prove the point. After the end of 1971 Indo-Pak war, 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered. While treating the POWs, the Indian Army not only complied meticulously with the Geneva Conventions on POW, but also gave them free access to their friends and relatives in West Pakistan. It also gave them freedom to celebrate their religious festivals. The Indian Army is fully aware of the pitfalls, nuances, implications of Human Rights violations and the resultant adverse effect on its operational efficiency and morale. It has therefore taken comprehensive measures at all levels to safeguard and prevent Human Rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. The measures undertaken at the macro level to the grass root level of troops operating in LIC operations in Jammu and Kashmir are enumerated in the succeeding parag raphs. Humane Fibre of Indian Soldiers By and large, the basic instinct and reaction of an Indian soldier in most of the situations is to protect the Human Rights and uphold human dignity. The factors responsible for development of this attitude and reaction to a large extent are military discipline, compassion and camaraderie and apolitical entity. Indian Army in Peace-keeping Operations Outside India The contributions of the Indian Army to the Humanitarian cause in United Nations peacekeeping operations outside India is well known, appreciated world wide and well documented. The Indian Army has earned for them the praise and admiration of the warring factions, the United Nations and the Government of their own country. Peacekeeping operations in Korea, Gaza, Congo, Somalia, Cambodia, and Rwanda are some of the shining examples of the legacy of the Indian Army to the Human cause. 30. Human right training has been intensified and efforts to reform military justice in Indian Army have been introduced. While these initiatives have lowered the decibel level between human rights advocates and the military, there is no consensus on their effectiveness. Two crucial dilemmas arise in attempting to harmonize such efforts with other objectives. First, training has met obstacles that limit its impact. The backgrounds of many militaries have afforded them considerable freedom from civilian control while portraying them as guarantors of the state. Another dilemma involves threats such as drug trafficking, organized crime, and terrorism. In most mature democracies responsibility for dealing with such threats falls to civilian institutions. But in much of the country, these challenges have overwhelmed new democratic governments, leading to a call for the army to play a central role. The democratic transition in many nations removed the armed forces from internal security op erations; thus human rights organizations and democracy activists fear that proposed roles and missions will reinforce impunity and lead to a return to violations. There is a greater focus required on incorporating human rights issues in operational training exercises and developing more pragmatic and mission related arguments for respecting them. The Army needs to sponsor a collegium or working group which could compose of representatives of various international and regional organizations and officials with responsibility for human rights training. It will need to produce a consensus document that specifies objectives for doctrine, education and training, internal control systems, cooperation with external control systems, and the delineation of police and military functions. Deliberations earlier have highlighted possibilities and difficulties of reaching a consensus between civil and military representatives on advancing human rights. On the positive side, a relatively detailed consensus does exist. At the same time there are major differences over priorities. Military officers stress education and training as key to improving performance. They acknowledge the importance of incorporating support for democracy and respect for human rights in doctrine. Civilian participants, on the other hand, emphasize the need for both internal and external control mechanisms to ensure accountability for violations. New Threats, Ancient Rights