Monday, January 27, 2020

Challenges And Prospects: Bangladeshi Foreign Policy

Challenges And Prospects: Bangladeshi Foreign Policy Globalization has at present become a pervasive phenomenon of international relations, and in the process, is compelling developing countries like Bangladesh to assess its impact on its security and foreign policy. The traditional way of dealing with the security (which is basically state-centric and emphasizes military security), appears to have become inadequate for the task of formulating a policy that would be capable of effectively tackling the prospects and challenges of the dynamic and technology-dominated milieu. The question is how much of traditional security concerns remains relevant to policy-making, how and what to discard from the past to enable foreign policy successfully meet the opportunities and challenges of globalization. While globalization has, to some extent, eroded the power of the nation-state, the latter has not been rendered absolutely impotent. Bangladeshs security concerns will need to be addressed through correct policies, taking into account the fact that it is multifaceted and comprehensive. In general, Bangladesh could expect to face problems in the following areas: military, political, economic, environmental and societal. Before embarking on the actual analysis of Bangladeshs security and foreign policy, a brief review of the concept and process of globalization and security will be provided. Its impact on Bangladesh will be studied, focusing on both positive and negative aspects. Finally implications for policy will be discussed. Globalization The term globalization has become a buzzword in the present-day world. Although the term has attained extraordinary popularity in recent years, it was in evidence even a hundred years ago. In the last 25 years or so, the concept of global has transformed itself from a mere reference to mean total to an emphasis on the globe as a unit of analysis in its own right. Without claiming the world to have become a single society or that it is bound to become one, globalization refers to a process or trend.  [1]  Simply, the term globalization describes the increased mobility of goods, services, labor, technology and capital throughout the world. (http://canadianeconomy.gc.ca/english/economy/globalization.html). Or it can be described as, identity related to globalization processes seem unrelated to traditional boundaries of social groups, transcending territorial, religious and other boundaries.  [2]   It was actually in the 1980s and 1990s that the world witnessed the revolutionary impact of the process of globalization. It was primarily due to unprecedented technological innovation in the fields of communication and transportation that international relations became radically transformed, especially in the realm of trade and investment, and diffusion of information. Despite fact that there is a growing concern about dealing with the complexities and changes generated by the phenomenon of globalization, the term itself is still imprecise, and means different things to different people. To simplify matters, globalization essentially refers to the process of worldwide spread of six kinds of objects and activities: i) goods and services; ii) people; iii) ideas and information; iv) money; v) normative orientation; and vi) behavioral patterns and practices.  [3]  Of these, the flow of goods and services has had the most tangible impact: it has been instrumental in raising the level of material prosperity unprecedented in human history. Besides, the free flow of information and ideas is making it possible for the full flowering of human potentials. Proponents of globalization are optimistic that increase in global prosperity would usher in a stable and peaceful world. Critics of globalization however, are not so convinced that it is an unmixed blessing. They dispute the argument that as a result of the process of globalization, the nation-state is losing it significance due to the erosion of its functions which are increasingly being performed by non-state actors like multinational cooperations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). And it is the poor countries who faces the challenges of globalization more as, globalisation is not seen as transcending the role of the state, but rather as a consequence of the powerful role of rich countries poor countries find it difficult to devise policies to deal with the crisis, especially since none of them boasts strong multinational companies that may function as influential global players.  [4]  The focus of their criticism is that the process of globalization seeks to promote the economic at the cost of the social and political. They are concerned about the deleterious effect of unbridled market operations, which could destroy communal and social unity. Although globalization is very much a fact of life, it cannot be denied that the territorially organized nation-state continues to remain significant and capable of providing the necessary (perhaps not all) services to it s citizens. Again the resistance of globalization may assume the form of ultra-nationalism and racism. It is asserted that ethnic nationalism is much more deep-rooted and less time-bound (than modernists prefer to believe), therefore, better equipped to overcome the challenge of both globalization as well as regionalization.  [5]  Critics however, point out that, globalization contains the threat of a new form of hegemony, which would thus create social conditions conducive to new doctrines of civilizational superiority.  [6]  Thus, globalization tends to strengthen nation-states in some respects and weaken in others. Security- from individual to diverse and comprehensive approach Security itself is now regarded to have become comprehensive as far as its meaning and definitions are concerned, as a result of which there is a tendency to over expand and widen the security agenda. Traditionally, a public issue is deemed to have been securitized when it is presented as an existential threat, requiring emergency measures and justifying actions outside the normal bounds of political procedure.  [7]  But the non-traditional approach to security tends to make it all inclusive and comprehensive, thereby, making it analytically unwieldy. Park defines comprehensive security in terms of policies designed to protecting the peoples life not only from traditional forms for military threat, but also from various other forms of threats such as hunger, poverty, environmental disaster, scarcity of energy, etc.  [8]  Or it can be viewed as Security measures that starts from the assumption that dialogues at the level of the state and elsewhere contribute to the formulation of mutually acceptable definitions of common threats. The threats do not necessarily emanate from rival states, but also comprise threats to internal stability in the area of economics, social unrest, ethnic divisions, or serious environmental damage.  [9]   Transnational economic and financial forces at work possesses the capacity to wreak havoc with national economies- something that cannot be tackled by military means, but only with appropriate policies adopted primarily at the national level, but would also include international and regional cooperation. Hansen viewed it Now approaches towards security can only succeed with the cooperation of the main actors on the global stage which includes not only governments, but companies, banks and, at the political level, national political parties as well.  [10]  So, in this era of globalization, to deal security measures, the most pressing need for any country like Bangladesh is to take cognizance of the magnitude and complexity of the changes now sweeping the world. Bowman describes, New technologies are making the world much more interdependent. These technologies are accelerating the movements of goods, services, ideas, and capital across national boundaries. They are displacing trad itional security threats with nontraditional worries like international terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and environmental degradation while strengthening the capacities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to influence policy.  [11]   Foreign Policy of Bangladesh The basic objectives of Bangladeshs foreign policy are to promote its security, protect its territorial integrity, achieve socio-economic development, uphold its ideology and maintain its cultural identity and national dignity (http://www.bssnews.net/about_foreign_policy.php) -goals that are challenged in various forms by the process of globalization. The security interests of Bangladesh are said to lie in the consolidation of its hard-earned independence by accelerating the process of economic development and modernization. It is argued that the basic goal of its foreign policy should be the ensuring of diplomatic and economic cooperation and assistance from external sources. Bangladeshs foreign policy has been deeply informed by the dire need to achieve socio-economic progress through the optimum use of its abundant human and other resources, which, in turn, could be instrumental in maintaining national cohesion, as well as international prestige and influence.  [12]   Again the main constraints of Bangladeshs foreign policy are its geographical location, underdevelopment and overpopulation. In the era of globalization, Bangladesh, like other developing countries, is confronted with threats emanating from both external and internal sources: terrorism, drug trafficking, circulation of light weapons, poverty, political instability, environmental degradation, etc. The Security Agenda of Bangladesh External The geographical location of Bangladesh makes it obvious that India and Myanmar are the two immediate neighbors who are the potential threats to its territorial security. However, chances are that India (aware of political costs involved in such a move) would prefer not to threaten Bangladesh militarily, if its major strategic and economic interests are served without such efforts. Myanmar, too could pose such a threat to Bangladesh, but so far it has been limited to the influx of Rohingya refugees  [13]  in the 1990s in the South-Eastern part of Bangladesh, Coxs bazar, that caused considerable security problem and socio-economic burden for the country. Although these two neighbors are potential threats to the territorial security of Bangladesh, the problematic question is how could minimize its vulnerabilities in this regard. Some analysts make suggestions, that Bangladesh does indeed possess strategic value, which it can and should exploit  [14]  but reality does not seem to support such an assessment. In this era of globalization, it appears unlikely that either or both China and the United States would seriously court Bangladesh as ally against India, since both are now more interested in improving relations with India rather than antagonizing it. So, Bangladesh does have a big concern as far as the external sources of threats to its security are concerned, but they can be best dealt with and neutralized through astute diplomacy rather than the use of force, for which it is ill equipped. Bangladesh may resent the predominance of India, but there seems to be very limited options available to it deal with it in a truly effecti ve manner. No matter how disadvantaged Bangladesh may be vis-à  -vis its immediate neighbors, it must nonetheless be in a position to oppose policies on their part that could increase tension, create instability, or otherwise run against broad interests of Bangladesh. Prospects for the proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in South Asia are another security concern of Bangladesh. With the testing of nuclear devices by India and Pakistan in 1998, possibilities of nuclear war occurring in the region has become a possibility. So, Bangladeshs security has been adversely affected by the development of nuclear devices and their delivery systems in South Asia. Bangladesh should, therefore, strive to play an active role in regional forums since the development of WMD transcends the barrier of distance and could affect Bangladesh too. Internal Military Military force, although being marginalized in the era of economic globalization, has not been rendered obsolete. Military forces continue to retain their coercive and deterrent power, functions that economic instruments are still unable to perform with as much as effectiveness  [15]  . Military power, it must be born in mind, is fungible, that is, can be used for purposes other than dealing with only internal and external threats. In the Bangladesh context, apart from deterring external military aggression and tackling internal political threats, Bangladesh armed forces are of considerable help for reconstruction and rehabilitation in the aftermath of natural disasters which the country faces frequently. Economic Economic security is a term that is fraught with controversy, since in an interdependent global economic system it is difficult to achieve absolute security. In this era of globalization economic security is an inseparable element of comprehensive security, and the impact of both private sector economic activities and governmental economic diplomacy are treated as two sides of the same coin.  [16]  As a least developed country (LDC) Bangladesh has certain in-built problems, (the most glaring being wide-spread poverty), that severely constrain the effective and independent conduct of its foreign policy. At present, the country is further disadvantaged by the stiff competition that it has to face in the outside world especially with India. As has just been discussed, the globalization process offers both opportunities and poses challenges for the world, particularly for the developing countries. But Bangladesh, although poor in most respects, is not entirely without resources: it h as manpower (cheap labor), water resources, and mineral resources (coal, oil and gas). If mobilized effectively, its vast but homogeneous and resilient population could take advantage of the information technology. The liberal international trade has led to an increase in the level of employment creating about 1.5 million jobs in the export sector. Therefore, there is an urgent need for Bangladesh to conduct its economic diplomacy, with vigor and vision. Among the challenges being faced by Bangladesh are how to promote its economic prosperity in the dynamic, complex and highly competitive world, and domestically to provide the foundation for the satisfactory performance of its economy. And how to attain this goal in an environment where major decisions affecting national life are often determined by the international market. For instance, interest rates are determined more by global trends than by national ones. Another salient feature of the globalization phenomenon involves migration. So, it becomes imperative that Bangladesh make diplomatic efforts to make it possible for Bangladeshi people to work in other countries where there are better opportunities. In this era of competition, Bangladesh will not necessarily get what it deserves, but only what it can negotiate. Bangladesh needs to take the advantage of the opportunities that globalization offers through the free flow of information and the use of English as an international language. This would help produce a better trained workforce capable of competing at the international level. It also has to negotiate preferential access to the markets of the Western countries, as well as those of India and China. In the case of India, asymmetry in the bilateral trade relations has to be redressed. It would, to some extent, depend on the negotiating skills of Bangladesh officials, as, to what extent they can ensure market access. (c)Environment In the environment sector Bangladesh faces a number of challenges concerning the control of the flow of the Ganges waters by India, desertification, deforestation, global warming, etc. Most of these problems originate or are caused by factors that are external to Bangladesh. Global warming, for instance, is a truly globalized phenomenon. It is estimated that a sea-level rise of 1 meter could lead to the submergence of as much as one-third of the coastal areas of Bangladesh, and in the process, may give rise to what is called the problem of environmental refugees, and threaten the territorial integrity of Bangladesh. Although the above-mentioned problems do not appear to pose any immediate threat to security of Bangladesh, these may do in the long run. After all, it must be borne in mind that, The environment, modified by human interference, sets the conditions for socio-political-economic life: when these conditions are poor, life is poor.  [17]   (d) Socio-Political A major focus of the new thinking in security studies is the socio-political conditions of the nation. Societal security is basically about identity of a group or community, and the political security is more about institutions and organizational security of the state. There can be a number of ways in which societal security could be threatened, for example, through migration and horizontal competition.  [18]  In the case of Bangladesh, its cultural identity could be diluted through the powerful cultural influence from foreign sources, especially from closest neighbor India. Bangladesh faces a dilemma in this regard, since modernization involves adopting ideas and practices from more developed societies, while at the same time protecting its own cultural values and identity. Political threats like terrorism, which is becoming increasingly lethal, for instance, could pose a serious challenge to the viability of a nascent democracy like Bangladesh, which is already assailed by a host of other problems.  [19]  This is a particularly negative aspect of globalization that is having a damaging impact on the security of Bangladesh, which may be subjected to what is termed as cultural militarization- that is, to the transformation of culture in ways that rather render violent responses to social problems normal and unexceptional. Cultural militarization marginalizes non-violent strategies for conflict resolution, ultimately leading to the brutalization of society and the weakening of human security institutions.  [20]   Bangladesh is also moving in that direction. Terrorism and the proliferation of light weapons are a dangerous combination, the incidence of which is increasing in Bangladesh due to the free flow of goods and porous borders. Poverty is another source of insecurity for Bangladesh. But whether globalization as such would alleviate poverty is debatable. In the final analysis, it depends on the capacity of the government to mobilize resources in an optimum way. That is something that can be achieved is there is political stability inside the country. Inability to achieve political stability would not only result in Bangladesh failure to take advantage of the positive aspects of globalization, but its foreign and economic policy agenda would be set outside the country. Discussion: Globalization- Prospects and Challenges? It is amply clear that Bangladesh has vulnerabilities in practically all areas: territorial, economic, environmental, and socio-Political. Bangladesh appears to be constrained as far dealing with its immediate neighbors are concerned, which means that it will need to cooperate with them despite the fact that its internal security and stability could be adversely affected by them. However this is not to deny the value of military power, which can always act as a deterrent. No matter how remote the possibility of aggression from the outside, Bangladesh should formulate a sound defense policy. While there are both external and internal sources of threats, on balance the latter are perceived to be posing more serious challenges for the security, stability and prosperity of the country. The main objectives of Bangladeshs foreign policy, viz., upholding its sovereignty, cultural identity, ideology are challenged by the forces of globalization. At the same time, while these factors do pose threats, it is difficult to determine exactly when and how they will evolve into threats to national security. The most pressing task before Bangladesh is to achieve political stability; otherwise, it will not be possible for its diplomats to project a positive image of the country. Foreign policy is, after all, is an extension of its domestic policy; therefore, as long as Bangladesh is domestically not in order, it would not be realistic to expect it to have a credible and effective foreign policy. Despite the challenges confronting the security and foreign policy of Bangladesh, it is yet possible to hope for a prosperous future. The tragedy would be that, if it cannot compete and negotiate with the outside world from a position of strength, if cannot take advantage of the positive aspects of globalization, and if it fail to peacefully resolve its own domestic social and political problems, the process of development would be retard- taking perhaps several more costly decades, instead of one. Bangladesh needs to deal with challenges like transnational economic and financial forces, cross-border terrorism, arms and drug trafficking, climate change and environmental degradation through cooperation and coordinated efforts at both regional and international levels. The main purpose of Bangladeshs foreign policy in the present era should be minimizing the degree of vulnerabilities and reducing threats to its security, as well as possessing the ability to shape its security environment through an effective and realistic assessment of its national interests, and the production thereof through pragmatic and active diplomacy. Conclusion It can therefore be argued that despite globalization, the real sources of Bangladeshs insecurity would continue to remain mainly domestic (which could be exacerbated and exploited by external sources), that demand attention from within the state. The basic challenge facing Bangladesh is to comprehend the nature of changes taking place in the international economy and to deal with them through creating conditions and institutions necessary for coping with a dynamic environment. Only the constructive efforts of a dynamic and modern state could achieve success in eliminating the main sources of insecurity. Otherwise, chances are that, widespread and endemic social and political conflict would reduce it to the status of a failed state, with people becoming more concerned with personal security than with national security. MAP OF BANGLADESH

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Misconceptions About Mrs. Hammond in Rebecca Rushs Novel Kelroy :: Rebecca Rush Kelroy Essays

Misconceptions About Mrs. Hammond in Rebecca Rush's Novel Kelroy Most people that read Kelroy incorrectly view Mrs. Hammond. She is labeled an evil person who is out for her own gain. Most people doubt that she even cares about her daughters Lucy and Emily. Mrs. Hammond is said to be vicious and sneaky, and will do whatever is necessary to accomplish her agenda. They believe Mrs. Hammond is so greedy she will sacrifice her own daughters' happiness so she can live out the rest of her life comfortably. These are all misconceptions of Mrs. Hammond. Mrs. Hammond is not the loathsome enemy in this novel. The enemy in this novel is society itself for allowing Mrs. Hammond's actions in this story toward her daughters and Kelroy to be largely viewed as acceptable behavior. Mrs. Hammond is not a saint. Some of her actions were abhorrent. "She (Mrs. Hammond) was a woman of fascinating manners, strong prejudices, boundless ambition." (Page 3) Mrs. Hammond had good manners. According to her society, she was a proper lady. She also had strong prejudices and boundless ambitions, and these are her qualities that create this evil persona placed on Mrs. Hammond. Mrs. Hammond has a strong temper. On page 102, Mrs. Hammond has a dialogue with the grocer. The grocer is trying to collect money for the food that Mrs. Hammond has received from his grocery. "I don't believe it," cried Mrs. Hammond, "for it is an impossibility that my family could have consumed articles to this amount." (Page 102) Mrs. Hammond speaks harshly toward this grocer for doing his job. "Charles, who knew that the slightest liberty taken by a person not altogether agreeable to her, was sometimes enough to irritate Mrs. Hammond." (Page 141) The people around Mrs. Hammond reco gnized her temper. A great number of people have tempers. Tempers do not make them bad people. Mrs. Hammond's boundless ambition comes into play with Kelroy and Emily. Mrs. Hammond wants the absolute best for Emily, and she truly believes that her plan for Emily to marry a man in the upper class is best for Emily's life. Mrs. Hammond's ambition forced her to try to stop Emily and Kelroy's relationship.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Frederick II of Germany

The Crusade is a series of eight military campaigns between 1096 and 1270 in which Europeans attempted to wrest control of the Holy Land from the Muslims who ruled the Middle East. Members of these groups are said to be recruited after a meeting of the church council in France where the Pope had called upon â€Å"knights† to go to the Holy Land and free the Christians from the Muslim rule. Aside from these, the Crusades are also tasked to regain the Holy Sepulcher. After the said meeting, the traveling preachers were said to be the ones responsible for propagating the concept which was then openly accepted by the people.That was said to be the start of the eight crusades in the next 200 years of history. Along with the mounted knights, many more foot soldiers were to â€Å"take the cross,† or become Crusaders. These included archers, crossbowmen, spear men and foragers. Under the feudal system, they owed their allegiance to landowning lords. Crusades were costly enterpr ises. The money for outfitting the soldiers on their expeditions to the East might be provided by the feudal lords or raised through taxes, sales of land or other property, or loans.Payment of the loans could be delayed until their return, and no doubt some had dreams of coming home with some of the treasure hinted at by the Byzantine emperor. Of course, a great many never came home at all. However, the Crusades failed to achieve their objective and cost untold lives. However, they did expose Western Europe to new ideas, and resulted in a heightened desire for adventure and an urge to see distant places. This curiosity was eventually channeled into the exploration of the New World. Frederick II of Germany who then headed the Fifth Crusade was blamed after its failure.Although he was considered a leader of the crusade, he was not around to actually lead the group. He did sent his army to support every actions made by the crusades yet many of the crusaders feel that they might have do ne much better or yet outperformed what they have done should Frederick II was present to show his leadership skills. After this incident, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights named Hermann von Salze told Frederick II to marry Yolanda who is then the Queen of Jerusalem, in order to save the bad impression of those who had expected the victory of his crusade.Frederick was such a fickle minded and irresponsible man. He was said to have reaffirmed his vow to the pope but he kept on changing minds and switching dates as to when he could meet the deadlines . With such an act, Pope Gregory believed that the delaying tactics being done by Frederick was a sign of his being coward. Soon after, Frederick II was excommunicated by Pope Gregory. After several excommunication orders imposed upon Frederick II, the Knights Templar and other members of the Teutonic Knights refused to help him again.After no help has been extended to Frederick, he decided to talk to the Sultan of Jerusalem and ca me up with an agreement. They quickly came to an agreement, with Jerusalem being granted to the Christians, and both parties agreeing to a ten-year truce. Al-Kamil was criticized by his people for making this agreement, but he knew that he could retake the Holy Land whenever he wanted. Frederick was similarly criticized by the Christians, who protested that he was sent to kill the heathen, not dine with him and sign treaties.Additionally, they were now noticing the defensive vulnerabilities of Jerusalem that the Sultan had counted on when he made the deal. The Emperor entered Jerusalem on March 17, 1229. On the next morning, Sunday, Frederick went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate mass, only to find that no priest was there. Undaunted, he proceeded to crown himself King of Jerusalem. This act, combined with the conquest that he represented, earned Frederick the hatred of most Palestinian barons.He had liberated Jerusalem and become its King, but it was immediately evi dent that his grasp on the Holy Land was tenuous at best. The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. In 1244 the Khwarezmians retook Jerusalem, after the end of a ten-year truce following the Sixth Crusade. The fall of Jerusalem, no longer an earth-shattering event to European Christians who had seen the city pass from Christian to Muslim control numerous times in the past two centuries, did not prompt an immediate call for a new crusade.Pope Innocent IV and Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor were engaged in a continuation of the papal- imperial struggle. King Louis IX who lead the seventh crusade was having difficulty trying to fix and prepare another set of knights to compose the seventh crusade after all previous crusades had failed. France was perhaps the strongest state in Europe at the time, as Provence had mostly fallen under Parisian control after the Albigensian Crusade, and Toulouse was led by Louis IX's brother Alphonse, who joined him on his crusade in 1245.Another brother, Charles I of Anjou, also joined Louis. For the next three years Louis collected an ecclesiastical tenth (mostly from church tithes), and in 1248 he and his approximately 20 000-strong army sailed from the ports of Aigues-Mortes, which had been specifically built to prepare for the crusade, and Marseille. Louis IX's financial preparations for this expedition were comparatively well organized, and he was able to raise approximately 1,500,000 livres tournois.However, many nobles who joined Louis on the expedition had to borrow money from the royal treasury, and the crusade turned out to be very expensive. They sailed first to Cyprus and spent the winter on the island, negotiating with various other powers in the east; the Latin Empire set up after the Fourth Crusade asked for his help against the Byzantine Empire of Nicaea, and the Principality of Antioch and the Knights Templar wanted his help in Syria, where the Muslims had recently captured Sido n.However, Egypt was the object of his crusade, and he landed in 1249 at Damietta on the Nile. Egypt would, Louis thought, provide a base from which to attack Jerusalem, and its wealth and supply of grain would keep the crusaders fed and equipped. On June 6 Damietta was taken with little resistance from the Egyptians, who withdrew further up the Nile. However the flooding of the Nile had not been taken into account during the campaign, and it soon kept Louis and his army grounded at Damietta for six months, where the knights sat back and enjoyed the spoils of war.Louis ignored the agreement made during the Fifth Crusade that Damietta should be given to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, now a rump state in Acre, but he did set up an archbishopric there (under the authority of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem) and used the city as a base to direct military operations against the Muslims of Syria. In November, Louis marched towards Cairo, and almost at the same time, the Ayyubid sultan of Egyp t, as-Salih Ayyub, died. A force led by Robert of Artois and the Templars attacked the Egyptian camp at al-Mansourah, but they were defeated and Robert was killed.Meanwhile, Louis' main force was attacked by the Mameluk Baibars, the commander of the army and a future sultan himself. Louis was defeated as well, but he did not withdraw to Damietta for months, preferring to besiege Mansourah, which ended in starvation and death for the crusaders rather than the Muslims. In March of 1250 Louis finally returned to Damietta, but he was taken captive on the way there, fell ill with dysentery, and was cured by an Arab physician. In May he was ransomed in return for Damietta and 400 000 livres, and he immediately left Egypt for Acre, one of the few remaining possessions of the crusaders in Syria.Meanwhile, the Mameluk soldiers of Egypt revolted. Turanshah, as-Salih's successor, took control of Cairo, creating a Mameluk dynasty that would eventually conquer the last of the crusader territorie s. Louis made an alliance with the Mameluks, and from his new base in Acre began to rebuild the other crusader cities. Although the Kingdom of Cyprus claimed authority there, Louis was the de facto ruler. Louis also negotiated with the Mongols, who had begun to appear in the east and who the Christians, encouraged by legends of a Nestorian kingdom among them (cf.Prester John), hoped would help them fight the Muslims and restore the Crusader States. They, like the Muslims who were similarly negotiating with the Mongols against the Christians, were unaware that the Mongols were not interested in helping either side and would eventually be disastrous for both. Louis' embassy to the Mongol ruler Mongke Khan, headed by William of Rubruck, was a failure. The Khan rejected Louis' invitation to convert to Christianity, and instead suggested Louis submit to him. In 1254 Louis' money ran out, and his presence was needed in France where his mother and regent Blanche of Castile had recently die d.His crusade was a failure, but he was considered a saint by many, and his fame gave him an even greater authority in Europe than the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1270 he attempted another crusade, though it too would end in failure. As clearly stated in this paper, it has been said that entering truce agreements with the enemy is a not acceptable for the Crusades. In the case of Frederick II, most of his supporters had failed to be identified with him and also was not accepting the thought of being a traitor to their country.The crusades can be synonymous to heroes of each country in the world where they are often roused by the spirit to fight for what is right and what is advantageous for their countrymen. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. â€Å"Sixth Crusade. † http://everything2. com/index. pl? node_id=1387038 (accessed May 6, 2007). 2. â€Å"The Crusades, Science and its Times:700-1449. † http://www. bookrags. com/research/the-crusades-scit-021/ (accessed May 6, 2007). 3. â€Å"Sevent h Crusade. † http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Seventh_Crusade (accessed May 6, 2007).

Friday, January 3, 2020

Invisible Man Comparative Essay - 824 Words

Their Eyes Were Watching God and Invisible Man Essay nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Life has never been easy for African-Americans. Since this countrys formation, the African-American culture has been scorned, disrespected and degraded. It wasnt until the middle of the 21st century that African-American culture began to be looked upon in a more tolerant light. This shift came about because of the many talented African-American writers, actors, speakers and activists who worked so hard to gain respect for themselves and their culture. Two writers were on the front lines of this movement, Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison. Their novels, Invisible Man and Their Eyes Were Watching God, probed deeply into the life and culture†¦show more content†¦At the end of each novel, neither Janie nor Invisible Man are as happy as theyd like to be. But, both novels focus not on the bittersweet end, but rather what the characters learned before they reached the end. Janie realized that her strength was in herself and her pride, with or without Tea Cake. And Invisible Man realized that quot;My problem was that I always tried to go in everyones way but my ownquot; (pg. 573), and so took to hibernation, to quot;shake off the old skinquot; and start living a life he could be proud of.quot; In the end, despite some dissatisfaction, both characters knew who they were and how to pursue the happiness th ey craved. By using these two themes, both Hurston and Ellison took a dramatic leap of faith. These themes add the uniqueness and non-conformism of the stories themselves. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Neither Hurston nor Ellison hid any part of their culture to be politically correct; this fact is especially visible in the authors use of diction in their novels. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston employs slang and colloquial language throughout the novel. In fact, almost half of the novel is in this form. 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