The Devil in the Details free essay sample

Recently we’ve been looking at 2 videos talking about carbon. One says carbon is good for us and that without it we would die and the other one says that carbon has to be reduced in a serious way. In the carbon footprints video she says that we are stupid because we think we have to start changing the way we think saying that carbon is the worst that could’ve happened in our world. She explains that years ago we had more carbon than now, well she is telling a true fact that is that we had more carbon, because now we don’t burn so much things as we did years ago, an luckily we have change also our point of view and started to recognize that carbon isn’t good for us. She says we’ve made a nonsense act, we’ve made carbon disappear. In the other video of Cap and Trade it explains the contrary idea from the carbon footprints video. We will write a custom essay sample on The Devil in the Details or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It says that in America carbon is over loading. Things have gone further than it’s supposed to be, because they have been using a lot of carbon in everything and it should be controlled. So they created a plan, a way to reduce this waste, by also making profit from it. Cap and Trade makes a bit more sense, well I only agree with the Cap part that means reducing carbon by a certain percent, but the Trade part is the part which I don’t agree much with, it explains that when they reduce the carbon they give some permits a year of the amount of pollutance that each one should make, each year it would be reduce, some companies create another way of building clean alternatives to maintain their work constant and give their permits to other companies that really need them so here they start gaining money, but the carbon pollutance isn’t changing. So it’s not as effective as it seems. In conclusion we should always be in the middle, not expanding our carbon waste, but never stop producing it.

Communication Studies Essays

Communication Studies Essays Communication Studies Essay Communication Studies Essay This web log is for pupils of the Community College of St Vincent A ; the Grenadines who are to be entered for CAPE Communication Studies scrutiny in May 2008. The web log contains information about the class course of study. disposal and assignments every bit good as the class content. Wednesday. March 05. 2008 The expositive presentation for CAPE Communication Studies Internal Assessmblies The presentation has two distinct parts * A FACTUAL presentation on an facet of your portfolio subject * A presentation about your research including an rating of two beginnings of information used to fix your factual presentation. It will hold all the following 6 elements present 1. An debut ( statement of subject ) In the debut you will give a brief account of topic/ subject and a prevue ( with a thesis statement ) of what you are traveling to cover. For illustration. My subject is Returning Migrants to St Vincent. Returning migrators or returnees are a group within the population of St Vincent who have spent a important clip off from the island and have so returned to for good settle once more. Returning migrators frequently are retired from their old business which they pursued in a more developed state such as the United States. Canada or Great Britain or they have been working in another Caribbean province. Harmonizing to statistics from the Customs Department given to me by Mrs B Chalres in an interview 4361 people claimed the grant for returning occupants in 2005. Returning migrators experience 5 stages of adjuststment when returning which can be termed as culture shock . Subject ; Returning Migrants to St Vincent. a group within the population of St Vincent a important clip off from the island returned to for good settle retired from their old business ( the United States. Canada or Great Britain ) OR working in another Caribbean province. Customss Department ( Mrs B Charles ) 4361 people claimed the grant for returning occupants in 2005 . Returning migrators experience 5 stages of adjustmentwhen returning which can be termed as culture shock . 2. A principle In the principle you need to explicate why you picked the subject and it can organize portion of the debut. In the principle you should advert any personal involvements. current academic links and future calling programs which influenced your determination to take the subject For illustration I chose the subject returning migrators to St Vincent and specifically to concentrate on civilization daze because I am a married woman of a returning migrator. I have a BSc honours in Sociology and the construct of civilization daze is portion of socio-cultural surveies carried out by Kavelo Oberg 1958. In the hereafter I will be subjecting my Masters thesis on this specific issue. 3. Discussion of issues The treatment of issues is the factual presentation about the subject and its narrowed focal point based on the thesis statement. It should hold a distinguishable organizational form and you should take for one of the expositive constructions such as cause and consequence. procedure analysis. analysis by division. categorization etc ( See Writing in English ) It should besides be referenced and include any research findings. You will besides necessitate to give a decision to your factual presentation as a kind of sub decision don’t delay until the terminal Here is an illustration of a possible lineation for my illustration presentation ( non all of it ) . It uses the organizational form of procedure analysis Remember you can non read from a book! Culture daze 5 stages Honeymoon. rejection/ arrested development. conformist. assimilation. rearward civilization daze Honeymoon Centre for Overseas Travel the tourer phase Questionnaire ( 300 returning migrators ) 78 % non experience tourist 82 % elated Rejection Oberg – defeat etc Questionnaire 50 % wanted to return after 3 months. Reasons. hapless service. backward attitude. nil to make. tiring Interview Dr Sheridan Mental wellness presentations tend to be in 1st 4 months of return. 4. Challenges of research You need to discourse what difficulties you faced in fixing your factual presentation. If you did non hold any troubles so merely explicate why. For illustration ( in note signifier ) Questionnaires – clip devouring. placing sample. Other beginnings – no cardinal informations on returnees. newspaper articles utile Academic research non on St Vincent 5. Evaluation of two beginnings For this facet of the presentation you need to discourse your research. The two beginnings need non needfully be given as a mention in the presentation but they should be relevant. You should seek to choose two different types of informations beginning e. g. a newpaper article and an interview. You may desire to really briefly summarize all your beginnings before measuring two for dependability and cogency. Please see other parts of the web log for information on reliablity and cogency. For illustration ( in note signifier ) Secondary beginnings: academic text books and diaries. local and international newspapers and magazines. web sites: international public administrations e. g. Peace Corps general sites e. g. Wikipedia Primary beginnings interviews of experts in St Vincent questionnaire of returning migrators. Questionnaire of returning migrators Reliable: primary informations beginning. research method suited to roll uping informations for societal research Valid: Problem with sample size as entire population of RMs unknown Problem with generalization as differences between UK. US and other RMs more research needed. Overall dependable and moderately valid The Experience of Return Migration: A Caribbean Perspective. Joan Phillips and Reliable Denis Conway. Ashgate Press. London 2005 Author expert Phd Social Anthrop. Specialised Caribbean author – Canada Publisher: reputable. specialst academic chief involvement Social research Valid Recently published Problem no mention to St Vincent Overall general but really dependable and valid beginning 6. Decision The decision should be somewhat different to the internal drumhead decision in your treatment of issues. At this phase you can show a personal position or set forward a possible solution. For illustration ( in note signifier ) Returning migrators YES civilization daze 3 ways Honeymoon Rejection Conformist NO assimilation Solutions Programme – promote overseas. maintain in touch. Information – authorities FINALLLY See my other station about the reseach utilizing the cyberspace for thought. Make certain that you are cognizant of the demands for acceptable notes during the test and be familiar with the Markss scheme – it is non merely content that is marked but besides presentation accomplishments.

History of American Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of American Cities - Essay Example The influx of the foreigners in relatively large numbers have produced a multicultural environment that is responsible for the rapidly changing socio-political scenario of the cities. The existing society and the social setup has accommodated the growing numbers of new inhabitants by not only creating new jobs but new suburbs and slums thus embarking on a new road that defines the inhabitants by the location and locations could reliably affirm the inhabitants’ race and culture. Historians and social scientists, through the years, have conducted studies to this effect and have come to some amazing results backed by research asserting that cities and suburbs are divided into specific locations that are characterized by the people who may be represented by their race, economic status or by their creative differences.  The cosmopolitan flavor of New York is distinguished by the colonies named after the different nationals inhabiting them, like Chinese colony, German colony, Span ish or Jewish colony. ‘Even the Arab, who peddles ‘holy earth’ from the battery as a direct importation from Jerusalem, has his exclusive preserves at the lower end of Washington Street’ (Riis). In the mid nineteenth century, the author Riis studied the immigrant population, living in tenements, in the lower New York and observed that the tenements developed according to the immigrants, well defined by their race and cultural background. The Italians, for example, had largely come to America in search of work and this was carried out by the fellow Italians who facilitated their immigration and later exploited them for their own vested interests.  

Religion in the U.S. workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religion in the U.S. workplace - Essay Example This is also designed to reduce the number of cases when people would ask for a religious holiday leave even though no being known as active religious practitioners. 2. If there are disputes over the distribution of the religious holiday leaves, they should be resolved in the following manner. The priority will be given to a person who applied for a leave first, i.e. First come first served rule. Secondly, a person who is known to perform active religious practice before has the priority over a person who has just taken up it. The communication in these cases should be polite and tolerant, trying not to hurt any person or cast any kind of shadow on the religious feeling of an individual. 3. One of the most effective ways to communicate the policy to the employees would be to call for a meeting and present them with a printed out version of the main provision. It is particularly important that they have those printed out as the employees will be able to refer to them any time when they have question about the distribution of religious holiday leaves. Another point about communication is that it should promote the feeling of justice: since the matter in question is rather difficult to regulate, the employees should agree on at least some kind of rule that might be suitable for that. 2. Personally, I do not think that it is a good idea to protect the individuals who are obese in case it is not conditioned by an illness. It is true that managing one’s weight might be incredible difficult, but still it is possible. If a company gives certain preference for obese people, others who are different in someway might raise a question why obesity is taking into account and other abnormalities are not. In addition to that, fair treatment of the obese people might be viewed as an additional stimulus for them. 3. The Weight law involves many issues, such as an effective way to determine the presence of obesity; the grounds upon which

Why and to what extent have conservatives Essay Example for Free

Why and to what extent have conservatives Essay Why and to what extent, have conservatives supported One Nation principles? [45] One nation conservatism stems from the paternalistic branch of conservatives and thus has a bias towards principles such as social duty and moral obligation, specifically the obligation of the better-off in society to support or aid the less well-off, reflecting Disraelis desire to prevent the UK becoming two nations; the haves and the have nots. This essay will argue that there is support for One Nation principles throughout the many traditions within conservatism but that there is significant opposition to some One Nation principles also. One principle in which there is support for by some conservatives is pragmatism. The basis for pragmatism in One Nationism is reflected in a fear of revolution, stemming from ever widening social inequality. Disraeli feared that social inequality was the seed of revolution and thus aimed to improve the conditions of the less well-off in society so as to keep them content with their living standards. However it is important to note that these improvements are limited to the desire to ensure that the poor no longer pose a threat to established order. This pragmatic approach to politics and social policy is reflected in Burkes statement that a state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservatism. The conservative New Right have accepted pragmatism, evident in modern times where the Conservative party under Cameron has kept many social security and welfare programs running in the UK. By tradition, conservatives have had a tendency to be empirical in nature. Empiricism refers to the use of the knowledge derived from the past in remaining pragmatic in solving current political problems. The empirical nature of conservatives is evident in Burkes assertion that no generation should ever be so harsh as to consider itself superior to its predecessor. Thus, One Nation conservatism may been favourable to some conservatives since a paternalistic body with links to the past can uphold the workings of the past which have responded well for several hundred years. The paternalistic bodies of authority in One Nation conservatives will uphold the famous conservative phrase that if it aint broke, dont fix it, thus showing clear compatibilities with other forms of conservatism. One Nationism also supports the principle of hierarchy in society as they believe it to be both natural and inevitable. Their firm attachment to a society structured by an inevitable hierarch derives from the innate roles in the family, where the father is to be the head of the household and his family to whom which he will provide for are his subordinates. It follows that this view on hierarchy compliments authoritarianism which is evident throughout both traditional conservatism and neoconservatism. The former tradition also views hierarchy as natural and uses the image of the father as the head of the family, as the right to exercise power from above. The latter highlights the significance of a hierarchy as to the maintenance of security, such as that knowing where you stand in society, or in a social group. They believe that this security is provided by the father of the family via means of strong paternalistic curtailment of liberty. As this view of hierarchy leads itself to authoritarian views, Libertarians strongly disagree with the principle. They believe that government should have the least possible regulation on social life. Thus they view the positive curtailment of liberty to be a violation and believe that negative liberty has priority over all forms of authority, tradition and equality. From the view that the father is the provider in a family, One Nationism has constructed its approach to social policy. Disraeli was a supporter of noblesse oblige, that is, the price paid in return for operating authority as a government as the political obligations of the state to maintain a stable society and economy. The principled basis for One Nationism is that the rich have a moral obligation to help the poor, as the positions of both are largely based on the accident of birth which is supported by Rawls notion of brute luck. Duty is therefore the price of privilege and those who are privileged must shoulder the burden of those who are not. This view has been supported by Social conservatives who have kept to the Labour policies of for instance providing a wide range of choice in the provision of education and the NHS. However these views are not accepted by other forms of conservatism such as the liberal New Right, who see the social reforms and policies as creating a culture of dependency which may lead to the breakup of the nuclear family, as the father is no longer the provider. One Nation conservatives also support the idea of planned capitalism. This is a pragmatic rejection of the laissez faire approach to the economy mainly because of the crisis of the Depression of the 1920s. This middle-way economics aimed to keep some aspects of a free market but couple them with social and welfare policies funded by government. They believed that the state had an obligation to intervene in the economy to provide welfare services to prevent abject poverty. This is somewhat supported by Christian conservatives who aim to help the needy in society. There is also further support of compassionate conservativism since the 1980s and a shift away from market fundamentalism. However there is further disagreement with neoliberalism as they disagree in state intervention in social or economic policy and are not attuned to the view of the deserving poor. In conclusion, it is evident that there is agreement between conservatism and One Nation principles on matters such as hierarchy but the extent to which depends on how the view is portrayed. Different traditions view the principles in different lights and thus have different outcomes regarding the principle. It is also evident that One Nationism shares many similarities with the conservative New Right but finds itself largely at opposition with neoliberal viewpoints. Thus, One Nation conservatism has tended to find support due to its emphasis on empiricism, natural inequality, tradition and the organic society. The overall conservative support towards One Nation notions is to a large throughout traditional forms, and is limited when theories of neoliberalism develop.

Deaf Technology :: essays research papers

-TTY TTYs (also called Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDD) and text telephones) are used for two-way text conversation over a telephone line. They are the primary tool used by deaf people (and some hard of hearing people) for telephone conversation. Other visual telecommunications technologies and services, such as Internet chat and messaging, email, e-paging, and fax and e-mail are also used in telecommunications by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. -TRS Telecommunications relay services (TRS) provide voice telephone users and people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-disabled to communicate over a regular telephone line. TRS is mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act and is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. There have been many new improvements in TRS in the last several years. These improvements give users choices that make TRS calls more natural and â€Å"functionally equivalent† to voice telephone communications. -Video relay service Using a high-speed Internet connection or ISDN, a video connection is established; a qualified sign language interpreter relays the conversation with the voice telephone party. -CapTel Captioned Telephone is a new product of Ultratec, being tested in several states. CapTel is an innovative service in which the operators repeat the words of the hearing party into an automatic speech recognition system for rapid transcription. Voice and data are carried on one line so that the hard of hearing or deaf user can monitor the speech as well as see the transcription. The CapTel phone is set up for â€Å"dial through† so that the user does not need to dial the relay service first. -ASR Automatic speech recognition is the most successful and accurate of these applications. It is currently making a use of a technique called â€Å"shadowing† or sometimes called â€Å"voicewriting.† Rather than have the speaker’s speech directly transcribed by the system, a hearing person whose speech is well-trained to an ASR system repeats the words being spoken. This technique can greatly improve the accuracy of the system compared to direct ASR transcription of speech while that speaker is engaged in conversation or lecturing to a group of people.

The Ministry of Defense of Belarus and Russia

This paper is a comparative treatment of two ministries of defense of substantial strategic importance to the world, that of Russia and Belarus. Both countries have had strained relationships with the United States and the western world and have been actively pursuing activities with those countries hostile to western imperialism such as China and Venezuela.This paper will, first, summarize the basic structure and relations of the two ministries, and then compare and contrast them. A conclusion will attempt to bring these insights together. The Ministry of Defense of Belarus:Interestingly, the Defense Ministry of Belarus has its roots in the reaction to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. This disaster is one of the main reasons the two republics it affected, Ukraine and Belarus (as the city is on their border) declared independence from the USSR several years later. In fact, the very first piece of legislation establishing this ministry (in 1992) was explicitly titled the â€Å"Reactio n against the Affects of Chernobyl† and acted as a form of public mobilization against the tremendous health risks of the airborne radiation (â€Å"Legislative Basis,† 2009).But in the era of 1991-1992, historic in that it was the era of the fall of the USSR and the independence of the Warsaw Pact nations and the former Soviet Republics, saw the Belorussian state declare independence from the defunct USSR and develop its own institutions, chief among them was the ministry of defense. Several issues presented themselves: first, about half of the Belarusian republican army was of Russian descent, and second, that thousands of Belarusian troops were serving the former USSR in countries abroad.The newly formed independent Belarusian government then implemented programs that re-Belarussianized the armed forces and brought those expatriated soldiers home (Global Security, 2008). The structure of the Defense ministry is not civilian, and in fact, a major issue in Belarusian po litical culture is the means by which the purely military aspects of the Ministry and its civilian contacts could be regularized. But at the moment, the entire staff of the Ministry are uniformed officers. Currently, the Minister of Defense is Col. Gen.Leonid Maltsyev (appointed 2001), and he is supported by a general staff that includes the following offices: the chief of staff of the armed forces of the republic, the deputy minister, a ministry dedicated to armaments and acquisitions, then Logistics, army command and lastly, the air command and the air defense. As Belarus is landlocked, there is no naval force. The structure of the Ministry in terms of a chain of command is that the Defense Ministry is a part of the Council of Ministers, itself directly under the President of the Republic, currently the wildly popular Alexander Luksahenko.The General staff serves directly under the Defense Minister, and under him stand the land, air and support staffs in a position of equality. Fi nally, under the land forces stand logistics. Hence, the doctrine here is that Logistics and strategy stand under the land army, while the air corps follows orders. Hence, the equality between land and air forces is theoretical only. The tradition of the ministry is that land forces should predominate, and air forces act as an auxiliary to them. The mentality and culture of the Ministry follows a very specific doctrine. Its main points are the following:a) that the ministry is dedicated to a â€Å"balanced† cooperation among states. There is to be strict neutrality in terms of â€Å"power blocs,† and cooperation will not follow and specific â€Å"ideological† bent, but what serves the mission of the ministry in terms of the defense of the republic. b) that this ministry will never seek to acquire nuclear weapons. c) that it operates in accordance with a strict equity with other states (â€Å"Military Doctrine,† 2009). In addition, the â€Å"Military Doct rine† of the Republic is an important source for the basic functioning of the Ministry.The most interesting elements of this more or less bureaucratic document are the conditions that must prevail for the military services of the republic to respond if the republic is threatened. The document itself calls this the â€Å"political-military† situations that permit the usage of armed force in general, but are obviously applied to Belarus specifically. Hence it is a sort of a moral blueprint where force can be used, though it does not specify the amount of force in each case. These are: a) the lack of effective political mechanisms to solve political problems.b) economic imperialism , that is, the desire for advanced countries to use their economic and political clout to exploit smaller and weaker states; c) the domination of a few major powers over the resources of the globe d) the development of new technologies that threaten the typical military balance in the world e) t he use of propaganda to overthrow states (in other words, the use of a controlled media to manipulate public opinion over and above normal democratic channels) f) the manipulation of ethnic groups in order to create a volatile situation (â€Å"Bases,† 2009).Needless to say, this official doctrine of the defense ministry makes perfect sense given the small size and vulnerability of the republic. Belarus is a part of the non-aligned movement, which brings the Ministry of Defense, Foreign Affairs and the Presidency into regular co-operation. Since Belarus has regular treaties with Venezuela, Russia, Vietnam and China, the policy here is to co-operate fully with the president and the foreign ministry in developing a â€Å"non-aligned† movement that seeks to alter the current â€Å"uni-polar† nature of global power.Hence, the Defense Ministry is following directives placed by the presidency and the Foreign Ministry in developing a place in the world for smaller, weak er powers who seek to create a power balance with the west rather than have the west dominate them. Hence, the Defense Ministry has adopted a defense policy that is completely in line with that of the presidency, the council of ministers, the foreign ministry and the nature of being in charge of the defense of a small country. Lastly, since Belarus economically is one of the most dynamic countries in the world, the funding of the military forces has never been an issue (IMF, 2009).The fall of the USSR meant that many of the Russian forces in the Warsaw Pact countries were backed right into Belarus, leading to a situation where Belarus was one of the most militarized countries in the world. President Lukashenko sought to reduce the number of forces, end conscription, and hence, reduce the strain of the armed forces on the budget. Today, the armed forces are a fraction of what they cost in 1992, leading to a smooth relationship with the finance ministry and the presidency. Thus, in co nclusion, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus is a model for the developing world.It seeks no political power, since it already is directly represented in the council of ministers and the ministry itself is run by uniformed officers appointed by the President. It cooperates fully with the foreign ministry in developing a military doctrine in line with the â€Å"non-aligned† movement. It seeks a balanced co-operation with the world and a reduction in the number of both nuclear and conventional weapons systems in world politics. It has been steadily reducing its cost to the ministry of finance, leading to–to say the least–a smooth working relationship. The Defense Ministry of RussiaThe structure of the Russian Ministry of Defense is largely civilian. The Minister himself is Anatoly Serdyuvkov, who, significantly, was a former tax official under Putin. However, immediately under him is a uniformed officer, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, who was the former com mander of the Siberian military district. This is significant for one major reason, it is the post that places the Russian armed forces in direct connection and communication with the Asian powers, especially China. Under the Minister and General Makarov, there is a First Deputy Minister and a States Secretary for Defense.Under him is a woman, Lyubov Kudelina, who is in charge of the relationships between Finance and Defense. While the Minister himself is a former tax official, Mrs. Kudelina also worked at Finance and was deeply involved with tax collection. It would be noted that at the fall of the USSR between 1990 and 1993, tax collection almost completely bottomed out. The money and institutions for collection no longer functioned, and taxes were reduced to protection money from the local criminal gangs. Vladimir Putin, financed by oil money, reversed this trend.Hence, there should be no surprise that two major figures in the defense ministry have little military experience, but were both close to the financial and taxing apparatus (â€Å"Senior Officials,† 2009). Under the Defense Ministry’s Finance representative lies, not surprisingly, the chief of armaments, the chief of Logistics and another deputy minister. Since logistics and armaments procurement are costly productions, their subordination to the finance representative is no surprise. This structure seems eminently rational. It builds in inter-agency cooperation within the Defense Ministry itself especially within the all-important financial end.What is more important, however, is how the agency views itself, its mission and its role in the government. Like in the Belarussian case, the Russian Defense Ministry, in cooperation with the presidency and the ministry of finance, has developed a comprehensive understanding of itself in the world and in the Russian, and post-Soviet world. First and foremost, before any other consideration, the Ministry of Defense makes it clear that its numb er one priory in the defense of Russia is to maintain a high level of deterrence. It seeks to defend Russia by making any attack on it of painfully high cost.After this, combat readiness is the next priority, and within this priority is the concept of high mobility. Speed and the efficient use of resources is a major part of the Russian defense strategy. It is cheaper and more efficient to maintain small numbers of infantry, but backed by the highest in technology in terms of missile defense, the air corps and intelligence (â€Å"Development,† 2009). After this, three elements come into play: first, the nature of high-technology weapons, the war on terror and the protection of the environment.This latter even has its own office, under a General trained in economy, General Alevtin Yuruk in a rater unique arrangement where his office interfaces with the rest of the Russian government to loosen up funds and manpower to repair any environmental damage caused by the action of the armed forces, and most importantly, the safe keeping of the nuclear stockpile. After Chernobyl, the environment is more than just a saccharine slogan, it is a matter of life and death (â€Å"Environmental Protection,† 2009). But apart from the above strategic considerations, there is another, moral, sense of Russia’s defense ministry and its place in the world.The fall of the USSR made it clear that the Russian Federation was to recreate its mission, its identity and its interaction with the outside world. Hence, the ministry has, in communication with the past three presidents of the post USSR world, created a moral sense of itself, one based on the following ideas: a) the creation of a democratic international order where a few major powers do not control the world’s resources; b) force can be used only with the express permission of the UN c) forces worldwide should be decreased to a minimum and used solely for defense d) to create the infrastructure for Russ ia’s new mission as a major powere) international cooperation necessary for the war on terror, drugs and mafia activities f) co-operation, not confrontation wit the USA g) Asia is the future, and hence, building strong ties with China and Vietnam become of paramount importance (â€Å"Global Cooperation,† 2009). Several conclusions can be drawn from this. First, Russia clearly sees its defense role as a great power, not as a second tier force. Second, it seeks to create an international order based on equity, around the security council of the UN and its decisions where Russia has a veto. It sees China as central to its future security.And, lastly, it sees China, or more specifically the Russia-China Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a means of balancing its relations with the US, NATO and the EU. Hence, balance and cooperation over confrontation seems to be the theoretical grounding (â€Å"Global Cooperation† 2009). The mission of the Defense Department in Russia is mirrored by the two other agencies (other than finance, which are intertwined deliberately), the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry. In a speech dated January 18, 2009, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid out the foreign policy goals of Russia, and these consist in the following ideas:a) the rebuilding of the financial system fo the globe on a more democratic basis. The Russian government has made clear that it is the â€Å"imbalance† of the system that caused the meltdown,. Too much mon3y in too few hands, both in terms of stats and individuals is the cause of the meltdown. The post-World War II system needs to be dismantled and rebuilt on an equitable basis. b) The unilateral recognition of the â€Å"independence† of Kosovo and the US/Israeli support of Georgian aggression against the Ossetians prove the need for a real democratic world order, not one controlled by the US and its few allies.Russian intervention to repel the Georgian invasion of Ossetia (who voted for independence and union with Russia) was meant to help create the infrastructure for a new international order, since Georgia would not have invaded had the US guaranteed diplomatic support. c) Lavrov states â€Å"the era of national egoism is over. † d) he seeks what he calls a â€Å"polycentric world order. † e) and, as seen above, cooperation with the EU is as important as cooperation with China. China is not mentioned in Lavrov’s speech, which is significant (Lavarov, 2008).On the other hand, the foreign policy concept of the Russian Presidency stresses China far more than the EU. Medvedev makes the claim that China is a major, if not the major, priority of Russian foreign policy. Polycentrism is again stressed, and again, that the imbalance of the world financial system–too much money in too few hands–is the cause of the recent meltdown. Lastly, the foreign policy ideas of the new president seek to establish strong environmental standards, energy security and a price structure that is fair and steady and that all economic growth be environmentally sustainable (Medvedev, 2008).Several things derive from this comparison: there may be a coalition of defense and Presidency against the foreign ministry over the issue of China. While it remains that President Medvedev and the Defense Ministry treat China as the number one priority (and several recent summits between Peking and Moscow over military matters reflects this), Lavarov seems to think that the EU should have this role. However, these agencies seem to have more in common than anything else, and these commonalities should be taken as basic ministerial policy: Russia as a great power, polycentricity, economic democracy and basic international equality.Conclusion: Comparison of Belarus and Russia in Defense Policy It does not take a genius to figure out that both Belarus and Russia are responding to American pressure and military adventurism. Both countries are threatened by American expansionism in both the economic and military spheres. Hence, their defense ministries reflect this. And of course, since Russia and Belarus are politically and ethnically connected, as well as vulnerable to American pressure, their defense policies will overlap in several areas.However, the size differences of Russia and Belarus will also be the cause of some differences in policy, especially since Belarus makes no claim to great power status, but in fact, would like to see the concept of â€Å"great powers† disappear. The main similarities of the two defense departments are their stress on international equity and polycentricity. The world order should reflect diversity in nations and interests, not the domination of the US and its allies in world politics and finance. Both ministries would like to see drastic reductions in the arms of the world, and arms to be used solely for defense, not for offense.Both ministries see a balanced foreign polic y as central: that Asia should be used to balance Europe and Europe to balance the US. Both Belarus and Russian military brass are visiting China and Venezuela on a regular basis, and both countries have signed arms deals with Peking and Caracas. Needless to say, this is a means of balancing US hegemony and the US involvement in Iraq, Africa and the Balkans. It might be surmised that the Belarusian ministry is purely military because Belarus is small and very vulnerable. Hence, the military forces must have direct access to state power in order to act quickly.This was made especially important when threats of invasion came from the McCain presidential camp. The Russians, less vulnerable to assault and attack, can afford some space between civilian and military personnel, though the second in command of the ministry in Russia is the chief of staff. It is curious that the Minister of Defense for Russia has little military experience, but much financial experience. This suggests that t he ministry really is designed to interface with the rest of the government to create an integral policy, while actual military decisions are in the hands of the second in command, General Makarov.This sort of interfacing is certainly a good beginning for further research in this field. References: This paper used mostly primary sources in its construction. The most important were: On Belarus: (www. mod. mil. by) Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Administrative Board. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal. 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Legislative Basis. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal. 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Military Doctrine of the Republic of Belarus. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal. 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"The Bases of the Military Policy of the Republic of Belarus. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal.2009 International Monetary Fund. â€Å"The Republic of Belarus and the IMF. † Executive Board Consultation, 2009 One Secon dary Source: Global Security. â€Å"Ministry of Defense [of Belarus]. † In Defense Policy and Programs, 2008. (Globalsecurity. org) On Russia: Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Development. † In Military Insight. Published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"War on Terrorism. † In Military Insight. 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