Ethical argument-Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical argument-Abortion - Essay Example Ethical claims and principles suggest that women should have a right to abort a fetus because pregnancy and child birth is a personal matter and only a woman has a right to decide her destiny. The issue of moral choice centers on the factor of meaningful human life or personality. From the biological perspective, the fertilized egg is not a human being yet. The concept of individualization is not identified until the first stages of cell division are completed. So, fetus is not an individual and a woman does not violate human rights and does not 'kill'' a baby (Colker, 3). From the religious point of view, beginning with the premise that God infuses the soul at the moment of conception, church maintains that every unborn child must be regarded as a human person. The main controversy of his argument is that at what point it is morally wise to charge fetal life as human life. Too much stress on the fetus can lead to an abstracting from the important role the woman's body plays in the d evelopment of a child. In speaking of the view of convinced critics that the status of the child is the most important issue to resolve in the abortion controversy, Marquis gives examples of pain on animals (Stetson 101). The second controversy is that Marques states: "Presumably abortion could be justified in some circumstances, only of the loss consequent on failing to abort would be at least as great" (Marquis). He does not take into account that women should have a right to abort a fetus as a preventive measure not to born cripples (physical or mental). In reality, nobody will benefited from this new life: a mother will suffer all her life raising up a disabled creature, a parasitic twin will not become a society member able to work and lead an independent life. In this case, a fetus does not possess psychological characteristics and is not entitled to have full moral status, and should be aborted (Kramlich 7830. Therefore, pro-choice advocates like Warren and Thomson believe that banning abortions without any exceptions is a cruel and unjustifiable practice. Probably, Marcuqy would respond that abortion is also very bad for the morality of society as a whole. Abortion is an easy way out, so it encourages promiscuity and unprotected sex. The very notion of abortion is immoral because it ruins the whole concept of responsible parenthood. The society has the duty to protect the life of its citizens. The right to life has been the foundation of the civilized society. It seems that the most persuasive argument of the pro-choice lobby is that sometimes pregnancy occurs due to rape or incest. The most appropriate answer to this problem is the state taking a firm ground with a view to decrease the rate of rape and incest. And, in fact, not all rape and abortion victims want abortion. On the one hand, the opponents state that if humans are killed before birth, they are the same person as the other hu man beings (Stetson 32). The concept of killing contradicts with all existed religious and moral practices. Some people are content to continue with the moral traditions in which they were raised, while others are drawn toward systems of belief that they find match their needs and perceptions of this spiritual dimensions. "Fetuses seem to be like arbotraroly chosen human cells on some respects and like

Ec3002 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ec3002 - Essay Example in several distinct ways: they increase the flow of Foreign Direct Investments, speed up the internationalization of knowledge transfer, improve and increase international trade and globalize R&D activities. Generally, a multinational enterprise â€Å"that engages in foreign direct investment (FDI) and owns or, in some way, controls value-added activities in more than one country† (Dunning & Lundan 3). This definition, however, is subject to considerable criticism, for scholars in economic studies seek to distinguish between multinational enterprises that participate in â€Å"foreign-owned production and those that have increased overseas commitments† (Dunning & Lundan 3). Nevertheless, these deviations in the definition of multinational enterprises does not have anything to do with the role which MNEs play in the processes of globalization. It would be fair to say that MNEs have already turned into the essential components of the daily economic routine. MNEs play one of the dominant roles in competitive markets and are not the last drivers of globalization in the world. MNEs increase and speed up globalization via increased foreign direct investments (FDI), increased know ledge transfer, growth of the international trade, and internationalization of R&D activities. Foreign direct investments (FDI) have already become an essential feature of the deepening economic globalization. The integration of global markets and the growing number of MNEs reflect in ever rising FDI flows (Markusen & Venables 185). The second half of the 1980s was marked with the rapid advancement of the international FDI opportunities which, obviously, became the starting point of what we currently know as globalization (Markusen & Venables 186). During the six consecutive years, the worldwide stocks of FDI almost doubled and continued to grow during the 1990s (Markusen & Venables 187). Such increase in FDI is easy to explain by the growing number of MNEs, which seek to invest their resources

Advantages Of Human Resource Planning Business Essay

Advantages Of Human Resource Planning Business Essay Human resource planning is really important that without this all planning will finally end up as a mere guess work. Even if the predictions or forecast is not always successful, it is still needed because the forecasts can be quite useful which will give a basis. Upon this basis it is able to avoid ad hoc problems to an extent. Therefore human resource planning should be articulated along with the organisational planning. A dearth of particular category of employee or particular kind skills will affect the organisation in achieving its goals. Rapid changes in technology, marketing, management etc., will result in need of particular category an skilled persons. Changes within an organization in its design and structure will affect manpower demand. Demographic changes like the altering profile of the manpower in terms of age, sex, education etc. The Government policies in regard to reservation, child labour, working conditions etc. Different labour laws affecting the demand and supply of labour. Pressure from trade unions, politicians etc. Advantages of Human Resource Planning: Human Resources Planning (HRP) expects not just the needed quality and quantity of employees instead decide the accomplish plan for all the occasions of human resource management .The major advantages of Human resource planning are: It assures the corporate plan of the firm. The HRP elucidates doubts and alters to the upper limit potential and enables the organization to have right kind of people at right time in right place. It allows background for progress and growth of employees through training, development etc. It aids in anticipating the cost of salary increasing, improved benefits etc. It also helps to predict the cost of pay offs, incentives and all other cost of human resources which facilitates the formulation of budgets in an organization. To forecast the changes in abilities, aptitude and attitude of personnel. It results in the advancement of different origins of human resources to encounter the organizational goals and objectives. It also aids in taking measures to amend human resource shares in the form of enhanced output ,business turnover etc It facilities the control of all the functions, operations, contribution and cost of human resources Planning as an organisational business strategy: Planning process in a strategic way is often accomplished by networking with in and outside the organisation. The focus is therefore on strengthening the networking with the internal human resource professionals and external human resource persons which will be rooted in sharing information, technology, tools necessary for planning and development of personnel. The outcome depends on effective implementation of the developed tools and resources needed. Out of these a sustainable and feasible strategy has to be formulated. The most important thing to be noted here is that the strategy formulated should be articulated with the overall business strategy of the organisation. For this they will consult different human resource managers and all the line managers in the organisation. In order to ensure highest possible utilization of the tools they will work in close conjunction with the managers. This will be aimed in creating a sound personnel data base and tools for the line managers. Long term planning for success in short term: Though long term planning is advised the daily operational pressures would cause the long term planning to give way to short term planning. This might cause the plans ultimately to be less successful. It can be very expensive too. Quite lot of lead time is needed for recruiting, developing talented personnel. This will require long term economic plans. For a successful planning, all the factors need to be interconnected. The impact of short term planning will be to rely on current work force for all the organisational activities. But so as to achieve long term goals of an organisation it must have some changes made in the current human resources. It should be able to foresee the future needs of the organisation even in worst external scenario. Now the focus has been shifted from long range planning to strategic planning. What long range means is to predict for a particular time in future the amount of demand of an organisations services and to analyse in what area that demand will occur in future. This is often used to determine the demand in certain situations like expansion, adding of more services to the existing situation, capital needs etc. But later when the industries became volatile and the external scenario became dynamic the long range planning was replaced by strategic planning. The idea behind long range planning is that the firm will continue its rendering of services so as to match with its demand. But the idea underlying behind the strategic planning is that there are lot of economic, social, political, technological and competitive changes happening. By understanding all these changes to analyse whether the organisation will be able to provide services that would meet these challenges or whether it should m ove to further new services and products. Though it will take considerable time to evolve a strategy, time span is not the important focus here. It might even take generations to evolve and implement a strategy. Therefore it is better to use long term and short term to describe the time that it will take for a strategy to implement. CHAPTER 2 Literature Review: Human beings are the most important assets in hospitals. Machines and other equipments which are integral parts of delivering health care require the human touch, expertise, and commitment for their full utilization and application in delivery of health care. Therefore planning of human resources is the key to any health care provision. The objective of human resource (HR) policy is to attract, recruit, retain and develop competent personnel and Create a continuously learning health care organisation. (B.Ray) Human resource planning is the projection of the number of people required and the type of people in terms of skill mix required for the organisation so as to achieve the desired goals and objectives of the organisation. This means that human resource planning is an important add on to the strategic plans. But evidence shows that the connecting bridge between human resource planning and strategic management is not stressed in practice (Baird et al.1983, De sancto-1983; Ohan Rynes-1983). Reason to this non utilisation is found in focus of human resource planning literature. Almost all the research focuses on human resource supply and demand forecasting (Zedeck Casci-1984). Extra care may be taken in developing a statistical model of manpower planning, but little care is given to gaining managerial acceptance of such plans. Thus there exist a huge gap between available techniques and their use because important organisational realities are not projected in to the models (Zedeck Casc io,1984) Rapid environmental change, globalization, innovations to provide competitive products and services, changing customer and investor demands have become the standard backdrop for organizations. To compete effectively, firms must constantly improve their performance by reducing costs, enhancing quality, and differentiating their products and services. To improve firm performance and create firm competitive advantage, HR should focus on better and new set of priorities. These newly set priorities should be more organisational, business and strategic oriented and less focussed towards old traditional HR functions like staffing, training, appraisal and compensation. Business strategic priorities include team-based job designs, flexible workforces, quality improvement practices, employee empowerment and incentive compensation (Jing and Huang 2005). SHRM was designed to diagnose firm strategic needs and planned talent development which is required to implement a competitive strategy and achieve operational goals (Huselid et al., 1997). Apart from report proof on the strategic importance of human resource planning, studies of organisation practices give an indication of its arousing grandness for strategic applications. A study interviewed human resource executives from 137 companies to describe the reasons why their companies were following human resource forecasting, which an important part of human resource is planning. The most important three reasons were for bringing up their human resources (77.6 percent), for avoiding personnel shortages (73.1 percent), and to collect information for decisions (73.1 percent). Another set of reasons for human resource forecasting included the following: optimistic action efforts (63.6 percent), budgeting (62.1 percent), and career planning (59.7 percent)

Essay --

Statistical Interpretation of United Arab Emirates Trading Patterns I have chosen to research the trade patterns of United Arab Emirates because, in my view, it is one of the most important players in the world in terms of trade. Furthermore, trade has influenced the living standard in this area, such that, the standard of living in Dubai, for example, has increased comparably. United Arab Emirates has mostly developed due to the petroleum and natural gas exports. In the following paragraphs I will present statistics and data regarding not only oil and natural gas trading patterns, but also commodities. The United Arab Emirates is one of the 10 largest oil and natural gas producers in the world, and is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). The UAE has had a great impact on oil trade because of its natural endowments. According to OPEC, its share of world reserves is of 8.1%. The most abundant factor of production, oil, has brought them a comparative advantage and specialization, which contributed to the country’s development. According to the data presented by Central Intelligence Agency, United Arab Emirates was ranked on the 24th place in the world in terms of total Imports and 19th place in total exports in 2012. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html In the WORLD FACTBOOK it is said that the UAE has an open economy with high per capita income. In recent years, successful efforts have been made regarding economic diversification and nowadays, the GDP based on oil and natural gas output has decreased to 25%. Since the discovery of oil 30 years ago, UAE has been through important transformations and h... ...in 2012, a 38% increase since 2011. However, imports to the US from the UAE have remained approximately the same, at over $2 billion. The data can be found on the website of the US Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5200.html#2010 As a conclusion, I believe that United Arab Emirates are focusing more and more on diversifying their exports and not depending so much on the oil ones. As far as their partners are concerned, I believe that in the future India will continue to be the top trading partner of UAE, being followed by China and Japan. China is in need of more and more oil because it has recently been ranked as the World’s top importer of crude oil. Japan, on the other hand, continues to depend on the Middle East countries for oil imports, being the world’s third largest net oil importer. (US Energy Information Administration).

‘In what ways is “Pride and Prejudice” a Cinderella story?’ Essay

Cinderella stories, of one type or another, have remained enduringly popular for hundreds of years. There are Cinderella tales originating from every culture and every time period up to the present day. They reflect the ‘rags to riches’ fantasies of storytellers from all around the world. But what constitutes a Cinderella story? Even though they exist in a vast variety of forms, most have a very similar basic plot. Firstly, there is always a heroine, whose fortunes are to be the focal point of the tale. She is naturally innocent, kind, gentle and beautiful, and always has hardships to bear. For example, in the French version, upon which the Disney animated film is based, Cinderella lives with her weak-willed father and her ‘evil’ stepmother and stepsisters who treat her appallingly; she is forced to act as a servant to them and is dressed in rags. Very often in these stories, there are a number of magical animals that help Cinderella in some way, and along with Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, enable her to go to the ball, which invariably she has been prevented from attending by her cruel family. At the ball, Cinderella and Prince Charming meet and fall in love instantly, but Cinderella forgets her Godmother’s deadline, and has to rush off suddenly, unintentionally leaving behind only one clue as to her true identity for the love-struck hero. After one final setback, usually resulting from Cinderella’s interfering and vain stepsiblings, the Prince and his love are re-united and go back to the Palace to be married immediately. Cinderella forgives her family, and they join the happy couple at court and all live ‘happily ever after.’ This is the most well known of the â€Å"Cinderella† plots, but as I have said, other versions exist such as â€Å"Katie Woodencloak† and â€Å"Cindermaid†. â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, Jane Austen’s classic novel, was first published in January 1813. It was designed to appeal to the fashionable novel-reading public of the day, and it was an instant success for its author, and has remained consistently so. With the pretty and likable Elizabeth Bennet marrying the rich and handsome Mr Darcy at the end of the book, at first glance, â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† seems like a typical Cinderella tale. In this essay, I will be investigating the similarities and differences it has to the Cinderella story I have outlined above. For me, Elizabeth is the first obvious ‘Cinderella’ in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. She is one of five Bennet sisters, intelligent, witty and impetuous with an independent streak in her, as we find out when she insists that she walk to Netherfield to visit her ill sister. Elizabeth, like Cinderella, has a family who can make life very difficult for her at times. Her father is loving, but like Cinderella’s father, is weak-willed; â€Å"Her father, contented with laughing at them, would never exert himself to restrain the wild giddiness of his youngest daughters.† (Chapter 37.) This trait in her father’s disposition allows Lydia to elope with Mr Wickham from Brighton. Elizabeth’s mother and sisters also inhibit her, not by being malicious or unkind, as with Cinderella, but by their rudeness and hysterical behaviour; â€Å"†¦and in the unhappy defects of her family a subject of yet heavier chagrin. They were hopeless to remedy.† (Chapter 37.) â€Å"Her mother would talk of her views in the same intelligible tone. Elizabeth blushed and blushed again with shame and vexation.† (Chapter 18.) These unattractive qualities in her relatives, as well as her family’s lower social status, prove to have an unfavourable effect on Mr Darcy’s feelings towards her, even though he admits he loves her. Mr Darcy believes Lizzy’s connections to be ‘inferior’; â€Å"He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed†¦His sense of her inferiority†¦of the family obstacles which judgement had always opposed to inclination were dwelt on with warmth.† (Chapter 34.) Although Elizabeth does not suffer the deprivation that Cinderella does (dresses are no problem for Lizzy as they are for Cinderella), and in fact lives comfortably, the Bennets live under the threat that when Mr Bennet dies, they will lose their home Longbourn, because there is no male heir to the estate. So Cinderella’s ‘poverty’ situation could, theoretically affect Elizabeth at some point in the future. Therefore, it is very important for the five Bennet daughters to marry well, to ensure the family’s future security and status. This fact differentiates Cinderella from Elizabeth, as she is fiercely discouraged from going to the ball by her by her jealous stepsisters, where as Elizabeth (and her sisters) are actively encouraged to look for husbands with good fortunes by going to dances. Cinderella spontaneously falls in love with Prince Charming – she had only desperately wanted to go to the ball, and nothing more. But Elizabeth must be convinced of the true goodness of Mr Darcy’s personality before she will overcome her prejudices and dislike of him. Elizabeth’s opinion of Mr Darcy is changed by her hearing his housekeeper at Pemberley speak of how good and kind he really is, and also when Mr Darcy sends a letter to her explaining the misunderstandings about Mr Wickham and the Jane-Bingley affair. It is only after realising her actual feelings for him, and being attracted by his large estate, that Lizzy is prepared to love and marry Mr Darcy. Cinderella is a servant in her household, and although Elizabeth is certainly not a servant, she does aid and support her difficult family, along with her sister Jane, through use of her intelligence and sensibility. Of course, the main reason Elizabeth can be compared to Cinderella is that she is the disadvantaged heroine who marries her Prince and is taken off to his palace in a fairy tale ending; â€Å"‘Good gracious! Lord bless me! Only think! Dear me! Mr Darcy! Who would have thought it! And is it really true? Oh! My sweetest Lizzy! How rich and how great you will be!'† (Chapter 59.) Elizabeth’s family, like Cinderella’s family, also benefit from this happy ending – the Bennets often visit Lizzy at her new home, and Mr Darcy’s wealth means that they never need worry about losing their home or status again. Mrs Bennet is especially thrilled by the match. Another Bennet sister can be successfully compared with Cinderella – Jane. She is the eldest daughter, and like Cinderella, is very kind, but also little naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve; â€Å"What a stroke this was for poor Jane! Who could willingly have gone through the world without believing that so much wickedness existed in the whole race of mankind†¦Most earnestly did she labour to prove the probability of error, and seek to clear one, without involving the other.† (Chapter 40.) She also marries a ‘Prince Charming’ with whom she is truly in love, Mr Bingley, who has a ‘palace’ and holds a ball there early in the novel. One thing that makes Jane even more similar to Cinderella in my opinion is that she falls in love with Mr Bingley straight away, even though his meddlesome sisters, Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst, as well as Mr Darcy, try to stop affections developing between them. This reminds me of the way Cinderella was prevented from trying on the glass slipper by her stepsisters. Unlike Mr Darcy, Mr Bingley has no qualms about Jane’s lower standing in society, and immediately allows himself to fall in love with her, like Prince Charming does with Cinderella at the ball. Similarly, it is at the Netherfield ball, held by Mr Bingley, where Jane and he first display a fondness for each other. Although Jane is like Cinderella in all these ways, she cannot be directly linked with her, as she is not the leading character in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice,† like Elizabeth. Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley are the two men who are most comparable to the Prince in Cinderella. They are both rich men with large estates and good breeding who marry ‘below themselves.’ Mr Darcy is a proud and arrogant man, who we find out later in the book, actually has a compassionate and generous personality. At first, Mr Darcy does not feel it is appropriate for him to marry into a lower class, but he cannot contain his love for Elizabeth, and this love eventually conquers his pride as I have detailed above. This is unlike Prince Charming because in â€Å"Cinderella†, the Prince does not mind when he finds out that his unidentified ‘Princess’ is really a poor servant girl – Cinderella’s status doesn’t matter to him at all. Mr Bingley, on the other hand, is like Prince Charming in that he doesn’t care about Jane’s background, and loves her anyway. Mr Bingley’s character is summed up by this quote; â€Å"‘He is just what a young man ought to be,’ said she, ‘sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!’ ‘He is also handsome,’ replied Elizabeth, ‘which is what a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete.'† (Chapter 4.) For Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, as with Prince Charming, it is love at first sight with Jane and Elizabeth at the Meryton ball, even if Mr Darcy dare not admit his feelings for some time. When Mr Darcy does propose to Elizabeth, she turns him down, but he remains persistent in trying to assure Lizzy of his good nature, and in the same way as the Prince tracks down Cinderella, Mr Darcy proposes for a second time and Lizzy accepts. It was the letter that Mr Darcy gave to Elizabeth at the Collins’ that revealed his true character to her and this enabled her to accept and love him. In the same way, Cinderella’s glass slipper allows the Prince to find her. It could be concluded that these objects provide the key to identifying the suitors in their true light and make it possible for the characters to eventually marry. I think that there are several people in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† who could be considered either ‘stepsisters’ or a ‘stepmother’ to Lizzy or Jane. Evidently their own mother and sisters have some qualities similar to those in â€Å"Cinderella.† Mrs Bennet, though inadvertently, hinders any marriage between her daughters and ‘respectable’ men through her inappropriate and embarrassing manner – she is chaotic and thoughtless and gives her family a bad reputation. Jane and Lizzy’s sisters, particularly Lydia and Kitty, are also shallow, selfish and silly young women, only interested in chasing after soldiers and visiting Meryton; â€Å"The two youngest of the family, Catherine and Lydia, were particularly frequent in these attentions; their minds were more vacant than their sisters†¦They could talk of nothing but officers.† (Chapter 7.) â€Å"Catherine, weak-spirited, irritable†¦and Lydia, self-willed and careless.† (Chapter 37.) Lydia’s disastrous elopement with Mr Wickham endangers the anticipated marriage between Jane and Mr Bingley because it disgraces the family. Through this, Lydia is unintentionally like Cinderella’s stepsisters, as she causes a last-minute hitch, which could ruin her sister’s hopes of happiness. In Cinderella, this hitch is the stepsisters preventing Cinderella from trying on the glass slipper by hiding her from the Prince ‘below stairs’. Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst, Charles Bingley’s sisters, are also like the ‘evil stepsisters’, only more so, in my estimation, than Mrs Bennet and her younger daughters, because they deliberately try to stop the marriages between the Bennet sisters, their brother and his friend taking place. It is revealed that Miss Bingley would like Mr Darcy for herself, and that she is jealous of Lizzy. They also try to persuade Mr Bingley that Jane does not love him in the hope he will forget about her when he is in London. Miss Bingley sends a letter to Jane, which convinces her that Mr Bingley does not care at all for her, which is not true. This, along with Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst’s officious airs, make them ‘stepsisters’ not only to the Misses Bennet but also to their brother. Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the cold and obnoxious aunt of Darcy, is also a ‘stepmother’ to Elizabeth because she severely disapproves of the marriage between her and her nephew, Mr Darcy, and therefore tries her hardest to thwart their plans. She believes that Lizzy is of a lower social class and not ‘good enough’ for her nephew. Also, she wants to see Mr Darcy marry her daughter, the sickly Anne de Bourgh; â€Å"‘Let me be rightly understood. This match, to which you have the assumption to aspire, can never take place. No, never. Mr Darcy is engaged to my daughter’†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢True, you are a gentleman’s daughter. But who was your mother? Who are your uncles and aunts? Do not imagine me ignorant of their condition.'† (Chapter 56.) Even so, Lady Catherine does not successfully stop Elizabeth and Mr Darcy from marrying, and neither do Lizzy’s family or Miss Bingley, just as the stepsisters fail to stop Cinderella from marrying her Prince in the end. It is not explicitly apparent that there are any ‘Fairy Godmothers’ in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice,† but I think that Mrs Gardiner, Elizabeth’s aunt, can be regarded as aiding Lizzy throughout the novel. As well as the Gardiner’s help to the Bennets through their troubles with Lydia, Mr and Mrs Gardiner make it possible for Elizabeth to go to her ‘palace’ (Pemberley) for the first time, by taking her with them to Derbyshire. (The Fairy godmother in â€Å"Cinderella† also enables Cinderella to go to the palace.); â€Å"With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.† (Chapter 61.) Perhaps Jane in her continuing support of Lizzy and the Bennet family could also be seen as a ‘Fairy Godmother’ to them all. Another similarity between â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† and â€Å"Cinderella† is that the heroines in both stories go to at least one ball where they meet their future husbands. In â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, there are two balls – the Meryton Ball and the Netherfield Ball, but in contrast with â€Å"Cinderella†, the future spouses do not immediately get on as well as Cinderella and Prince Charming do! – At the Meryton Ball Lizzy overhears Mr Darcy snubbing her whilst talking to Mr Bingley; â€Å"‘Which do you mean?’ and turning around, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, ‘She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.'† Both stories highlight the importance of ‘the ball’ as a major social event; very often it was the only opportunity for people to meet and socialise. At her ball, Cinderella has a curfew to comply with – she must be home by midnight or else her magical clothes and coach will turn back into rags and a pumpkin. There is no literal deadline in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, but time is running out for the women in the novel, as they must marry well, while they are still potentially ‘desirable’ wives, if they want to be secure and assured of a future free from want. This fear is shown in the story by the plight of Charlotte Lucas, who marries the repellent Mr Collins because she knows it will probably be her last opportunity to gain a husband and therefore a house of her own; â€Å"Mr Collins was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome†¦But still he would be her husband†¦and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it.† (Chapter 22.) An important component of the â€Å"Cinderella† fairy tale is magic, and magical animals, and as I have found neither one of these in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, it is almost certainly one of the biggest differences between the two stories. This shows us that Austen’s novel is not a fable but that the events in the book could have actually occurred in early 19th century society. From examining the text of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† and several â€Å"Cinderella† tales, I have found many similarities, and some differences between the two narratives. I conclude that although Jane Austen did not intentionally design her novel to be like a fairy tale, there is a definite resemblance to â€Å"Cinderella†. The plot and subplots of the novel are clearly more complex than in â€Å"Cinderella†, but most of the individuals have counterparts in the other story. As I said at the beginning of this essay, the main heroine, whether you consider her to be Elizabeth or Jane, ‘gets her guy’. In both stories, the wedded couple and their families are more happy and secure than at the start of the tale – they all ‘live happily ever after’, with Lizzy moving to Pemberley, just as Cinderella moves to the palace. Some people may regard the ending of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† as the most unrealistic and ‘fairy story’ part of the book. In reality life was very hard, even for the rich, at this time. For example, Elizabeth, like many young women at that time, may have died in childbirth a year later, or perhaps Mr Bingley may have been badly injured a month after the novel finishes in a hunting accident. In my view, â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† is simply a daydream; a world into which the reader can escape to avoid the unpleasantries which no doubt occurred in the Georgian period, but which Jane Austen chose to ignore. By doing this, Austen created one of the best-loved and most interesting â€Å"Cinderella† stories to date.

Timeline of the Medieval Traders on the Swahili Coast

Based on archaeological and historical data, the medieval period of the 11th through 16th centuries AD was the heyday of Swahili Coast trading communities. But that data has also shown that the African merchants and sailors of the Swahili Coast began to  trade in international goods at least 300-500 years earlier. A timeline of the major events on the Swahili coast: Early 16th century, the  arrival of Portuguese and the end of Kilwas trading powerCa 1400 start of Nabhan dynasty1331, Ibn Battuta visits Mogadishu14th-16th centuries, a shift in trade to the  Indian Ocean, the heyday of coastal Swahili townsCa 1300, the  start of Mahdali dynasty (Abul Mawahib)Ca 1200, first coins minted by Ali bin al-Hasan in Kilwa12th century, a rise of Mogadishu11th-12th centuries, most coastal people converted to Islam, a shift in trade to the  Red Sea11th century, start of Shirazi dynasty9th century, slave trade with the  Persian Gulf8th century, the first mosque built6th-8th centuries AD, trade established with Muslim traders40 AD, author of Periplus visits Rhapta The Ruling Sultans A chronology of ruling sultans can be derived from the Kilwa Chronicle, two undated medieval documents recording an oral history of the large Swahili capital of Kilwa. Scholars are skeptical of its accuracy, however, particularly with respect to the semi-mythical Shirazi dynasty: but they are agreed on the existence of several important sultans: Ali ibn al-Hasan (11th century)Daud ibn al-HasanSulaiman ibn al-Hasan (early 14th c)Daud ibn Sulaiman (early 14th c)al-Hasan ibn Talut (ca 1277)Muhammad ibn Sulaimanal-Hasan ibn Sulaiman (ca 1331, visited by Ibn Battuta)Sulaiman ibn al-Husain (14th c) Pre  or Proto-Swahili The earliest pre or proto-Swahili sites date to the first century AD, when the unnamed Greek sailor who authored the merchants guide Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, visited Rhapta on what is today the central Tanzanian coast. Rhapta was reported in the Periplus to be under the rule of Maza on the Arabian Peninsula. The Periplus reported that ivory, rhinoceros horn, nautilus and turtle shell, metal implements, glass, and foodstuffs were imports available in Rhapta. Finds of Egypt-Roman and other Mediterranean imports dated to the last few centuries BC suggest some contact with those areas. By the 6th to 10th centuries AD, people on the coast were living in mostly rectangular earth-and-thatch houses, with household economies based on pearl millet agriculture, cattle pastoralism, and fishing. They smelted iron, built boats and made what archaeologists called Tana Tradition or Triangular Incised Ware pots; they obtained imported goods such as glazed ceramics, glassware, metal jewelry, and stone and glass beads from the Persian Gulf. Beginning in the 8th century, the African inhabitants had converted to Islam. Archaeological excavations at Kilwa Kisiwani and Shanga in Kenya have demonstrated that these towns were settled as early as the 7th and 8th centuries. Other prominent sites of this period include Manda in northern Kenya, Unguja Ukuu on Zanzibar and Tumbe on Pemba. Islam and Kilwa The earliest mosque on the Swahili coast is located in the town of Shanga in the Lamu Archipelago. A timber mosque was built here in the 8th century AD, and rebuilt in the same location, again and again, each time larger and more substantial. Fish became an increasingly important part of the local diet, consisting of fish on the reefs, within about one kilometer (one-half mile) from the shore. In the 9th century, connections between Eastern Africa and the Middle East included the export of thousands of slaves from Africas interior. The slaves were transported through Swahili coastal towns to destinations in Iraq such as Basra, where they worked on a dam. In 868, the slave revolted in Basra, weakening the market for slaves from Swahili. By ~1200, all of the large Swahili settlements included stone built mosques. The Growth of Swahili Towns Through the 11th-14th centuries, the Swahili towns expanded in scale, in the numbers and variety of imported and locally-produced material goods, and in trade relationships between the interior of Africa and other societies around the Indian Ocean. A wide variety of boats were built for sea-going trade. Although most of the houses continued to be made of earth and thatch, some of the houses were built of coral, and many of the larger and newer settlements were stone towns, communities marked by elite residences built of stone. Stonetowns grew in number and size, and trade blossomed. Exports included ivory, iron, animal products, mangrove poles for house construction; imports included glazed ceramics, beads and other jewelry, cloth, and religious texts. Coins  were minted in some of the larger centers, and iron and copper alloys, and beads of various types were produced locally. Portuguese Colonization In 1498-1499, the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama began exploring the Indian Ocean. Beginning in the 16th century, Portuguese and Arab colonization began to decrease the power of the Swahili towns, evidenced by the construction of Fort Jesus in Mombasa in 1593, and the increasingly aggressive trade wars in the Indian Ocean. The Swahili culture fought variously successfully against such incursions and although disruptions in trade and loss of autonomy did occur, the coast prevailed in urban and rural life. By the end of the 17th century, the Portuguese lost control of the western Indian Ocean to Oman and Zanzibar. The Swahili coast was reunited under the Omani sultanate in the 19th century. Sources Chami FA. 2009. Kilwa and the Swahili Towns: Reflections from an archaeological perspective. In: Larsen K, editor. Knowledge, Renewal and Religion: Repositioning and changing ideological and material circumstances among the Swahili on the East African coast. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitututet.Elkiss TH. 1973. Kilwa Kisiwani: The Rise of an East African City-State. African Studies Review 16(1):119-130.Phillipson D. 2005. African Archaeology. London: Cambridge University Press.Pollard E. 2011. Safeguarding Swahili trade in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: a unique navigational complex in south-east Tanzania. World Archaeology 43(3):458-477.Sutton JEG. 2002. The southern Swahili harbour and town on Kilwa Island, 800-1800 AD: A chronology of booms and slumps.: Uppsala University.Wynne-Jones S. 2007. Creating urban communities at Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania, AD 800-1300. Antiquity 81:368-380.

China Superpower

Sample details Pages: 33 Words: 9915 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? The Dragon Awakes Will China be the next superpower China is a sleeping dragon. When it awakes, the world will shake. (Eccleston H, 2004, p290). Napoleon Bonaparte made this prophetic comment regarding China in 1808and it would seem that today China has indeed awoken. (Optimize, 2004p. 1). China has had unprecedented economic growth at around 9.5% perineum, a statistic even more impressive amazing bearing in mind that only in 1978 China was poorer than Korea and Taiwan were in the 1960s. (Nye 1997-98 p. 67). China also shows signs of extending its economic reach and is expanding its ventures into developed states. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "China Superpower | International Relations Dissertations" essay for you Create order Only recently the Chinese firm Nanjing bought the British ailing car firm MG rover for 50 million. (BBC News 2006 p. 1). Also in 2005 the Chinese Lenovo Group acquired IBMs PC business making Lenovo the third largest PC Company in the world. (Economic Times, 2005 p. 1) There is also a huge inflow of FDI (foreign direct investment) into China. China has established 22,245 new firms attracting $59.2 billion in FDI making a total of $33.4 billion in 2003. This makes China the top destination for FDI and a country that firms want to do business with. (Peoples Daily, 2003). It is thought by some observers that Chinas economy at its present rate could eventually overtake that of the US(United States). (Nye 1997-98 p. 67). If this is so, could China surpass the US in other areas and displace the US as the world superpower. There will be huge implication for international relations if this is to be the case. The writers hypothesis is that Chinas rise to superpower status will mean a shift of economic, military and cultural power from the west tithe east. Drawing on the work of John Mearsheimer that states are power maximizes, China will continue to pursue power in a bid to become the most powerful state in the international system, a position currently occupied by the US. (Mearsheimer 2001 p. 21). Even those who advocate that the spread of liberalism will lessen the need for the pursuit of power have not been able to ignore this development. Fukuyama in his book America at the Crossroads says that social engineering like that seen in Iraq leads to unexpected consequences and undermines its own ends. Therefore actions which are put forward as promoting peace and democracy turn into something they were not intended to be, the promotion of the national interest of the US. (New York Times, 2006 p. 2). Therefore a state whose power is so big it is unchecked is unable to police itself and act benevolently in the anarchic system. Its main concern is the accumulation of power and it will not be satisfied as purported by Waltz defensive realist view, by only seeking to acquire as much power so as to feel secure. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 169-170). A world dominated by China A world dominated by China may be very different than the present world that has for the last two centuries been dominated by a western power. As already mentioned Chinas rise will not result in it being status quo power and therefore it will not be happy to work within system determined by western values. (Guardian 2005 p. 2). China has different values to that of the west and its rise will lead to the promotion of those values through its economic, military and institutional power. Therefore as Huntingdon notes, the new fault-lines will not be between ideologies like the two World Wars and the Cold War but between civilizations. This is due to the different views that cultures have in regard to relationships such as the citizen and the state, husband and wife, liberty and equality. (Huntingdon 1993 p.25). The west has promoted its values of liberalism as being the universal values of the world community. But due to the anarchic structure of the system these values have been used to promote its national interest. China will appeal to those states who have different view of the world that the one being put forward by the US and other western states. These states will have similar cultural values to China which stress the subordination of individual rights and elevate consensus differ from the western beliefs of liberty, equality and individualism. (Huntingdon 1993 p. 29). Indeed China is forging links with states that the US deems as rogue states such as Iran with its recent gas deal worth $100 billion. The US has imposed economic sanctions on Iran and this gas deal is a clear sign that China does not intend to work within a system determined by the US. Further, Iran is looking to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which could act as a counterweight to US institutional power. (Asia Times 2004 p.1-2). The writer will look at Chinas potential superpower status using the neo-realist theory and its conceptual and methodological framework. This will entail the use of secondary research methods by exploring the concepts of neo-realism through the scholars in this field. This theory rose to prominence during the late 1970s due to the writings of Kenneth Waltz. (Buzau in Zale ski 2002 p. 49). It rests on the earlier realist perspective of writers such as E H Carr and Hans Morgenthau, which was dominant in international relations in the post-World War II era. Realism also rose due to the inability of the liberal perspective and its principles to maintain peace in Europe. (Bur chill, 2001 p. 71). It was concerned with the causes of war and ways in which it can be prevented. (Buzau in Zale ski 2002 p. 48). EH Carrs The Twenty Years Crisis was a critique of the liberal view that co-operation, under institutions such as the League of Nations, would render war obsolete. Carrs theory was proven when World War I broke out the day after his book was published. (Bur chill 2001 p.71). Morgenthaus work, Politics Amongst Nations (1948) sought to apply positivist methodology used in the natural sciences to international relations. Thus we can draw objective knowledge and laws from the social world in the same way that we can from the natural world. (Bur chill 2001 p. 77). He maintains that politics is governed by objective laws rooted in human nature and that human nature is reflected in the way states behave. The outcomes of the interaction of states are due to the behaviour of statesmen and thus human nature. (Bur chill 2001 p. 83). Morgenthau and Carr draw on a long philosophical heritage going back to the writings of Thucydides 460BCto 406BC and Niccole Machiavelli 1469 to 1527. The neo-realist perspective came about in response to the rise of liberal internationalism and their interdependency theory in the1970s. Neo-realism engages with this approach that deems the state tube less significant in an interdependent world due to the rise of institutions, regimes and transnational corporations. (Bailys Smith 2005 171). Realism recognised that it had to develop new tools to analyse these new developments. Thus realism reinvented itself sane-realism, acknowledging that such non-governmental actors exist, but they have to work within an anarchical international system where there is no overall authority above that of the sovereign state. This means states can never fully co-operate within these institutions due to the possibility that one state may gain more out of this co-operation. The anarchic structure of the system is where neo-realism departs from the earlier realist theory that human nature determines how states behave. Waltz systemic approach Waltz systemic approach is that it is the structure of the international system that determines the way states behave and not human nature. Despite this departure it can be said that there are core theoretical elements that underpin the earlier classical realism, modern realism of Carr and Morgenthau and Waltzs structural realism. This is known as the realist triangle of state, survival and self-help. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). The primary actor in the international system is the state. This can be traced back to Thucydides time when the unit of analysis waste city-state or polis. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). That said, Carr and Morgenthau were less state-centric in that they did not envisage the state as the final form of political community. (Burchill2001 p. 76). The state is the only legitimate representative of the people and it uses this legitimacy to wield its authority within and outside the state. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 163). The second core element is that of survival. The priority of the state is to ensure its own survival in the anarchic structure of the international system. This concept is present in Machiavellis The Prince which details what leaders must do to keep hold of their power. (Bailys Smith 2005 p. 174). The third concept is that of self-help that Waltz deems necessary to gain security in an anarchic structure. Hedley Bulls The Anarchical Society(1977) concurs with Waltz that all states exist in an anarchical society where there is no higher authority than the sovereign state. Therefore national interest is the states first duty that ensures the right for citizens to feel secure within state borders. Self-help is necessary as this cannot been trusted to anyone else and this is achieved through the accumulation of power to reduce vulnerability in the anarchic system of states. The states first law of motion is to preserve the state and in order to do this it must pursue power. (Bailys Smith p. 162-3, 169). The writer has also been inspired by the academic Paul Kennedy (1989)in his book: The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. The writer will use this thesis to assess whether China is rising at the expense of the decline of the US. According to Kennedys thesis the rise and fall of power is cyclical thus once a great power has arisen it must inevitably fall. A state that has achieved economic strength will protect that strength using military power but this involves great cost. Eventually the cost will be too great and the power will decline and be replaced as evidence by the decline of Britain in 1873. (Nye 1990 p. 3) The United States has undoubtedly been the great power of the 20thCentury. Will it remain so during the 21st century or will it fall and be replaced by China thus confirming Kennedys thesis that all great powers will eventually follow this decline thus paving the way for the next great power? There are those who believe the era of the superpower is coming to amend. Fukuyama believes that states will not need to rival each other for power. The spread of liberal democracy and its sidekick liberal economy has triumphed over other regimes. (Fukuyama 1992). It is further believed that open economies create interdependency and sharing of common interests. (Nye 1997-98 p. 76). Also, the state is in relative decline due to the emergence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and (World Bank) and also MNCs (multinational corporations. (Bailys Smith 164). Even in the US Congress the former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich does not regard Chinas growth as in any way a threat whilst there are those who have views to the contrary. This highlights how the theoretical debate translates into apolitical one. There are those who view the universalism of western liberalism as unchallengeable and now the norm. This view may be borne out by the fragmentation of the Soviet Union but Matthew Rees views Chinas position as similar to that of the Soviet Union in that it threatens western values of liberty and democracy. (Nye 1997-98 p.65-66) . Mearsheimer has also warned of complacency against the Chinese threat, stating of the current good relation between the two states: this US policy (of containment) is misguided. A wealthy China would not be a status quo power, but an aggressive state, determined to achieve regional hegemony (Mearsheimer 2001) Another writer in this field Joseph Nye refutes the claim that the state is in relative decline. His thesis is that the classic realist view of states as the most important actors cannot be disputed due merely to the rise of NGOs. This is because it underestimates the nature of the system of states that is anarchic in structure. Therefore if there is no higher authority to settle disputes the state cannot leave its survival to others. It must ensure its own survival and the only way this can be done is for the state to increase its power capabilities. (Bailys Smith 164). Thus in regard to on-state actors it is business as usual in that non-state actors must still work within a system of states. Thus states will still vie for power within these organisations. (Bailys Smith p. 173). This is the soft power element of the state. Definition of power Mans control over the minds and actions of other men. (Morgenthau (1948) cited in Bailys Smith p. 173) Power is a highly contested concept because it is difficult to assess what elements actually constitute power. The traditional view of powers the possession of resources that include the size of population and territory, military might and economic strength. (Nye 1990 p. 26). Thus the resources of each state can be measured and compared. But measurement is not enough as evidenced during World War Two when France and Britain had more tanks that Germany but still Germany was able to outmanoeuvre the allies. Therefore when assessing power we also need to assess a states ability to convert its resources into such power assume states can do this more effectively than others. (Nye 1990 p.27). These avenues to power will be explored and the evidence that China has these capabilities will be extrapolated. The basis for power does not remain unchanged and must be assessed in its own context. For example the basis for power in 18th Century Europe was its population as it provided soldiers and tax resources. Today it is much more difficult to pinpoint the resources that provide the basis for power. (Nye 1990 p. 27) It is therefore not sufficient to look at the concept of power merely in terms of hard power or tangible resources. As Nye has noted in the post-cold war era there has been a shift in the balance of power in the anarchic system. The bipolar world has shifted to one that is unipolar with the US as the sole superpower. The US has exhibited all the usual traits associated with this position such as military, economic and territorial strength. But advances in technology and the emergence of NGOs and MNCs have meant a closer more interdependent world. Interdependence between states does not mean co-operation as liberals purport. It can be used to further national interest and this type of influence is the intangible soft power element of state apparatus. (Nye 1990 p.30). We can see soft power in action through the Washington consensus where the US is the leader in these institutions. We can also see soft power through the spread of the USs liberal ideology in terms of economics and politics in what Fukuyama has called the Triumph of Liberal Democracy. (Fukuyama, 1992). This soft power has served to reinforce the USs hard power resources by gaining it consent and legitimacy as the dominant power. (Nye 1990 p. 33). The universalism of American culture has also helped to further the power of the US by enabling it to establish values and beliefs that are consistent with its own society. Therefore the thesis of this dissertation is that China will be the next superpower by maximizing its hard power resources to secure itself in the anarchic system of states. Also, due to interdependence among states and the growth forgoes and MNCs it will seek soft power in its pursuit of power capabilities. The consequences of this systemic shift will mean the promotion of Eastern collective values over Western liberal individualistic tendencies. Part One: Hard Power Resources The Economy: If, as Kennedy suggests, Chinas rise will be at the expense of the US, then at present most US concerns are directed at rapidly growing Chinese economy. There are certainly some impressive claims being made about the rise of Chinese economic power. Jeremy Warner writes that like it or not, from Chinas impact on finite world resources to climate change and the laws of supply and demand, it is transforming the way we live with a speed barely imaginable just a few years ago(The Independent January 27, 2006). Over the last 27 years, China has grown at an average rate of 9.6 present per annum, reaching a GDP of 2.2 trillion in 2005 (The Independent January 27, 2006). In 1979, China represented 1 per cent of the world economy, with foreign trade totalling $20.6 billion. Today China accounts for 4 per cent of the world economy, with $851 billion in foreign trade, the third largest in the world (Fijian 2005, p19).There is of course still a lot of progress to be made Chinas economy for example is still only one seventh the size of that of the US(Fijian 2005, p19) but it is the rate of growth, along with plans for future expansion, the countrys high savings ratio, and plans to expand supplies of nuclear , clean coal, hydro-electric and renewable forms of energy that lead US experts to believe that one day China will challenge the US as the worlds dominant superpower. Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary has compared the integration of China into the world economy as one of the three gr eat economic events of the last millennium on a par with the renaissance and the industrial revolution (The Independent, July 23, 2005). The US has had similar fears about economic competition in the past. In the early 1980s it had concerns about the economic successes being enjoyed by Germany and Japan fears that were allayed after stagnation in both countries. With China however, US fears appear to be deeper-rooted, primarily at the incredible rate of progress seen in China. Whilst the US economy may still be much larger at present, the rate of growth in China will continue to narrow the gap quickly. And of course, there is an ideological issue at the heart of the US fears about China how is a Communist country succeeding where others have stumbled? The answer lies partly in Americas own attempts to take advantage of the economic conditions in China when Deng Xiaoping began to open up China to the rest of the world. China had historically been an insular nation, separated from the rest of the world and failing to make the most of its earlier technological advances. Deng understood that whilst China had a huge labour force, to succeed it needed to be organised, competitive in international markets and producing the type of goods that the rest of the world wanted to buy. For this to happen, China would need help from the outside world. The result has been huge foreign investments as companies from across the world have attempted to take advantage of Chinas low labour costs. As Stephen King concludes, foreign investors have turned China into the worlds biggest assembly plant: China may be a one-party state, but the authorities know all about Adam Smith and the division of labour (The Independent, February 13, 2006). China is gradually picking off the economies of other G7 nations. Whilst its economy is still considerably smaller than Americas, by the end of 2004 it was bigger economically than France, Italy and Canada(The Independent, February 13, 2006). Germany and Japan are likely tube overtaken soon and then China will have the US firmly in its sights. It will have the opportunity to challenge US regional and global hegemony. Whilst there is an optimistic view that the economic growth in China will lead to long-term mutually beneficial cooperation with the US, more likely outcome is growing tension between the two. As China continues to grow, it will gradually begin to demand more of the worlds scarce resources oil prices for example are already high and may be pushed higher by Chinese demand. The same will happen with other commodities with the result that Chinas success increases the commodity bill for US consumers and increases global competition for raw materials. The US consumer may also put pressure on the government to curb Chinese economic expansion. With petrol being so lightly taxed in the US, motorists are affected directly by oil price rises. As The Economist reports: they want somebody to blame and they may have heard that China is scouring the world to lock op oil supplies for its own energy security (The Economist, September 3, 2005). Both the US and China have some common economic interests. Both benefit from free trade for example. However, with China now exporting six times as much to the US as it imports from it (The Economist, September3, 2005)., it is now China that has the most to gain, something of an irony after years of America hammering on its door to access Chinese markets. There have also been concerns in the US that China is trying to but its way into strategic assets within the US. In June 2005,CNOOC, a Chinese state controlled company attempted to buy Unocal, medium sized US oil company. Hawks within the US administration argued against allowing oil firms to fall into Chinese hands and, with public opinion in the US against the deal, it eventually fell through. The Chinese view on globalisation has been mixed. There is a view that globalisation gives a stronger reason for economic cooperation between economically strong states and certainly the acceptance of global brands into Chinese culture supports the argument that it has embraced globalisation. On the other hand, globalisation tends to reinforce US and Western interests first and foremost and the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis has convinced many within China that it could expose Chinese economic vulnerability. As Foot concludes: with Americas advantage in technological innovation, revolution in military affairs and cultural domination, globalisation seemed to confer gains on Washington and thus further to reinforce the unipolar structure (Foot2006 p82). Military Power To assess Chinas rise to Superpower status we need to look at how it ranks in regard to military strength and capability. (Waltz 1979 p.131). The Neo-Realist view is that the nation-state is the most natural form of society and it should be defended for the national good. (Kennedy p. 90). Armies are essential for controlling land and bringing security to the nation state and which is the main objective in a world of states in a system of anarchy. (Mearsheimer p. 86). Due to competition for resources in a world of anarchy military powers a crucial instrument of the national interest. (Garnett, 1987 p.71). Thus military power is monopolised by states and used to protect states from external force. It is the capacity to kill, coerce or destroy and plays a significant part in international politics that will not be supplanted until the system of states is transformed. (Garnett 1987, p. 69-71). Those who have the most military strength are usually the most influential and the most respect ed in the system and certainly a proposition shared by Mao Ste-Tungs saying that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. (Garnett 1987, p.74). Recent analyses of the Chinese military threat from Washington have expressed growing concern. The 2005 Pentagon report concluded that China could threaten not just its smaller regional neighbours like Taiwan but eventually modern militaries operating in the region. This can be taken to include the US. (Washington Post July 23, 2005). Yee and Storey suggest that there are a number of contributing factors to the belief that China is gradually attempting to extend its influence in the region 1)its territorial disputes with other countries in the region have intensified, 2) its rapid economic development has accelerated its military modernisation process and 3)China has elevated re-unification with Taiwan as a higher priority following the successful retrocession of Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau in1999(Yee and Storey, p4). These factors can be interpreted as evidence of strategic expansion in the region, with territorial claims on the islets in the South China Sea being seen in particular by Chinas neighbours as a sign of a policy of expansion. The hard-line policy on Taiwan and the refusal to abandon the threat of military force against it is also seen as evidence of an aggressive state. As Harry Harding writes: the rest of the world has viewed the prospect of a Greater China with both fascination and alarm. Some see it in benign terms, as a dynamic common market that provides growing opportunities for trade and investment. More frequently, however, there has been concern that the combination of economic and military resources available to China will pose a significant threat to the commercial vitality and the strategic stability of the rest of the region (Yee and Storey p4). There is certainly evidence that China is building up its military capability to the point where it could at least challenge the US in the region. Whilst Kennedy had written in 1989 that Chinas army is strong numerically but woefully under equipped in modern instruments of war(Kennedy 1989, p577), more recently China has bolstered its naval, submarine and cruise missile capabilities, is in the process of purchasing advanced aircraft systems and is building a nuclear missile arsenal that is capable of striking virtually all of the United States(Washington Post, July 23, 2005). Whilst much has been made of Chinese reforms since 1979 since in terms of economic growth, it is important to realise that there have been great efforts made to reorganise the military from the early 1980sonwards. Plans were put in place to reduce the Peoples Liberation Army from 4.2 million to 3 million (Kennedy 1989, p579) and develop a much more professional force with a higher quality of personnel. In 2000, the total estimated strength of the Chinese military was 2.5million, of which an estimated 1.8 million are ground forces. The overall strategy for the PLA is an overall reduction and reorganisation of both equipment and personnel with a view to creating a more modern and mobile army. In terms of equipment, China falls a long way behind the US military but is looking to modernise. It has a tank inventory of around10,000,many of which are Soviet or Chinese built. Its air force possesses around 4,350 aircraft, the majority of which are combat aircraft. The government is also looking to develop a local aerospace industry that would have the capability to produce technologically advanced aircraft, whilst continuing to import aircraft from Russia. The government also has plans to buy a number of AWAC aircraft from Israel. More recently there have been statements from Chinese military strategists that indicate that China is gearing up to use its military hard power resources. Taiwan will be the most likely arena for the flexing of Chinese military power. General Wen Zinger , political commissar of the Academy of Military Science has stated that the Taiwan problem is of far reaching significance to breaking international forces blockade against Chinas rise to rise suddenly, China must pass through oceans and go out of the oceans in its future development(Washington Post July 23, 2005). For proponents of the Chinese threat, such statements support the realist view that China is seeking to increase then demonstrate its power in the international arena. Just as Morgenthau argues that the pursuit of power in world politics is both natural and justified, surrealists will argue that China will become unsatisfied with the existing global power structure and adopt a policy of imperial expansionism aimed at attaining both regional and global hegemony (Yeaned Storey 2002, p7). Whilst China also has the option of economic and cultural means to accomplish its strategic objectives, military force remains the most traditional form of imperialism, and the most likely course for China to take once its economy is fully developed. Joseph Nye observes that the rise of China is actually a misnomer and that a more accurate term would be the re-emergence of China. Certainly, China has long been a major power in East Asia, and technologically and economically it was the worlds leader (though without global reach) from 500 to 1500, before being overtaken by Europe and America. Indeed, Chinas re-emergence would equate with Kennedys argument that power across the globe is cyclical. China already has some issues with the US and the other great powers over foreign policies. As a member of the UN Security Council it has traditionally opposed the views of Western states on the international arena and is continuing to do so in spite of its closer economic ties with the West. Whilst China may accept that at the present time it must operate in a US-dominated unipolar world, it believes that its future should at least lie in a multipolar world encompassing the US, China, Europe, Russia and Japan (Foot, 2006, p81). Certainly during the 1990sthere was Chinese unease at the continued American dominance in global affairs with issues such as further NATO expansion eastward, the renegotiation of terms of the US-Japan alliance, US defence missile systems and intervention in Kosovo being of particular concern. Chinas population can be both a hard power resource and a burden. Its current population of 1.3 billion is expected to continue to rise until2030 when it will peak at 1.5 billion before going into decline. Population of such a size is of course a huge resource in terms of manpower, yet a huge burden on the domestic economy and from a domestic security point of view and massive number of people over which to maintain effective control. Western states continue to lobby the Chinese government for greater democratisation, yet the fear of anarchy from a more liberalised system would appear to be keeping the leadership committed to an authoritarian regime. From a realist perspective, it is the combination of economic and military power of China that will ultimately lead to conflict with thus. The build-up of such hard resources will be seen as a threat by thus regardless of any good neighbour policies that Chinese diplomats may point to. Realists within the US policy making sphere will argue that China is merely biding its time until its economy is strong enough to provide a basis for future hegemony. Thucydides argument that the belief in the inevitability of conflict can be the cause of war is appropriate here if both sides believe they will eventually end up in conflict, the military build-up will continue, economic cooperation will fade away, and conflict will become unavoidable. China will eventually have to seek further power in order. Certainly, as the Chinese economy continues to grow, it is likely that its military power will increase. For example, early in 2005, it announced a 12.6 per cent increase in defence spending (Nye, Daily Times March 27, 2005), something that makes it appear more dangerous touts neighbours and further complicating US military commitments in Asia. A RAND study has projected that Chinas military expenditure will be more than six times higher than Japans by 2015 and accumulated military capital stock at around five times higher (Daily Times, March27, 2005), again something that suggests it is looking to achieve regional hegemony before aiming its sights higher and looking for global hegemony. Whilst a global military challenge to the US in the short term is unlikely, there is certainly a possibility that China could challenge the US in East Asia, or even more probably over Taiwan. China would almost certainly intervene militarily if Taiwan were ever to declare independence, irrespective of the military or economic cost. No Chinese leader can afford to be seen as the one that lost Taiwan permanently and at present, the Wests main concern about the Chinese military rests around possible action in Taiwan. Chinas perception of US strategic aims is also an important factor, particularly set against the theory that two nations that believe in the inevitability of war will eventually come into conflict. There has been criticism within China of the Bush administrations attempts to move the focus of strategic policy away from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This has included an increase in military assistance to Taiwan, and, in the eyes of some Chinese commentators, adjusted China into the position of strategic enemy. Undoubtedly, in the eyes of some US officials, China is already a strategic competitor or opponent rather than a partner. Zhou Jamming has commented that the US view of China is something that could escalate tension between the two nations: the security situation we face now is that we are being treated as the main opponent, not the secondary opponent, by the worlds only superpower. The situation is not temporary, but will continue for a long time. When faced with such a situation, we must consider our countrys national security strategy, national development strategy and national unification strategy from the perspective of a worst not best, possible (scenario) and from a practical situation rather than idealistic principles. Only then can we stand firm and face the current severe situations (Nye and Storey p31). Similarly, at present, whilst the US still has an undoubted military and economic superiority over China, it can be the perception of threat that can lead to tension between China and other nations. Yeaned Storey argue that it is an imagined or hypothetical Chinese threat that may hinder its relations with other countries, distorting its image across the globe and so having a negative impact on its open door policy and the process of democratisation (Yee and Storey p33). Many Chinese, including elements of the leadership find it difficult to understand that the West sees the country as such a threat. There is feeling amongst the Chinese that the West is attempting to demonise China and that the idea of China as a threat is indeed becoming threat to China in itself. The neorealist view that an emerging power will eventually generate confrontation with an existing power is almost self-perpetuating the belief in the West that China is a threat will eventually force China to act aggressively in its own defence. Within China, the theory of the Chinese threat is seen as evidence that Western powers do not wish China to become strong, powerful and prosperous. In fact, the idea of a Chinese threat has itself become motivating force for Chinese nationalism. The accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 sparked a wave of anti-Western demonstrations across China. Clearly there is an element faint-Western feeling that may manifest itself in a more serious form in the future. China continues to strengthen its regional alliances, a further sign that it sees itself as a long-term challenger to US dominance. In August 2005, it carried out its first joint military manoeuvres with Russia (The Economist September 3, 2005) and whilst both nations stated that the event was an anti-terrorist operation, it is hard to believe that there was not an implicit message to the US involved. Of equal concern to the US, is Russias supplying of military equipment to China. During the recent joint manoeuvres, Russia deployed strategic bombers that military analysts believe China would like to buy as part of preparation for possible future conflict with the US over Taiwan. Chinas hard power resources are still a good way behind those of thus. However there is evidence that its economy will certainly continue to grow in the coming decades into a position where it becomes a direct competitor to the US. The Chinese military is also reorganising and building up its strength. If it can do so to the same extent that the economy, then China will have the hard power resources to challenge US dominance. Soft Power Resources: Soft power resources can encompass a number of different factors, from a nations ability to influence and set the agenda on the international stage, to the appeal of its culture, values and beliefs. In the case of China, its lack of democracy and poor human rights record have led to questions about its values and beliefs, yet its recent economic development, the positive nature of its public and official diplomacy and the strength of its business community have contributed to an increase in its soft power. It is an important concept; whilst there has been a great deal of attention paid to Chinas growing economic and military power, far less has been paid tithe rise of its soft power, and as Nye suggests: in a global information age, soft sources of power such as culture, political values and diplomacy are part of what makes a great power. Success depends on not only whose army wins, but also on whose story wins (Wall Street Journal Asia 29 December 2005). Chinese leaders have primarily utilised soft power resources in an attempt to portray itself as a still developing nation with a long term strategy no more ambitious than establishing itself as a great power, yet still secondary to the US in a still unipolar world. Whilst realists will argue that China is a long-term threat to US global dominance, a number of other commentators see Chinas aims as peaceful. This is very much the impression that the leadership likes to portray. General Xing Sizing, President of the National Defence University has written: Chinas socialist system determines that my country will always adopt an independent and peaceful foreign policy, aiming at retaining world and regional peace as well as a good neighbourly policy towards our border states. Chinas socialist system also determines that my country will always adopt a defensive national defence policy and military strategy. Now and in the future, my country will not seek global or regional hegemony, nor w ill join any military alliances, nor will participate in any form of arms race, will not station troops or establish military bases abroad, and will not start a war to invade another country (Nye Storey, p27). Rosemary Foot argues that the Chinese accept US dominance on the international stage, whilst being confident that China is at least on the rise, unlike former superpower rival Russia. Whilst China has increased its military spending over the last decade it is not about to exhaust itself in an unproductive arms race with the US (Foot 2006p83). Foot suggests that from the start of its reform period in 1979, the key goal for China has been achieving a comprehensive national strength, something that requires a peaceful regional and global environment. Again, the Chinese leadership has attempted to influence others that its rise would be benign and mutually beneficial the Foreign Minister stated in 2002 that the development of China is not challenge, nor a threat, it is a new opportunity for development (Foot2006, p85). The messages coming out of China, in effect the show of soft power, consistently suggests that the nation simply wants to concentrate omits economic development without any form of conflict. Sheng Fijian argues that China will transcend ideological differences to strive for peace, development and cooperation with other nations that will be beneficial for all (Fijian 2005, p22). Chinas development targets for the next 50 years are also designed to reassure the US that its intentions are peaceful, targeting a doubling of its GDP by 2010, further doubling by 2020, with an aim to advance until 2050 until it Isa prosperous, civilised nation, on a par with the middle rung of nations (Fijian 2005, p24). The Chinese leadership would also like to portray its acceptance that the US remains the only country with the capacity and ambition for global primacy. It will argue that the US has sufficient hard power advantages over any other nation to remain dominant, that military victory in Afghanistan has strengthened the US position as it now has political, military and economic footholds in Central Asia and that it has also strengthened its military presence in South East Asia, the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula. Wang Jixi supports the Chinese leadership in attempting to set this type of agenda, arguing that the gap between the two nations is too great for a US-USSR style confrontation. He states, Chinas political, economic, social and diplomatic influences on the US are far smaller than the US influences on China (Jixi 2005, p41). From 1996,China has adopted a new security concept as a way to boost its soft power. With this concept it has moved away from power politics to develop a more prominent role in promoting regional security. Number of its actions have been designed to boost its standing in the region: it offered assistance to neighbours during the 1997-99financial crisis; it has engaged with the ASEAN regional Forum Adaptec; in November 2002 it signed up to the Declaration of parties in the South China Sea, renouncing violent means of dealing with disputed sovereignty claims in these waters, and; in 2004 it joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group and applied for membership of the Missile Technology Control Scheme (Foot 2006, p86). China has also stepped up its contribution to UN peace building and peacekeeping operations in an attempt to portray itself as a responsible emerging power. Even in its direct relations with the US, China has attempted to accommodate when possible. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, China allowed the FBI to set up a legal attach office in Beijing (Foot 2006, p86)and whilst disagreeing with the war in Iraq, was less vocal in its criticism than the likes of France and Germany. The only issues over which China has consistently disagreed with the US in recent years are Taiwan, US criticisms of its human rights record and Chinas view that the US has attempted to undermine the role of the UN Security Council. Whether the Chinese government actually has a defined strategy for soft power is debatable. Soft power generally stems from non-governmental institutions such as businesses or cultural groups rather than particular governmental actions, yet in China it would appear that soft power tools are operating within a framework developed by the government. Whilst it lacks the economic power of more developed nations, China has stepped up its aid to developing nations and has built up a range of bilateral relations with nations as diverse as Russia, India, France, Iran and Brazil (Foot 2006 p85) to serve as a form of insurance policy should relations with the US deteriorate. Soft power can also include the promotion of language and culture. China promotes the spread of its language and culture both throughout South East Asia and the rest of the world and more recently there has been an increase in outbound tourism, again boosting the image of China, particularly across South East Asia. Enrolment of foreign students into China has increased from 36,000 to 110, 000 over the last decade and the number of foreign tourists has increased to 17 million(Wall Street Journal. 29 December 2005). Chinese books, television shows and brands are growing in popularity across the region and into Europe for example Kieran, shirt sponsors of Everton FC, used the profile of the Premiership to build awareness of its mobile phone brand. (Eaves, Epson Fletcher 2005). China is attempting to enter the area of global popular culture as well, a further method of exercising soft power. The 2000 Nobel Prize for Literature was won by Chinese novelist Gaol Xingjian and the Chinese film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the highest grossing on-English film (Wall Street Journal Asia, December 29, 2005). In thus, Chinese basketball player Yao Ming is the star of the US National Basketball Associations Houston Rockets and of course Beijing is set-to host the 2008 Olympic Games. China will also point to its lack of resources in some areas as another tactic in the sphere of soft power. Whilst its economy has made huge gains, Chinese officials will argue that in per capita terms it remains ranked 100th in the world (Fijian 2005 (p20), a fact that leaves it ranked as still a low-income developing country. China will also suggest to those who see it as a threat that is still has huge poverty and a scarcity of natural resources. Its per capita water resources are one quarter of the world average, its per capita resources of cultivable farmland 40 per cent of world averages and its per capitol and gas resources are 8.3 per cent and 4.1 per cent of world averages respectively (Fijian 2005 p20). In diplomatic circles, China will use facts such as these to play down its ambitions. It will suggest that it is different to emerging powers of the past in that its rise is driven by capital, technology and resources acquired through peaceful means rather than by wars of ag gression. Ultimately Chinas greatest soft power resource is its ability to influence on the international stage and maintain the concept that its not a threat to the US or the second rung of world powers. Whilst realists may ignore this line of argument, there are many others who have been persuaded. Rosemary Foot summarises the views of those who accept the Chinese line: China does not seek hegemony or predominance in world affairs. It advocates a new international, political and economic order, one that can be achieved through incremental reforms and the democratisation of international relations. Chinas development depends of world peace a peace that its development will reinforce(Foot 2006, p25). Chinas soft power is an important resource. The spread of Chinese culture across south east Asia is gradually extending its influence throughout the region and its ability to sell itself as a peaceful nation on the world stage is convincing some to turn a blind eye to the dangers of its economic and military gains. Part Three: Liberalism or Authoritarianism? Chinas authoritarian socialist political system is seen as another important factor contributing to the Chinese threat. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, China has taken on the mantle of being the worlds last major communist power. Over the same period, a number of other regimes in East Asia have overthrown authoritarian regimes and embraced democracy for example South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. China has made little progress in moving towards democratic reform, despite Western pressure that followed the Tiananmen Square incident in1989 and this remains one of the major sources of tension between China and the West. The Chinese leadership refuses to accept or adopt Western democratic values or to share its centrally controlled political power with its population. Those who have attempted to push for peaceful political reform in China have been frustrated despite the spread of liberal democratic values and ideas in other parts of the region. It Isa situation that continues to put China at odds with the US and other major powers. As Yee and Storey conclude: As far as the West is concerned, socialism is no longer a viable political system and theres continuous resistance to democratisation is unacceptable (Yeaned Storey, p3). There are of course vast ideological differences between China and thus, the superpower that it may one day usurp. From a realist perspective, it is these differences that will lead the two nations almost inevitably into conflict should Chinas economic rise continue. There are two broadly contrasting views of relations between the US and China: firstly the hope that China will find long-term accommodation with the US and the economic benefits of partnership will outweigh the need for confrontation and; secondly the realist view that predicts conflict on the grounds that China will eventually be tempted to try-out its military strength, and also that the US will never tolerate China as a world power of even as a secondary world power in Asia and the Pacific. The ideological differences between the two are beginning to emerge, particularly amongst US conservatives. Many feel that Chinas military build-up plus its sale of arms to states seen as rogue by the US is threat. Others are concerned that Chinese bids for US oil firms are part of a strategy to buy up America and threaten its security, whilst ideological differences with the American Christian Right are even more pronounced the lack of religious freedom and birth quotas in particular are repellent to many in the US (The Economist, September2005). The US military and defence policy makers also view with concern the improvements in the military capability of what they see as a nasty authoritarian regime. The Pentagon is rightly concerned that Chinas rapidly modernising army appears to be far larger and better equipped than its own defensive needs require. A recent review concluded that: China does not now face a direct threat from another nation. Yet, it continues to invest heavily in its military, particularly in programmes designed to improve its power projection (The Economist, September 3,2005) China most certainly appears willing to make alliances with countries that are seen as unacceptable to the US Iran is the most obvious example of this. The West also needs to realise that there are plenty of other nations that do not necessarily aspire to the Western democratic model of government and may look to China than the Wests liberal democracies for future alliances. Chinas economic success under an authoritarian regime must give food for thought to political leaders elsewhere. Russia for example, with its history of autocratic tsars and a communist one party state may come to see China as a role model for economic recovery. As Stephen King argues: Chinas strength not only changes its relative economic position vis--vis the US, but through boosting the incomes of commodity-producing nations around the world, is making them think twice about their support for US economic and political hegemony (The Independent, February 13, 2006). There are in essence, two fundamentally contradictory forces within Chinese politics that mirror encapsulate the tensions between liberalism and authoritarianism. Economically, China has fully embraced capitalism and has made a success out of doing so. Domestic politics however remains based on an old-fashioned Soviet style Politburo and Central Committee. The free market economy has been readily accepted, yet at the same time the leadership governs in a repressive manner, keeping a tight control over many aspects of peoples lives. Censorship of the media is strictly controlled and the government goes as far as employing large numbers of bureaucrats whose sole job it is to censor internet website deemed as contrary to the revolutionary ideals of the government (www.queensjournal.ca). China has also realised that US global hegemony is not merely economic, military or territorial. The US also uses ideology as a weapon across the globe, highlighting democracy and human rights as values that should be the international norm. US intervention abroad for example, is usually carried out under the flag of fighting for democracy. Obviously, the two nations have little in common in this area China may well see itself as a standard bearer for other forms of government, those that do not necessarily conform to the Western style forms of liberal democracy. The clash between authoritarianism and liberal democracy is likely to remain a key element of relation between China and the West. The US remains outwardly committed to the spread of Western friendly democracy across the globe, whilst Chinese leaders remain steadfastly opposed touch values. Such a clash of values leaves little real hope furlong-term strategic partnership between China and the US. If China reaches a point where its economic and military strength equals that of the US, conflict over ideology is a likely consequence. Conclusion: The US holds the unchallenged position of being the worlds only superpower at present. International relations take place in a unipolar world, where a tier of great powers such as Germany, Japan and the Unveil for position in a second tier of states. None of these states are likely to challenge the global hegemony enjoyed by the US. China however is different. It may at the present be time be further behind the US than other powerful states, but such is the speed of its economic growth that it seems inevitable that it will, within the next two to three decades, be best placed of the rest of the nations in the world to challenge US dominance. There is some debate as to whether China really wishes to challenge thus it may be more beneficial to work as a strategic partner and assume the benefits of economic cooperation with the US. The difficulty however, is that the established nation state system may not allow this to happen. The temptation to pursue further power from a position of strength has guided states for many centuries. The fact that Chinas economic growth may one day put it on an equal footing with the US will almost inevitably lead the two into conflict. The US will increasingly see China as a threat, and China will eventually reach a point where, for its own security, it will feel it necessary to challenge the US. There are contrasting views as to how Chinas rise will affect the future international order. Whilst the argument of Kennedy et al is that the dominance of all superpowers must eventually to end, there Isa view that the US position is simply too strong to be overtaken and certainly that China is too far behind ever to challenge the US militarily. China certainly prefers to suggest that is unlikely to ever seriously challenge US hegemony. The relative hard power and soft power resources of the existing superpower and the emerging power give some idea as to whether China can overtake the US. At present, the US economy remains considerably larger than the Chinese, yet notably the gap is shrinking. Most economic analysts predict Chinese parity in the next 30 to 40 years. In military terms, the US appears even further ahead of China, yet it would seem that China is now making a determined effort to rectify this. Military spending is on the increase and a more modern, professional military is appearing. Much of the Chinese military still remains outdated, yet as its economy grows, as does its capacity to invest in its military. It may be some time before China can challenges global hegemony, but gradually China is flexing its military muscles and exerting a greater regional influence. Neorealist theory argues that a growth in military strength will follow a rise in economic power and this is what is happening in China. Its increase in defence spending in recent years would suggest that it has ambitions greater than simply maintaining its own regional security. China would appear to have advantages over the US in terms of soft power and is becoming increasingly influential on the international stage because of this. The war in Iraq has damaged the international reputation of the US and thus its ability to influence indirectly the actions of other states. The deaths of Iraqi civilians and a growing belief that the conflict was engineered to give the US access to Iraqi oil has lessened the ability of the US to utilise soft power and win the hearts and minds of other states. Chinas opposition to the war and support for the role of the UN in contrast has put it in a better light with other states opposed to the US action. The continued efforts of Chinese diplomacy to sell the idea of its peaceful rise is again a triumph for soft power and something that is allowing the Chinese to continue its economic and military growth without the concern that it perhaps justifies. Chinas ability to form partnerships and alliances with nations from different parts of the globe and with a variety of political systems also serves of evidence of its growing influence. With this there is a likelihood of a growing movement of social, economic and political power from West to East. The continued growth of Chinese influence may lead to the Western liberal democratic values becoming more marginalized across the globe. The classic realist argument of the likes of Morgenthau was that the tendency to seek power and dominate is a natural element of all human associations and thus part of the essence of international politics. Agnation state will pursue its political power and national interest ball available instruments. China is doing this at present through economic growth. It is its most effective means at present of maintaining the national interest. At some point however, China will have to consider the use of military force to further its interests. The scarcity of natural resources will almost certainly bring China into confrontation with the US a state that is unlikely to accommodate an equal in military or economic terms. 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