Mostrando resultados por autor "Ryan Webb" en Todas las categorías

On 25 October 1973, United Nations forces intervened in the Yom Kippur War to implement a ceasefire between Israel, Egypt, and Syria. The Egyptian Second and Third Armies, after penetrating ten to fifteen kilometers into the Sinai, occupied territory held by Israel prior to the war. At the same time, Israeli forces, after crossing the Suez Canal, nearly encircled the Egyptian Third Army, which carried only four days supply of food and water. On the Syrian front, Israeli forces advanced to within thirty-five kilometers of Damascus and seemed poised for even greater gains. At this critical ...

While globalization is not a perfect economic system, it has been overwhelmingly beneficial to the world. According to Thomas Friedman, the “Golden Straightjacket” of market capitalism benefits you the more you tighten it (Lexus and Olive Tree). The system promotes competition and rewards those who work the hardest with a better standard of living. Still, Noreena Hertz, in The Silent Takeover, focused on the negatives of the system, arguing that it drowns democracy and leaves too many people in the hole of poverty. In addition, author Paul Blustein focused on the complexity of the ...

In "How Designers Think," Bryan Lawson described several traps in the design process. One of these, the image trap, is when a designer visualizes a design but fails to realize it does not match reality. Lack of experience, bias, or assumptions can mislead a designer. As a result, they do not examine their ideas with a critical eye. Over time, however, as the design process proceeds, the designer often realizes that what they envisioned is not possible under the current conditions or available resources. For example, in the years preceding the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel’s military and ...

Before becoming president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela spent twenty-seven years in prison. Reflecting on this crucible, he stated, “The cell is an ideal place to know yourself. People tend to measure themselves by external accomplishments, but jail allows a person to focus on internal ones.” A crucible is “a transformative experience through which an individual comes to a new or an altered sense of identity.” For me, the crucible of naval flight training expanded my understanding of organizational leadership. In addition to learning the importance of the operations process, the ...

Because of the monumental destructive force of nuclear weapons, no theory of international relations is more important than that which guides US nuclear policy. During the Cold War, the views of Thomas Schelling and Herman Kahn dominated the debate. Overall, both theorists had confidence in deterrence, felt it was predictable, and based their reasoning on a rational opponent. Still, they each drew different conclusions, with the United States adopting Kahn’s recommendation for a strong offense, while siding with Schelling’s view that defense was not needed. While Cold War deterrence ...

Despite their alliance against the Persian invasion in 480 B.C., the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta created separate spheres of influence. Following periods of intermittent conflict, in 431 B.C. they began a destructive war against each other that lasted twenty-seven years. To help explain this struggle, Thucydides, an Athenian military general and historian, looked for cause and effect relationships. He concluded that human emotions and interests, a nation’s pursuit of power, and influential leaders proved instrumental. These elements, which are all part of the theory of realism,...

In "The Art of the Long View," published in 1991, Peter Schwartz presented scenario-building as a useful planning tool. First, he argued that “driving forces” move the plot of a scenario. These forces often involve developments in society, technology, economics, and politics. Next, Schwartz identified “predetermined elements,” or events that seem certain to occur. Examples include population change, resource constraints, and inevitable collisions. Third, Schwartz explored “critical uncertainties,” which are important unknown events. After identifying these three factors, ...

Napoleon Bonaparte once stated, “Read over and over again the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus, Turenne, and Frederick the Great. This is the only way to become a great general.” Napoleon’s successes on the battlefield point to the validity of his assertion. His study of the past informed his understanding of the present, and influenced his actions. In the same way, history provides valuable insight into other areas. For example, an analysis of military history, from the 16th through the 19th centuries, reveals several characteristics of effective militaries. During ...

Through a study of history, Alfred Thayer Mahan concluded that six key factors influence a nation’s development as a sea power. Mahan also argued that command of the sea is valuable in both peace and war and that, during conflict, concentrating one’s fleet for decisive battle is key. Mahan’s ideas gained popularity among the major world powers in the late 19th century and continue to influence naval strategy today.

In the final decades of the 19th century, America experienced rapid industrial growth, corporate mergers, an influx of immigrants, and a rise in urban population and development. These modern changes resulted in crowded tenements, low wages, long working hours, child labor, and bad factory conditions. In response, the American people called for an end to corruption in government and supported legislation aimed at reducing these new evils of society. Consequently, during this “Progressive Era” the United States experienced one of the highest rates of reform in its history. Government ...

When Harry S. Truman left office in 1953 he was one of the most unpopular presidents in American history. With an approval rating of only twenty-six percent, the national joke was, "To err is Truman." Clearly, the American populace held an unfavorable view of their parting President. Even so, by 1976, author Daniel Yergin commented that "Harry Truman does just about hold first place in the ranks of modern national heroes." (Yergin, p.138) In fact, in the Presidential race of the same year Gerald Ford attempted to cast himself as the Truman of 1976. Meanwhile, Jimmy Carter was saying that ...

On October 23, 1932, the New York Times ran the article, “Roosevelt Asserts Administration Acts Led to World Crisis,” which reported on presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt’s visit to Louisville, Kentucky. Speaking to fifteen thousand people, Governor Roosevelt attacked President Herbert Hoover’s policies and accused Hoover of changing his view as to the cause of the economic depression. Specifically, Roosevelt accused Hoover of falsely blaming foreign nations for the US financial collapse. He also stated that the Republican administration was responsible, since it failed to ...

Why did Adolf Hitler allow the British to escape at Dunkirk? Why did he not invade England but attack the Soviet Union instead? Why did he order his army to halt outside Moscow? In "Hitler: The Pathology of Evil," Dr. George Victor, a psychotherapist, explores Hitler’s childhood to find the answer to these military questions and concludes that Hitler’s obsession with the Jewish question drove him to prolong World War II as a cover for the Holocaust. In part I, Victor investigates Hitler’s development into a charismatic leader, concluding that his desire to be his mother’s champion ...

Both John Mill and Jeremy Bentham agreed with the utilitarianism claim that a “good action” resulted in an increase in the overall balance of pleasure. At the same time, a “bad action” decreased the balance. In other words, actions can be deemed “right” depending on their promotion of happiness and labeled as “wrong” when they produce the opposite effect. It should also be noted that, according to the theory, happiness is characterized as pleasure and the absence of pain.

Non-proliferation is the attempt to prevent the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons through international treaties and cooperative efforts to control NBC related technologies. The 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) acknowledged five nuclear power states and declared that other nations who joined the treaty would forego development of nuclear weapons. It implied the ultimate goal of all nations to be free of nuclear weapons. To enforce this treaty the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) conducts inspections of a nation’s declared nuclear related facilities...

An examination of the records of Captain William Scott and Major Samuel Scott in the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files provides insight on their war and post-war lives. Additional information from secondary sources allows for a more detailed biography of these Virginian-born Revolutionary War officers. Both brothers served during most of the war, as did a third brother, Captain Thomas Scott. In December 1775, William saw action in the Battle of Great Bridge, in Virginia, before he and Samuel Scott headed south to Georgia and the Carolinas. This was after ...

This study researched the occurrence of post-traumatic anniversary reactions in Gulf War veterans. The article defines an anniversary reaction as “a specifically timed, emotionally invested episode during which an individual experiences significant psychiatric or medical symptoms.” In other words, an anniversary reaction occurs when a veteran develops abnormal physical or mental symptoms on the anniversary of a previous traumatic experience. The goal of the study was to more fully explain these reactions so that the veterans who experienced them, and the clinicians who develop treatment...

Today, the House of Representatives is debating a bill that would permanently normalize trade relations with China. At the same time, the State Department reports that terrorist activity has shifted to the Southeast Asian countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In southern Lebanon, Israeli troops prepare to pull out of the buffer zone following two decades of occupation. In Iran, a Jewish Iranian admits he was paid five hundred dollars per month to spy for the Israeli intelligence service. He faces the death penalty if convicted. In the Philippines, twenty-one foreigners, held hostage by ...

A likeness between things, when the things are otherwise entirely different, is an analogy. Comparing one situation to another in order to gain perspective and formulate policy is a common human technique and a favorite of historians. For example, the Cold War has been compared to the Athens-Sparta rivalry, while Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union has been called folly by those who look to the “lesson” of Napoleon’s failed 1812 campaign. While analogies can be useful, one should use caution, as no two situations are the same. For example, is it logical to compare the partially ...

The Cynefin framework provides a method to analyze systems and can help prevent the application of the same decision-making process to different situations. According to the framework, disorder is the condition where one is unaware of a system’s domain. The domains, or quadrants, are identified as chaotic, complex, complicated, and obvious. As one comes to identify the dominant system, the framework offers a mental tool to guide decision-making. It also helps illuminate the impact if the system bridges the gap between one of the other domains. For example, obvious or complex systems could...