American Intervention in Soviet-Afghan War Essay Example for Free

American Intervention in Soviet-Afghan War Essay During the Cold War, the United States resolved to take a shot at the Soviet Union by siding with Afghanistan and taking great measures to stop Soviet influence and communist ideology. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to expand its influence in the Middle East with the absence of American influence. At this point in the Cold War the United States and Soviet Union were more or less at the climax of their dilemma, so the U. S. therefore decided to get involved by fortifying Afghan’s primary rebellious group, the mujahidin. The United States jeopardized homeland security by providing significant support to mujahidin revolutionaries, and in doing so the U. S. helped them hinder Soviet rule over Afghanistan. There are plenty of reasons ratifying America’s lack of foresight and prudence, one being that the state of the Soviet Union was not great as it was. One should take into consideration that the Soviet Union was already in a drastic decline when the United States began to intercede in Soviet-Afghan affairs. Benjamin Frankel, an esteemed writer who wrote an article for History in Dispute, described how there was a prolonged controversy in the Soviet Union on the topic of how to proceed with communist policies (14). Secondly, America already expressed its hard-line policy toward the USSR in a more detrimental way. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan established the Strategic Defense Initiative to protect the U. S. from potential ballistic missile attacks by the Soviet Union. In total, as the ABC-Clio database prescribes in paragraph ten of â€Å"Cold War, 1945-1991†, the USSR spent approximately $80 billion on the Soviet-Afghan War. The fall of the USSR was hastened by its lofty spending on the unnecessary cause. Similar to the economic problems in the Soviet Union, the United States’ actions concerning Soviet-Afghan affairs inflicted great burdens upon the U. S. economy. The United States wasted a substantial amount of money in order to aid mujahidin rebels so they could counteract their Soviet oppressors, but received no compensation in return. As an unknown author from Mount Holyoke College estimates in â€Å"Origins of the Taliban†, the United States lost about $3 billion just on funding these covert ops. The mujahidin and Afghanistan as a whole provided little in return. The mujahidin, for one, only used America for what it provided and discarded the country once transactions were complete. Also, Afghanistan contained insufficient natural resources compared to its Middle-Eastern counterparts. In addition to this action’s negative impact on the U. S. economy, it was also unjustified by the United States’ failure in persuading Afghans to convert to its political viewpoints. The United States did not spread democracy or even impede the Soviet Union’s communist influence on Afghanistan. Instead of acting how it did, the United States should have allowed Afghanistan to develope itself and figure out its own problems to an extent. One sign of progression in the country occurred in the mid-2000s when Afghanistan held its first presidential election. For example, Canada has benefitted by having the foreign policy of isolationism. Shifting back to the mujahidin, Benjamin Frankel describes it, stating, â€Å"Once they helped to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan, they turned their attention to the hated ‘infidel’ West and its ‘satanic’ leader, the United States† (16). Benjamin Frankel went on to speak of how the Afghans were apathetic toward the message of democracy, while they already disdained the ideology of communism (16). These reasons explain why the two parties never became allies and split ways once the Soviets withdrew in 1989. Sometime in the midst of the United States attempting to spread democracy in Afghanistan, the Jimmy Carter regime passed an embargo on wheat and corn against Russia as another attempt to burden the Soviet Union. The Russian Grain Embargo, enacted in 1980, had a negative financial impact on American farmers. This act was drawn up to reciprocate the past ongoing tensions between the United States and Soviet Union which heightened when the United States began to help the mujahidin in 1979. On the subject of U. S. and USSR trade, representative George McGovern stated at a 1980 Senate hearing in paragraph ten on the Annals of American History database that agricultural produce took up 75% of their trade. With this lack of trade, the USSR and U.  S. each deeply suffered. As a result of the Russian Grain Embargo, prices on a bushel of wheat dropped 50? and prices for a bushel of corn dropped 30?. As McGovern later proclaims to the senate in his speech in paragraph nineteen, projected numbers â€Å"do not take into consideration the tremendous increase in cost of production for crop year 1980 for farmers, coupled by depressed markets. † This act, indirectly associated with rising tensions also causing the U. S. to fortify the mujahidin, made live very hard for farmers. The Russian Grain Embargo left a great mark on agrarian society in both the United States and the Soviet Union, but moreso in the U. S. This statement demonstrates the irony behind the embargo. The harm done to the USSR was substantial, though. One may say that the Russian Grain Embargo went with the hard-line policy Reagan put forth toward the USSR, but this argument is invalidated by the financial burdens on America and the Soviet Union. Subsequently in his speech, George McGovern states in paragraph twenty, â€Å"The U. S. omestic blow to the agricultural community can reasonably be concluded to be greater than the one we are delivering, at least in the long run and at least in economic terms. † Plus, Russia was coming off a record low year for crop production, further supporting this act’s injustification. Despite the fact that the Russian Embargo Act was mainly a burden to farm society, it also proved or will have proven to be a burden to other important parts of society. The Russian Grain Embargo also devastated both the United States and the Soviet Union in ways other than agriculturally including everyday citizens. In paragraph eighteen McGovern alludes to his great statistical knowledge, noting that American taxpayers compensated for the debt of the Russian Grain Embargo by paying a sum of $3. 8-5 million. The credibility of the United States as a reliable trade partner skyrocketed due to the embargo. The administration of former President Jimmy Carter probably did not foresee this outcome or even think about it. Another outcome of the act was expanded herd slaughter in Russia. Russians thus consumed bad or in some cases unsanitary meat because of the lack of U.  S. meat shipments. Instead of wasting our time creating unnecessary policies or embargoes or groundlessly creating a powerful Afghan resilient force, the Unites States should have seized other important opportunities. For example, during the period in which the United States sent weapons to the mujahidin, Afghanistan’s neighboring country Pakistan developed a nuclear-weapon program. This is ironic because limiting nuclear-weaponry in any place was apparently supposed to be a chief concern of America, yet we did nothing about it. Pakistan could have shared nuclear secrets with its ally neighbors, thus jeopardizing American security. Benjamin Frankel wrote about the possibility that Pakistan could eventually use their nuclear weapons. In that case, America would certainly regret not committing itself to the issue. Before acting, we have to first ponder all implications – the pros and cons. Either the various leaders of the United States from 1979 to 1989 did not do this or they misevaluated. When a country is already on an nevitable path to its downfall, spending a large amount of money to try to hasten it is unnecessary. Blocking trade to that country is inessential and dumb if all parties involved are negatively affected like in the case of the Russian Grain Embargo. In the end, the Unites States and Soviet Union were burdened by their shortsighted approaches; ergo, we should learn from their mistakes and attempt to fix any remaining consequences. Unfortunately, we may one day have to endure the reper cussions of not taking action if a Middle Eastern country sets off a nuclear bomb.

Exploring Subjectivity in Teaching Philosophy :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Exploring Subjectivity in Teaching Philosophy ABSTRACT: In the teaching of philosophy, we need to be connect with everyday life. Students in introductory courses can be more motivated when philosophical problems have personal significance. Take the topic of 'selfhood.' Introductory textbooks generally begin with the oracle at Delphi: "Know thyself!" But this motto is usually treated as the search for general knowledge of the individual or of human nature. Is it possible for a student to acquire some knowledge about him or herself during this course and reflect on it in a philosophically relevant way? Can personal experience help in understanding philosophical concepts such as this one? These are the questions which I address. Since I think that philosophers have yet to develop didactical tools for these purposes, I will present techniques derived from Gestalt therapy which can be useful for the teaching of philosophy. The aim is not change but experience itself, with awareness serving as the basis for philosophical analysis. The characteristics of this experience-based pedagogy are: (1) three dimensional inquiry: questioning basic concepts or assumptions and opening new questions, both based on personal experience; (2) experiential work involving a problem, a theory, and an example; and (3) mutual influence between theory and experience, i.e., an interrelationship between the personal and the 'educational' gestalt. "Know Thyself!" This oracle at Delphi which was Socrates' motto inspires many philosophers but also psychologists and even psychotherapists. Each of them has good reasons for insisting that this is his domain. Several questions could be raised: Was Socrates a philosopher or a 'psychologist'? What kind of knowledge is this self-knowledge? How do these domains differ and do they have something in common? How are they related to spirituality? And many others. My interest, however, is more narrow. Although we can suppose there is an overlap between philosophy, psychology and psychotherapy, in this paper I will focus on the overlap between teaching philosophy and psychotherapy. More precisely: how can Gestalt principles and techniques help in the teaching of the topic of selfhood. I will outline some theoretical background of the importance of Gestalt in relation to didactics of philosophy and describe some possible applications. When I ask whether Socrates was a philosopher or a psychologist, this is also a question about what kind of knowledge is involved. Do I really want to know myself or do I just search for general knowledge about human nature?

Social Profiling

Guadagni 1 Steven Guadagni English 100 September 16, 2012 Social Profiles Effects on Employment Time and time again, people are denied or terminated from jobs based on inappropriate material found on their social media profiles. In current years, the issue of hiring/firing based on information found on social media devices such as MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook has been a hot topic. Many people believe that these factors should be overlooked when it comes to employment based on the idea that it makes the employee prejudiced and a violator of personal boundaries.Although it may appear to be an act of discrimination, business owners should reserve the right to take any public information into consideration and employ people who they deem suitable to profit their business. Many people believe that boundaries should be drawn when it comes to hiring people based on what is displayed in their social profiles. In Agha â€Å"Bes† Zain’s article â€Å"Should Employers and Interv iewers Check Your Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and other Social Profiles? he argues that it’s easy for an employer or interviewer to not hire or fire someone based on something they saw on their social profiles. Zain says, â€Å"Employers can use social profiles to make biased, prejudiced decisions that are unfair and Guadagni 2 discriminatory. † He expands on his view, stating that what you do on your own time is your business and that some employers will hire or fire someone for their religious/political views or even their ethnicity.Even though it may not be legal, Zain’s statement that not hiring someone for their religious/political views or their ethnicity is bad because it can negatively affect business; I disagree with Zain that as an employee what you do on your own time is your own business and it shouldn’t affect your employer’s decision to hire or fire a person. Not hiring or firing someone for their religious/political views or their eth nicity which is disclosed on a social profile is comprehendible in certain situations. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, one’s argument hat people do have the right to hire who they want is understandable; if a prospective or current employee’s views conflict with their business relationship the owner has every right to not want to work with them. Another issue that arises in the argument is whether or not a person’s profile page should be screened in the hiring process. In Zain’s opinion, a person’s social networking shouldn’t affect an employee or a job candidate. Zain states that â€Å"Employers should only care about something that affects the workplace or the job at hand. The argument is understandable that what you do on your own time is your own business, but why would an employer hire someone who has a picture on Facebook of themselves smoking weed and partying? For example, if an employer had two people competing for a job an d they Guadagni 3 were both equally qualified, but the employer checked on Facebook and sees that one of the potential employees is smoking weed in a picture and the other potential employee doesn’t have anything on his Facebook, it is obvious that he would hire the one who was not smoking weed.Clearly an employer is going to want someone who does not participate in those kind of activities because they could potentially affect the workplace or the job at hand. Being able to check a little more background on potential employees should be acceptable for employers because it allows them to see which candidates are truly responsible and upstanding citizens. Everyone knows that employers will look at social profiles so one should be professional in their profile if they want to be taken seriously.For example, if a person is working for a big company and badmouths a product or employer on a blog or social media page then of course they are going to get fired. Specifically, if an e mployee working for a big baseball bat company like Louisville Slugger compromised the selling capacity of their new bat by publically posting that it is not effective, then they should be held accountable for their actions.Their statement could potentially affect the sale of the product and cost the company a lot of money so it is obvious that the employee should be fired. Employers should reserve the right to protect their company from people employees that feel it is acceptable to publically trash their product. I think employers and interviewers should be able to look at your social profiles. If you think something could potentially affect your business life then it should not be Guadagni 4 posted online.In some cases, a person’s religion, political views or ethnicity could affect business so it would make sense to not hire specific people in those cases. Employers and interviewers have every right to decide if they want to hire or fire a person based on what they saw on a social profile. Guadagni 5 Works Cited Zain, Agha â€Å"Bes†. â€Å"Should Employers and Interviewers Check Your MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, And Other Social Profiles? † August 25, 2009. http://thereasoner. com/articles/should-employers-employers-check-myspace-facebook-social-profiles

Latin American Change Essay - 3051 Words

Over the course of the past half-millennium, the 33 countries that now comprise Latin America and the Caribbean have gone through drastic change. Since the discovery of the New World in 1492, each country has gone through some level of colonization by a European power and transition to its current state. During this period the regions have seen political, social, religious and economic transformations of various degrees. Nevertheless, many scholars argue that regardless of the changes encountered, many are merely on the surface with little to no meaningful change instilled. A Variety of leaders have attempted to improve their country by both conservative and liberal means. Despite these attempts, though, the underlying foundation of†¦show more content†¦Regardless of the change in government, sweeping social change has not occurred and almost all of these two groups remain poor. The plantation was the center of the agriculture life. Large-scale agriculture is still important as many countries rely on these products as they put large strain on export –oriented growth. Only recently has there been any significant attempts at industrialization and many countries are economically backward. From the very outset of the exploration of the New World, members of the church have been side by side with the explorers and colonists. The church had a dual role in Latin America. The church was interested in saving the souls of the indigenous peoples found in the newly discovered regions and also they reinforced the control of the Iberian powers. A unique form of Catholicism emerged that was a mixture of the three cultures mentioned above. The most vivid example of this fusion can be seen in Brazil were dozens of religions have sprouted with African, indigenous and European roots. The final topic of colonial legacies is politics. From an early point in the history of Latin America, the regions have enjoyed a certain level of autonomy. There was a tendency towards administrative centralism and regional/local decision making which was primarily due to the physical distances to Europe. This incomplete control led to the growth of regionalism, strongmanShow MoreRelatedConflict: the Basis for Latin American Change (Born in Blood and Fire: a Concise History of Latin America)1781 Words   |  8 Pagesindigenous populations. Modern Latin America has conflict built into its system because that is what it has mostly seen for the past five hundred years. In Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America, John Charles Chasteen supports the argument that Latin Americas problems developed due to its violent origins and history of conquest. From the conquest, through colonialism and revolutions, to modern day, violence has always been a main player in the advanc ement of Latin America. Chasteen hasRead MoreLatin American Culture Essay examples1050 Words   |  5 PagesLatin American Culture Latin America represents 1/10 of the worlds population, and geographically can be located from the land extensions of Mexico, until the Patagonia at Argentina. Some of the most relevant elements of todays culture in Latin America are; Religion, Values, Attitudes, Social structure, Social stratification, Language and Gift-giving hospitality. The predominant religion throughout history in Latin America has been Catholicism. From big cities to small villages, churches, basilicasRead MoreIn The United States, Not Only Are Latin Women Being Misunderstood,1508 Words   |  7 PagesIn the United States, not only are Latin women being misunderstood, but African American women are also stereotyped by other people. Latin women are discriminated in their dressing and service occupations, while African American Americans are stereotyped in sexually promiscuous, caregiving role, and â€Å"welfare queens.† Both of them are victims of racial stereotypes, which affect them negatively on thei r identities and characteristics. However, the differentiation of their cultures makes them beingRead MoreLatin Americ A Great Deal Of Progress1340 Words   |  6 PagesAlthough Latin America has experienced a great deal of progress since the first modern movements in the 1920s, contemporary international artist from Latin America still has a tough road ahead of them before they can separate their work from their roots in the eyes of the international community. But I believe that is easier today more than ever. Although I don t want to lump all Latin American countries together, which are very different from each other, but we cannot discuss one only in LatinRead MoreArgumentative Essay - Education in Latin America848 Words   |  4 PagesFUTURE, A LATIN-AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE by Ana-Maria Gonzalez â€Å"Education leads to a brighter future.† Quite a clichà ©d phrase, actually. So popular, that people tend to forget the true significance of it. It is known that Latin America faces numerous problems that makes looking into the future a discouraging view; but we fail to realize the lack of education may be the root of these issues, including violence, unemployment and poverty. Even though education is widely available in Latin America, peopleRead MoreEssay on U.S. Influence on Latin Culture989 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States intervention within the affairs of Latin American politics in the beginning of the twentieth century, and since the advent of a U.S. effort towards the modernization of Latin America, influences aimed at empowering communities and bringing about democratic movements among Latin American countries have been accompanied by various forms of exploitation and cultural decimation (Leonard, 1999). Efforts at modernization of Latin America have been carried out partly in opposition toRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Face Of An Angel 930 Words   |  4 Pages Women are just as responsible as men for the sexist â€Å"macho† culture present in Latin families due to different reasons: women continue to educate their children with these same sexist ideas that they disagree with, they are also afraid to go against what the patriarchal society says, and they limit themselves to accept their sexist female roles and continue living under their â€Å"man’s† rules. The book Face of an Angel shows how Chavez gives her female perspective about the sexist environment in whichRead MoreEssay on Development of African American Studies1148 Words   |  5 PagesDevelopment of African American Studies Scholars have dedicated their time and attention to furthering the discipline of African American Studies and can define the field with many different definitions. Through looking at the origins and development in the study we can see how it became a legitimate academic field. As we study the writings of the African American intellect, it will fully explain the importance of the discipline. Their work will justify the study of cultural and historical experiencesRead MoreLatin Americ The United States Essay2417 Words   |  10 Pages). Another myth is that Latin America is behind the U.S. However, government power and initiatives have also disproved this. While the U.S. has never had a female president or even vice president, four Latin American countries have female leaders: Brazil’s Dilma Roussef, Costa Rica’s Laura Chinchilla, Argentina’s Cristina Fernà ¡ndez de Kirchner and Chile’s Michelle Bachelet. (Weiss, L., 2014). Another stereotype is that imm igrants are taking money away from the United States. Despite the speculationRead MoreRacial Profiling, Discrimination, And Discrimination3120 Words   |  13 Pagesblacks, Asians, Latin Americans, gays, and other minority groups face prejudice and marginalization. As an example, racial profiling by the police continues to be both practiced and largely defended by law enforcement. If one social behavior most reflects how this widespread minority discrimination is practiced, however, it is the ironic one of denial. More exactly, and as blatantly seen in all media, a kind of condescension is in place regarding minorities, in which American society asserts just