The World System Since 1500 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The World System Since 1500 - Essay Example Military had consumed around a quarter of the Gross National Product's share and the focus from production of consumer goods and investment in the civilian sector declined more and more as the time progressed. In 1985 Soviet Union's growth rate had approached to almost zero, the currency experienced a major fall, adding more to the fact that the petroleum prices slide. To end the turmoil Mikhail Gorbachev reached concessions with the United States and started to back out by informing that they are no more interested in intervening the affairs of the allied states in Eastern Europe and also withdrew their forces from Afghanistan. And finally, in 1989, George H.W. Bush announced that the cold war era has finally reached an end. And later in that year USSR broke into fifteen different independent states. The problem or the so called sovereignty of the states is protected by the nations' acts of advancements and defense of their interests at the expense of all the other nations. And thus International Law has always been struggling to protect the world from this menace of war. But so far, it is bad to see that the International Law has failed to prevent the world from this injustice that has been the characteristic of each and every war that has taken place and the role of International law has also remain limited in influencing the actions of these independent states. In fact, the states themselves have negatively exploited the use of International Law for their own self purposes. International law has some problems not with its content or lack of awareness, but it lacks in the enforcement area; it is still unable to make sure all the time whether states are complying with their agreements that they have made and are not simply backing out or neglecting the terms as they see fit. Ho wever, its role is not at all dead but it still plays a role in the decision making of the states but so far influence is considerably less. International law contains the series of agreements that are meant to codify and enforce the code of conduct and ethics necessary for the interaction amongst the states, which has been approved by the varying members of the world community. From the statement it can be inferred that International Law itself is not imposed on different parties i.e. the nations, but they themselves voluntarily agree to be a part of it. It is important to evaluate whether over the years the International Law has remained successful and has been able to serve the purposes to the full extent or not. According to liberals, International Law has been serving well enough to strive towards the mutual benefit of all the involved parties. Constructivists argue that the interests and the identities of the states are mutually constitutive leading to the possibility that International Law achieves the mutual benefits for all simultaneously. However, liberals and constructivist still do not provide any solid reason for why states interact with one another well enough. These theories have so far undermined the individual nature of self interest and has let them open to pursue their self interest and thus states act in their best interest despite the fact that the International Law sees that the states should see the interests as one world wide common

Issues in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issues in Education - Essay Example However, there are a number of cracks in the ladder which need to be looked at in detail. As Laurence J. Peter puts it, â€Å"Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.† People learn how to read and write and become literate, but are far from being educated. This is so because of the mechanical setup of learning which exists in every school and college today, where rote learning and high scores are given preference over innovation and brainstorming. Practical projects are eliminated to make way for innumerous assignments and teachers are only concerned with work completion, being least bothered about whether their students are actually learning something. ‘Good education is not to follow the pages of a workbook. It’s following the workbook that’s within the child!’ (Christoph Schiebold). This thoughtful quote beautifully sums up all the major issues surrounding the education of children all around the globe. Educating a child is not merely about teaching him/her the alphabets or the number system. It’s about developing children’s minds to bring out the best in them, to help them identify and nurture their talents, to prepare them to face the world by arming them with the flawless knowledge about the right and the wrong, the good and the bad. Unfortunately, education has just been reduced to a lame system of mugging up some facts and representing them flawlessly in the examinations to score handsome marks. ‘One of the biggest fallouts of this system of education is that it completely annihilates any imagination that the child may possess.’ (Meenakshi Narang) Education is not limited to the classroom or the school premises. It is a never ending and an all encompassing process. As Oscar Wilde put it, â€Å"You can never be overdressed or overeducated.† Thus, the teachers and professors who are given the responsibility to educate a child should consider themselves priv ileged and not burdened. They are like the forbearers of the flames of our future, and how bright these flames may shine is completely dependent on them. However, this is easier said than done. Those days are long gone when education was considered akin to prayer and teachers were worshipped like Gods. Today, education is nothing more than a booming business and the teachers are mere employees of this large enterprise for whom all that matters is their paycheck at the end of each month. Neither are they any divine people nor do they worship their work. Needless to say, they aren’t concerned whether a future Picasso or Einstein is under their care; all they are concerned about is their job and how to complete it as fast as they can. Good teachers are like gems in a bag full of pebbles; extremely rare and tiresome to discover! However, they are indispensable for providing a befitting education to our children. ‘What really makes a difference, what matters more than the cl ass size or the textbook, the teaching method or the technology, or even the curriculum, is the quality of the teacher’(Newsweek). If the person who is teaching the children does not have the qualities of patience, open mindedness and understanding, then even the best schools and the fattest paychecks cannot guarantee the successful education of a child. A teacher, who understands his pupils, inspires them and makes them open up their minds and hearts to the world outside is the one who really educates them. As they say, if the roots are strong, the plant grows into a healthy tree. Similarly, if a teacher has what it takes to truly educate a child, he/she can build a gentleman out of a farm boy, no matter what tools he/she has at his/her disposal. Opponents of this theory claim that these issues are minor and baseless and are