Diplomatic Challenges of the Arabian Peninsula Case Study

Diplomatic Challenges of the Arabian Peninsula - Case Study Example In addition, Bahrain has come to be recognized as one of the most politically influential states in the Middle Eastern region and it is predicted that it is going to be one of the most influential states in the world in the near future. The influence gained by this kingdom in the region is largely based on the fact that it is an ally of the western powers namely Britain and the United States, and this has created a situation where it has been able to host the naval fleets of these two countries (Radsch, 2013). In fact, it is because of its strategic importance in the Persian Gulf region that Bahrain has come to be considered by western countries, such as the United States, as being one of their most valuable allies. This consideration has made this island kingdom, which would normally have been just another weak state in the region, confident in its development since it is protected from external threats through the presence of a naval fleet of the United States. The fact that Bahrai n is among the most stable states in the Persian Gulf region and that it is one of the staunchest allies of the United States has made it most attractive to both potential investors as well as economic planners from already developed countries who are attempting to have a stake in the future of Bahrain. While this has been the case, it has been observed that the kingdom of Bahrain has continuously attempted to remain independent of outside political influence, especially in recent times when it has resisted attempts to allow for democratic reforms within it and it has instead opted to make its own influence felt in the region. Despite the fact that Bahrain is one of the emerging... The popular opinion in many countries in the west is that Bahrain is an authoritarian state whose people do not have the political freedom to determine their own destiny. In addition, because it is in the Middle East, the common perception in the west is that this authoritarianism is based on the Islamic religion. While this is the case, most of the individuals in this country are surprisingly very liberal in matters concerning religion and they only appear to be fanatical because of the stereotype that ha been developed concerning Middle Easterners. The royal family of Bahrain is a Sunni dynasty ruling over a majority population of Shia Muslims, which has created a situation where there is a lot of tension in the country. The fact that the royal family is still in power can be attributed to the efforts of diplomacy that it has managed to undertake to secure itself from the threats against from within. it is a fact that the people of Bahrain do not always follow the lead set by Iran on religious matters and in fact, very few people in Bahrain share the same religious point of view as that which is propagated by the religious establishment of Iran. This has created a situation where they are extremely conscious of their identity as Arabs first before being Shia Muslims.

Perception Errors as Seen in “Twelve Angry Men” Essay Example for Free

Perception Errors as Seen in â€Å"Twelve Angry Men† Essay The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but Time† William Butler Yeats The movie â€Å"Twelve Angry Men† opens up with a sequence which justifies the above stated quote. The storyline follows the story of two random people chosen as jurors who have been asked to give a verdict on a murder case. The case involves the murder of a father by his teenage son. The verdict can be held legal and valid only if it is unanimous. At the start of the movie, everyone except a gentleman votes as ‘guilty’ for the boy. The gentleman expresses his desire to go over all the facts after which he would make his decision whether the teenager is guilty or not. After several deliberations, re-questioning of the stated facts and witness testimonials, slowly the jurors start changing their verdict from ‘guilty’ to ‘not-guilty’. The story ends with the unanimous verdict in the favor of the teenager. Common Perceptual Distortions: 1. Stereotype or Prototype: One of the jurors has the belief that teenagers growing up in slums tend to be criminals. A generalization on the behalf of the juror is incorrect. . Projection: One of the jurors shares a failing relationship with his own son. This creates an effect wherein he sees the image of his son in the teenager held in the trial. He tries to force his own conscious image onto the teenager and sees him as guilty. 3. Self Fulfilling Prophecy: One of the jurors is timid in nature and hence his opinions are not heard and ignored. 4. Mine is better thinking: One of the jurors thinks that since he is an influential person in his domain, he knows better because of his higher status in society. . Selective Perception: One of the jurors is only interested in finishing the verdict. He has no arguments in favour or against the teenager. 6. Pretending to Know: One of the jurors tries to justify everything by giving the statement ‘know what I mean’, inspite of having no concrete facts supporting his arguments. 7. Unwarranted Assumptions: One of the jurors holds onto the testimony that the murder weapon is unique. Also one more assumption is the thing that the sick man can cover a long distance to the stairs in a few seconds. 8. Attacking other people : One of the jurors starts fighting and shouting at everyone as if that would prove that others are wrong. 9. Halo Effect: The fact that the teenager stays in the slums creates a general impression in one of the jurors’ minds that the teenager is guaranteed a criminal. 10. False Consensus Effect: At the beginning of the session, all but one decide as ‘guilty’ on the verdict. Many of the jurors gave their vote just on the simple reason that others would give the same, and not on their own opinions.

Total viable count

Total viable count Microbiology practical: Total and viable counts of microorganisms Abstract: Introduction: Total and viable counts of microorganisms There are several methods for determining total and viable counts of microorganisms Total Cell counting is used Viable counting are used Details of uses of cell counting, including their advantages and disadvantages. There are several methods for determining total and viable counts of microorganisms Include other methods and include references to your source Brief detail of your actual experiment, mentioning the organism and which techniques will be used Total Viable Count This involves counting the colonies produced by viable cells under favourable growth conditions. In pour-plate method, an aliquot of suitably diluted sample is mixed with nutrient agar at a temperature where it is liquid. Then the mixture is poured into petridishes and allowed to set. Alternatively an aliquot of the sample is spread over the agar surface of a Petridis using a sterile spreader. Membrane filters can also be used to determine the bacterial numbers. In this method cells are filtered onto membrane filter which is then placed over nutrient agar surface. Total Cell Count The most common method of enumerating the total microbial cells is the direct counting of cell suspension in a counting chamber of known volume using a microscope. One such counting chamber is Neubauer counting chamber. Another method involves an electronic instrument, Coulter counter. http://www.microbiologyprocedure.com/aquatic-environment-microbiology/total-cell-count.htm http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~sabedon//biol4038.htm http://www.rapidmicrobiology.com/test-methods/Total-Viable-Count.php http://www.biochemj.org/bj/021/0104/0210104.pdf Materials and methods: 1 ) A pour plate method using viable count: Explain the procedure where cells crosses gridlines of the haemocytometer Discussion In this discussion you should discuss the errors associated with measurement of viability. Discuss ways of improving the experiment and whether this could be achieved with the material provided The experiment could be improved by: Transferring the diluted solution quicker to the agar plate, so that the plate will not get contaminated by the air. The experiment could be repeated more than 3 times for a reliable test The main source of error occurred during experiment was leaving the agar plate lid open to transfer the dilutions for a long time which could of contaminated the agar plate by air. (Madigan, 2009) Reference: Madigan, M. C. (2009). Brock Biology of Microorganisms (12th edition ed.). San Francisco: Pearson international Education.

The Internet: An End to the Cultural and Historical Diversity of Style

Introduction: The Internet is a fairly new tool and has been recently increasing in popularity. Where it was once inconceivable that a new way to stay in touch could challenge the telephone, the Internet has managed to do so. With the Internet, one can do nearly anything that one would want to do from keeping in touch with relatives, writing research papers, and watching one's bank account. Generally, everything done over the Internet is quick and effortless. Since the Internet is relatively new, there have been relatively few scientific studies done on it. Therefore, the discussion of the Internet in this paper will be limited to personal experiences and interpretations. This essay will describe a new style of quickness that has emerged as a result of the Internet. The style has been modified and tested by those on the Internet, creating a homogenous way of communicating which is ending the diversity in composition. In turn, the style has affected the Internet, making quickness a priority to services on the web. By looking at common uses of the Internet, it is apparent that a new kind of style based on instant gratification and convenience has emerged, which in turn has influenced the Internet. Communicating Instantaneously: One of the more prevalent services of the Internet is instant messaging, which has helped to shape a style of quickness. There are a plethora of messaging services to choose from, such as AOL's Instant Messenger, ICQ, and MSN Messenger. Instant messaging is exactly what it sounds like- messages are typed and sent instantly to another person. This type of interaction has slowly been replacing the telephone as it allows people to stay in contact over long distances without having to pay a fee. Acco... ... style has also affected the Internet. The need for speed has evolved so that the success of services and other offerings for the Internet, such as connection speed, is highly important. The style of speed in the world of today will become increasingly accepted and used as more and more people join the Internet craze. Footnotes: 1. Beard 2. Beard 3. Pastore 4. Look at the Graph 5. Beard Works Cited: 1. Beard, Marty. "Hello, email, and soon good-bye: Instant messaging becoming way to communicate." February 5, 2002 Â © 2002 Media Life. <http://medialifemagazine.com/news2002/feb02/feb04/2_tues/news4tuesday.html> 2. Gartner Advisory, Web Site Performance, June 2000. 3. Pastore, Michael. "E-Mail Continues Dominance of Net Apps." July 25, 2001. <http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/applications/article/0,1323,1301_808741,00.html>

Policy Is Now Made In A More Democratic Manner Essay

What Extent Do You Agree With This Statement? The 1997 general election in Britain changed the way that policies were made in both of the leading political parties. The Labour Party is composed of three major institutions: The NEC (National Executive Committee) -the administrative authority of the party, the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) which consists of all elected Labour Party MP s and the Annual Party Conference. The Annual Party Conference is the supreme decision-making body within the Party. Ordinary members of the party are given the opportunity to publicly articulate their views and for cabinet members (or shadow cabinet members if the party is not in government) to deliver set-speeches directed towards the party or the public. The Conservative Party had a system where power rested entirely in the hands of parliamentarians with little or no organisation outside of parliament. It also consisted of three main institutions: The Parliamentary Conservative Party, the National Union Of Conservative and Unionist Associations and The Conservative Central Office. The ultimate decision making body in the Party is the leader himself. He or she may be advised however this advice does not have to be taken. Before 1997, any member of the Labour party could raise a topic to be debated. However after the 1997 election, in an attempt by Tony Blair to meet the demands of party unity and discipline, the Labour Party changed its structure to include the NPF (National Policy Forum). The job of the National Policy Forum was to set our the agenda to be discussed at the annual party conference.Members could no longer bring up issues during the conference. Instead, members could make an application to the forum for a debate on a particular topic although the ultimate decision would be made by the forum. Although members were still free to convey their views at the annual conference. The Conservatives adopted a similar system to the Labour Party. The Conservative Party also underwent structural changes after the 1997 election. In a bid to make the party more democratic, William Hague introduced ‘the Fresh Future’. This included the creation of two new bodies, the ‘National Conservative Convention’ and the ‘Conservative Policy Forum’ (although these act as advisory bodies only, the final decision rests with the leader). In conclusion, the Labour Party certainly makes policy in a less democratic way. From an open conference where members could freely bring up topics for debate to a forum where only a select few have the ultimate decision in deciding party policies. This reform has decreased the number of members who can participate in making policies and reduced the range of views that the policies represent. Although the Conservative Party has made an attempt to make its policy making more democratic by introducing the ‘Fresh Future’ and the new Conservative Policy Forum, the leader still holds the ultimate decision when deciding on policy and although it increases the number of people who can attempt to advise the leader although the leader still has ultimate power when making decisions so it means nothing. It is therefore concluded that party policy is not now made in a more democratic manner.

Branding Essay

BRANDING ESSAY Subject: The brand as an aspirational and cultural agent 14/03/2013 According to Philip J. Kotler â€Å"a brand is a name, term, sign symbol or design, or a combination of them to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to identify them from the competitors†. This definition expresses the brand as the sum of the representations that we have, however, the brand is also a cultural agent. To remain permanently in the mind of the consumer brands must build a recognizable brand and offer their cultural role models to their customers.Thus it is necessary to include this cultural aspect to the marketing strategy of the brand. After explaining how this cultural and aspirational aspect is characterized in the minds of consumers and brands, it will be interesting to know its origins and consequences, finally understand why and how a brand builds a culture and a strong identity. The success of a brand depends not only on the functional value it offers to consumers, its reputation and good health depends heavily on the emotional value it adds through its products.And the brands gain momentum in today's culture, they seek to become mirrors of our personalities and that is why it is indispensable to build a distinctive brand image. The brand positioning is to place an image in the mind of the consumer. The success of the brand in the consumer's opinion is fundamentally dependent on its desire to appropriate the brand and express it as a part of his personality. This cultural dimension of the brand had been discussed by Jean-Noel Kapferer (French expert of brands) in his book â€Å"Les marques, capital de l’entreprise† in 1990. He expresses the cultural facet of the brand as a key element of brand identity.In the same vein he argues that brands around the products and services sold, build aspirational universe in order to stand out and sell their products. This universe consists of all intangible assets acting as symbols, references, lifestyles, emotions etc. †¦ feature of the brand. This set forms a specific imaginary that illustrates the values and the brand positioning to form a unique cultural heritage (Jean-Noel Kapferer et Vincent Bastien, Luxe Oblige, 2008) This heritage must be expressed and transmitted to the consumer to feel the desire to join and share.Even if this has a great value in brand equity, it is not enough to form a brand culture. The cornerstone of its creation is a major concept; which is distinct to the brand and based on an innovative aspect (e. g. Nike and culture transcendence). In this case there is a set of communication shared by a class of consumers relaying the brand culture. This research of brand culture is becoming more and more important, especially because consumers search meaning in their consumption and they need to be involved in this consumer society that is constantly evolving.Similarly, the development of the media and especially the intern et makes it fertile ground for the development of this cultural facet. We are part of a brands cultural bath influencing us in all our acts of consumption. The brand is a center of social identification of the individual, our consumption reflects our identity. Especially for brands that operate as social signs (car brands, clothing, food, telephone, etc. †¦ ). And brands have become cultural facts, when we consume we do not consume only the product but also the brand. Every act of consumption is symbolic and cultural; there is no longer a pure commercial consumption. The brand becomes a symbol, a materiel embodiment of the myth. So as customers drink, drive or wear the product, they experience a bit of the myth. † (Douglas B. How Brands Become Holt in Icons, The Principles of Cultural Branding, 2004). He explains this behavior like this: â€Å"Customers use iconic brands as symbolic salves. They grab hold of the myth as they use the product as a means to lessen their ide ntity burdens†. It means that the brand through its culture must convey specific models to achieve the desires and soothe the anxieties of consumers.The purpose of brands is to create moments of recognition that put images, sounds, feelings, on the deep desires of customers. Holt adds that a strong brand identity and a clearly identifiable culture have a positive effect on the brand and business: â€Å"When a brand delivers a powerful myth that customers find useful in cementing their identities, this identity value casts a halo on other aspects of the brand. Great myths enhance the brand’s quality reputation, distinctive benefits, and status value. † This halo effect shows brands cannot underestimate their cultural influence.The essential idea in this concept of culture is that it is an integral part of the brand, but she is not defined consistently. It is universal and timeless at the same time it must keep its customers at every change of generation. The succe ss of a brand lies in its ability to adapt to a given society, to know how to react when tensions and desires of consumers mutate. Or that Accordance must match the brand identity. Success comes once the brand has articulated the brand identity with market expectations through the establishment of a strong brand culture.For example Nike in its infancy based its marketing strategy on its philosophy of self-transcendence, a value in accordance with an aspiration of American society in the post-prosperity when the logic of the American dream seemed to have lost its splendor. The socio-economic changes constantly and attitudes of societies are transformed. Thus it is essential that brand can find what, in its identity, can meet the expectations of customers in the generational change. The consumer's desire is not focused on a specific good or service, this desire is by cluster (Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher, Anti-Oedipus, 1977).This means that when the customer is considering purch asing, the choice is not just the object itself but to all cultural, symbolic or historic associations attached to them. For example when I want this dress that is behind the showcase, I do not just want this dress, but the shoes that go with the silhouette, the style, the man, the romantic dinner and almost the lifestyle that goes with this dress. And brands need to rethink their communication model to know the consumer interest in all that associations of the product.They can no longer base their identity on customer insights; it must do so on a strong culture. The brand identity is not an element to be overlooked in a marketing strategy because the cultural and aspirational aspect it reveals is becoming increasingly important in the consumer's decision. Brands must know how to create interest and special recognition in his mind through communicating their values and their major concept. The customers’ expectations continually evolving, that is why it is important for bran ds to adapt through the establishment of a strong and sustainable brand culture. I hope you understand that as an Erasmus student I used for my research French theories to support my arguments. Well I apologize for any mistakes in English that I could commit. ) Bibliography * Jean-Noel Kapferer, Les marques, capital de l’entreprise (1990) * Jean-Noel Kapferer et Vincent Bastien, Luxe Oblige, Paris, Eyrolles (2008) * Douglas B. Holt, How Brands Become Icons, The Principles Of Cultural Branding, Harvard Business School Press (2004) * Gilles Deleuze et Felix Guattari, Anti- OEdipe, Editions de Minuit, 1977.