Tuesday, January 28, 2020

New and Distinctive Set of Values Essay Example for Free

New and Distinctive Set of Values Essay To what extent and for what reasons did New Labour succeed in introducing a new and distinctive set of values to the conduct of Britain’s external relations between 1997 and 2010? Introduction As John Rentoul has observed in his biography of Tony Blair, â€Å"Prime Ministers always run their own foreign policy† (Rentoul, 2001: 420). This was certainly true of Tony Blair and New Labour. That itself is a reason why Britain’s external relations in the shape of New Labour’s foreign policy can only be properly understood by reference to the foreign policy philosophy espoused by Blair and his response to world events during his leadership over three terms in office. In New Labour’s third term (2005-10) the interventionist policy that dominated the previous two terms qwas an important hangover even to Gordon Brown’s premiership, although, ultimately Brown’s period as leader was dominated by the global finical crisis. On the eve of the Labour party’s 1997 election victory John Major’s Conservative government had little credibility with the Clinton administration in Washington or with European governments (Wallace, 2005: 54). This was a position that the new Prime Minister, Tony Blair wanted to address. At the Lord Mayor’s Banquet on 10 November 1997 Blair set out five guiding lights on Europe including being a leading partner in Europe. He postulated that the single currency would be â€Å"good for the EU† (Lord Mayors Banquet, 1997). For Blair, British foreign policy should aim to be â€Å"strong in Europe and strong with the US†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and that Britain was â€Å"the bridge between the US and Europe† (Lord Mayors Banquet, 1997). At the same venue, on 22 November 1999, Blair implicitly invoked Winston Churchill’s â€Å"three circles† doctrine that conjured up Britain’s relationship with the Commonwealth, the special relationship with the United States and the European dimension. According to Churchill Britain was the pivot around whom these relationships were to exist. Blair, accepting that the British Commonwealth was a â€Å"lost† Empire argued that Britain’s role was that of a pivotal power, as a power that was at â€Å"the crux of the alliances and  international politics which shape the world and its future† (Lord Mayors Banquet, 1997). The intention in this essay is to focus on certain fundamental aspects of New Labour foreign policy that impacted on British relationships with Europe and the World at large. The primary focus will be on the so-called â€Å"Blair Effect† simply because, as Prime Minister, he was pivotal to the New Labour philosophy. Europe As Anne Deighton has observed both the Labour and Conservative parties at various times have suffered internal dissension over the European Union (EU) (Deighton, 2007: 307). The focus of the Labour 1997 general election campaign on Europe was one where the Labour manifesto promised to â€Å"give Britain the leadership in Europe which Britain and Europe need† (Labour-party, 1997). It was important for the Labour party to highlight its commitment to Europe, in contrast to the tensions within the Conservative party. Europe apart, however, the 1997 election campaign did not highlight significant differences between the Labour and Conservative parties. There was an expectation that there would be â€Å"considerable continuity† in foreign affairs in the event of a change of government (Wickham-Jones, 2000: 8). Subsequently, in the course of New Labour’s first term in office Blair made regular pronouncements about Britain’s role in Europe. There was action as well as rhetoric. Shortly after taking office Britain ended its opt-out from the social chapter of the Maastricht Treaty and signed up to the increased EU powers enshrined in the Amsterdam Treaty. British presidency of the EU provided a ready platform for Britain to pursue an enlargement agenda. The St Malo summit in December 1998 provided Blair with a platform to collaborate with President Jacques Chirac of France to promote an Anglo-French initiative on European defence (fco.gov, 1998). This European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) has been described as part of â€Å"arguably the most pro-active upstream period of the Labour government’s utilitarian supranationalism† (Bulmer, 2008: 602). Notwithstanding Blair’s pivotal role  in the creation of the ESDP, it has been argued that, in comparison to Conservative policy on European Security and Defence, the Blair approach was less a seismic shift in British policy, and more of a change of strategy† (Dryburgh, 2010: 271). The essential change, in comparison to the Conservative party approach was one where Blair was prepared to adopt a leadership role in contrast to the former John Major government’s focus of diverting attention away from EU initiatives, and in the case of defence, a focus on the strengthening of NATO (Dryburgh, 2010: 267-268). The relationship between Blair and Gordon Brown was also relevant to the New Labour approach to Europe. On 27 October 1997 Gordon Brown announced the government’s policy on the Euro. This consisted on a three pronged policy that supported (a) a successful single currency, (b) that was constitutionally acceptable but (c) had to satisfy five economic tests (hm-treasury, 2008). This approach was allied to a commitment to hold a referendum on membership of the Euro. The â€Å"key determinant† (Bulmer, 2008: 601) of this policy was the economic tests that included whether joining the Euro would be good for employment. In the event, during Labour’s second term, on 9 June 2003 Gordon Brown announced that only one test was met that relating to a beneficial impact on UK financial services – a result that removed joining the Euro from the political agenda and, in a real sense, reduced New Labour’s pronouncements on the Euro as posturing and meaningless rheto ric. The reality of New Labour’s European strategy was not to alienate the support base that ultimately mattered – the British electorate. The UK was a Euro-sceptic member state of the EU and a UK government’s EU policy could not put at risk a parliamentary majority. The decoupling of the single currency allied to the promise of a referendum in that first term became a legacy of New Labour that has now achieved a degree of permanence that has survived through and beyond the 2010 election. The Blair and New Labour momentum on Europe stalled after the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers. The focus on the war on terror and the transatlantic alliance that was nurtured by the 9/11 attacks became an all encompassing distraction with the result that â€Å"Europe has been a central failure of his (Blair’s) premiership† (Riddell, 2005: 383). Ethical foreign policy On 12 May 1997 the then Foreign Secretary Robin Cook declared that â€Å"†¦foreign policy must have an ethical dimension and must support the demands of other people for the democratic rights on which we insist for ourselves† (Rentoul, 2001: 421). Cook denied ever using the phrase â€Å"ethical foreign policy† or that there would be an ethical foreign policy (Wickam-Jones, 2000: 29). What is undeniable is that New Labour, through Cook, viewed human rights as a central plank of foreign policy because human rights were rights â€Å"we claim for ourselves and which we therefore have a duty to defend for those who do not get to enjoy them† (Wickham-Jones, 2000: 11). This ethical dimension served to identify â€Å"clear blue water† between New Labour’s foreign policy and previous administrations, including previous Labour governments (Little, 2000: 4). Furthermore, although the concept of an â€Å"ethical dimension† was articulated by Cook, it chimed with Blair’s â€Å"third way† in the sense that globalisation demanded an approach to the modern world that was â€Å"qualitatively different from the past† (Williams, 2010: 54). The â€Å"ethical dimension,† however, was converted by media sources into an â€Å"ethical foreign policy† and served to create the sense that New Labour â€Å"were introducing ethics to a sphere of government that was previously devoid of ethical commitments† (Williams, 2010:57). Such a lofty ambition was impossible to achieve in the real political world. This philosophy created a platform on which criticism could be levelled to contrast the reality with the aspiration, for example, in connection with the arms trade where New Labour continued a policy that was a â€Å"highly permissive approach to exports† (Cooper, 2001: 73). The ethical dimension strategy became a â€Å"millstone† (Williams, 2010: 61) around the Foreign Secretary’s neck. It is worthy of note that the New Labour manifesto for the 2001 general election with its foreign policy focus on â€Å"Britain strong in the world† (REF) was designed to herald a change in focus. Kosovo and beyond. Blair’s Chicago speech (number-10.gov, 1999) on 22 April 1999 was an important landmark in New Labour’s external relationships. It represented a key moment in â€Å"the history of liberal interventionist discourse†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Daddow, 2009: 549). Active involvement in other people’s conflicts was justified if five considerations were satisfied, including exhausting all diplomatic options and being sure of the case for intervention. This interventionist approach relied on the notion that there was a moral dimension to international action that did not depend on the norms of international law. The backdrop to the speech was what Blair described as â€Å"a just war† in Kosovo that was â€Å"based not on any territorial ambitions but on values.† Blair’s vision of success whereby an international force would enter Kosvo and allow refugees to return to their homes was ultimately realised. His strident crusade to provoke NATO and the US President Clinton into action was seen as a triumph that â€Å"earned him great respect with so many of the world leaders† (Rentoul, 2001). Following the September 11 attacks Blair reinforced his interventionist stance at the Labour Party Conference (2001) by declaring that, along with the United States, Britain had a â€Å"duty† to protect the rights of citizens of other states, including those of the Afghan people. On this approach, the carpet-bombing of Afghanistan could be claimed to be â€Å"an action undertaken on behalf of Afghan citizens† (Chandler, 2003: 307). What this policy omits is any real engagement with the Afghan people themselves and, at its crudest, becomes a recipe for innocent collateral loss of life. Iraq became the yardstick against which New Labour’s foreign policy particularly during its second term and the Blair legacy has come to be judged. Iraq was inextricably tied in with the so-called special relationship between Britain and the US and the humanitarian interventionist policy. The special relationship was not new and even today the special relationship has a â€Å"political and ideological superstructure and an embedded military and intelligence structure† (Wallace, 2009: 263). Yet under Blair there was unconditional support for the Bush administration’s desire to invade Iraq. Although the so-called â€Å"Poodle Theory† might be â€Å"simplistic and  at best, overstated† (Azubuike, 2005: 137) Blair was prepared to join Bush in pursuing a disastrous and illegal campaign (Azubuike, 2005: 137). Robin Cook perhaps best summarised the flaw in Blair’s approach – in explaining that by becoming a â€Å"trusty partner of the most reactionary US Administration in modern time† such an â€Å"unlikely alliance† would cause disruption in his own party (Cook, 2003: 2). The New Labour interventionist approach to conflict justified by humanitarian concerns that had proved successful in the past left a legacy that â€Å"turned to ashes† the Blair/New Labour vision of Britain that visualised â€Å"spreading good around the world† (Toynbee and Walker, 2005: p194). Gordon Brown as Prime Minister had to maintain the line that Blair’s foreign policy initiatives were justified because, as a central figure in New Labour he could not detach himself from the major foreign policy goals pursued by New Labour and Blair. Iraq and Afghanistan required to be managed. Conclusion The blueprint for New Labour external relations with a focus on leadership in Europe and an ethical dimension to world events in New Labour’s first term promised much, but by the third term was transformed into one where Europe became an intractable problem clouded by immigration and euro-scepticism. Furthermore, in Europe the New Labour policy of stringent economic tests became an agenda for non-entry to the euro. The New Labour policy of interventionism overlooked the fundamental truth that when it really mattered in Iraq and Afghanistan winning the war in a military sense became irrelevant if peace could not be secured thereafter. A humanitarian agenda without a secure peace becomes an agenda that lacks real morality. New Labour began with a positive external relations agenda that promised much but ultimately failed to deliver. Bibliography Azubuike, J. 2005. The â€Å"Poodle Theory† and the Anglo-American â€Å"Special Relationship†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ International studies, 42(2), pp. 123-139. Bulmer, S. 2008. New Labour, New European Policy? Blair, Brown and Utilitarian Supranationalism, Parliamentary Affairs, 61(4), pp. 597-620. Chandler, D. 2003. Rhetoric without responsibility: the attraction of ‘ethical’ foreign policy, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 5(3), pp. 295-316. Cook, R. 2004. The Point of Departure, Diaries from the Front Bench. London: Simon and Schuster UK Ltd. Cooper, N. 2000, Arms Exports New Labour and the Pariah Agenda, Contemporary Security Policy, 21(3), pp. 54-77. Daddow, O. 2009. Tony’s war? Blair, Kosovo and the interventionist impulse in British foreign policy, International Affairs, 85(3), pp. 547-560. Deighton, A. 2001. European Union Policy. In: A Seldon, ed. 2001. The Blair London: Little, Brown and Company. Ch.15. Dryburgh, L. 2010. Blair’s First Government (1997-2001) and European Security and Defence Policy: Seismic Shift or Adaptation?, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 12(2), pp. 257-273 Labour party manifesto, 1997. Archive of Labour Party Manifestos. [online]. Available at: http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml [Accessed on 7 December 2014]. Rentoul, J., 2001. Tony Blair, Prime Minister London: Little, Brown and Company. Riddell, P. 2005. Europe. In: A. Seldon and D. Kavanagh, ed. 2005. The Blair Effect 2001-5, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ch.16. Wallace, W. 2005. The collapse of British foreign policy, International Affairs, 82(1), pp. 53-68. Wallace, W. and Phillips, C. 2009. Reassessing the special relationship, International Affairs, 85(2), pp. 263-284. Whitman, G. R. The Clam After the Storm? Foreign and Security Policy from Blair to Brown, Parliamentary Affairs, 63(4), pp. 834-848. Wickham-Jones, M. 2000. Labour’s trajectory in foreign affairs: the moral crusade of a pivotal power? In: R. Little and M. Wickham-Jones, ed. 2000. New Labours Foreign Policy, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Ch.1. Williams, P. 2010. The Rise and Fall of the ‘Ethical Dimension’: Presentation and Practice in New Labour’s Foreign Policy, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 15(1), pp. 53-63.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Christopher Pike :: essays research papers

Final Friends Book1: The Vampire Author: Christopher Pike Pages: 211 Published: Pocket Books/ Archway Paperbacks 40 Questions: 1. In chapter 1, what does Sam have a dream of? p. 4. He has a dream that his whole class will die because they will be killed by a vampire. 2. In chapter 1, who is going to be throwing a large party? p. 4. Sam. He doesn’t live in a very big house but he has a big yard. Too, his parents try to act â€Å"cool† so they are letting him have the party. 3. Why does everybody at school think Drake is a vampire? p. 6,7. First of all his name is kind of like Dracula, and second his canine teeth for some reason are distorted and they are really sharp. 4. Why does David get jealous when he sees his girlfriend talking to Drake? p. 7.Because Jolie is usually shy and doesn’t talk to other guys. 5. What does Jolie say is the reason why she is talking to another guy? p. 8 She says she was talking to Drake because she needed help with her homework. But David doesn’t believe her because she is a strait A student. 6. Why does Hanna, David’s sister, get mad at her teacher? p. 19. Because she gets kicked out of class for talking when really it was the girl next to her that was talking to her. 7. Why does Hanna go over to Jane’s house? p. 21. Because they are planning to play a practical joke on Hanna’s teacher for kicking her out of class. 8. What joke is Hanna going to play on her teacher Mr. Torkelson. p. 22. She is going to cut the brakes on his car. 9. Why does David almost get in a fight with Drake? p. 38. Because Drake spills coffee on David, and David thinks it is on purpose because David thinks that Drake wants to take his girlfriend. 10. (related to question 9) What does Drake whisper under his breath as he is walking away? p. 39. He says, â€Å"You better watch out, next time it will hurt a lot more.† 11. How does Hanna feel after she messes with Torkelson’s car? p. 45. She regrets it because she thinks that something bad will happen. 12. Why is David sure now that his girlfriend is cheating on him? p. 50. Because he sees her kissing Drake in the arcade. 13. How does Mr. Torkelson die? p. 61. He dies in a car accident. 14. Why does Hanna seem really depressed? p. 63.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

The Three Basic Economic Questions

The Three Basic Economic Questions 1. What to Produce? what items to produce and how much of each item to produce using its productive inputs in the most efficient manner. 2. How to Produce? One the decision has been made regarding what to produce. each country must choose which resources productive inputs will be used and in what combinations3. For Whom to Produce? Should the productive outputs be distributed based on social customs, personal wealth and ownership, or mandated by the government? mandated government- china no youtube or facebook (social customs- north korea the worst)Basic Economic Systems Traditional Economy One in which economic decisions depend upon social customs and rarely changes from generations to generation. in these societies, religion and culture are more important than personal wealth and material possessions. ( north korea, india marriage) conncected to for whom to produce in traditionMarket Economy One in which economic decisions are based on private own ership, where individuals are free to pursue their own self interest. This system is often referred to as capitalism. individuals use their incomes to purchase goods and services. The more income one earns, the more purchasing power they have.Command Economy One in which all productive inputs are owned by the government and central planners within that government decide what items to produce and how much will be produced; how it will be produced and how output will be distributed based upon anticipated future needs of the economy. ex. China majority AfricaMixed Economy One that combines aspects of a market economy and a command econmy; the economy uses both markets and government to make decisions. Most countires  today fall under the mixed eonomly definition, however in varying degrees between private and public sector influence ex. Sweden, Canada, USA Economic SystemAdvantagesDisadvantagesTraditional Stability Emphasizes on spiritual and cultural aspects of lifePoverty Lack of i ndividual freedomsMarket Individual consumers determine what is produced and ultimately how much they are willing to pay.Encourages innovation and entrepreneurshipInstability in output due to changes in prices and/ or employment levels Private markets do not always consider the needs of society as a whole e.g. homeless shelters. If income is distributed based solely on earnings, some individuals might not earn enough to obtain the basic necessities of life. CommandMore even distribution of incomeCentral planners can focus on economic growth by directing resources in a specific direction.Lack of individual freedomsCentral planning difficulties and errors in judgmentInefficient use of resources due to the lack of profit to motivate the efficient use of resources

Saturday, January 4, 2020

George Orwell - 23689 Words

George Orwell England Your England As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me. They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are ‘only doing their duty’, as the saying goes. Most of them, I have no doubt, are kind-hearted lawabiding men who would never dream of committing murder in private life. On the other hand, if one of them succeeds in blowing me to pieces with a well-placed bomb, he will never sleep any the worse for it. He is serving his country, which has the power to absolve him from evil. One cannot see the modern world as it is unless one recognizes the overwhelming strength of patriotism, national loyalty. In certain circumstances it can break down, at†¦show more content†¦And like everything else it can change only in certain directions, which up to a point can be foreseen. That is not to say that the future is fixed, merely that certain alternatives are possible and others not. A seed may grow or not grow, but at any rate a turnip seed never grows into a parsnip. It is therefore of the deepest importance to try and determine what England is, before guessing what part England can play in the huge events that are happening. II National characteristics are not easy to pin down, and when pinned down they often turn out to be trivialities or seem to have no connexion with one another. Spaniards are cruel to animals, Italians can do nothing without making a deafening noise, the Chinese are addicted to gambling. Obviously such things don t matter in themselves. Nevertheless, nothing is causeless, and even the fact that Englishmen have bad teeth can tell something about the realities of English life. Here are a couple of generalizations about England that would be accepted by almost all observers. One is that the English are not gifted artistically. They are not as musical as the Germans or Italians, painting and sculpture have never flourished in England as they have in France. Another is that, as Europeans go, the English are not intellectual. They have a horror of abstract thought, they feel no need for any philosophy or systematic ‘world-view’. Nor is this because they areShow MoreRelatedThe Lit erary Impact Of George Orwell . George Orwell, Born1375 Words   |  6 Pages The Literary Impact of George Orwell George Orwell, born as Eric Arthur Blair, was a British journalist and author. His works were compelling, especially, when it comes to his strong political beliefs. He is considered one of the most widely admired English-language essayists of the twentieth century. 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