Keystone XL Pipeline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Keystone XL Pipeline - Essay Example Despite the probable environmental impact it acts as the best safe alternative for shipping oil sands crude. Apart from its probable impact on the environment, the project bears major impact on the economy thereby making it a subject to economic debaters. Major economic impacts include effect on the cash flows and job claims. An analysis on the economic and environmental impacts of the project makes it less feasible for implementation. The following are the pros and cons associated. The Keystone XL provides a safer alternative for transporting sands crude thereby making the proposers to conclude on the environmental friendliness. Even though many environmentalist have argued against the environmental friendliness of the project, the study done by the State Department shows that it is better to have the project that the environmental significance of the project are far more valuable than when it is rejected. Whether in the absence or presence of the Keystone XL, there still will be higher production of the oil sands. This implies that there would be need for a railway to transport the crude oil in case the Keystone pipeline is not built. Considering the far much impacts which could transpire because of the recent high profile crude-by-rail accidents, Keystone XL is the most suitable alternative for transporting oils sands with lesser impacts on the environment. Intuitively, there is need to build the pipeline since it assures of reducing the environmental impact s which could result from use of railway (Chang, 9). Economically, the project proves viable in increasing the cash flows of the national economy and the overall number of investors in the country. Usually, pipeline is a source of steady and stable cash flows as compare to any other means of transport. In this case, a country has to consider the volume of oil to be transported and the immediate returns from the project. For the TRP, the owners of the

Are immunities of senior state officials applicable to jus cogens Essay

Are immunities of senior state officials applicable to jus cogens violations - Essay Example As such, the question whether acts of State officials are applicable to violations of jus cogens is necessary to be tackled in the light of several cases decided by the International Court of Justice (ICJ for brevity) and in recent times, by the International Criminal Court (ICC) under the Rome Statute. It is well to be emphasized at the outset that under the present generally accepted principles of international law, heads of states and senior state officials are not exempted from the responsibility in the international community for international crimes. 1 Any controversy that may emerge would fall under the jurisdictional question relating to the procedural aspect of the law. Hence, in this paper, several cases would be cited particularly those which sparked heated debates among scholars and imminent jurist in international law. At this juncture, it is worthy to mention the two principles of immunities under international law which are immunity ratione personae and ratione materiae. The former being attributed to the person and it follows him wherever he may be, and for his conduct which may be official or not. The latter on the other hand pertains to immunity which is necessarily included in the conduct of a head of state and senior state officials which relates to their offici al functions as representative of his or her State. It is then important to take a look at the history of state immunity and discern how it evolved over time. The Evolution of State Immunity Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the doctrine of foreign state was regarded as absolute since foreign states were recognized as having the privilege of complete immunity from another forum's jurisdiction. By the early twentieth century, after World War I, Allied nations adopted a limited approach to immunity to address the complexity of the growing participation of states in global trade. Thus, the concept of acta jure imperii, wherein a state's conduct which are governmental in nature were acknowledged as having full immunity, and acta jure gestionis, wherein commercial or private acts of states that deals with trade are not endowed with immunity. 2 Thus, if the act falls under the category of acta jure imperii, full immunity is accorded to state officials. However, for those falling under commercial ventures or otherwise termed as acta jure gestionis, a state may be sued for breach of contract along with the concerned state official. On the other hand, as the world shrunk, so to speak, violations of fundamental human rights have been discovered and made public. These violations are apart from the ones which were the cause of wars between nations. Several jurists, commentators and heads of states argued that there should at least be an impartial tribunal which would render judgment upon persons accused of war and crimes against humanity. The concept of state immunity was thus regarded as applicable only to those acts of states which do not transgress norms which are regarded as necessary to attain order in the international community. Consequently, several statutes were enacted and tribunals were established precisely to address the growing concern of the states about serious violations of peremptory norms, from which violators would only invoke state immunity to avoid punishment. At present, State immunity is not regarded as an absolute state right under the international law. Instead, state immunity

Assignment #3 480 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

#3 480 - Assignment Example Knowledge: HRD practitioner should portray that is knowledgeable. He or she must portray the knowledge of overcoming special challenges that are common in the working environment, carrying out complicated tasks, as well as understanding the process of change in the working environment. Additionally, HRD practitioner should have a good understanding of job learning strategies as well as management strategies (Hytonen, 2002). Task: The tasks of HRD practitioner are diverse. They range from training colleagues in an organization to being active in seminars. It is also the responsibility of HRD practitioner to enhance team work, provide internal consultancy, mentor other workers, and coach other employees. Apart from advocating job rotation, HRD practitioner also facilitates the success of special projects and carries out special assignments and excursions (Hytonen, 2002). Additionally, it is the responsibility of the HRD practitioner to ensure that an organization’s objectives have been achieved. He or she achieve these enhancing social interactions between colleagues and customers, as well as maintaining and developing the knowledge and skills of people working in his or her organization. Hytonen T. (2002). Exploring the Practice of Human Resource Development as a Field of Professional Expertise. Retrieved

Resistance to Change Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Resistance to Change - Research Paper Example Robbin (2005) highlights, that one of the causes of organizational resistance to change is structural inertia. In organizations, there are structures, which are built to ensure stability of the firm such as recruitment, training and selection structures etc. these structures are used systematically in the organization to achieve desired goals. When change is introduced in the organization, these structures can inhibit or cause resistance to change so that they can sustain previous stability in the organization (Robbins, 2005). Secondly, group resistance can also cause organizational resistance to change, considering they are made of groups of employees who have norms and cultures, and they can inhibit change in the organization. If people are organized in groups, then any change made by the organization can be resisted because members have influence on each other. The third cause of resistance to change is the threat of established management and power structures in the organization (Sadhu, 2009). There are groups in the organization, which controls the flow of resources, and they might see change as a threat to their power hence resisting the change. These groups are normally comfortable with current situations in organizations and any attempts of change can be resisted with ease because they control the resources and power. Lastly, poor communications in the organization can cause resistance to change

Time machine Essay Example for Free

Time machine Essay Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space, generally using a theoretical invention, namely a time machine. It has a commonly recognized place in philosophy and fiction, but has a very limited application in real world physics, such as in quantum mechanics or wormholes. Although the 1895 novel The Time Machine by H. G. Wells was instrumental in moving the concept of time travel to the forefront of the public imagination, The Clock That Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell was published in 1881 and involves a clock that allows a person to travel backwards in time. [1] Non-technological forms of time travel had appeared in a number of earlier stories such as Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. Historically, the concept dates back to the early mythologies of Hinduism (such as the Mahabharata), Buddhism, and Islam through ancient folk tales. More recently, with advancing technology and a greater scientific understanding of the universe, the plausibility of time travel has been explored in greater detail by science fiction writers, philosophers, and physicistsThere is no widespread agreement as to which written work should be recognized as the earliest example of a time travel story, since a number of early works feature elements ambiguously suggestive of time travel. Ancient folk tales and myths sometimes involved something akin to travelling forward in time; for example, in Hindu mythology, the Mahabharata mentions the story of the King Raivata Kakudmi, who travels to heaven to meet the creator Brahma and is shocked to learn that many ages have passed when he returns to Earth. [2][3] The Buddhist Pali Canons also mention time moving at different pace, in the Payasi Sutta, one of Buddhas chief disciples Kumara Kassapa explains to the skeptic Payasi that In the Heaven of the Thirty Three Devas, time passes at a different pace, and people live much longer. In the period of our century, one hundred years, only a single day, twenty four hours would have passed for them. [4] In Islam, there is some reference to time travel. The Quran tells about several individuals who go to sleep in a cave only to wake up after 309 years. There is also a reference about time variation where it states one day for God (Allah) is one thousand years of what you (human beings) count. Another one of the earliest known stories to involve traveling forward in time to a distant future was the Japanese tale of Urashima Taro,[5] first described in the Nihongi (720). [6] It was about a young fisherman named Urashima Taro who visits an undersea palace and stays there for three days. After returning home to his village, he finds himself 300 years in the future, when he is long forgotten, his house in ruins, and his family long dead. Another very old example of this type of story can be found in the Talmud with the story of Honi HaMagel who went to sleep for 70 years and woke up to a world where his grandchildren were grandparents and where all his friends and family were dead. [7] Statue of Rip Van Winkle in Irvington, New York More recently, Washington Irvings 1819 story Rip Van Winkle tells of a man named Rip Van Winkle who takes a nap on a mountain and wakes up 20 years in the future, when he has been forgotten, his wife dead, and his daughter grown up. [5] Sleep was also used for time travel in Faddey Bulgarins story Pravdopodobnie Nebylitsi in which the protagonist wakes up in the 29th century. [citation needed] Another more recent story involving travel to the future is Louis-Sebastien Merciers LAn 2440, reve sil en fut jamais (The Year 2440: A Dream If Ever There Were One), a utopian novel in which the main character is transported to the year 2440. An extremely popular work (it went through 25 editions after its first appearance in 1771), it describes the adventures of an unnamed man who, after engaging in a heated discussion with a philosopher friend about the injustices of Paris, falls asleep and finds himself in a Paris of the future. Robert Darnton writes that despite its self-proclaimed character of fantasy LAn 2440 demanded to be read as a serious guidebook to the future. [8].

Importance of International Organizations

Importance of International Organizations International Organizations (IOs) are formal institutional structures transcending national boundaries which are created by multilateral agreement among nation-states. Their purpose is to foster international cooperation in areas such as: security, law, economic, social matters and diplomacy. (Graham Newham , 1998, p. 270). IOs are subdivided between Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs); Intergovernmental Organizations are entities created with sufficient organizational structure and autonomy to provide formal, ongoing, multilateral processes of decision making between states, along with the capacity to execute the collective of their member (states) (Diehl Frederking, 2010, p. 15). NGOs are non-state voluntary organizations formed by individuals to achieve a common purpose, often oriented beyond themselves or to the public good (Karns Mingst , 2010, p. 221). The development and expansion of these large representative bodies date back to the end of the World War II, where there was a need for world reconstruction through International Relations. Since then, there has been an incremental rise of organizations that work on different socio-political and economic aspects with various and specific aims in approaching states, societies, groups and individuals. Based on these key definitions, this essay will thus attempt to explain how important are IOs and the extent to which they have an impact on global politics and international relations through an analysis of two main IR scholar theories namely Realism and Liberalism. Moreover, to understand the impact of IOs, these theories will be explored and analysed through contexts of different and conflicting realist and liberalists thinkers upon their view on these institutional structures. It will also distinguish and compare the two theories and determine which is more relevant to the contemporary world international relations. Finally, the ultimate the goal of this essay is to support the view of liberalism, as the main concluding arguments rest upon the idea that global governance requires a set of different actors across that shape together the process of decision-making in international relations. Realism is an IR theory based a pessimistic view of human nature. Its central feature lies within the relative power of the state and as there is no world government to impose order and stability, states engage in self-help to ensure their basic survival interests notably (security , power capability and survival). Because of the absence of a world government, the world structure is anarchic and anarchy heightens the stakes of interaction so that competing interest have the potential to escalate into military interactions. The state is the national arbiter who judges its foreign policies. As much emphasis is put on the power capabilities of the state in the international system, realists pay little attention in regards to IOs as they play little influence in global governance. States would never cede to international institutions and IOs and similar institutions are of little interest; they merely reflect national interests and power and do not constrain powerful states (Diehl Frede rking, 2010). One example is the United States hegemony and the use of IOs as means for expansion of power, pursue their self-interest and guarantee security. For example, realists would argue that most of the IGOs that serve as a backbone for contemporary international cooperation can be traced to American hegemony in the immediate aftermath of WW2. The United States promoted the creation of the UN as an umbrella organization for treaty-based cooperation in a variety of global concerns and issue areas. It also oversaw the creation of the International Monetary (IMF), the World Bank, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) with the express goal of encouraging cooperative economic exchange and also as instruments designed for continuing utility of U.S policies (Weiss Wilkinson , 2014, p. 295). Even the Soviet Union used Mutual Economic assistance to organize economic relations within the eastern bloc. Powerful states structure organizations to further their own interes ts but must do so in a way that it induces weaker states to participate (Diehl Frederking, 2010, p. 33). Liberalism is a post-war framework for world politics based on the construction of a global, legal and political system which go beyond the state and afford the protection to all human subjects. (Jackson Sorensen, 2007). The theory is mainly subdivided by two strands; firstly, interdependence liberalism which studies modernization as ways of increasing the level of interdependence of states; and secondly, institutional liberalism which studies international institutions as mechanisms of promoting cooperation between states. The theory mainly bases its assumptions upon positive human progress and modernization in which they together will eventually lead to cooperation. Modernization is the process of involving progress in most areas in life as well as the development of a modern state. This process enlarges the scope of cooperation across international boundaries. Due to modernization, cooperation based on mutual interests will prevail that is because modernization increases the leve l and scope of transnational relations where transactions costs are lower and levels of higher interdependence are high. Under complex interdependence, transnational actors are increasingly important, military force is a less useful instrument and welfare, (not security) is becoming a primary goal and concern of states (Jackson Sorensen, 2007, p. 107). Therefore when there is a high degree of interdependence, states will often set up international institutions to deal with common problems and maximize welfare. These institutions are designed to promote cooperation across international boundaries by providing information and lowering costs. Institutions can be formal organizations such WTO (World Trade Organization) and EU (European Union), or they can be less formal sets of agreements such as the so-called regimes. For liberals, international cooperation and progress are the central features that drive states, IOs and non-state actors. These different institutions are responsible f or managing transnational problems in a peaceful, human and legal way. It is also important to emphasize the structural change in international relations during post-Cold War period that have empowered new types of actors and opened new opportunities for them to act. Such changes also include: globalization and privatization/deregulation. Globalization has undermined the correspondence between social action and he territory enclosed by states border. Ideas about human rights have become platforms for social connections between people across the globe. The Thatcher and Reagan-led privatization and deregulation in the 1980s revolution has compounded this change in relations between states and social power; States transferred public enterprises and state functions to private actors and increasingly encouraged private actors to finance policies such as education, municipal services and even security, which has been part on the pivotal role of many corporation social responsibility (CSR) programmes (Avant , et al., 2010, p. 5). Global change also owes much t o the end of the cold war, where a variety of political, economic and security realms, activists and organizations began to push for change. With the triumph of the United States and the liberal model, privatization and deregulation ideas emboldened many organizations to drop the cold-war style of bipolarity of states and push for liberal capitalist change that embodied presence of a variety of actors (Avant , et al., 2010, p. 6). Indeed great proliferation of non-state actors such as NGOs has happened since the 1980s with more than 4,000 International Non-government Organizations (INGOs) and has increased until current years to nearly 8,000 INGOs and several millions national and indigenous NGOs (Karns Mingst , 2010, p. 230). The role of these NGOs is explained by a varied number of functions and roles they exert. NGOs can seek the best venues to present issues and to apply pressure. They can provide new ideas and draft texts for multilateral treaties; they can monitor human rights and environmental norms; participate in global conferences and raise issues, submit position papers and lobby for viewpoint; and ultimately they can perform functions of governance in absence of state authority (Karns Mingst , 2010, p. 235). Large numbers of NGOs are involved in humanitarian relief, from large international NGOs to small, locally based groups. The Red Cross, Doctors without borders, the International Rescue Committee and Oxfam are among hundreds of international humanitarian relief organizations involved in complex emergencies such as the conflicts in Somalia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Congo and Liberia, the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur and natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch in Central America (Karns Mingst , 2010, p. 224). Participation by NGOs has also increasingly been involved within UN summit and global conferences. NGOs are increasingly viewed by those in the UN system as partners or stakeholders in multitasker coalitions. This is evident in the Global compact on corporate social responsibility, which aims to bring multinationals and NGOs into partnership with the UN. Likewise, the Millennium Development Goals propose partnerships for development, calling for all actors including NGOs to cooperate in achieving those goals. In 2002, around 3,200 NGOs were represented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Also UN specialized agencies work in conjunction with NGOs. Most UN agencies with field programmes and offices, now contract with NGOs to provide services and decision-making in areas of Humanitarian relief and economic development. For example, many services including food, medicine are chased by the UNHCR and WFP and delivered to the local population by C ARE, Doctors without Borders or Oxfam. Whether an NGO is focused on human rights, peace, disarmament, indigenous peoples’ rights, labour rights, climate change, or tropical forests, it is clear that they have become an important actor in world politics as they often to seek to change the policies and behavior of both governments and IGOs. Disagreement between realism and liberalism as well as other IR theories is not over the existence of institutions or the fact that they are found where cooperation is high but rather on the claim that whether they are more than statecraft instruments and have an independent impact (Weiss Wilkinson , 2014, p. 7). As realists would conceive it, IOs offer little change to the perpetual power struggle as they cannot change the human nature desire for power nor can they change the nature of the anarchical system. On the other hand, liberalists cannot imagine a contemporary world where governments act solo. Cooperation has made states very interdependent and has also opened new paths for new actors that are willing to work more efficiently together. IR is not only a study of relations between international governments. Overlapping interdependent relations between people and voluntary organizations are bound to be more cooperative than relations between states because states are exclusive and their interests do not overlap and cross-cut (Jackson Sorensen, 2007, p. 102). Liberals also emphasize that states interest have changed throughout history. Whereas before it was a matter of security and power, today more primacy has been given towards economic development and trade. Throughout history states have sought power by means of military force and territorial expansion. But for highly industrialized countries economic development and foreign trade are more adequate and less costly means of achieving prominence and prosperity; that is because the costs of using force have increased and the benefits have declined. (Jackson Sorensen, 2007, p. 102). Realists though maintain that the state is the ultimate authority, they are the ones to sign interstate treaties, create international law, and promulgate wide-ranging rules to initiate, regulate, and govern activity desired. States are by no means alone in this endeavor. They explanation on powerful states using IGOs as means to achieve their ends can be implemented on UN permanent members of the security council which is formed by the most powerful states, that have larger power than other UN member states. Also, there has been many situations where IGOs have failed to constrain powerful states from acting in a certain way, for example, during the cold war, the security council was much ineffective in solving large differences between the U.S and the Soviet Union, more recently Russia’s occupation of Crimea in which no IGO (including the UN) prevented such act from happening. In regards to NGOs, realists explain that they hardly appear as viable international actors. They po se no threat to state sovereignty. While state and non-sate actors may have differentiated responsibilities, ultimately authority rests with the state and that is the essence of sovereignty. The role of states remains central to global governance, no matter how much political authority is decentralized and power diffused to the burgeoning non-state actors (Karns Mingst , 2010, p. 253). Liberals on the other hand acknowledge that powerful states will not easily be completely constrained. However, institutional liberals do not agree with the realist view that international institutions are a mere scrape of paper, that they are completely mercy of powerful states. International institutions are more than mere handmaidens of strong states (Diehl Frederking, 2010, p. 32). Liberals argue that there is credibility and functionality within IOs in influencing international relations and that they attempt to critic realists idea of IOs as mere instruments led by powerful states but rather they are led universally by different member states and other actors. For example, when the United States decided to reverse the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, it did not act unilaterally as it turned to the United Nations Security Council. Similarly, when the International Community sought to maintain the suspension of combat in Bosnia, it did not rely on national efforts, it sent in peacekeep ing units under the aegis of the UN and NATO (Diehl Frederking, 2010, p. 27). In regards to non-state actors, such as NGOs, liberals argue that in few cases NGOs can take the place of states, either performing services that an inept or corrupt government is not doing, or stepping in for a failed state. For example, Bangladesh hosts the largest NGO sector in the world (more than 20,000) responding to what Bangladeshi describe as ‘the failure of government to provide public goods and look after the poor, and the failure of the private sector to provide enough employment opportunities (draws on Waldman 2003) NGOs have taken on roles in education, health, agriculture, and microcredit, all of which originally were government functions (Waldman, 2003 cited in Karns Mingst, 2010, p. 224). Liberals argue that realism fails to read contemporary international order correctly. A priori privileges the states, misses the importance of non-state actors, fails to recognize the social const ruction of IR because of its rationalist assumptions and its fatalistic tendencies counsel conservative foreign policies that reinforce power politics and hence its own explanations for world affairs (Weiss Wilkinson , 2014, p. 102). To conclude, it is imperative that one acknowledges Global governance in assessing who exercises power in decision-making. Based on the arguments on this essay, one would mostly agree that no government/state can govern/act alone. The growing authority of a wide variety of agents/actors can also add potential partners to states and distributing different tasks to different actors. By working collectively, one can certainly argue that multilateralism often requires a network of cooperation that leads to interdependence between different actors whether they are states, IOs or non-state actors, thus after all ‘It is impossible to imagine a contemporary international life without formal organizations.’ (Schermers and Blokker, 1995 cited in Diehl Frederking, 2010, p. 28). Bibliography Avant , D., Finnemore , M. Sell , S. eds., 2010. Who governs the Globe? . In: Who governs the Globe? . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-31. Diehl, P. Frederking, B., 2010. The Politics of Global Governance: international Organizations in an Independent World. 4th ed. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Graham , E. Newham , J., 1998. Dictionary of International Relations. 1st ed. London: Penguin Books. Jackson , R. Sorensen, G., 2007. Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press . Karns, M. Mingst , K., 2010. International Organizations: The Politics and Processes of Global Governance. 2nd ed. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Weiss , T. Wilkinson , R., 2014. International Organization and Global Governance. 2014 ed. Oxford : Routledge.

Organ Donation Essay -- Ethical Issues, Presumed Consent

At least 10 people die every day, while waiting for a major organ for example, heart, lungs or kidneys’, the reason being they is a massive shortage of organs across Europe, with the transplant waiting list growing, they is need for radical measures to be taken. The author of this easy will define what organ donation is, however the aims of the essay is to compare and contrast the two systems of organ donation, the opt- in and opt- out systems. The focus of the essay is on cadaveric donors,( heart beating donors and non- heart beating donors). The author will also go on to explore their personal views on organ donations, from before and after researching the topic and then reflect on how those views may have changed. Organ donation is defined as the donation of a biological tissue or organ of the human body, from a living or deceased person to a living recipient in need of a transplant. The removal of the organs is carried out in accordance with The Human Tissue Act (2004) who â€Å"regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of the human bodies, tissues and organs†, (DOH ,2004).Organ donation is a complex issue, one which involves factors such as ethics, legal, organisational and societal factors. Much of the debate surrounding organ donation is the issue of consent /autonomy and trying to find ways to increase the number of potential organ donors. Do we choose to preserve the rights of the dead or those of people who are in pain? Across Europe they are two systems in practice, namely presumed consent (opt-out system) and informed consent (opt- in system).Although the two systems are different in practice, there main objective is the same, to increase the number of potential donors, which in turn would red... ...and discuss the issues. This might lead to organ donors to be viewed as the norm rather than the exception. With opt- in system an organ is an altruistic act, gift that I agree with Professor John Saunders royal college of physicians’ ethical issues in medicine who is advocating for a â€Å"mandated choice â€Å"that is a legally-mandated decision, where all adults are required by law to indicate their wishes about their organs after death. I believe that if a person wants to be an organ donor they should make the effort to make their wishes known by taking the necessary steps in registering. With regards to both systems I see no point for their existence if your family can override your decision. In conclusion this essay looked at the organ donation systems practiced across Europe the opt- in and opt -out systems, and how they affect the rates of organ donation.