America, much like most great powers, has behaved imperialistically at various times throughout its history. To some degree, it may have been a response to external events. At alternate junctures, the United States has either behaved as a ‘reluctant superpower’ or a purposeful imperial power.
Israel’s pursuit of economic peace is, in reality, a policy of economic pacification. There is a real danger that Economic Peace can be used to frame peace-building away from political diplomacy. Neglecting the political aspects of peace building and favouring economic pacification will only lead to a resurgence of violence in the future.
At a time when energy is becoming one of the critical issues in the world, there is a great need for such a powerful entity as the EU to speak with one voice and develop a common energy policy. But the main obstacle for a genuine development of a common energy policy is the strong differences between member states preferences for a common energy policy
Terrorism is undoubtedly an issue at the forefront of security concerns, especially in the west as a result of the 9/11 attacks. But it is not a new concern. It has merely become more prominent due to the relatively recent attacks on the west and the resulting conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Is terrorism as much of a threat as it is perceived to be?
The responsibility of the EU Presidency is first and foremost to play the role of a chairperson, and to listen to the views of different member states. The question is whether member states, during their Presidencies, give priority to their own national interests or to the EU as a supranational institution.
While there were many factors that contributed to the downfall of Communism in the Soviet Union, the main one was that during the 1980s nobody believed in it any more; which was the key difference between the survival of Communism in China. China had a truly mass movement with Communism, while the Soviet Union was largely created with the ideas of one man, Lenin.
Traditionally, the promotion of Human Rights and the concept of state sovereignty have been fundamentally opposed. The institutionalisation of Human Rights in the international system is a relatively new concept. It wasn’t until after the Second World War that the challenge of Human Rights upon state sovereignty emerged.
The decision by the United Nations to partition Palestine in 1947 was a major watershed in Middle Eastern history. Not only did it lead to the creation of the state of Israel, a Zionist aim since the eighteenth century, but it set in stone a conflict which still to this day remains unresolved.Although the decision aimed to appease both Jews and Arabs, who laid differing ideological claims to the same territory and, as James L. Ilsley stated, was the ‘best of four unattractive and difficult alternatives,’ it failed.
Terrorism has become the most prominent security issue of the early 21st century and the response of western states to its dangers has also been highly controversial. Terrorism has existed since 66AD with the sicarii in Palestine whose activities “would qualify them as terrorists”. There are also many types of security with traditional and new security having differing views on where the emphasis of security should lie and what security actually is
Whilst the EU has always looked to the future with regards to its outlook and policy directions, there can be no escaping the colonial legacy that Europe forged for itself in the period leading up to the creation of the ECSC in 1947. Special relations exist between each colonial power and its former territories. As a result, this necessitates special relations existing between the EU and former territories of its members
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