Towards of Theory of Balanced Purges in Post-Conflict Reconstruction Essay

Towards of Theory of Balanced Purges in Post-Conflict Reconstruction Efforts - Essay Example In Iraq, by contrast, Paul Bremer engaged in a much more systemic and pervasive program of purges. In addition, purges were in many ways based on ethnic and political affiliations. The consequences of these two purges, at least in the short run, could not be more different. Japan stabilized quickly, pursued post-conflict reconstruction in an orderly manner, and exists today as an economic powerhouse. The outlook for Iraq is far less hopeful. Stabilization has not only not occurred, but would seem to be impossible under current conditions. The nature of the purges in each case, and the conditions related to the purges, go a long way towards explaining success in Japan and failure in Iraq. This essay will assert that deep purges of government, administrative, and military structures, if executed in accord with local conditions, can lead to stabilization in the short-run and prepare the country for an effective and an enduring reconstruction effort. To this end, this essay will discuss the risks and the rewards of the deep purge philosophy. Then more specifically, this essay will present a comparative analysis of deep purge strategies in Japan, Iraq, and Italy. As a preliminary matter, there are a number of perceived rewards associated with the purging of officials and institutions in enemy combatant states. The first reward, and one which is perhaps more psychological than practical in the short term, is a sense of retribution and punishment. There is a need for ultimate accountability and the purging of top leaders symbolizes victory. Both Saddam Hussein and Mussolini were paraded before the world as obstacles to peaceful reconstruction in their respective countries. The Emperor of Japan, for reasons to be discussed below, escaped the retribution and punishment reward. In his place, MacArthur chose General Tojo. An additional reward is the opportunity to pursue a reconstruction model which is closely aligned with the governing philosophies of the victorious country or countries. From an administrative and a political point of view, in each of the three cases involved here, this involved the transformation of authoritarian regimes into de mocratically-oriented regimes. Human rights were emphasized, constitutions drafted and implemented, and administrative mechanisms established to grant access and influence to the victors. Finally, and significantly, there were economic rewards associated with deep purges. The old economic elite were pushed aside, stripped of their wealth, and reconstruction contracts allocated to business organizations of the victorious countries. In short, the perceived benefits of a deep purge were associated with the sweeping away of both real and perceived opposition to the pervasive post-conflict reconstruction of the defeated country in the image of the victorious countries. There are, however, grave risks associated with the deep purging of a country's governing elite. Retribution for example, must be seen as balanced and just. MacArthur allowed Emperor Hirohito to preserve his dignity and thereby avoided potential uprisings against his administration of Japan. Paul Bremer's treatment of Saddam Hussein, on the other hand, was much less delicate. The deposed Iraqi leader was reported to have been hiding in a dirty hole in his underwear when captured. This public humiliation might certainly be

From classical ballet to contemporary ballet

From classical ballet to contemporary ballet From Classical Ballet to Contemporary Ballet Ballet originally emerged in the late 15th century in the Renaissance court of Italy. Then, it was a dance interpretation of fencing.   Ballet was further developed and popularized in the French Courts in the 17th century. From court ballet to modern ballet, the dance techniques and practice has evolved throughout the years. Contemporary Ballet now incorporates classical ballet with modern dance techniques such as floor work and turn-in of the legs. (wikipedia, par 9) Ballet shows now focus more on the plot as compared to the 17th century, where the focus was the intertwine of music and poetry. It had also often included singing. 17th Century Ballet had minimal plot because Ballets were designed principally for the entertainment of the aristocracy, hence rich costumes, scenery, and elaborate stage effects were emphasized. In the 19th century, there was an increase in interest among the public, and Ballets such as Swan Lake (1876), Sleeping Beauty (1890), and The Nutcracker (18 92) were produced. There was an influence of jazz, jazz rhythms and modern dance at that time, originating in the USA, hence greater body expressions. Today, Ballet is an internationally practiced and appreciated dance, with many dance school dedicated to the teaching of Ballet, including prominent schools such as the royal ballet school and many other small private dance centres. These schools train Ballet dancers from young and even adults who have never learned Ballet as a child are able to practice due to the large amount of adult Ballet classes for beginners. For those who are not striving to be a professional Ballet dance, practicing Ballet is a form of sport which teaches excellent posture and trains you to be graceful and disciplined. From the increase in Ballet schools, dancers and shows for the public, it can be concluded that one of the most significant change in the practice of Ballet, would be the accessibility of Ballet. In the 17th century, ballet was performed in the royal courts. It was a dance that was rather exclusive for the royals and the high society. Many commoners would not have the luxury to attend Ballet performances. However, as Ballet developed, it became more popular and much appreciated and watched by various people. Today, Ballets are relatively inexpensive to watch, including well know Ballets such as Swan Lake and the Nutcracker being some of the most famous ballets that are widely watched even to those who have little knowledge about dance or do not come from well off family backgrounds. Ballet is viewed as a classical performance that is available for anyone. What has not changed about Ballet is that Ballet is still considered a high culture performance art, despite the fact that it is one of the most practiced and watched dances by many from various social status and education level. Youve got to attend Ballet performances in order to be â€Å"cultured†. Also, Ballet is still very female dominant in the eyes of the public. This is to say that parents would tend to send their daughters to Ballet classes rather than sons. However, this is not to say there are few males Ballet dancers. Ballet now being so much more accessible, in level with other dance forms such as hip hip and jazz, it is no longer a dance for the rich and privilege.

Essay --

The End of Prohibition Prohibition is the act of prohibiting or the condition of being prohibited. In other words prohibition is also the name of a law, order, or decree that forbids something. Basically what paves the way for prohibition of something, are its negative effects that may be dangerous for human beings on the whole. Hence, these are the negative effects of something that make the step of prohibiting a positive one. As a matter of fact, prohibition is the way to avoid further damages that may drive last nail in the coffin but sometimes prohibition appears as anathema to many people who regard the act of prohibiting a totally unjustified action. In our daily life, intentionally we prevent ourselves from doing such things that might be not good or suitable for us. Every day we come across such people who don’t like to smoke at all; on the other hand there are those people also who shudder to think how horrible their lives would be without cigarettes. There are many religious people for whom venomous sting of coral snake are better than using alcoholic beverages. In the same world there also those drinkers for whom a mere bottle of whiskey is the raison d'à ªtre thus each and every drop of liquor multiplies their life-span. But prohibition through a law or government act takes place when individual’s likes and dislikes can not put a stop to the government to pass such a law that is beneficial for the nation in the main. Prohibition law of America is one of those laws that appeared as a most contentious law in American history. Prohibition law is, in fact, the forbidding by law of the manufacture, transportation, sale, and possession of alcoholic beverages. If truth be told, Prohibition law is the extreme of the regulatory... ...ion in America: 1920-1933" ch 1 VOLSTEAD ACT, The Reader's Companion to American History http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_089600_volsteadact.htm Thorton, Mark. â€Å"Policy Analysis: Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure.† July 17, 1991. Online. Netscape. 23 April 1998. U.S. v. Lanza, 260 U.S. 377 McWilliams, Peter. â€Å"Prohibition: A Lesson in the Futility (and Danger) of Prohibiting.† Online. Netscape. 23 April 1998. Catherine H. Poholek (1998) Prohibition in the 1920s, Thirteen Years That Damaged America, Bowen, Ezra, ed. This Fabulous Century. 6 vols. New York: Time Life Books, 1969. Wenburn, Neil. The USA: A Chronicle of Pictures. New York: Smithmark Publishers Inc., 1991. Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1996. The Repeal of Prohibition, August 9, 2003, http://www.dpft.org/history.html

Merchant of Venice Glossary and Character Sketch

Glossary—The Merchant of Venice Act I, Scene II 1. â€Å"By my troth†Ã¢â‚¬â€a mild oath like â€Å"Upon my word† 2. aught—anything 3. surfeit—overindulge 4. superfluity—excess 5. Hare—to run fast 6. â€Å"overname them†Ã¢â‚¬â€say their names over 7. colt—a young, or inexperienced person 8. Death’s-head—skull 9. a-cap’ring—dancing 10. pennyworth—a small amount 11. doublet—a close-fitting outer garment, with or without sleeves and sometimes having a short skirt, worn by men in the Renaissance; an undergarment, quilted and reinforced with mail, worn beneath arm. 12. ound hose—very full short breeches which varied in length from the upper thigh to just above the knee, giving a rounded look to the hips and showing off the leg. 13. surety—a person who assumes legal responsibility for the fulfillment of another's debt or obligation and himself becomes liable if the other defaults. 14. viley—highly offensive, unpleasant, disgusting 15. Sibylla—the Sybil of Cumae, to whom Apollo granted as many years of life as there are grains in a handful of sand 16. Diana—goddess of chastity Character Report—Nerissa What does your character want in this scene? Nerissa wants to know whether Portia has feelings for any of her suitors and whether she will consider disobeying her father’s will. What is your character’s motivation for doing what he or she does? She is Portia’s waiting-gentlewoman and friend, who is concerned about Portia’s future. Also, she shows some eagerness for Bassanio to arrive with her future husband, Gratiano. What obstacles stand in his or her way? Portia’s independence and defiance of her father’s will that causes Portia to show distaste toward all her suitors. What happens when your character confronts these obstacles? Nerissa finds that the heiress might be interested in Bassanio. Are there any distinctive elements in your character’s way of speaking? (Is his of her language elaborate, plain, musical, or what? ) She is inquisitive and curious. What is your character thinking during the scene? (How does he or she react to the other characters and events? ) She in inquiring about Portia’s suitors. She must be interested in their futures. Character Report—Portia What does your character want in this scene? Portia wishes to choose the fate of her marriage instead of following her father’s will. She also seems to express interest in Bassanio when he is mentioned. What is your character’s motivation for doing what he or she does? She is an orphan that has no say in who she marries so Portia motivation to protest is her want of freedom. Even after her father’s death, she is still under his control. What obstacles stand in his or her way? Her father’s will and the test of the caskets deciding her husband. What happens when your character confronts these obstacles? Nothing really, as she just points out all the flaws of the suitors she meets. Are there any distinctive elements in your character’s way of speaking? (Is his of her language elaborate, plain, musical, or what? ) So far she has only spoken in complaints and a bit condenscendingly. What is your character thinking during the scene? (How does he or she react to the other characters and events? ) She is most likely thinking of loopholes to get out of her father’s demands. She is probably also thinking about Bassanio and when he will come court her. Company Report—Queen Murphy’s Two 1. What happens in your scene? Outline the basic events. . Portia complains about how she cannot choose a husband because of her deceased father’s will. Explains the caskets and the requirements for Portia’s hand in marriage. b. Nerissa names the different suitors of Portia and Portia points out all their flaws. c. Nerissa tells Portia that all the suitors were leaving and Nerissa mentions Bassanio. Portia is interested. d. A serving man appears stating that the Prince of Morocco is arriving soon. Portia doesn’t really care too much. 2. What do you think are the key purposes of your scene? a. To introduce Portia and Nerissa as key characters and explaining their personalities. b. To explain the idea of the caskets (gold, silver, and lead) and the parameters behind Portia’s engagement. c. To foreshadow the relationship that will happen between Bassanio and Portia later on. 3. What are your reactions to this scene? That Portia seems to be stuck in a situation that she’s very stubborn about. To go against her father’s will, she is headstrong and picky in choosing her husband. I feel like supporting Portia to go for her need to be independent.

Analysis of Bartleby, the scrivener Essay

The narrator’s initial self-characterization is important to the story. He is a â€Å"safe† man, one who takes few risks and tries above all to conform. The most pragmatic concerns of financial security and ease of life are his priorities. He has made himself perfectly at home in the modern economy: he works as a lawyer dealing with rich men’s legal documents. He is therefore an opposite or complement to Bartleby in many ways. He is also ill suited to be entrusted with the salvation of another. â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† is one of the first great stories of corporate discontent. The emptiness of modern business life is an important theme. The description of the office is incredibly bleak: on one side, the windows open onto a light shaft, and on the other, the windows look out onto a brick wall. The landscape of Wall Street is completely unnatural, and one is cut off from nature and almost all living things. At night, this isolation also includes the absence of people. The work environment is sterile and cheerless. Yet most adapt to it, with varying degrees of success. Though the narrator is a successful man, he is a victim, in some ways, of progress. He has lost the post he occupied during the central events of the story, as the position was deemed redundant and eliminated. The modern economy includes constant and unfeeling change, which comes at a cost. Doubling is a recurring theme in â€Å"Bartleby.† Bartleby is a phantom double of our narrator, and the parallels between them will be further explored later. Nippers and Turkey are doubles of each other. Nippers is useless in the morning and productive in the afternoon, while Turkey is drunk in the afternoon and productive in the morning. Nippers’ ambition mirrors Turkey’s resignation to his place and the sad uneventfulness of his career, the difference coming about because of their respective ages. Nippers cherishes ambitions of being more than a mere scrivener, while the elderly Turkey must plead with the narrator to consider his age when evaluating his productivity. Their vices are also parallel, in terms of being appropriate vices for each man’s respective age. Alcoholism is a vice that develops with time. Ambition arguably is most volatile in a man’s youth. These two characters are obviously not fleshed out; they are caricatures of different personalities found in the business world, and their silliness is stretched beyond the point of believable realism. They provide valuable comic relief in what is otherwise a somber and upsetting  tale. From the beginning, the description of Bartleby is striking. He is a person who seems already dead: he is described alternately as one would describe a corpse or as one would describe a ghost. Pale from indoors work, motionless, without any expression or evidence of human passion in him at all, he is a man already beaten. Even his famous statement of non-compliance, â€Å"I would prefer not to,† is an act of exhaustion rather than active defiance. His success at getting away with his uncooperativeness comes from his very passivity, which seems to cast a spell over the narrator. It is not â€Å"I will not† but â€Å"I would prefer not,† emphasizing that Bartleby is acting out of emotional response rather than some philosophical or ethical choice. Bartleby will detach from the world in stages, beginning with this first statement. With each time he reiterates the statement, he is renouncing one more piece of the world and its duties. The final renunciation will be of living itself, characteristically arrived at indirectly by the preference not to eat. The scenes in which the narrator asks the advice of his employees are always comical in tone. Each man reacts according to the dictates of the time of day: if it is morning, Nippers is fiery and Turkey benign, and if it is afternoon, Turkey is belligerent and Nippers calm. Their predictable reactions underscore their status as symbols or types rather than realistic characters. They also serve as the clowns of the story. Bartleby and the narrator are more real, but both of them also have powerful allegorical roles. Note that these two share an office room, just as Nippers and Turkey do. Increasingly, Bartleby is described in ghostly terms, and a perceptive reader will soon realize that the ghost is in some ways the narrator’s phantom double. Note how often we see Bartleby as phantom, as when the narrator roars his name until he appears: â€Å"Like a very ghost, agreeably to the the laws of magical invocation, at the third summons, he appeared at the entrance of his hermitage† (19). Later, we learn that Bartleby haunts the building. Like a ghost, he lives in the office when no one else is there, when Wall Street is a desert, a landscape both completely unnatural and forlornly empty. The narrator senses that there are parallels between himself and the scrivener, and Bartleby’s gloom infects him: â€Å"Before, I had never experienced aught but a not unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam† (23). Bartleby’s  plight draws the narrator into depths of feeling that he did not know he was capable of. Part of Bartleby’s power over the narrator is that he somehow sees Bartleby as a part of himself. He, too, has been forced to adapt to the business world. But while he has adapted and gone through the consequent numbing (previous unable to feel more than a â€Å"not unpleasing sadness†), Bartleby has been bludgeoned to exhaustion. Nothing pleases him about this world. The narrator, at different times, wants to help Bartleby. But we have been warned that the narrator is a safe man who thinks the easiest path is also the best. His pity for Bartleby turns to revulsion (see the passage from pp. 24-25, above). The narrator’s plight works through the themes of responsibility and compassion. His obligations, in one sense, are nothing. But as far as Bartleby is a living, suffering being, and that both men are â€Å"sons of Adam,† the narrator arguably should do all that he can. To what extent is the narrator supposed to help the melancholic scrivener? Has he failed as a human being if he has done any less than all he can? After asserting that after a certain point, pity becomes revulsion, he defends the transformation: â€Å"They err who would assert that invariably this is owing to the inherent selfishness of the human heart. It rather proceeds from a certain hopelessness of remedying excessive and organic ill† (24-25). Yet the narrator goes on to describe the transformation as defensive. Although he denies the charge that the pity-to-revulsion change is due to selfishness, his explanation of the motives behind it seem like little more than a selfishness that is philosophically justified. At work here is what Toni Morrison (an admirer of Melville) would call a shortage of love. Ironically, on the day his pity turns to revulsion, the narrator was on his way to Church. The narrator never does make it to Church that day, and the symbolism is obvious. Though he was on his way to see a celebrity preacher, religion’s highest ideals do not win a place in the narrator’s heart: Melville, as he does in many of his works, is taking a small jab at religion and its inability to change men meaningfully for the better. The narrator will try to help Bartleby return home, but we will see that there are limits to what he feels he can do. The office space of the modern business world undergoes some interesting conceptualizations in this section. At first, the narrator calls our attention to the desolateness of the office and of Wall Street: â€Å"Of a Sunday, Wall Street is deserted as Petra; and every night of  every day it is an emptiness† (23). There are parallels between Bartleby’s experience of the workplace at night and his experience of the workplace in general share a similarity: he sees something that no one else sees. The desolation of Wall Street is part of Bartleby’s essential perception of it. The literal desolation at night is paralleled by the spiritual desolation during the day. Bartleby sees both, and through him the narrator gets some sense of them. The narrator also makes an interesting move by describing the office as a site of savagery. He cites the example of a recent Wall Street murder, and explains why an office can be conducive to otherwise unthinkable acts: â€Å"Often it had occurred to me in my ponderings upon the subject, that had that altercation taken place in the public street, or at a private residence, it would not have terminated as it did. It was the circumstance of being alone in a solitary office, up stairs, of a building entirely unhallowed by humanizing domestic associations . . .† (33-34). The office, a site of modern economic systems and progress, becomes a space like the jungle island in The Lord of the Flies. Something about the space is dehumanizing, and makes murder possible. Finally, the narrator’s resolve to help Bartleby weakens, and it’s because of his work. Apparently, the modern office also makes possible the neglect of another human being. The narrator is certainly not an exception among humans for his choices: he puts up with more from Bartleby than anyone else does. But in the end, he makes choices that amount to abandonment of Bartleby. If his action is something any human would do, then the abandonment of Bartleby is a comment on humanity. The ghostly descriptions of Bartleby are now extended to the narrator. He describes going up the stairs to his old office as â€Å"going upstairs to my old haunt† (42). The language is part of the expansion of Bartleby’s ghostly characteristics to the narrator and later, to all of humanity. We see that Bartleby does not want to do anything; living itself tires him. In this way, â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† is more than just a didactic tract on the economic world of Melville’s day. The conditions of life are not easily changed, and the depictions of office sterility and isolation in a large, unnatural world seem equally applicable today. Bartleby is a creature unable to adapt to this world, because he is too honest about what appeals to him. Nothing in life excites him. When the narrator tries to suggest different occupations to Bartleby, the scrivener’s response is always the same: â€Å"I would prefer not to.† The narrator’s offer to have Bartleby stay at his own home seems initially generous, but this belated offer of hospitality comes from a fear of scandal: a lawyer has threatened to publish the case in the papers. Yet one of the accomplishments of the story is that our narrator is basically a decent man. His abandonment of Bartleby is in no way exceptional, nor are we meant to see the narrator as more cruel or uncaring than the rest of humanity. If he fails Bartleby, we also must concede that most of us would fail him as well. Several times in the story, we are made to question Bartleby’s sanity. Ginger Nut gleefully suggests that Bartleby is insane: â€Å"I think, sir, he’s a little loony† (16). The narrator also apparently shares the opinion, as he confides to the grub-man that Bartleby is â€Å"a little deranged† (44). But Bartleby, whatever his problems may be, is fully aware of the world around him. When the narrator greets Bartleby in prison, he’s condescending to him, speaking to him in the way that one condescends to the mad: â€Å"And see, it is not so sad a place as one might think. Look, there is the sky, and here is the grass.† Bartleby’s reply is concise and curt: â€Å"I know where I am† (43). He is aware of the world. Notice also that there is a double meaning in the exchange. Both Bartleby and the narrator could be referring to the world itself. Bartleby is asserting that he can see the world around him clearly, and he apparently finds nothing to excite him. Environment has been important so far to the story, and Melville’s concise and powerful description of the prison yard continues the trend. Death imagery is abundant. The description comes not during the first visit, but right before the narrator finds Bartleby’s death. He describes the character of the masonry as â€Å"Egyptian,† and mentions the â€Å"soft imprisoned turf† growing underfoot. â€Å"The heart of the eternal pyramids, it seemed, wherein, by some strange magic, through the clefts, grass-seed, dropped by birds, had sprung† (45). For people of Melville’s day, even more so than now, â€Å"Egyptian† character would recall death, as the Egyptian civilization was known mostly through its funerary objects and elaborate burial practices. Incidentally, the Halls of Justice are called â€Å"The Tombs.† The image of the turf is ambiguous. Is it an image of hope, or of imprisonment? â€Å"The heart of the eternal pyramids† is a pretty phrase, but the pyramids, it must be remembered, were tombs. Death itself is the only constant. The image of birds dropping seeds, which grow in spite of the hostile environment, is  lyrical and powerful. But is the grass a metaphor for hope, and life’s persistence, the possibility of survival and beauty in a harsh environment? Or does the phrase â€Å"imprisoned turf† dominate the image? The grass then becomes battered, trapped life, with no hope of escaping the â€Å"Egyptian character† of the Tombs. Mortality is not a theme here in the usual sense. Bartleby chooses his death, detaching from life in stages and sliding towards an inevitable end. The real death is more than an event in time: death is diffuse, a spiritual gloom pervading the empty Wall Street landscape, the imposing stonework of the prison, and the Dead Letter Office where Bartleby supposedly worked. Living is not the opposite of death, but a condition continually assaulted and permeated by it. The final rumor is haunting and dark. We learn also that Bartleby lost the Dead Letter Office job due to an administration change. The doubling continues: remember that the narrator lost his position due to bureaucratic change as well. Here, the doubling is expanded. Bartleby is a phantom double not only for the narrator, but for all of humanity. The Dead Letter Office is a place of supreme gloom, where evidence of human mortality and the futility of our best intentions would have been unavoidable. The narrator, a man who adapts to this life, who thrives in the world that exhausted Bartleby, cannot help but be moved by Bartleby’s vision. The tone of his final statement (â€Å"Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!†) is of a sadness mixed with resignation, a pained sigh rather than a shriek of anger. He has failed to help even one man. He can do nothing to alter the human condition.