Othello and O

Othello and â€Å"O† The movie â€Å"O† by Tim Blake Nelson is based on Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Othello. They both have many differences as well as similarities. The same trap is laid for the main character in both versions and the same amount of casualties happens in both final scenes. Nelson sets his story in modern time prep school, and his characters are not the adults of Shakespeare's play. Shakespeare Othello is set in the 16th century while Nelsons â€Å"O† is set I the 20th century.In Othello, the setting is in 16th century Cyprus during a war with the Turkish Empire. The language used in respectful and nice compared to â€Å"O†. Brabantio calls Othello to the summit and questions him what sorcery he has used to take his daughter Desdemona away from him. Desdemona denies the fact that Othello used any sorcery and says that there love is true and that she left her father for her husband and he left his family for her mother. In this play De sdemona is married to Othello.Iago’s reasons of jealousy are that Othello promoted Cassio to Lieutenant instead of him and that there’s a well-known rumor that Othello has slept with his where the truth hasn’t been brought to light. Nobody is aware of neither Iago’s nor Rodrigo’s intentions. Othello has epilepsy and Iago doesn’t help until Cassio walks in. Desdemona is slapped by Othello and no one can believe that the well-known respected general would do such a thing. Othello makes Iago his blood brother and Iago tells him to kill Desdemona and he will kill Cassio for him.But Iago Sends Rodrigo instead of doing it himself to kill Cassio but fails wring and Rodrigo gets injured and runs away than Iago comes and stabs Cassio in the leg then goes and kills Rodrigo. When Othello kills Desdemona, Emilia comes in and see’s that Desdemona is dead and Othello confessed to his crime so Emilia cries out murder where everyone came in including Iago where he starts to argue with Emilia and tells her to be quite but she doesn’t listen and then he tells her to go home but she doesn’t go therefore disrupting him and then she tells the truth about the handkerchief so stabs and kills her and then runs away.When Othello realizes what he has done he stabs himself and lays on her and kisses her in the lips as he dies. In â€Å"O†, the setting is in the modern-era prep school where instead of a war being fought it’s a series of basketball games. In this movie foul disrespectful language is used compared to Othello. Iago feels that his father Duke loves Oden more than he loves him so he tries so hard to win his father’s love from Oden.When Brandy calls Oden to the main office he accuses Oden of forcing Desy and then accuses him of using drugs again because of his skin color. Then Duke calls for Desy and she tells her father that they been together a few months before he even found out and that ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s none of his business. Oden gets injured during a game while in Othello he doesn’t. Desy is more aware of Iago and Oden beats up Rodger because he is aware of Rodger. Oden is so jealous and angry that he attacks Hugo and then storms out the court.Instead of Oden having epilepsy he takes cocaine instead. The scene on Othello where Othello slaps Desdemona is different in the fact that instead Oden after he takes cocaine and is hyped up he enters the court for the slam-dunk contest and breaks the backboard which everyone one loves at first until he breaks the backboard completely and takes off the rim slams it and disrespects a kid and pushes him off to the side where the whole audience, crowd was shocked because they couldn’t believe what they seen.Instead of using a knife, Rodger shoots Hugo in the leg and then Hugo gets frustrated and kills Rodger and tries to make it look like and accident then Brandy came and Hugo asked for her help to call the cops but she g ot scared and ran away. Hugo instead of stabbing Emily he shoots her and runs away. When oden realizes what he has done and knows everything he shoots himself in the deck of the house and lay’s on the couch away from Desy. In both the play and the movies Iago and Hugo are fueled by jealousy.The same trap is set in place for the characters and the same amount of deaths happen in the end of the movie/play. In both Emalia/Emily steal the scarf for Iago/Hugo which leads them to having sexual intercourse. Both Desdemona/Desy believe they have misplaced the scarf given to them by Othello/Oden. In both the play and the movie Iago/Hugo is very envious of Othello/Hugo because everyone respects and admires him. Othello is the only black person in the play and so is Oden in the movie.Othello/Oden promotes/chooses Cassio/Mike instead of Iago/Hugo. In both plays Iago/Hugo build hatred/jealousy against Iago/Hugo which starts the whole plot of both the movie and play. Iago/Hugo betrays Othe llo/oden and does not care who gets hurt in the process of destroying Othello/Hugo. Iago/Hugo does not do everything alone he is helped out by Rodrigo/Rodger which in both the play and the movie is secretly in love with Desdemona/Desy. Iago/Hugo and Rodrigo/Rodger make Othello/Oden believe Desdemona/Desy has been cheating on im with Cassio/Mike. When Iago/Hugo kills Emilia/Emily he runs away but is later caught by other men and when Othello/Oden asks Iago/Hugo why has he done all of this to him and Iago/Oden replies that he doesn’t need to know and from now on he will not say another word. After Othello/Oden realize t=what they have done he kills himself. Both the play Othello by Shakespeare and â€Å"O† by Blake nelson are wonderful and have a great story line that catches the viewers’ attention.They both have a tragic story and a very sad ending with high body counts. Both the play and movie have everyday problem and issues that still happen even today that pr oves Shakespeare is a very intelligent man. It’s a sad thing that these problems were around for many centuries and still exist today. Since the movie was based on the play they are very similar except that the movie is set in a modern time period. They both are very great and I recommend them both.

Ihrm, Describe the Main Challenges of International Staffing

IHRM Describe the mains challenges of international staffing. These years, international staffing has become a common setting for MNEs. Over the last decade, globalization and internationalization of marketplaces had brought companies to expatriate their resources on target countries and sectors. It naturally means that they will face lot of new challenges to succeed in their process. Expanding business operations beyond national boundaries while trying to stay effective on the domestic market requires complex and balanced strategies. The most critical determinants stay to keep an effective international esource management. So we will try to summarize the different challenges of international staffing. In a first part I will focus on the different international staffing issues to understand well the challenge dimension. In a second part I will highlight the different challenges raised by the central notion of expatriation. International staffing is the way that companies manage inter national resources, facing different limits like geographic distance or day- ­? to- ­? day relations with headquarters for example. The first challenge could be express through the possibilities for MNEs to choose a certain source f employees. First, the company can send employees and manager from its home country, more known as Parent Country Nationals (PCNs) or expatriates. Second, they can recruit directly Host Country National (HCNs) native from there. Third choice, they can hire Third Country National (TCNs) who is native from another country than the host or the home country. Companies use also different stages of internationalization and staffing strategies. We can observe that companies generally recruit the three types of employees and make them work together. We commonly call that a cross cultural management, illustrated y the idea to take good skills of each culture to bring them to global mind set with added value, in a aim to create efficiency. The success of cross cultural management seems to be a big challenge in international staffing in the way that it comes from the real difficulty to recruit top talents able to be efficient abroad, added to multiple legal issues. It seems also important to describe the four principal international staffing issues that seem to be a numerous challenge in the sense that it will condition your whole international management strategy. The MNEs can choose to use an ethnocentric staffing olicy that refers to the strategy of employ key positions managers from the parent headquarters instead of employing local staff. They will be use to transfer corporate culture to the foreign entity and insure an effective communication with headquarters. Limits are the adaptation of expatriates and relations with HCNs. Second option is the polycentric policy that describes an approach of recruiting HCNs to manage subsidiaries in their own country. So there are no language and cultural barriers and it’s far less expansiv e. But it results a less effective communication with headquarters and then difficulties o coordinate activities. In the geocentric issue the best people are sought for key jobs throughout the organization, regardless of nationality. It enables a multinational firm to develop a pool of senior international managers but it is the most expansive option. To finish, in the regiocentric staffing policy, employees are transferred to positions in subsidiaries in other countries, but stay within the same region (Mayrhofer and Brewster â€Å"In Praise of Ethnocentricity†). It permit to install a regional competition to success but it can also lead to identification and put global objectives on a second cene. Today, most of the international companies choose to expatriate top managers in foreign subsidiaries to control them. But expatriation seems to be the biggest challenge that they have to deal with for the simple reason that it the first reason of failure. The principal value of ex patriation is the quality of communication between PCNs and headquarters. PCNs don’t have any problem of language barrier with home country and actually know the home country top management. They understand their ideas, strategies and goals and by consequences can implement them faster. They also play a rule of knowledge ransfer and actually maintain a knowledge base (laws, politics, cultures, languages†¦) about the complexities of international operations (Downes and Thomas: â€Å"Knowledge Transfer†). Close to this knowledge transfer they serve a mission of corporate culture transmission. So they will implement the company’s culture, its values, believes, mission and follow a certain management style. One big challenge of international staffing is also to overcome the lack of qualified host country nationals because knowledge in special areas is needed and not directly available in some host countries. Erten- ­? Buch and Mattl ave studied the issue in 1 999 and they highlighted the idea of emphasis of expatriation as a means to overcome the lack of qualified host country nationals lies in compensating a long- ­? term lack of a skilled workforce. Expatriation has to deal with lot of difficulties that turn it out in a big challenge for international staffing. It is a big point to insure the well understanding of local business environment. It is also a big challenge to anchor the company in the local country by developing contacts and adjustment to local places, a kind of local emphasis. International staffing needs to face big ultural shocks. Expatriate managers arrive in a complete unknown environment; it creates confusion, disorientation and a certain emotional upheaval. It is a big challenge to cross it fast and with success. Staffing abroad means also deal with costs issues. The most obvious problem for a company when sending an expat abroad to be considered is the extremely high costs involved. The challenge is to measure the interest between insure this cost or insure the less effectiveness you will get by reducing your cost and employ a HCN. Employing an expat in a developed country for a certain period of time can cost p to four times as much as recruiting local staff and eight times as much in developing regions such as Asia Pacific. Failure rates are also a big challenge and a very important issue. Manager’s inability to adept, family related matters, lack of motivation are examples of failures. The rate of those being recalled to the headquarters is between 20 and 50% (Brewster 1991’s report). The major challenge of multinational and often missed by International Human Resources Management is the repatriation (Harvey, 1989). The professional transition into the home office cause a lot of difficulties that are most f the time neglected. It seems to be an unmeasured stage of internationalization. In conclusion we could say that the biggest challenge is to choose an adapted strategy of internationalisation and find out the correspondent staffing issue. Expatriates seem to represent an extremely expansive but not always necessary investment. Telecommunications and travel have made the human resources function of matching up employers and employees much easier over the years. The hiring of top talents will it be enough to cover good headquarters relations and eliminate geographic distance challenges in the future? 2

Brighter Sunnyday

Of all the movies that I’ve seen, only â€Å"A brighter Summer Day† was the longest hours film of them all, a very large project for the Chinese-language film. This film was directed by a Taiwanese director, Edward Yang who made it all possible to direct 100 actors to portray different roles. â€Å"A Brighter Summer Dayâ€Å"was actually based on a true incident which happened during 1960. The story was also a mixture of Yang’s youth which can be seen in the film though there is a little variation from the original. In June 15, 1961, a Taiwanese high school male killed his girlfriend in Gulling Street without any reasons.â€Å"A Brighter Summer Day† was a personal vision which recalls both an actual street murder that shook the nation and Yang's own childhood at the same time. The story doesn’t mainly focused on the gangster’s street rival in Taiwan during 1960’s but it’s story goes behind a young man who was experiencing a ma jor upheaval in his own country in which he wants to overcome. This movie serves as an exploration of the novel which depicts the cultural identity of the Taiwanese. This film revolves around the life of S'ir, who was a high school student by then.The cast was filled with different characters which seem equally worrisome. His cast is filled with plenty of variables, but each character’s plight seems equally worrisome. His father was one of the Chinese mainlanders who went all the way to Taipei during the wake of civil uprisings in 1949. Since the film was set over the course in 1961, it gave a printed introduction which explains that state is now in uncertainty where gangs thrive on the streets so they should be careful about their children and keep them safe and under control at all times.The narratives of Yang jumps back and forth with different subplots which made it difficult to track, especially the shots that was taken from medium to long shots. Given that, the story te lling skills of Yang made it possible to recognize some cues for each sequence which lets the audience trail the story. The most memorable scenes that revolve around the gangster’s school-age girlfriend have been smitten with him. They wind up next door, while they cut classes, and get easily attracted with the looks of the girl.Upon forming an endearing bond, Si’rs friends warned him about being close to the girl and should not let her become the cause of any bad blood. This part is very thrilling, and mysterious enough to watch since you really want to know what the story behind the murder is as if you are really seeing how it happened. Yang sensed that when the dark historical moment happens, driving and being driven become one. I think that because of this feeling, it made a narrative filmmaking that creates a new genre of modern experience.Literary, this film had hypnotically built a single act of violence when it reaches and end of one’s life which is inev itable and shocking at the same time. â€Å"A Brighter Summer Day† emerged as one of the finest film made in Taiwan. Even though the cast were all non-actors, the film was still beautifully made- shots were good, houses especially the interior were great, even the schools and the dance clubs brought a real effect that happened in the countryside during summertime. The film also created a good effect by inserting violence and serenity alternately.The film is a rhythmic and poetic evocation of a particular era. Its ironic title (in that there is no â€Å"brighter summer day† for these characters) is taken from an Elvis song that one of the kids sings at a nightclub. It is a truly exemplary modern masterpiece that got no distribution in the West but deserves to be hunted out at all costs by those who love and cherish the film art. You can also see other characters with singing careers that has been the source of frustration and source of income of the gangsters.The song w hich was entitled â€Å"Are You Lonesome Tonight† was the source of the movie’s title a song by Elvis song which was sung by some nightclub kids. This song was one of the artifacts that appear in the movie though it did not originate from Taiwan. The song captures the audience through its melodic sound and its giving such goose bumps effect when you hear it while it plays as a particular scene was shown. There were also several important props in the film particularly the samurai sword, radio a flashlight and a tape recorder as well.Older characters appear to be strictly adhering to Taiwanese’s tradition or to something else like Christianity. The older characters, when they appear, either stubbornly adhere to Taiwanese traditions or have grabbed onto something else, such as Christianity while other older Taiwanese seemed to be powerless and weak. Children somehow understand this but perhaps cannot dig dipper to comprehend it and despite the murder that was insp ired by a true to life incident, this film sees a light of hope.S’ir’s father here was a civil servant with a high-ranking job and the accomplishments of his daughter. He often attends the best government-sponsored college and was very proud. If his son disappoints him, he butts his head against bureaucracy, hoping that he would get personal favors the system which he believes to have fair and firm regulations. Yang simplifies things by tossing a metaphor into the stew which made it so confusing in general when he narrates about the operation of the government against the people.The backbone of the narrative structure was formed by S’ir’s shifting morality when the tragedy befalls him seems to be heartbreaking which made the entire nation moved by it. The strain has been weighed down on him and at that time, his family seems to be epidemic in the country. According to my research, the film took over several years to finish because its preparation needed t o be meticulous on its construction as well as the feelings that community might have. Because the length is almost four hours, it definitely shows a remarkable film which gave an epic quality of the film.Since the there are more than hundred speaking parts in the film, you should really focus in watching so that you’ll keep on track of what was going on with the story, which is a good strategy on capturing the audience attention. Without looking into the contradictions that it may bring in a political discourse, Yang personalized the politics and its complexities. The style of the film creates a paradox. He used I little bit of close-ups, which keeps it far away from his subjects but not so far in order for the viewers to judge them objectively and doesn’t’ lose the grasp on their concern.The main accomplishment of Yang focused on the narrative that he made, as well as the political and emotional chaos. Familiarity arose from the running time that goes on with the consistent political attitudes which was evident in the script assures that audience concern were given focus where Yang wants it. This happens without using too much cinematic language which in turn prompts the viewer to barely identify the protagonists. Yang was never intimidated throughout the film although he made as a very expansive scope of a messy autobiographical of such territory.Attached with the film is a nostalgia but not to the point of intelligence. Yang created a manifesto which obviously shows conflicting attitudes about the history of his country. We can see in the film that it was seemingly limitless to examine the country’s lamentation which a storyteller like Yang has done to probe the history of a nation’s developing country and its progress. For me, â€Å"A Brighter Summer Day† sure stands as a monumental achievement, and could probably be the greatest film among all modern Taiwanese cinema.

Pneumonia Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Pneumonia - Assignment Example Various tools are used in diagnosing this condition and these include the use of x-rays, or taking a sample of sputum for testing. There are various types of vaccines available for the prevention of pneumonia and these are complemented by the treatment measures available for those who suffer from the infection. The treatment of this condition depends on the agent that caused it, whether it is viral or bacterial. If the infection is caused by bacteria, then the condition is treated using antibiotics, but if the condition is caused by a virus; on the other hand, the most common treatment used are neuraminidase inhibitors. When an infection is deemed severe, the most likely cause of action that doctors tend to take is to have the patient admitted to hospital because if left untreated, this condition often proves to be fatal. It is estimated that on an annual basis, pneumonia affects over four hundred million people and of these, about four million meet their deaths from the condition (K ornum et al 2008, p.1542). While this condition has been made treatable with the advancement of the development of antibiotic therapy as well as vaccines, pneumonia still remains one of the most dangerous as well as the a leading cause of death, especially in developing countries. The people, in these countries, who are at the most risk of infection, tend to be the young, the elderly, and those who are extremely ill. Symptoms Those who are infected by pneumonia tend to display certain symptoms, which provide the evidence that they have indeed been infected. Among the symptoms that they display include coughing, a fever, a stabbing pain in the chest when taking deep breaths, and most of all, and an increase in the rate of respiration because of the shortness of breath that they experience. One of the most prominent symptoms that are displayed by older people is that of being confused. Among children, on the other hand, there is often a fever, coughing, as well as difficulty in breath ing. When making a diagnosis of the condition, too much insistence should not be put on the detection of a fever because it can be found in quite a number of diseases such as malaria among other severe diseases (Chandra et al 2010, p.862). In addition, coughs should also not be considered a common symptom among children who are less than a year old and instead, more severe signs should be looked out for. Among the severe symptoms of this condition is the appearance of a blue tinge on the skin, a decrease in the infected person’s thirst, convulsions, and the most severe of all, a decrease in consciousness level. Whatever the source of infection, whether bacterial or viral, the victims of pneumonia often display the same symptoms and this is the reason why specific tests have to be carried out to ensure that the correct treatment is prescribed to a patient (Metlay and Fine 2003, p.109). While pneumonia is often caused by either bacterial or viral infections, it is common to fin d that even fungi and other parasites can cause this condition. It has, however been estimated that of the over one hundred agents that can potentially cause pneumonia, only a few of these agents are actually responsible for the majority of the cases involved (Kollef et al, 2005, p.3855). In a little more than 45% of the cases studied in children, it has been found that the causing agents have been a mixture of bacterial and viral infections. Among adults, on

On a specific documentary called Two Towns of Jasper - Image Ethics Essay

On a specific documentary called Two Towns of Jasper - Image Ethics - Essay Example The film has however tried to bridge the gap by displaying images to illustrate the widening difference and discrimination between blacks and whites. This paper therefore seeks to explore the image ethics that emerge in Two Towns of Jasper. The paper will also illustrate how the film makers approach and understand their various obligations and responsibilities to their viewers, to those who are featured in the film, to their profession as well as to themselves. Reference is made to the Moral Rights of Subjects in Photographs, Film, and Television by Katz, Gross and Ruby via analyzing Two Towns of Jasper, a documentary film. There are significant ethical issues and concerns that are provoked by the William and Whitney in the film â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper.† These issues arose where the white and black subjects used in the film were affected by the nature of the images displayed to the viewers. Therefore the two filmmakers made ethical considerations that took care of the rights of the subjects as well as those of the viewers of the film or television. The film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† observes the moral rights of those appearing in it as the subjects. However, the film has been criticized that it presents fake images of the subjects that are somehow embarrassing and intrusive to both the viewers and the film subjects. Some of the image ethics that raise concerns in the â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper† and the documentary include the situation in which the subjects were portrayed in a false light. It appears to the viewers that the subjects may have failed to secure a consent that is completely informed and therefore their images were appropriated. In this film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† the groups of minority and individuals were represented accurately and fairly. Williams and Whitney observed the peculiar moral obligations of the subjects in the film. This is a clear indication that the filmmakers understand their obligations and res ponsibilities to the subjects as well as to their viewers. By respecting the moral rights and observing image ethics when making the film, it shows that the filmmakers clearly understand well the role of their profession. From my review of the film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† the concerns and issues of image ethics that are exhibited is the journalistic integrity threat that is probably posed by the software visual editing used by the filmmakers. The type of images displayed in the film also raises concern as they appear so uncertain to the viewers. The minority group is also not presented in an appealing manner which may raise ethical questions among the viewers. It also appears in the film that there has been an erosion of civility and privacy of the minority group, the blacks, in the film. However, the book, â€Å"Moral Rights of Subjects in Photographs, Film, and Television† by Katz, Gross and Ruby, has elaborated these ethical concerns as a breach to the privacy and rights of the subjects. The mentioned authors have also amplified the qualms of image ethics as mistakes committed in darkroom of electronics. The issues of image ethics in the film add to the continuous visual development studies. The anthology in the film, â€Å"Two Towns of Jasper,† has reached into perspectives and discipline beyond any criticism and considers the dilemmas in the visual presentations. Additionally, the filmmakers, Williams and Whitney, have taken into consideration the challenge of observing, to

Business Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Business Information System - Essay Example He shall at all times order his conduct to safeguard the public interest and to the best of his ability uphold the reputation and dignity of the Profession". 2. Members shall ensure that they have got enough knowledge in the chosen fields and have proper understanding of relevant legislation, regulations and standards, and that they adhere to such requirements. 4. Members shall not disclose to a third party any confidential information acquired in the course of their professional practice, or use such information for personal gain or for the benefit of a third party without the prior written permission of the employer or client, or at the direction of a court of law. 5. Members shall act with integrity while dealing with fellow members and with the members of other professions with whom they are related in a professional capacity and shall not do any activity that is against the professional status. 6. Members shall endeavor to upgrade their professional knowledge and skill and shall well informed of technological developments, procedures and standards which are relevant to their field, and shall encourage their subordinates to do likewise. (Don Gotterbarn, British Computer Society Code of Conduct, http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/resources/professionalism/codes/Bcs.html, retrieved on 31st March, 2009) 3 Each member of BCS should adhere to the above rules and must know that if there is any conflict in the member's professional life with regard to the personal interest and duty to others, the duty to the society must prevail. Failure in adhering to any of the stipulated conduct rules will harm the ethics of the profession and it may lead to IS project failure. If a professional during professional practice fails to safeguard public health and safety, and does harm to the environment he will be ruining himself as he is also a member of the very community. His action will attract public concern and the activity of the very profession will be termed as anti social. This will in turn affect the success of the IS project and ultimately the project will become a total failure. A professional must have thorough knowledge in the relevant field. Or else, he could not perform well in his job. Failure in carry out the entrusted work in time will affect the whole project. The quality will be lost and the clients will be dissatisfied and this in turn will adversely affect the progress of the professin itself. If the professional does not have proper knowledge in relevant legislations and other standards and regulations, how could he carry out the entrusted work. Whatever he does will only invite litigation and other hardships. Ultimately these incapabilities will cause the winding of the project bringing in unemployment and other related

Cross-cultural communication and negotiation, strategy formulation and Essay

Cross-cultural communication and negotiation, strategy formulation and implementation - Essay Example There are communities that do not take lightly things such as bribes and payments that are questionable. On the other hand, others take this as a good gesture and it is their culture to give bribes or some sort of payments whenever a negotiation is going on. Gifts or monetary payments while negotiating in international business are required in gaining a positive action from officials in different governments. Yet this same move might cost one if applied in communities that do not take it lightly and consider it unacceptable. For instance, FCPA does prohibit a company that is US-based from giving any offering in form of money or in kind to a government official in a foreign country so as to get favors or win contracts. The other issue is how people in different cultures view joint ventures and strategic alliances. Some of the partners to an alliance may have a short term view of doing business for quick gains and benefits to the business. Such a strategy would require that only short- lived agreements are reached. On the other hand, there are people who believe in long-term development of business that has prospects for satisfactory profits in business. The joint venture negotiations end up failing if the two parties have differing views on the life of the business strategy (Sheppard 1-7). Formulation of a consistent and working strategy when facing a negotiation across culture could be quite tasking to a management team. Its implementation is also no easier. Many factors relating to inter-cultural issues do affect the success or failure of a negotiation strategy employed. If not successfully implemented, formulated strategies may fail. Their implementation therefore depends on how effective one applies his or her knowledge of cross-cutting factors among different cultural groups involved in the process. Institutional based relationships are also important when it comes to strategy formulation and implementation. These relate to relationships

Organizational Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Organizational Managment - Essay Example In this regard, it has been observed that the organizational change usually brings a change in the quality, cost and satisfaction of the product or service that the organization manufactures or produces, respectively. For instance, Reid et al. (2010) undertook a detailed study of the health care organizations to evaluate the change in the quality, cost and satisfaction in the organization after the incorporation of patient-centric medical home model. The model required that the healthcare policies and regulations should be re-written with the focus on patient care, requirements, needs and wants instead of management’s point of view. As a result, the study showed that after the implementation of the model, the patient’s burnout cases, their experiences at the hospital and the costs of the facility have improved substantially within the lapse of twenty four months since the incorporation. This shows that there is a positive relationship of the cost, quality and satisfacti on of organization and its customers with the organizational change. Reid, R.J., et. al. (2010). The group health medical home at year two: cost savings, higher patient satisfaction, and less burnout for providers. Health Affairs, 29 (5): pp. 835-843. Retrieved 29 July 2012 from

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Corporate startegy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate startegy - Essay Example Later, on 31 March 1974, the merger of all the four companies resulted in the formation of the British Airways. The company started its expansion by acquiring British Caledonian in the year 1987 and Dan-Air in the year 1992. It has formed an alliance with the American Airlines, Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Canadian Airlines. This alliance is the third largest alliance after Star Alliance and the Sky Team. The parent company of British Airways, International Airlines Group, is a listed company in the FTSE 100 Index and the London Stock Exchange. The dedication of the volunteers along with the collection of arts and the loyalty and the generosity of the employees and the former colleagues has helped the company to achieve a successful position in the United Kingdom. As already mentioned above, the British Airways is a merger of the four companies BOAC, BEA, Cambrian Airways and the North East Airlines. The current alliance of the company along with the American Airlines, Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Canadian Airlines has made it the third largest alliance. The company is presently operating in 150 different destinations, six of which are located in the domestic land. British Airways is one of the top premium airlines in the world. It provides vital arteries for investment and trade, at the same time meeting the demands of the customers for the holiday trips and family reunion as well as the business travel. World Cargo which is the subsidiary of the British Airways is the twelfth largest cargo airline in the whole world in respect of tonne fright kilometres which is travelled. BA CityFlyer which is a fully owned subsidiary of British Airways operates and carries its customers to twenty different destinations in Europe. Although it focuses mainly on the financial markets, but it has extended its operations and recently achieved a successful position in the leisure market also. There are various

Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Movement - Essay Example In my opinion, the human brain is quite a powerful organ for it normally plays a major role when it comes to the issue of sight because whereas it is capable of making the visible become invisible, it can also do the vice versa. In this study besides addressing the aspect of visual illusions, it also analyses the issue of movement, this is by relaying information on whether movement is actual or is it just an illusion. Illusions normally come when one tends to perceive something is in a form different from the actual form (Conway et al.). Illusions are of different types, in the case of movement, optical illusion is an illusion related to sight. During the occurrence of an optical illusion, a number of brain regions are involved in accordance with aspects like shape and color. Studies contend the most common form of optical illusion is that of movement especially when objects appear to be in motion but it is the contrary in reality. For instance, when in a film theatre, one normally has the perception that he or she is watching a motion picture though studies prove this is not the case. Films are not motion pictures but rather comprise of thousands of still pictures shown in series and in so doing make the viewer have the perception that they are moving (Carrol & Choi 287). I think this perception is true, whereby a motion comes because of static repeated patterns. Mainly, this comes due to the in voluntary eye movements such as blinking, normally triggered by the brain intentionally in a move to create a shortcut, hence not showing some of the information. Studies show that eyeballs of humans are normally in constant vibration, which is imperceptible. However, when one sees an object, neurons end up emitting negative signals stronger compared to the positive ones (Llg & Guillaume 19). This is due to the optical illusions that take place. Optical illusion, also known as illusionary motion is a situation whereby static

Long Term vs. Short Term Focus in Communication Essay Example for Free

Long Term vs. Short Term Focus in Communication Essay There are pragmatic differences between sales promotion and advertising, which marketers must bear in mind when attempting to communicate with the customers. The same case will apply when marketers attempt to communicate with customer by defining the appropriate media and non-media communications that are aimed at driving customer interest, demand and sale upwards. Brand value does not always increase the sale of the product depending on the price of the product and affordability. Instead, brand value may be more instrumental in customer retention. In the short term, discounts have the potential of increasing product sales, but in the long term, the customers’ perception of the product may be negative or positive as they ponder over why there was a discount. Primary Differences between sales promotion and advertising There are fundamental differences between sales promotion and advertising. Advertising is the form of communication via the diversity of media with the goal of persuading and making people aware of products or services. Advertising is equally a service to the target and consumers to inform them with truthful contents that are ethically generated in order for it to be accepted by the public. Advertisements are clear, truthful, tasteful, precise, original, reputable and ethical communications to the public. (Guideline Marketing, 1998). Sales promotion is the application of incentives to elicit a positive reaction by the consumer. Sales promotion gives the consumer advantages of using the product or service on promotion. Sale promotions are characterised by sponsorship, free gifts and vouchers, public forum of information, exhibited, educative and consultative. Therefore the fundamental difference between and advertisement and sales promotion is the on their acceptability by the consumers. (Guideline Marketing, 1998). Some media and non-media marketing communication that are typically employed to increase customer interest, demand and sales The media marketing communication that are typically employed to increase customer interest demand and sales are digital media, print media, pod casting , narrow casting and broadcasting, posting mails, telephone marketing, among others. (Promotion and integrated marketing communications, 2007) Non media marketing communication that are typically employed to increase customer interest, demand and sales are price discounts, non-media advertising, special offers, sales coupons, product and services sampling, product and service price rebates, competitions and raffles, games, product and service premium offers and counter promotions. (Promotion and integrated marketing communications, 2007) Does brand value always increase with increasing sales of the product? Not always does value always increases with increasing sale of the product. Perhaps it may help in customer retention. But in some instances, it can increase sales because more sales are a sign that the customers are crediting the brand as well as their perceptions to the product. This has implications that more sales are solidifying the brand value as long as the product is being sold for the purpose of brand building. Brand values that have increased sales due to high sale imply that the brand value is attractive. When the sales increase, there are signs that the customers are satisfied and are bound to make references to other over the value of the brand. (Bacak, 2006). How discounts have the potential to affect short term sales and long term brand value. Under a good marketing management, discounts have the potential of positively affective the short term sales and long term brand value depending on the perceptions of the customers on the brand following the discount. The understanding discount strategy is that the sale force is not overwhelmingly profit motivated. Instead, the priority is to create value that customer perceive as satisfactory. Most business would create a discount to enable more consumers interact with the product or service. (Lin Lin, 2007, p. 1-131). According to Aaker (1991), discounts will provide short term sales competitiveness while customer benefit from the value that will be enhanced in the long term. During the time that a brand is under discount sale force, the consumers are given a chance to identify the product or service with their needs. (Lin Lin, 2007, p. 1-131). An example of products where price discounts positive short term sales increase and long term brand value is the cosmetics. In this case the higher the discount the higher the sales as long as the brand image is highly placed. Thus as soon as the discount is initiated, the short term sales shoot up and the consumers perception of the brand shift and this may be positive or negative. If negative, the consumer could be expecting even more price discounts in the long term. (Lin Lin, 2007, p. 130). Conclusion: This marketing communication paper has come out with very important lessons. First, in order to be successful in marketing communication, it is important to understand the fundamental differences between sale promotion and advertising so that the choice of media and non media communication can be rewarding to the marketing plan. Second, the possibility of an increasing brand value to increase sale is hinged on other factors like affordability. Finally, product price discounts have a short term effect of increased sales but a mixed effect on the brand value in the long term. Reference Aaker, D. A. (1991).Managing Brand Equity:Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name, NY: The FreePress. Bacak, M. (2006, March 18). The Benefit of Branding: Increase Your Sales and Promote Your Product by Building a Solid Brand. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Benefit-of-Branding:-Increase-Your-Sales-and-Promote-Your-Product-by-Building-a-Solid-Brandid=163889 Guideline Marketing, (1998). Guidelines for publicity, advertising, practice promotion and allied marketing activities. Retrieved on April 10th, 2009, available at http://www. capelawsoc. law. za/Files%20for%20New%20Website/Guidelines/Advertising%20E. doc Lin, N. Lin B. , (2007, August). The effects of Brand Image and Products Knowledge on Purchase Intention Moderated by Price Discounts. Journal of International Management Studies. P. 1-131. Promotion and Integrated Marketing Communications, (2007). Marketing communications. Retrieved on April 10th, 2009, available at http://www2. cob. ilstu. edu/jsattaw/MKT%20230/Lectures/Lecture%209%20%20Promotion%20and%20Integrated%20Marketing%20Communication. ppt

Basketball Gender Discrimination

Basketball Gender Discrimination Many studies from past centuries in countless different fields of research have shown that there are rampant increases of gender inequality in many fields. In the field of sports, this not something unheard of, but it has been a common trend in the past games and sports events. Several sociologists have been reported to claim that sport inequality has taken several dimensions such as gender, wealth and social class categories. These are said to have been brought about by cultural and economics differences which are the key players to discrimination in all sort of classification. (Wolff, 1994) Although many people despite sport and games, there is a major role played by both in bridging and alleviate the norm of community cultures that brings social discrimination leading to inequality. While focusing on my favorite hobby basketball, I am first and foremost thrilled to give brief details of its history. Basketball is a sport that started at about two centuries ago. It begun in early December in the year 1891 by a famous man named James Naismith. This was at a time when there was serious search for indoor games intended to keep students occupied. Furthermore, like any other sporting event, it was not only for the keeping of the student occupied but also for the maintenance of proper level of fitness during the winter season in New England. This followed after the search for proper game that was neither tough nor too poorly designed in door plays. During such early times, the event used peach baskets which were replaced in the early twentieth century by metal hoops with blac kboards. The rules which the founders of the game wrote were found in the year 2006 and were basically invented from children’s game named duck and rock. (Wolff, 1994) Basketball game was first played by a group of young men in the young Christian gymnasium in the year 1892. This was founded in London England, which was an institutional organization that was dedicated to using Christian principles into practice to young men. The living conditions for these young men were not safe and were often neglected, thus the beginning of the game was a hallmark of bring change in the sociological arena, as this was a way substituting there life on the streets for prayer and bible study and drawing them into a new social kind of life. However, the first encounter of the composition of the sport participants is of great concern in terms of inequality. Despite the noble ideas of George William for starting such an organization which were quite unusual, and which crossed the inflexible lines that separated all the different social classes of all those lived in the England boundary; the whole community was entirely male dominated. Perhaps, this was as a result of the first intentions for creation of male institution and not an institution for both genders. Thus, the young men’s Christian association was initially composed mostly by males, showing an enormous skewed trend in the men’s side in the institutional composition. Following the interest of some of the enlightened women, there was a great struggle between the basketball leaders of the early period to include females this particular sport. However, this was all in vanity. The only achievement that yielded from such struggles was the abolishment of admitting the only males to the organization and soon or later the association would provide opportunities to all men, women and even children without any regard to racial, religious or nationality back grounds. (Axthelm, 1971 The inclusion of women in the organization was a major advantage to them. This paved way and gave them a chance to in the participation of this today’s world class game. They had opportunities to watch how the game was organized and they even got entertained as they watch the men play. The inclusion of females to actively take part in such a game was a real ordeal. Men were unwilling to help the women group to establish their own club. Therefore, it took a lot of time to establish a women’s team as they lack full support from the expert side of men. It took all the efforts of one of the females to come up with a women’s. This work was under taken by a renowned woman in the history of basketball by the name Senda Bereson. She set on his work to teach women basketball in the year of 1892, which is almost at one year after the men’s play had begun. In her work, she was fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach. Thus she organized the first wom en’s basketball in the following year. In order to improve the performances of the women play, she used to watch plays performed by smith’s freshmen as they played against sophomores. She was also interested on improving the rules and regulations for the female basketball. Her work of writing new guidelines came into culmination when she published the first women’s basketball guide. This furthered the spreading of the women basketball and lead to improvement of the version of basketball for women. (Bonsor, 2006) Although, the spreading of basketball from young men’s Christian association was one of the major events that saw great removal social barriers in most countries, by enabling the spreading of the game throughout the United States and Canada. But due to some misuse of their initial ideas by some groups in the development and improvement of the game standards, within a few decades, they had to discourage the new sport terming it as rough and rowdy game. The game had turned to be involved in spreading political and economic challenges. Women had started to turn into lesbians during such games. However, their efforts to do away with it were all in vain. Amateur clubs, colleges and professional clubs could quickly fill the void and argument the spread faster than before. Pro –league were formed in the beginning of the twentieth century which included the national basketball league. This was put in place to protect all the players from exploitation and to promote a lesser rou gh game. The parties who were involved were supposed to provide security to men, boy. (Axthelm, 1971) With the effect of the spreading of the game, many institutions also embraced it. By the time it had gone for over five decades, basketball had become a major college sport. This in turn gave birth to the growth of professional basketball. Following the great concerns of different people from all parts of the worlds in the early 20s to 30s, the game had been almost in practice in all the developed and developing countries. Due to its introduction in most countries, the game has formed part in the major competitions that are taking place in the today’s world competitions. This includes Olympic Games and many more others. This as one way of providing opportunities to people to interact, it gave people from different continents, countries and ethnic groups to come together and share experiences and cultural traditions from different backgrounds. From the early researches, it is shown that head’s school played its first women’s inter-institutional game against the Un iversity of California in the year of 1892. From this period, several women clubs were started for basketball events. This lead to increased intercollegiate women’s game. However most of the coaches of that time were men drawn from the different part of the states. Thus, there was disparity in the composition of the bodies which were charged with the responsibilities of organizing, managing and controlling the sport. This perhaps was due to the fact that most men had developed much interest in the event, thus they had an ease of learning the requirements and operation of the game. At the same time most college seemed to encourage the participation of men in the play than any other group. For instances, by the start of the twentieth century, many colleges and universities in the United States began sponsoring men’s sports. These included universities such as university of Chicago, Columbia University, university of Manniseto, U.S. naval academy, university of Utah, Yale University and many more others. This accelerated the disparity in the participation of men to women basketball. Another major reason which might have contributed to this disparity is that, historical, participation of women in sports was discouraged or banned as they were viewed as people with tender masculine who could not tolerate the strenuous stretching activities which are involved in sports and games. (Axthelm, 1971): However, as civilization and education enlighment dawned to most of the people, the altitude towards the basketball sporting changed with time in an amazing manner. In the developed countries where civilization and technology begun, they had formed several folds of women’s basketball committees in the year 1910. These were geared towards the mitigation of girls’ child performances in sports. National and international women’s basketball executive committees were also raised. These could organize women’s basketball competitions in different colleges and universities. In addition, they were in charge of state tournaments and nationals women’s basketball championships hence being mandated with the same powers as men. On the same empowerment, men and women were given the same equality, and this resulted into the application of men rules in the play game. The women’s competitions of 1940s were conducted using the men’s rule hence it is said that women played against men in several championships. (Wolff, 1991) In the recent reports from different broadcasting and news papers, journals and internet sources, it has been reviewed that there is enough supporting bodies for the both men a basketball. These bodies ensures that there enough money to spent on equipments, training, travel and uniforms for males. They are mostly focusing on both the child boy child in schools, so there is more disparity which is being experienced in the present and the near future. To a larger extend, they are committed to ensuring that even cheering opportunities are areas of discrimination. By mixing the cheering squads for both men and women, they can try to alleviate the general phenomenon of favourism. Once the authorities are on their hand, they have recently fired and made reshuffling of coaches in various men and women basketball teams. There are increases in percentages in the admissions of recruits for women to curb the problem of disparity which was created by the old practices and culture by our forefath ers. (Bonsor, 2006) References: Axthelm, P. (1971): The City Game. Wolff, A. (1991):100 Years of Hoops. Wolff, A. (1994): The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia .2nd Ed. Bonsor, K. (2006): Newly found documents shed light on basketballs birth. ESPN.com. Associated Press -Retrieved on 2008-03-7.

Analysis of China as a Superpower

Analysis of China as a Superpower The Dragon Awakes – Will China be the next superpower? China is a sleeping dragon. When it awakes, the world will shake†. (Eccleston H, 2004, p290). Napoleon Bonaparte made this prophetic comment regarding China in 1808 and it would seem that today China has indeed awoken. (Optimize, 2004p. 1). China has had unprecedented economic growth at around 9.5% perineum, a statistic even more impressive amazing bearing in mind that only in 1978 China was poorer than Korea and Taiwan were in the 1960s. (Nye 1997-98 p. 67). China also shows signs of extending its economic reach and is expanding its ventures into developed states. Only recently the Chinese firm Nanjing bought the British ailing car firm MG rover for  £50 million. (BBC News 2006 p. 1). Also in 2005 the Chinese Lenovo Group acquired IBM’s PC business making Lenovo the third largest PC Company in the world. (Economic Times, 2005 p. 1) There is also a huge inflow of FDI (foreign direct investment) into China. China has established 22,245 new firms attracting $59.2 billion in FDI making a total of $33.4 billion in 2003. This makes China the top destination for FDI and a country that firms want to do business with. (People’s Daily, 2003). It is thought by some observers that China’s economy at its present rate could eventually overtake that of the US(United States). (Nye 1997-98 p. 67). If this is so, could China surpass the US in other areas and displace the US as the world superpower. There will be huge implication for international relations if this is to be the case. The writer’s hypothesis is that China’s rise to superpower status will mean a shift of economic, military and cultural power from the west tithe east. Drawing on the work of John Mearsheimer that states are power maximizes, China will continue to pursue power in a bid to become the most powerful state in the international system, a position currently occupied by the US. (Mearsheimer 2001 p. 21). Even those who advocate that the spread of liberalism will lessen the need for the pursuit of power have not been able to ignore this development. Fukuyama in his book â€Å"America at the Crossroads† says that social engineering like that seen in Iraq leads to unexpected consequences and undermines its own ends. Therefore actions which are put forward as promoting peace and democracy turn into something they were not intended to be, the promotion of the national interest of the US. (New York Times, 2006 p. 2). Therefore a state whose power is so big it is unchecked is unable to police itself and act benevolently in the anarchic system. Its main concern is the accumulation of power and it will not be satisfied as purported by Waltz’ defensive realist view, by only seeking to acquire as much power so as to feel secure. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 169-170). A world dominated by China A world dominated by China may be very different than the present world that has for the last two centuries been dominated by a western power. As already mentioned China’s rise will not result in it being status quo power and therefore it will not be happy to work within system determined by western values. (Guardian 2005 p. 2). China has different values to that of the west and its rise will lead to the promotion of those values through its economic, military and institutional power. Therefore as Huntingdon notes, the new fault-lines will not be between ideologies like the two World Wars and the Cold War but between civilizations. This is due to the different views that cultures have in regard to relationships such as the citizen and the state, husband and wife, liberty and equality. (Huntingdon 1993 p.25). The west has promoted its values of liberalism as being the universal values of the world community. But due to the anarchic structure of the system these values have been used to promote its national interest. China will appeal to those states who have different view of the world that the one being put forward by the US and other western states. These states will have similar cultural values to China which stress the subordination of individual rights and elevate consensus differ from the western beliefs of liberty, equality and individualism. (Huntingdon 1993 p. 29). Indeed China is forging links with states that the US deems as rogue states such as Iran with its recent gas deal worth $100 billion. The US has imposed economic sanctions on Iran and this gas deal is a clear sign that China does not intend to work within a system determined by the US. Further, Iran is looking to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which could act as a counterweight to US institutional power. (Asia Times 2004 p.1-2). The writer will look at China’s potential superpower status using the neo-realist theory and its conceptual and methodological framework. This will entail the use of secondary research methods by exploring the concepts of neo-realism through the scholars in this field. This theory rose to prominence during the late 1970s due to the writings of Kenneth Waltz. (Buzau in Zale ski 2002 p. 49). It rests on the earlier realist perspective of writers such as E H Carr and Hans Morgenthau, which was dominant in international relations in the post-World War II era. Realism also rose due to the inability of the liberal perspective and its principles to maintain peace in Europe. (Bur chill, 2001 p. 71). It was concerned with the causes of war and ways in which it can be prevented. (Buzau in Zale ski 2002 p. 48). EH Carr’s â€Å"The Twenty Years Crisis† was a critique of the liberal view that co-operation, under institutions such as the League of Nations, would render war obsolete. Carr’s theory was proven when World War I broke out the day after his book was published. (Bur chill 2001 p.71). Morgenthau’s work, Politics Amongst Nations (1948) sought to apply positivist methodology used in the natural sciences to international relations. Thus we can draw objective knowledge and laws from the social world in the same way that we can from the natural world. (Bur chill 2001 p. 77). He maintains that politics is governed by objective laws rooted in human nature and that human nature is reflected in the way states behave. The outcomes of the interaction of states are due to the behaviour of statesmen and thus human nature. (Bur chill 2001 p. 83). Morgenthau and Carr draw on a long philosophical heritage going back to the writings of Thucydides 460BCto 406BC and Niccole Machiavelli 1469 to 1527. The neo-realist perspective came about in response to the rise of liberal internationalism and their interdependency theory in the1970s. Neo-realism engages with this approach that deems the state tube less significant in an interdependent world due to the rise of institutions, regimes and transnational corporations. (Bailys Smith 2005 171). Realism recognised that it had to develop new tools to analyse these new developments. Thus realism reinvented itself sane-realism, acknowledging that such non-governmental actors exist, but they have to work within an anarchical international system where there is no overall authority above that of the sovereign state. This means states can never fully co-operate within these institutions due to the possibility that one state may gain more out of this co-operation. The anarchic structure of the system is where neo-realism departs from the earlier realist theory that human nature determines how states behave. Waltz’ systemic approach Waltz’ systemic approach is that it is the structure of the international system that determines the way states behave and not human nature. Despite this departure it can be said that there are core theoretical elements that underpin the earlier classical realism, modern realism of Carr and Morgenthau and Waltz’s structural realism. This is known as the realist triangle of state, survival and self-help. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). The primary actor in the international system is the state. This can be traced back to Thucydides’ time when the unit of analysis waste city-state or polis. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). That said, Carr and Morgenthau were less state-centric in that they did not envisage the state as the final form of political community. (Burchill2001 p. 76). The state is the only legitimate representative of the people and it uses this legitimacy to wield its authority within and outside the state. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). The second core element is that of survival. The priority of the state is to ensure its own survival in the anarchic structure of the international system. This concept is present in Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince† which details what leaders must do to keep hold of their power. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 174). The third concept is that of self-help that Waltz deems necessary to gain security in an anarchic structure. Hedley Bull’s â€Å"The Anarchical Society†(1977) concurs with Waltz that all states exist in an anarchical society where there is no higher authority than the sovereign state. Therefore national interest is the state’s first duty that ensures the right for citizens to feel secure within state borders. Self-help is necessary as this cannot been trusted to anyone else and this is achieved through the accumulation of power to reduce vulnerability in the anarchic system of states. The state’s first â€Å"law of motion† is to preserve the state and in order to do this it must pursue power. (Bailys Smith p. 162-3, 169). The writer has also been inspired by the academic Paul Kennedy (1989)in his book: â€Å"The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. The writer will use this thesis to assess whether China is rising at the expense of the decline of the US. According to Kennedy’s thesis the rise and fall of power is cyclical thus once a great power has arisen it must inevitably fall. A state that has achieved economic strength will protect that strength using military power but this involves great cost. Eventually the cost will be too great and the power will decline and be replaced as evidence by the decline of Britain in 1873. (Nye 1990 p. 3) The United States has undoubtedly been the great power of the 20thCentury. Will it remain so during the 21st century or will it fall and be replaced by China thus confirming Kennedy’s thesis that all great powers will eventually follow this decline thus paving the way for the next great power? There are those who believe the era of the superpower is coming to amend. Fukuyama believes that states will not need to rival each other for power. The spread of liberal democracy and its sidekick liberal economy has â€Å"triumphed† over other regimes. (Fukuyama 1992). It is further believed that open economies create interdependency and sharing of common interests. (Nye 1997-98 p. 76). Also, the state is in relative decline due to the emergence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and (World Bank) and also MNCs (multinational corporations. (Bailys Smith 164). Even in the US Congress the former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich does not regard China’s growth as in any way a threat whilst there are those who have views to the contrary. This highlights how the theoretical debate translates into apolitical one. There are those who view the universalism of western liberalism as unchallengeable and now the norm. This view may be borne out by the fragmentation of the Soviet Union but Matthew Rees views China’s position as similar to that of the Soviet Union in that it threatens western values of liberty and democracy. (Nye 1997-98 p.65-66) . Mearsheimer has also warned of complacency against the Chinese threat, stating of the current good relation between the two states: â€Å"this US policy (of containment) is misguided. A wealthy China would not be a status quo power, but an aggressive state, determined to achieve regional hegemony† (Mearsheimer 2001) Another writer in this field Joseph Nye refutes the claim that the state is in relative decline. His thesis is that the classic realist view of states as the most important actors cannot be disputed due merely to the rise of NGOs. This is because it underestimates the nature of the system of states that is anarchic in structure. Therefore if there is no higher authority to settle disputes the state cannot leave its survival to others. It must ensure its own survival and the only way this can be done is for the state to increase its power capabilities. (Bailys Smith 164). Thus in regard to on-state actors it is â€Å"business as usual† in that non-state actors must still work within a system of states. Thus states will still vie for power within these organisations. (Bailys Smith p. 173). This is the soft power element of the state. Definition of power â€Å"Man’s control over the minds and actions of other men†. (Morgenthau (1948) cited in Bailys Smith p. 173) Power is a highly contested concept because it is difficult to assess what elements actually constitute power. The traditional view of powers the possession of resources that include the size of population and territory, military might and economic strength. (Nye 1990 p. 26). Thus the resources of each state can be measured and compared. But measurement is not enough as evidenced during World War Two when France and Britain had more tanks that Germany but still Germany was able to outmanoeuvre the allies. Therefore when assessing power we also need to assess a state’s ability to convert its resources into such power assume states can do this more effectively than others. (Nye 1990 p.27). These avenues to power will be explored and the evidence that China has these capabilities will be extrapolated. The basis for power does not remain unchanged and must be assessed in its own context. For example the basis for power in 18th Century Europe was its population as it provided soldiers and tax resources. Today it is much more difficult to pinpoint the resources that provide the basis for power. (Nye 1990 p. 27) It is therefore not sufficient to look at the concept of power merely in terms of hard power or tangible resources. As Nye has noted in the post-cold war era there has been a shift in the balance of power in the anarchic system. The bipolar world has shifted to one that is unipolar with the US as the sole superpower. The US has exhibited all the usual traits associated with this position such as military, economic and territorial strength. But advances in technology and the emergence of NGOs and MNCs have meant a closer more interdependent world. Interdependence between states does not mean co-operation as liberals purport. It can be used to further national interest and this type of influence is the intangible soft power element of state apparatus. (Nye 1990 p.30). We can see soft power in action through the Washington consensus where the US is the leader in these institutions. We can also see soft power through the spread of the US’s liberal ideology in terms of economics and politics in what Fukuyama has called the â€Å"Triumph of Liberal Democracy†. (Fukuyama, 1992). This soft power has served to reinforce the US’s hard power resources by gaining it consent and legitimacy as the dominant power. (Nye 1990 p. 33). The universalism of American culture has also helped to further the power of the US by enabling it to establish values and beliefs that are consistent with its own society. Therefore the thesis of this dissertation is that China will be the next superpower by maximizing it’s hard power resources to secure itself in the anarchic system of states. Also, due to interdependence among states and the growth forgoes and MNCs it will seek soft power in its pursuit of power capabilities. The consequences of this systemic shift will mean the promotion of Eastern collective values over Western liberal individualistic tendencies. Part One: Hard Power Resources The Economy: If, as Kennedy suggests, China’s rise will be at the expense of the US, then at present most US concerns are directed at rapidly growing Chinese economy. There are certainly some impressive claims being made about the rise of Chinese economic power. Jeremy Warner writes that â€Å"like it or not, from China’s impact on finite world resources to climate change and the laws of supply and demand, it is transforming the way we live with a speed barely imaginable just a few years ago(The Independent January 27, 2006). Over the last 27 years, China has grown at an average rate of 9.6 present per annum, reaching a GDP of  £2.2 trillion in 2005 (The Independent January 27, 2006). In 1979, China represented 1 per cent of the world economy, with foreign trade totalling $20.6 billion. Today China accounts for 4 per cent of the world economy, with $851 billion in foreign trade, the third largest in the world (Fijian 2005, p19).There is of course still a lot of progress to be made – China’s economy for example is still only one seventh the size of that of the US(Fijian 2005, p19) but it is the rate of growth, along with plans for future expansion, the country’s high savings ratio, and plans to expand supplies of nuclear , clean coal, hydro-electric and renewable forms of energy that lead US experts to believe that one day China will challenge the US as the world’s dominant superpower. Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary has compared the integration of China into the w orld economy as one of the three great economic events of the last millennium – on a par with the renaissance and the industrial revolution (The Independent, July 23, 2005). The US has had similar fears about economic competition in the past. In the early 1980s it had concerns about the economic successes being enjoyed by Germany and Japan – fears that were allayed after stagnation in both countries. With China however, US fears appear to be deeper-rooted, primarily at the incredible rate of progress seen in China. Whilst the US economy may still be much larger at present, the rate of growth in China will continue to narrow the gap quickly. And of course, there is an ideological issue at the heart of the US fears about China– how is a Communist country succeeding where others have stumbled? The answer lies partly in America’s own attempts to take advantage of the economic conditions in China when Deng Xiaoping began to open up China to the rest of the world. China had historically been an insular nation, separated from the rest of the world and failing to make the most of its earlier technological advances. Deng understood that whilst China had a huge labour force, to succeed it needed to be organised, competitive in international markets and producing the type of goods that the rest of the world wanted to buy. For this to happen, China would need help from the outside world. The result has been huge foreign investments as companies from across the world have attempted to take advantage of China’s low labour costs. As Stephen King concludes, foreign investors have turned China into the world’s biggest assembly plant: â€Å"China may be a one-party state, but the authorities know all about Adam Smith and the division of labour† (The Independent, February 13, 2006). China is gradually picking off the economies of other G7 nations. Whilst its economy is still considerably smaller than Americas, by the end of 2004 it was bigger economically than France, Italy and Canada(The Independent, February 13, 2006). Germany and Japan are likely tube overtaken soon and then China will have the US firmly in its sights. It will have the opportunity to challenge US regional and global hegemony. Whilst there is an optimistic view that the economic growth in China will lead to long-term mutually beneficial cooperation with the US, more likely outcome is growing tension between the two. As China continues to grow, it will gradually begin to demand more of the world’s scarce resources – oil prices for example are already high and may be pushed higher by Chinese demand. The same will happen with other commodities with the result that China’s success increases the commodity bill for US consumers and increases global competition for raw materials. The US consumer may also put pressure on the government to curb Chinese economic expansion. With petrol being so lightly taxed in the US, motorists are affected directly by oil price rises. As The Economist reports: â€Å"they want somebody to blame and they may have heard that China is scouring the world to lock op oil supplies for its own ‘energy security’† (The Economist, September 3, 2005). Both the US and China have some common economic interests. Both benefit from free trade for example. However, with China now exporting six times as much to the US as it imports from it (The Economist, September3, 2005)., it is now China that has the most to gain, something of an irony after years of America hammering on its door to access Chinese markets. There have also been concerns in the US that China is trying to but its way into strategic assets within the US. In June 2005,CNOOC, a Chinese state controlled company attempted to buy Unocal, medium sized US oil company. Hawks within the US administration argued against allowing oil firms to fall into Chinese hands and, with public opinion in the US against the deal, it eventually fell through. The Chinese view on globalisation has been mixed. There is a view that globalisation gives a stronger reason for economic cooperation between economically strong states and certainly the acceptance of global brands into Chinese culture supports the argument that it has embraced globalisation. On the other hand, globalisation tends to reinforce US and Western interests first and foremost and the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis has convinced many within China that it could expose Chinese economic vulnerability. As Foot concludes: â€Å"with America’s advantage in technological innovation, revolution in military affairs and cultural domination, globalisation seemed to confer gains on Washington and thus further to reinforce the unipolar structure† (Foot2006 p82). Military Power To assess China’s rise to Superpower status we need to look at how it ranks in regard to military strength and capability. (Waltz 1979 p.131). The Neo-Realist view is that the nation-state is the most natural form of society and it should be defended for the national good. (Kennedy p. 90). Armies are essential for controlling land and bringing security to the nation state and which is the main objective in a world of states in a system of anarchy. (Mearsheimer p. 86). Due to competition for resources in a world of anarchy military powers a crucial instrument of the national interest. (Garnett, 1987 p.71). Thus military power is monopolised by states and used to protect states from external force. It is the capacity to kill, coerce or destroy and plays a significant part in international politics that will not be supplanted until the system of states is transformed. (Garnett 1987, p. 69-71). Those who have the most military strength are usually the most influential and the most respected in the system and certainly a proposition shared by Mao Ste-Tung’s saying that â€Å"political power grows out of the barrel of a gun†. (Garnett 1987, p.74). Recent analyses of the Chinese military threat from Washington have expressed growing concern. The 2005 Pentagon report concluded that China could threaten not just its smaller regional neighbours like Taiwan but eventually â€Å"modern militaries operating in the region.† This can be taken to include the US. (Washington Post July 23, 2005). Yee and Storey suggest that there are a number of contributing factors to the belief that China is gradually attempting to extend its influence in the region – 1)its territorial disputes with other countries in the region have intensified, 2) its rapid economic development has accelerated its military modernisation process and 3)China has elevated re-unification with Taiwan as a higher priority following the successful retrocession of Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau in1999(Yee and Storey, p4). These factors can be interpreted as evidence of strategic expansion in the region, with territorial claims on the islets in the South China Sea being seen in particular by China’s neighbours as a sign of a policy of expansion. The hard-line policy on Taiwan and the refusal to abandon the threat of military force against it is also seen as evidence of an aggressive state. As Harry Harding writes: â€Å"the rest of the world has viewed the prospect of a Greater China with both fascination and alarm. Some see it in benign terms, as a dynamic common market that provides growing opportunities for trade and investment. More frequently, however, there has been concern that the combination of economic and military resources available to China will pose a significant threat to the commercial vitality and the strategic stability of the rest of the region† (Yee and Storey p4). There is certainly evidence that China is building up its military capability to the point where it could at least challenge the US in the region. Whilst Kennedy had written in 1989 that China’s army is strong numerically but â€Å"woefully under equipped in modern instruments of war†(Kennedy 1989, p577), more recently China has bolstered its naval, submarine and cruise missile capabilities, is in the process of purchasing advanced aircraft systems and is building a nuclear missile arsenal that is capable of striking virtually all of the United States(Washington Post, July 23, 2005). Whilst much has been made of Chinese reforms since 1979 since in terms of economic growth, it is important to realise that there have been great efforts made to reorganise the military from the early 1980sonwards. Plans were put in place to reduce the People’s Liberation Army from 4.2 million to 3 million (Kennedy 1989, p579) and develop a much more professional force with a higher quality of personnel. In 2000, the total estimated strength of the Chinese military was 2.5million, of which an estimated 1.8 million are ground forces. The overall strategy for the PLA is an overall reduction and reorganisation of both equipment and personnel with a view to creating a more modern and mobile army. In terms of equipment, China falls a long way behind the US military but is looking to modernise. It has a tank inventory of around10,000,many of which are Soviet or Chinese built. Its air force possesses around 4,350 aircraft, the majority of which are combat aircraft. The government is also looking to develop a local aerospace industry that would have the capability to produce technologically advanced aircraft, whilst continuing to import aircraft from Russia. The government also has plans to buy a number of AWAC aircraft from Israel. More recently there have been statements from Chinese military strategists that indicate that China is gearing up to use its military hard power resources. Taiwan will be the most likely arena for the flexing of Chinese military power. General Wen Zinger , political commissar of the Academy of Military Science has stated that the Taiwan problem â€Å"is of far reaching significance to breaking international forces blockade against China’s rise†¦ to rise suddenly, China must pass through oceans and go out of the oceans in its future development(Washington Post July 23, 2005). For proponents of the Chinese threat, such statements support the realist view that China is seeking to increase then demonstrate its power in the international arena. Just as Morgenthau argues that the pursuit of power in world politics is both natural and justified, surrealists will argue that China will become unsatisfied with the existing global power structure and adopt a policy of imperial expansionism aimed at attaining both regional and global hegemony (Yeaned Storey 2002, p7). Whilst China also has the option of economic and cultural means to accomplish its strategic objectives, military force remains the most traditional form of imperialism, and the most likely course for China to take once its economy is fully developed. Joseph Nye observes that the ‘rise’ of China is actually a misnomer and that a more accurate term would be the re-emergence of China. Certainly, China has long been a major power in East Asia, and technologically and economically it was the world’s leader (though without global reach) from 500 to 1500, before being overtaken by Europe and America. Indeed, China’s re-emergence would equate with Kennedy’s argument that power across the globe is cyclical. China already has some issues with the US and the other great powers over foreign policies. As a member of the UN Security Council it has traditionally opposed the views of Western states on the international arena and is continuing to do so in spite of its closer economic ties with the West. Whilst China may accept that at the present time it must operate in a US-dominated unipolar world, it believes that its future should at least lie in a multipolar world encompassing the US, China, Europe, Russia and Japan (Foot, 2006, p81). Certainly during the 1990sthere was Chinese unease at the continued American dominance in global affairs with issues such as further NATO expansion eastward, the renegotiation of terms of the US-Japan alliance, US defence missile systems and intervention in Kosovo being of particular concern. China’s population can be both a hard power resource and a burden. Its current population of 1.3 billion is expected to continue to rise until2030 when it will peak at 1.5 billion before going into decline. Population of such a size is of course a huge resource in terms of manpower, yet a huge burden on the domestic economy and from a domestic security point of view and massive number of people over which to maintain effective control. Western states continue to lobby the Chinese government for greater democratisation, yet the fear of anarchy from a more liberalised system would appear to be keeping the leadership committed to an authoritarian regime. From a realist perspective, it is the combination of economic and military power of China that will ultimately lead to conflict with thus. The build-up of such hard resources will be seen as a threat by thus regardless of any ‘good neighbour’ policies that Chinese diplomats may point to. Realists within the US policy making sphere will argue that China is merely biding its time until its economy is strong enough to provide a basis for future hegemony. Thucydides argument that the belief in the inevitability of conflict can be the cause of war is appropriate here – if both sides believe they will eventually end up in conflict, the military build-up will continue, economic cooperation will fade away, and conflict will become unavoidable. China will eventually have to seek further power in order. Certainly, as the Chinese economy continues to grow, it is likely that its military power will increase. For example, early in 2005, it announced a 12.6 per cent increase in defence spending (Nye, Daily Times March 27, 2005), something that makes it appear more dangerous touts neighbours and further complicating US military commitments in Asia. A RAND study has projected that China’s military expenditure will be more than six times higher than Japans by 2015 and accumulated military capital stock at around five times higher (Daily Times, March27, 2005), again something that suggests it is looking to achieve regional hegemony before aiming its sights higher and looking for global hegemony. Whilst a global military challenge to the US in the short term is unlikely, there is certainly a possibility that China could challenge the US in East Asia, or even more probably over Taiwan. China would almost certainly intervene militarily if Taiwan were ever to declare independence, irrespective of the military or economic cost. No Chinese leader can afford to be seen as the one that lost Taiwan permanently and at present, the West’s main concern about the Chinese military rests ar Analysis of China as a Superpower Analysis of China as a Superpower The Dragon Awakes – Will China be the next superpower? China is a sleeping dragon. When it awakes, the world will shake†. (Eccleston H, 2004, p290). Napoleon Bonaparte made this prophetic comment regarding China in 1808 and it would seem that today China has indeed awoken. (Optimize, 2004p. 1). China has had unprecedented economic growth at around 9.5% perineum, a statistic even more impressive amazing bearing in mind that only in 1978 China was poorer than Korea and Taiwan were in the 1960s. (Nye 1997-98 p. 67). China also shows signs of extending its economic reach and is expanding its ventures into developed states. Only recently the Chinese firm Nanjing bought the British ailing car firm MG rover for  £50 million. (BBC News 2006 p. 1). Also in 2005 the Chinese Lenovo Group acquired IBM’s PC business making Lenovo the third largest PC Company in the world. (Economic Times, 2005 p. 1) There is also a huge inflow of FDI (foreign direct investment) into China. China has established 22,245 new firms attracting $59.2 billion in FDI making a total of $33.4 billion in 2003. This makes China the top destination for FDI and a country that firms want to do business with. (People’s Daily, 2003). It is thought by some observers that China’s economy at its present rate could eventually overtake that of the US(United States). (Nye 1997-98 p. 67). If this is so, could China surpass the US in other areas and displace the US as the world superpower. There will be huge implication for international relations if this is to be the case. The writer’s hypothesis is that China’s rise to superpower status will mean a shift of economic, military and cultural power from the west tithe east. Drawing on the work of John Mearsheimer that states are power maximizes, China will continue to pursue power in a bid to become the most powerful state in the international system, a position currently occupied by the US. (Mearsheimer 2001 p. 21). Even those who advocate that the spread of liberalism will lessen the need for the pursuit of power have not been able to ignore this development. Fukuyama in his book â€Å"America at the Crossroads† says that social engineering like that seen in Iraq leads to unexpected consequences and undermines its own ends. Therefore actions which are put forward as promoting peace and democracy turn into something they were not intended to be, the promotion of the national interest of the US. (New York Times, 2006 p. 2). Therefore a state whose power is so big it is unchecked is unable to police itself and act benevolently in the anarchic system. Its main concern is the accumulation of power and it will not be satisfied as purported by Waltz’ defensive realist view, by only seeking to acquire as much power so as to feel secure. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 169-170). A world dominated by China A world dominated by China may be very different than the present world that has for the last two centuries been dominated by a western power. As already mentioned China’s rise will not result in it being status quo power and therefore it will not be happy to work within system determined by western values. (Guardian 2005 p. 2). China has different values to that of the west and its rise will lead to the promotion of those values through its economic, military and institutional power. Therefore as Huntingdon notes, the new fault-lines will not be between ideologies like the two World Wars and the Cold War but between civilizations. This is due to the different views that cultures have in regard to relationships such as the citizen and the state, husband and wife, liberty and equality. (Huntingdon 1993 p.25). The west has promoted its values of liberalism as being the universal values of the world community. But due to the anarchic structure of the system these values have been used to promote its national interest. China will appeal to those states who have different view of the world that the one being put forward by the US and other western states. These states will have similar cultural values to China which stress the subordination of individual rights and elevate consensus differ from the western beliefs of liberty, equality and individualism. (Huntingdon 1993 p. 29). Indeed China is forging links with states that the US deems as rogue states such as Iran with its recent gas deal worth $100 billion. The US has imposed economic sanctions on Iran and this gas deal is a clear sign that China does not intend to work within a system determined by the US. Further, Iran is looking to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which could act as a counterweight to US institutional power. (Asia Times 2004 p.1-2). The writer will look at China’s potential superpower status using the neo-realist theory and its conceptual and methodological framework. This will entail the use of secondary research methods by exploring the concepts of neo-realism through the scholars in this field. This theory rose to prominence during the late 1970s due to the writings of Kenneth Waltz. (Buzau in Zale ski 2002 p. 49). It rests on the earlier realist perspective of writers such as E H Carr and Hans Morgenthau, which was dominant in international relations in the post-World War II era. Realism also rose due to the inability of the liberal perspective and its principles to maintain peace in Europe. (Bur chill, 2001 p. 71). It was concerned with the causes of war and ways in which it can be prevented. (Buzau in Zale ski 2002 p. 48). EH Carr’s â€Å"The Twenty Years Crisis† was a critique of the liberal view that co-operation, under institutions such as the League of Nations, would render war obsolete. Carr’s theory was proven when World War I broke out the day after his book was published. (Bur chill 2001 p.71). Morgenthau’s work, Politics Amongst Nations (1948) sought to apply positivist methodology used in the natural sciences to international relations. Thus we can draw objective knowledge and laws from the social world in the same way that we can from the natural world. (Bur chill 2001 p. 77). He maintains that politics is governed by objective laws rooted in human nature and that human nature is reflected in the way states behave. The outcomes of the interaction of states are due to the behaviour of statesmen and thus human nature. (Bur chill 2001 p. 83). Morgenthau and Carr draw on a long philosophical heritage going back to the writings of Thucydides 460BCto 406BC and Niccole Machiavelli 1469 to 1527. The neo-realist perspective came about in response to the rise of liberal internationalism and their interdependency theory in the1970s. Neo-realism engages with this approach that deems the state tube less significant in an interdependent world due to the rise of institutions, regimes and transnational corporations. (Bailys Smith 2005 171). Realism recognised that it had to develop new tools to analyse these new developments. Thus realism reinvented itself sane-realism, acknowledging that such non-governmental actors exist, but they have to work within an anarchical international system where there is no overall authority above that of the sovereign state. This means states can never fully co-operate within these institutions due to the possibility that one state may gain more out of this co-operation. The anarchic structure of the system is where neo-realism departs from the earlier realist theory that human nature determines how states behave. Waltz’ systemic approach Waltz’ systemic approach is that it is the structure of the international system that determines the way states behave and not human nature. Despite this departure it can be said that there are core theoretical elements that underpin the earlier classical realism, modern realism of Carr and Morgenthau and Waltz’s structural realism. This is known as the realist triangle of state, survival and self-help. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). The primary actor in the international system is the state. This can be traced back to Thucydides’ time when the unit of analysis waste city-state or polis. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). That said, Carr and Morgenthau were less state-centric in that they did not envisage the state as the final form of political community. (Burchill2001 p. 76). The state is the only legitimate representative of the people and it uses this legitimacy to wield its authority within and outside the state. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). The second core element is that of survival. The priority of the state is to ensure its own survival in the anarchic structure of the international system. This concept is present in Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince† which details what leaders must do to keep hold of their power. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 174). The third concept is that of self-help that Waltz deems necessary to gain security in an anarchic structure. Hedley Bull’s â€Å"The Anarchical Society†(1977) concurs with Waltz that all states exist in an anarchical society where there is no higher authority than the sovereign state. Therefore national interest is the state’s first duty that ensures the right for citizens to feel secure within state borders. Self-help is necessary as this cannot been trusted to anyone else and this is achieved through the accumulation of power to reduce vulnerability in the anarchic system of states. The state’s first â€Å"law of motion† is to preserve the state and in order to do this it must pursue power. (Bailys Smith p. 162-3, 169). The writer has also been inspired by the academic Paul Kennedy (1989)in his book: â€Å"The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. The writer will use this thesis to assess whether China is rising at the expense of the decline of the US. According to Kennedy’s thesis the rise and fall of power is cyclical thus once a great power has arisen it must inevitably fall. A state that has achieved economic strength will protect that strength using military power but this involves great cost. Eventually the cost will be too great and the power will decline and be replaced as evidence by the decline of Britain in 1873. (Nye 1990 p. 3) The United States has undoubtedly been the great power of the 20thCentury. Will it remain so during the 21st century or will it fall and be replaced by China thus confirming Kennedy’s thesis that all great powers will eventually follow this decline thus paving the way for the next great power? There are those who believe the era of the superpower is coming to amend. Fukuyama believes that states will not need to rival each other for power. The spread of liberal democracy and its sidekick liberal economy has â€Å"triumphed† over other regimes. (Fukuyama 1992). It is further believed that open economies create interdependency and sharing of common interests. (Nye 1997-98 p. 76). Also, the state is in relative decline due to the emergence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and (World Bank) and also MNCs (multinational corporations. (Bailys Smith 164). Even in the US Congress the former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich does not regard China’s growth as in any way a threat whilst there are those who have views to the contrary. This highlights how the theoretical debate translates into apolitical one. There are those who view the universalism of western liberalism as unchallengeable and now the norm. This view may be borne out by the fragmentation of the Soviet Union but Matthew Rees views China’s position as similar to that of the Soviet Union in that it threatens western values of liberty and democracy. (Nye 1997-98 p.65-66) . Mearsheimer has also warned of complacency against the Chinese threat, stating of the current good relation between the two states: â€Å"this US policy (of containment) is misguided. A wealthy China would not be a status quo power, but an aggressive state, determined to achieve regional hegemony† (Mearsheimer 2001) Another writer in this field Joseph Nye refutes the claim that the state is in relative decline. His thesis is that the classic realist view of states as the most important actors cannot be disputed due merely to the rise of NGOs. This is because it underestimates the nature of the system of states that is anarchic in structure. Therefore if there is no higher authority to settle disputes the state cannot leave its survival to others. It must ensure its own survival and the only way this can be done is for the state to increase its power capabilities. (Bailys Smith 164). Thus in regard to on-state actors it is â€Å"business as usual† in that non-state actors must still work within a system of states. Thus states will still vie for power within these organisations. (Bailys Smith p. 173). This is the soft power element of the state. Definition of power â€Å"Man’s control over the minds and actions of other men†. (Morgenthau (1948) cited in Bailys Smith p. 173) Power is a highly contested concept because it is difficult to assess what elements actually constitute power. The traditional view of powers the possession of resources that include the size of population and territory, military might and economic strength. (Nye 1990 p. 26). Thus the resources of each state can be measured and compared. But measurement is not enough as evidenced during World War Two when France and Britain had more tanks that Germany but still Germany was able to outmanoeuvre the allies. Therefore when assessing power we also need to assess a state’s ability to convert its resources into such power assume states can do this more effectively than others. (Nye 1990 p.27). These avenues to power will be explored and the evidence that China has these capabilities will be extrapolated. The basis for power does not remain unchanged and must be assessed in its own context. For example the basis for power in 18th Century Europe was its population as it provided soldiers and tax resources. Today it is much more difficult to pinpoint the resources that provide the basis for power. (Nye 1990 p. 27) It is therefore not sufficient to look at the concept of power merely in terms of hard power or tangible resources. As Nye has noted in the post-cold war era there has been a shift in the balance of power in the anarchic system. The bipolar world has shifted to one that is unipolar with the US as the sole superpower. The US has exhibited all the usual traits associated with this position such as military, economic and territorial strength. But advances in technology and the emergence of NGOs and MNCs have meant a closer more interdependent world. Interdependence between states does not mean co-operation as liberals purport. It can be used to further national interest and this type of influence is the intangible soft power element of state apparatus. (Nye 1990 p.30). We can see soft power in action through the Washington consensus where the US is the leader in these institutions. We can also see soft power through the spread of the US’s liberal ideology in terms of economics and politics in what Fukuyama has called the â€Å"Triumph of Liberal Democracy†. (Fukuyama, 1992). This soft power has served to reinforce the US’s hard power resources by gaining it consent and legitimacy as the dominant power. (Nye 1990 p. 33). The universalism of American culture has also helped to further the power of the US by enabling it to establish values and beliefs that are consistent with its own society. Therefore the thesis of this dissertation is that China will be the next superpower by maximizing it’s hard power resources to secure itself in the anarchic system of states. Also, due to interdependence among states and the growth forgoes and MNCs it will seek soft power in its pursuit of power capabilities. The consequences of this systemic shift will mean the promotion of Eastern collective values over Western liberal individualistic tendencies. Part One: Hard Power Resources The Economy: If, as Kennedy suggests, China’s rise will be at the expense of the US, then at present most US concerns are directed at rapidly growing Chinese economy. There are certainly some impressive claims being made about the rise of Chinese economic power. Jeremy Warner writes that â€Å"like it or not, from China’s impact on finite world resources to climate change and the laws of supply and demand, it is transforming the way we live with a speed barely imaginable just a few years ago(The Independent January 27, 2006). Over the last 27 years, China has grown at an average rate of 9.6 present per annum, reaching a GDP of  £2.2 trillion in 2005 (The Independent January 27, 2006). In 1979, China represented 1 per cent of the world economy, with foreign trade totalling $20.6 billion. Today China accounts for 4 per cent of the world economy, with $851 billion in foreign trade, the third largest in the world (Fijian 2005, p19).There is of course still a lot of progress to be made – China’s economy for example is still only one seventh the size of that of the US(Fijian 2005, p19) but it is the rate of growth, along with plans for future expansion, the country’s high savings ratio, and plans to expand supplies of nuclear , clean coal, hydro-electric and renewable forms of energy that lead US experts to believe that one day China will challenge the US as the world’s dominant superpower. Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary has compared the integration of China into the w orld economy as one of the three great economic events of the last millennium – on a par with the renaissance and the industrial revolution (The Independent, July 23, 2005). The US has had similar fears about economic competition in the past. In the early 1980s it had concerns about the economic successes being enjoyed by Germany and Japan – fears that were allayed after stagnation in both countries. With China however, US fears appear to be deeper-rooted, primarily at the incredible rate of progress seen in China. Whilst the US economy may still be much larger at present, the rate of growth in China will continue to narrow the gap quickly. And of course, there is an ideological issue at the heart of the US fears about China– how is a Communist country succeeding where others have stumbled? The answer lies partly in America’s own attempts to take advantage of the economic conditions in China when Deng Xiaoping began to open up China to the rest of the world. China had historically been an insular nation, separated from the rest of the world and failing to make the most of its earlier technological advances. Deng understood that whilst China had a huge labour force, to succeed it needed to be organised, competitive in international markets and producing the type of goods that the rest of the world wanted to buy. For this to happen, China would need help from the outside world. The result has been huge foreign investments as companies from across the world have attempted to take advantage of China’s low labour costs. As Stephen King concludes, foreign investors have turned China into the world’s biggest assembly plant: â€Å"China may be a one-party state, but the authorities know all about Adam Smith and the division of labour† (The Independent, February 13, 2006). China is gradually picking off the economies of other G7 nations. Whilst its economy is still considerably smaller than Americas, by the end of 2004 it was bigger economically than France, Italy and Canada(The Independent, February 13, 2006). Germany and Japan are likely tube overtaken soon and then China will have the US firmly in its sights. It will have the opportunity to challenge US regional and global hegemony. Whilst there is an optimistic view that the economic growth in China will lead to long-term mutually beneficial cooperation with the US, more likely outcome is growing tension between the two. As China continues to grow, it will gradually begin to demand more of the world’s scarce resources – oil prices for example are already high and may be pushed higher by Chinese demand. The same will happen with other commodities with the result that China’s success increases the commodity bill for US consumers and increases global competition for raw materials. The US consumer may also put pressure on the government to curb Chinese economic expansion. With petrol being so lightly taxed in the US, motorists are affected directly by oil price rises. As The Economist reports: â€Å"they want somebody to blame and they may have heard that China is scouring the world to lock op oil supplies for its own ‘energy security’† (The Economist, September 3, 2005). Both the US and China have some common economic interests. Both benefit from free trade for example. However, with China now exporting six times as much to the US as it imports from it (The Economist, September3, 2005)., it is now China that has the most to gain, something of an irony after years of America hammering on its door to access Chinese markets. There have also been concerns in the US that China is trying to but its way into strategic assets within the US. In June 2005,CNOOC, a Chinese state controlled company attempted to buy Unocal, medium sized US oil company. Hawks within the US administration argued against allowing oil firms to fall into Chinese hands and, with public opinion in the US against the deal, it eventually fell through. The Chinese view on globalisation has been mixed. There is a view that globalisation gives a stronger reason for economic cooperation between economically strong states and certainly the acceptance of global brands into Chinese culture supports the argument that it has embraced globalisation. On the other hand, globalisation tends to reinforce US and Western interests first and foremost and the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis has convinced many within China that it could expose Chinese economic vulnerability. As Foot concludes: â€Å"with America’s advantage in technological innovation, revolution in military affairs and cultural domination, globalisation seemed to confer gains on Washington and thus further to reinforce the unipolar structure† (Foot2006 p82). Military Power To assess China’s rise to Superpower status we need to look at how it ranks in regard to military strength and capability. (Waltz 1979 p.131). The Neo-Realist view is that the nation-state is the most natural form of society and it should be defended for the national good. (Kennedy p. 90). Armies are essential for controlling land and bringing security to the nation state and which is the main objective in a world of states in a system of anarchy. (Mearsheimer p. 86). Due to competition for resources in a world of anarchy military powers a crucial instrument of the national interest. (Garnett, 1987 p.71). Thus military power is monopolised by states and used to protect states from external force. It is the capacity to kill, coerce or destroy and plays a significant part in international politics that will not be supplanted until the system of states is transformed. (Garnett 1987, p. 69-71). Those who have the most military strength are usually the most influential and the most respected in the system and certainly a proposition shared by Mao Ste-Tung’s saying that â€Å"political power grows out of the barrel of a gun†. (Garnett 1987, p.74). Recent analyses of the Chinese military threat from Washington have expressed growing concern. The 2005 Pentagon report concluded that China could threaten not just its smaller regional neighbours like Taiwan but eventually â€Å"modern militaries operating in the region.† This can be taken to include the US. (Washington Post July 23, 2005). Yee and Storey suggest that there are a number of contributing factors to the belief that China is gradually attempting to extend its influence in the region – 1)its territorial disputes with other countries in the region have intensified, 2) its rapid economic development has accelerated its military modernisation process and 3)China has elevated re-unification with Taiwan as a higher priority following the successful retrocession of Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau in1999(Yee and Storey, p4). These factors can be interpreted as evidence of strategic expansion in the region, with territorial claims on the islets in the South China Sea being seen in particular by China’s neighbours as a sign of a policy of expansion. The hard-line policy on Taiwan and the refusal to abandon the threat of military force against it is also seen as evidence of an aggressive state. As Harry Harding writes: â€Å"the rest of the world has viewed the prospect of a Greater China with both fascination and alarm. Some see it in benign terms, as a dynamic common market that provides growing opportunities for trade and investment. More frequently, however, there has been concern that the combination of economic and military resources available to China will pose a significant threat to the commercial vitality and the strategic stability of the rest of the region† (Yee and Storey p4). There is certainly evidence that China is building up its military capability to the point where it could at least challenge the US in the region. Whilst Kennedy had written in 1989 that China’s army is strong numerically but â€Å"woefully under equipped in modern instruments of war†(Kennedy 1989, p577), more recently China has bolstered its naval, submarine and cruise missile capabilities, is in the process of purchasing advanced aircraft systems and is building a nuclear missile arsenal that is capable of striking virtually all of the United States(Washington Post, July 23, 2005). Whilst much has been made of Chinese reforms since 1979 since in terms of economic growth, it is important to realise that there have been great efforts made to reorganise the military from the early 1980sonwards. Plans were put in place to reduce the People’s Liberation Army from 4.2 million to 3 million (Kennedy 1989, p579) and develop a much more professional force with a higher quality of personnel. In 2000, the total estimated strength of the Chinese military was 2.5million, of which an estimated 1.8 million are ground forces. The overall strategy for the PLA is an overall reduction and reorganisation of both equipment and personnel with a view to creating a more modern and mobile army. In terms of equipment, China falls a long way behind the US military but is looking to modernise. It has a tank inventory of around10,000,many of which are Soviet or Chinese built. Its air force possesses around 4,350 aircraft, the majority of which are combat aircraft. The government is also looking to develop a local aerospace industry that would have the capability to produce technologically advanced aircraft, whilst continuing to import aircraft from Russia. The government also has plans to buy a number of AWAC aircraft from Israel. More recently there have been statements from Chinese military strategists that indicate that China is gearing up to use its military hard power resources. Taiwan will be the most likely arena for the flexing of Chinese military power. General Wen Zinger , political commissar of the Academy of Military Science has stated that the Taiwan problem â€Å"is of far reaching significance to breaking international forces blockade against China’s rise†¦ to rise suddenly, China must pass through oceans and go out of the oceans in its future development(Washington Post July 23, 2005). For proponents of the Chinese threat, such statements support the realist view that China is seeking to increase then demonstrate its power in the international arena. Just as Morgenthau argues that the pursuit of power in world politics is both natural and justified, surrealists will argue that China will become unsatisfied with the existing global power structure and adopt a policy of imperial expansionism aimed at attaining both regional and global hegemony (Yeaned Storey 2002, p7). Whilst China also has the option of economic and cultural means to accomplish its strategic objectives, military force remains the most traditional form of imperialism, and the most likely course for China to take once its economy is fully developed. Joseph Nye observes that the ‘rise’ of China is actually a misnomer and that a more accurate term would be the re-emergence of China. Certainly, China has long been a major power in East Asia, and technologically and economically it was the world’s leader (though without global reach) from 500 to 1500, before being overtaken by Europe and America. Indeed, China’s re-emergence would equate with Kennedy’s argument that power across the globe is cyclical. China already has some issues with the US and the other great powers over foreign policies. As a member of the UN Security Council it has traditionally opposed the views of Western states on the international arena and is continuing to do so in spite of its closer economic ties with the West. Whilst China may accept that at the present time it must operate in a US-dominated unipolar world, it believes that its future should at least lie in a multipolar world encompassing the US, China, Europe, Russia and Japan (Foot, 2006, p81). Certainly during the 1990sthere was Chinese unease at the continued American dominance in global affairs with issues such as further NATO expansion eastward, the renegotiation of terms of the US-Japan alliance, US defence missile systems and intervention in Kosovo being of particular concern. China’s population can be both a hard power resource and a burden. Its current population of 1.3 billion is expected to continue to rise until2030 when it will peak at 1.5 billion before going into decline. Population of such a size is of course a huge resource in terms of manpower, yet a huge burden on the domestic economy and from a domestic security point of view and massive number of people over which to maintain effective control. Western states continue to lobby the Chinese government for greater democratisation, yet the fear of anarchy from a more liberalised system would appear to be keeping the leadership committed to an authoritarian regime. From a realist perspective, it is the combination of economic and military power of China that will ultimately lead to conflict with thus. The build-up of such hard resources will be seen as a threat by thus regardless of any ‘good neighbour’ policies that Chinese diplomats may point to. Realists within the US policy making sphere will argue that China is merely biding its time until its economy is strong enough to provide a basis for future hegemony. Thucydides argument that the belief in the inevitability of conflict can be the cause of war is appropriate here – if both sides believe they will eventually end up in conflict, the military build-up will continue, economic cooperation will fade away, and conflict will become unavoidable. China will eventually have to seek further power in order. Certainly, as the Chinese economy continues to grow, it is likely that its military power will increase. For example, early in 2005, it announced a 12.6 per cent increase in defence spending (Nye, Daily Times March 27, 2005), something that makes it appear more dangerous touts neighbours and further complicating US military commitments in Asia. A RAND study has projected that China’s military expenditure will be more than six times higher than Japans by 2015 and accumulated military capital stock at around five times higher (Daily Times, March27, 2005), again something that suggests it is looking to achieve regional hegemony before aiming its sights higher and looking for global hegemony. Whilst a global military challenge to the US in the short term is unlikely, there is certainly a possibility that China could challenge the US in East Asia, or even more probably over Taiwan. China would almost certainly intervene militarily if Taiwan were ever to declare independence, irrespective of the military or economic cost. No Chinese leader can afford to be seen as the one that lost Taiwan permanently and at present, the West’s main concern about the Chinese military rests ar