Abstract
This essay outlines the position of the former Soviet Union on a European as well as Global perspective. The author attempts to investigate the principle international factors that contribute to the FSU'S current position in world politics and the significance of their impacts.

From the Paper
"The Former Soviet Unions, (FSU), position in world politics today is the product of many major issues that started to occur immediately after the "Cold War." This essay will try and analyze those issues along side more current ones in establishing the principle factors contributing to the FSU's current position in world politics, and what significance they hold. In order to achieve this, I will be looking into the influence of many regions of the globe. Europe will be a major focus point, as it seems to hold a major stake in what goes on in the FSU's territory. Weather the geographical position of the FSU in relation to it becoming a "corridor" between Europe and the Far East is of any importance will be looked at. Also the magnitude of the task being undertaken both by the FSU and the rest of the global "stakeholders" will be analyzed."

Tags:russia, soviet, union, Europe, politics, power, govern

Abstract
This paper examines the construction of Africa as a ?naturally violent place? by attempting to show that such portrayals misrepresent a complex and ambiguous picture. It looks at how such portrayals form a representation that affects the social world, both in the global North and in the South. It argues that contrary to journalistic depictions, which tend to naturalise and remove African conflict to some ahistorical realm far away from the global North, the roots of many of the conflicts plaguing the Horn of Africa can be found in the intersection of the global and the local. It also examines some of the conflicts in North East Africa and argues how one of the elements critical to these conflicts is not just the weapons flows and economic interests of the Global north but the way global narratives ? of progress, of modernity ? are taken up and played out.

From the Paper
"Before examining the construction of "natural violence", it is important to consider what violence is. When confronted by Alice Lakwena, an Acholi woman from northern Uganda who was possessed by a Christian sprit known as Lakwena and started a guerrilla group - journalists employed terms like "voodoo priestess." Journalists, in being asked to report on the now, especially in a place so far from their understanding, tend to neglect history - Johnson (2003) called it an institutional amnesia. This is not simply the fault of journalists; violence, a war, has this compelling property. So great are the upheavals of war, and the apparent discontinuities they bring with them, that they can often mask the deep rooted reasons for such struggle."

Tags:economy, sudan, war, witchcraft

Abstract
This paper focuses on the development of a collective defence and security policy within the European Union (EU). It gives the example of the EU's role in the Balkans conflict as the continuing development of this policy. The paper also looks at some of the procedural elements in creating such a policy.

From the Paper
"By the 1970s, a foreign policy mechanism entitled European Political Co-operation had been established, in recognition of the fact that there was an external dimension to trade cooperation and that EC members needed to coordinate their voice in international affairs. Meanwhile, a protocol of agreement among the Member States to establish an organisation of European Political Co-operation (EPC) was conceived. In 1986, the Single European Act (Title?V, Article 30, (6), (a)) formalized this intergovernmental cooperation without changing its nature or methods of operation. Therefore, the forging of a CFSP in the 1990s was able to build upon the foundations that had been laid before in EPC. "

Tags:army, balkans

Abstract
This paper discusses the varied and numerous factors and actors in international relations that influence foreign policy formulation in Britain and Germany. Transnational Organizations such as the UN and the EU are covered, along with NATO's role post WWII. Concepts such as 'chequebook diplomacy' are explained and also the emergence of a new national German interest post 9/11 is examined.

From the Paper
"The Anglo-American relationship is reputed to be the strongest bond to have existed between two independent sovereign nations, certainly in terms of foreign policy harmonization. The UK claims "a special relationship with the United States, not shared by others" (Kenneth Younger, 1964, p104), throughout Europe, although Germany shares some common interest with her through NATO, having occasionally stoically exhibited this commitment. "Germany prefers to compromise its tradition of military restrain, rather than weakening its reputation as a reliable partner within NATO" (Volker Rittberger, 2001, p179), as German participation in Kosovo demonstrated."

Tags:UN, EU, Transnational, NATO, diplomacy, 9/11

Abstract
This paper explains that, since its inception, several events have conspired to push the European Union (EU) towards implementing foreign and security policies and military intervention; the ethnic conflicts on the doorstep of Europe in the Balkans and specifically the failures in Bosnia and Kosovo have prompted EU leaders to consider the role of the EU in military and humanitarian concerns. The author points out that, in the war on terror, the American response was 'shock and awe'; whereas, the 'European way of war' includes not only the Petersberg Tasks of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid but also trying to deal with the congeries of economic, political, social and human factors, which, if left unaddressed, can contribute to conflict and to support for terrorism. The paper concludes that the EU's identity as an actor on the world stage, as it has developed over the years, has proven it to be a successful economic and political participant in world affairs and, therefore, has been obliged the EU to take responsibility for international conflict and humanitarian crises in its capacity as a major world actor.

Table of Contents
Bosnia
Kosovo
Macedonia
Congo
The End of the Cold War
The 'War on Terror'
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The massacre at Srebrenica in Bosnia, July 1995 was called 'the worst mass murder in Europe since 1945'. The massacre was the culmination of civil war between Serbs and Muslims, brought about through ethnic rivalries. At the time, the United Nations (UN) was in official command of troops in Bosnia and had designated Srebrenica a safe zone for Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), but the UN troops (under a Dutch commander) found themselves unable to intervene. The troops, called in for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid, were not authorised to engage with the Serbs. While the EU with its newly formed Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) attempted negotiations, it was a case of too little, too late."

Tags:bosnia, macedonia, peacekeeping, policy, security

Abstract
This paper discusses how the European Commission has become aware of an "implementation deficit" within the EU policy process. It looks at how its primary role regarding EU policy implementation is that of supervisor and overseer and how although it is responsible for direct implementation to a limited extent, the majority of implementation is delegated to agencies within the member states. It attempts to show how it is this subsidiarity of policy implementation which has emerged as the principal cause of the implementation deficit, although various other factors add to this problem. In order to understand the extent to which these implementation difficulties undermine EU policy-making, each of the primary factors which contribute to this deficit are examined and examples of actual EU policies that have suffered as a result are provided.

From the Paper
"A further means by which EU policy-making may be undermined is the presence of too many intervening links in the implementation process. The higher the number of links, the greater is the risk of failure. For instance, the EU's anti sexual discrimination policies would go through so many links before reaching their intended target (e.g. an office) that the policy may have been "eroded" to such an extent that, when implemented, it can be totally distorted from the original Commission policy."

Tags:euro, european, parliament

Abstract
The paper shows that the causes of the Crimean war all revolved around the decaying Ottoman Empire and the Eastern Question. The Ottoman Empire had grown too large and outstretched; it was getting impossible to control such a vast empire from the center and the Empire consisted of many different ethnic and religious people. The paper discusses each of the great powers of the time - Russian, Britain, France, Austria and Sardinia - and shows how each one in turn was unable to prevent the war.

From the Paper
"As Turkey's direct neighbor, Russia had a mixture of territorial, strategic, economic and religious reasons for their part in starting the Crimean War. Ever since the time of Peter the Great, Russia had dreamed of getting control of the Black Sea and gaining access to a warm water port in the Mediterranean. If Russia could gain access to the Black Sea, Mediterranean and Ottoman territory then it would vastly improve its economic, trade and shipping economies. If this were to happen Russia would also dominate the Near East making it the most dominant Great Power. The Russian Orthodox Church also laid claim to the Holy Lands, which would be vitally important in political and strategic terms to get a foothold in this area."

Tags:armies, europe, florence, history, nightingale, ottoman, prussia

Abstract
This paper defines key terms necessary for the paper ('human rights', 'civil rights' and 'civil liberties') and gives a brief history of the development of human rights (from Socrates through to the U.S. Bill of Rights and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The main paper is split into two parts. Part one looks at alleged human rights violations from both an external, generally 'Western', perspective and an internal, Chinese (Asian-Islamic) perspective. It argues that human rights as an issue is being manipulated by both Western and Eastern governments for political purposes. Examples used in the paper include alleged oppression in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Tianenmen Square; as well as suspected torture based on religious, political and socio-cultural intolerance by the Chinese government. Part two looks at possible solutions to the human rights issue. It again uses both internal (Chinese) and external (U.S. and U.N.) perspectives and leads to the thought-provoking conclusion. The full text of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights is included in the appendix.

From the Paper
"'Human rights' are rights that all humans are entitled to such as the right to live, the right to liberty, the right to freedom of expression and the right to equality within society. 'Civil rights' and 'civil liberties' refer to the guarantees that a state may make to its citizens and are offered in addition to one's basic human rights. Perhaps the best quantification of human rights (and the mostly widely accepted in the West) is the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the UN's Declaration is over half a century old and has been savagely criticized at times it still serves as a useful guide to general ideals of human rights."

Tags:tianenmen, tibet, xinjiang

Abstract
This paper explains the WTO's agenda and its effect on Africa and Europe. It contends that a freer trading Europe would be a prosperous one, not only in terms of greater economic growth for power houses like Britain or Germany but for development for the stagnant Portugal and the emerging Poland. It looks at how it would also have the potential to act as a saviour for the poor and developing world, allowing them to rise from entrenched poverty into prosperity.

From the Paper
"The most incendiary and infamous interest group who would stand to lose would be those farmers who benefit from the Common agricultural policy. The CAP is not only an anachronistic subsidy in an age of free trade and globalisation, it is also an enormous one; it consumes nearly fifty percent of the EU's multi billion dollar budget (www.bbc.co.uk). Put simply, the realisation of the WTO's agenda would see a straight loss of L43 billion for the EU's farmers (the total of their subsidy in 2005 figures, www.bbc.co.uk) the loss of their protected standard of living and of their privileged access to the lucrative single European market. One would expect that, now on a level playing field, it would only be a matter of time before African farmers began to offer the European consumer cheap food and other goods which presented serious competition for their European counterparts. "

Tags:globalization, european, market, globalization

Abstract
This paper looks at how Gandhi used non-violence and peaceful protest as a weapon against British Imperial Rule throughout the early twentieth century. The paper looks at key events such as the Quit India protest, the two World Wars and the involvement of Irish nationalists. Gandhi's actions are considered within the global events that shaped Britian's ability to take action against Gandhi: Gandhi was not the only reason the British eventually left India!

From the Paper
"Throughout the ages mankind often instinctively turns to the use of violence to defeat an enemy. Violence is part and parcel of the culture of human beings. And yet one of the greatest freedom struggles in modern history was apparently won through the specific rejection of violence, and the active use of a policy of non-violence. That struggle was between the Indian independence movement and the British colonial administration. At the head of that independence movement was Mahatma Gandhi, a simple Indian who held no office or great wealth, and yet was able to unite a whole subcontinent against the British Empire. Not only that, but he did it in such a peaceful, virtuous way that he made the British question their own morals and eventually forced them out of India. This is the general version that is recorded in history. However, this version of events generally ignores the other forces that influenced the British to withdraw from the Empire in India. Here we will critically examine the view that the use of non-violence was the main reason for the ending of British rule in India, by examining the true organizational nature of non-violent civil disobedience and other events, British and global."

Tags:independence, Mohandas, Mahatma, Hindu, passive, resistance, campaigns, defense, Raja, Viceroy, Lord, Irwin, World, War, II