Political Science

Human rights regimes are international non-governmental institutions whose mandate is operate as government watchdogs on matters of civil and political rights of citizens within the member states. These regimes include among others European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, and the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Moravcsik, n.d, p.1) and their primary object is to ensure the citizens human rights are not abused or violated. Various theories have been brought forward to explain the establishment of binding human rights regimes in postwar Europe, with the realists giving credit to powerful democracies and ideational crediting governments and transnational bodies in liberal democracies through coercion and persuasion respectively however, the new democracies governments are the pivotal force behind these regimes.

The realist theories hold interstate power as the force behind creation of human rights regimes whereby resource oriented democracies especially in Europe and the US finance the creation of powerful regimes that forcefully propel international governments to obey human rights standards. The ideational theories hold that normative persuasion comes into play where transnational groups use idealistic or moral principles to motivate governments to observe human rights.

A different view, republican liberalism, argues that governments are liberal and rational and therefore ensure internal political maturity that will influence social interaction and enhance liberal values. This initiative of self-democratization, more so in newly established and relatively unstable democracies creates a great influence in origination of human rights regimes.

The results of the tests conducted on one of the human rights regimes, UCHR, were skewed towards the republican liberalism. This implies that enhancing integrity in the internal political policies, as well as credible interaction between the domestic political representatives and international institutions play a big role in creation of human rights regimes. Moreover, realism and idealism portray weaknesses in international cooperation thus are unable to beget sustainable human rights regimes.

Are women equal and have same rights as men in Islam

According to the Islamic doctrine, all persons are the subjects of God.  There is nobody who has superiority over anyone else or a preferential right over the rights of other beings. Hence all enjoy equal rights, equal status and equal opportunities. Thus, in Islam there is no concept of mans dominance over other men, and all veils arising out of men women discrimination are instantly knocked out. It is said that four out of every five Western converts to Islam are women.

Four of every five converts to Islam are women. The question is why is it that so many women are converting to Islam Probably the reason for this can be found in the fact that Islam safeguards the rights of women and gives them more respect and security than does any other religion.

Womens inferior position in the society
Islam grants equal rights to men and women and it by no means avoids women from public exposure. Bibi Khadija was herself a very successful trader. It is extremism that exists in the minds of people that has limited the role of women in Islamic societies.

Islam grants woman equal rights to contract, to enterprise, to earn and possess independently. Her life, her property, her honor are as sacred as those of man. If she commits any offense, her penalty is no less or more than of mans in a similar case. If she is wronged or harmed, she gets due compensations equal to what a man in her position would get (2178445, 92-93)

Women Rights in Islam
Islam brought a revolution by giving women their due right in the times of ignorance. Islamic teaching has always focused on modernizing the way we think, we live, we see, we hear, the way we feel and the efforts we put in raising the womens status in the society. Islam believes in equality and of men and women but equality does not necessarily mean being identical. In Islam the role of men and women is not conflicting rather their roles complement each other. (Naik Zakir, 2010)

Right to Work
Women in Islam are allowed to work if she is willing to do so. There is no verse in Quran neither is there any Hadith that prevents women from doing any work.  The condition is that the work should be lawful and women maintain their code of conduct while doing their work. (n.a, 2008)

A lot of professions that are termed as unlawful for woman are also unlawful for man. Islam encourages women to adopt professions like doctors, gynecologists, nurses and teachers because they are a society need.

However, woman in Islam has no financial compulsions it is her choice whether or not to work. No one can force her to work. (Naik Zakir, 2010)

Law of inheritance
Under Islamic law two-third of the wealth is distributed amongst long list of relatives. This divests the capital amongst wide range of people eliminating capital accumulation. In Islam women has been given the right of inheritance. The woman is part of it whether she is a mother, a wife, a sister andor a daughter. The share of woman has been fixed by Islam. In a lot of place in Quran Surah Nisa, Surah Baqarah and in Surah Maidah woman right of inheritance has been emphasized. (Naik Zakir, 2010)

Rights of Women as Wife
Islams philosophy is that if both husband and wife start discharging their own duties then there will be no dispute as their mutual rights will serve automatically. 

In his Farewell Pilgrimage, the Holy Prophet declared
O you People You have rights over your wives and your wives have rights over you. Treat your wives with kindness and love verily you have taken them on the security of Allah.

We can understand from the above citations that both Quran and Sunnah emphasize on the role of husband in a marriage as the provider of clothes, shelter, and food for the wife. Many critics say that women especially in the role of wives are suppressed and their rights are not the same as those of the husbands. This actually is a misinterpretation of Islamic philosophy and teachings. Islam preaches Muslim husbands to treat wives with kindness. Islam clearly endorses that man and woman are equal in all aspects though because Islam is a practical and complete religion therefore it also explains the different roles of women as wives and men as husbands. (Hasan, n.d)   

The misinterpretation arises from the wrong intentions of the critics. Because people dont have enough Islamic knowledge in the west, moreover what is more bothering is that critics dont see it the way Muslims see it. Why should the Islamic role of women be seen at something lesser or not worth as much as the role of men Such biased approach by the western critics doesnt serve the mankind and the idea of globalization and one World cant be successful unless Islamic ideology is properly understood. 

We will now have look at what the Quran says about womans role
Therefore, the righteous women are devotedly obedient and guard in (the husbands) absence what Allah would have them guard.

From the perspective of a Muslim one needs to understand that the makeup society is such in Islam that chaste men and women are extremely respected and Islam promotes rational thinking and a lifestyle which safeguards both from sins and potential chance for a sinful act.

Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other. (434)
This verse has been misinterpreted by many Muslims. They believe that this verse suggests that a husband is in charge of his wifes affairs, meaning that he is the master in the relationship. This is a wrong mindset because Islam does not consider the relationship between a husband and wife as a master-servant relationship. Instead, both husband and wife are supposed to be on friendly terms and be on such close and amicable terms that they become a source of comfort for each other.

The Importance of helping ones wife at home can be explained from the following example. One day the Messenger of Allah paid a visit to the house of Imam Ali and Fatemah. He saw that Imam Ali was sieving the pulses and Fatemah was busy cooking. On observing this Holy Prophet remarked,
O Ali, I do not speak except what is revealed to me. Anyone who helps his wife in her domestic affairs obtains a reward of one year of worship equal to the amount of hair on his body. This year of worship will be as if he has fasted during its days and prayed during its nights. Allah will reward him equal to the reward of all the patient ones, Hazrat Dawood and Hazrat Isa.

Divorce
Many people are disgruntled about the fact that the right of divorce is given to the man only (except for certain cases). Islams rationale behind this is that if both men and women were extended the right to divorce, then there would have been a lot of chaos and confusion in the marriage. Women have not been given the right to divorce because they have a higher tendency of succumbing to passion and emotions.

The differences between men and women are, obviously, the physical ones and then, less obviously, the internal ones like the dispositions of the nerves, the different mental and emotional talents, both of which are of supreme importance for the future of civilization.

A man is generally more reasonable and he stands to lose the sum he has given as a marriage portion in case of a divorce. In addition to that the man will be answerable to Allah on the Day of Judgment about whether he exercised the right (of divorce) granted to him in a right or wrong way. Thus there is more responsibility and accountability on men than women. (Dr. Alexis Carrel, n.d)

Apart from this, Islam has made other arrangements that ensure that a person adopts responsible and conscientious approach while exercising the option of divorce.

Haq-e-Mehr Islam has also given women the rights of Haq Mahr  a substantial dower set at the time of Nikah. This has been made compulsory by Quran in Surah Nisa, Chapter no. 4. To sanctify the marriage it is essential to give dowry to woman. Unfortunately, in our society the dowry has been limited to a very nominal limit. Islam has however, prescribed neither any lower limit nor any upper limit. On the other hand, demanding any such haq-e-mehr from woman is termed as unlawful in Islam.

Clause a clause that the marriage can only be dissolved by mutual consent of both husband and wife can be added to the Nikah. This way a divorce and subsequent termination of marriage will not occur due to the rashness of one partner.

Women rights as a mother
When a child is born, the mother of the baby is equally partner of the father in raising that child. The role of the father as well as the mother is both a necessity for the nurturing of the baby. By no means is the mothers importance less than the fathers. (Abdul-Ati, n.d)

The mother has all the rights that any male parent has over his son or daughter. She undertakes different responsibilities to raise her child than the father, but they are equally important activities in the childs life. She has invaluable qualities that are essential in the childs life and cannot be replaced by any.  A woman is an equal partner in the childs life as the man, at which the Quran says
O mankind Verily We have created youre from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other... (Quran, 4913 cf. 41).

In Islam, It is essential for every child to be good to their parents. It is regarded as being next to worship of God. 
And we have enjoined upon man (to be good) to his parents His mother bears him in weakness upon weakness... (Quran 3114) (See also Quran 4615, 298).

The Quran further mentions the importance of being kind to mothers, one of the parents.
Your Lord has decreed that you worship none save Him, and that you be kind to your parents. . . (Quran 1723).

There is an incident from the life of Prophet (PBUH) relating to the importance of mothers in Islam. (Badawi, n.d)

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was approached by a man who asked O Messenger of God, who among the people is the most worthy of my good company
To this, the Prophet (PBUH) replied, Your mother
After this, the man asked Prophet (PBUH), Who else
The Prophet (PBUH) responded, Your mother.
At this, the man inquired, Then who else
After this the Prophet (P) said, Your father. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).
This incident shows how much respect and obedience should be given to mothers. She has to give many sacrifices and experiences many sufferings in her childs lifetime from pregnancy to raising him. (n.a, 2008)

The Quran says
And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and good to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship. The duration of carrying him (in the womb) and weaning is two years. So thank Me and to your parents unto Me is the final destination. 3114

Every Muslim is aware of a very popular saying by the Prophet (PBUH)
Paradise is at the feet of mothers. (In AlNisaI, Ibn Majah, Ahmad).
From this, the importance of a mother in Islam and womens rights in this regard can be easily understood. A mothers love is the highlight of her childs life and her striving to protect and raise his child as he grows in time defines the nature of the child. The natural bond between a mother and child is stronger than many other bonds and thus Islam holds the children responsible for being kind to their mothers just as their mothers have loved their children with all their heart and given them all their time to raise them.(n.a, n.d)

Rights of Women as a daughter
Female infanticide is forbidden in Islam prohibit. In the early times, it was a practice that female child was buried alive. The Quran says in Surah Taqveem, Ch. 81, Verse No. 8 and 9,
When the female child is buried alive and when she questions you, for what crime was she killed.

The Prophet (PBUH) said, Whosoever has a daughter and he does not bury her alive, does not insult her, and does not favor his son over her, God will enter him into Paradise. (Ibn Hanbal, No. 1957).
He also said, Whosoever supports two daughters till they mature, he and I will come in the Day of Judgment as this (and he pointed with his two fingers held together).

Not only this, But it is also not allowed in Islam to be sad over the birth of a female child while celebrating the birth of a male child. It is also a requirement in Islam to raise the female child properly and that there should be no unfairness in bringing the male child or the female child. (n.a, 2008)

An incident in Prophets (PBUH) life communicates that such impartiality is not a feature of Islam. Once while Prophet was present, a man kissed his son and made him sit on his lap while he did not do any such thing for his daughter. At this, the Prophet instantly objected and told him, You are unjust  You should have even kissed your daughter and placed her on the other lap.

The Prophet himself carried out the kind of behavior that he taught. He was very kind to his daughter and used to respect her a lot. (Siddiqui, n.d)
His youngest daughter was Fatimah and Prophets (PBUH) love for her is a model for the Muslim father. Prophet (PBUH) said, Fatimah is a part of my being whosoever annoys her annoys me (Mishkat-ul-Masabih, XLIVS)

Conclusion
There is no evidence that Islam restricts women from exercising their freedom. Recent researches have disapproved the widely held belief that Muslim societies intrinsically provide less freedom to women than those dominated to men. Such misconceptions exist in the society because individuals tend to think in their own limited capacity and they understand Islamic principles within the bounds of their rationality. One common example would be of the women rights in Islam. Some people argue that Islam has alienated women from certain domains of life.

(n.a, 2007)
They quote Quranic ayah, Men have one degree above women. Quran 2 228
In fact, to understand this Quranic verse, you should see another one, related to the issue in question. It reveals the wisdom behind this concept.
In the Quran it also says (what means)
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more than the other and because men support them from their means. Quran 434

This verse implies that it is a mans duty to support his wife, and not the reverse, but this, in no way, makes him superior to her. In fact, the rights and duties of women are equal to that of men but they are not necessarily identical. This is one instance that implies that humans think within their limited capacity and so they are unable to identify the true meaning that lies behind the revealed scriptures. Individuals need to think out of the box to understand the true meaning. (n.a, 2007)

Since the 911 terrorist attacks, the United States military spending has skyrocketed. This has been as a result of the launching of three military operations by the Bush administration. These three operations are the Operation Enduring Operation which was aimed at flushing out the Taliban and the al Qaeda from Afghanistan. The Operation Noble Eagles which was aimed at increasing the security in the air and the Operation Iraq Freedom aimed at kicking out of power the dictatorship regime in Iraq and flashing out the insurgencies in the country (Belasco, 2009).

It has been estimated that the cost of the war on terrorism is the largest in the history of the United States surpassing the Vietnam War and the Second World War. However, the cost of the war in Iraq has always attracted the attention of financial analyst. The war in Iraq has been considered to be the most strenuous to the United States military budget since the war on terrorism was launched. In terms of military spending, war in Iraq comes second to the Second World War in the history of the United States. Analysts have argued that the cost of the war in Iraq has had a negative effect on the United States economy. The war has weakened the economy with it effects touching on the leading powers of mortgage companies in the United States. It is estimated that by the end of the war in Iraq, the military spending on the war will have surpassed three trillion dollars mark (Whitley, 2009).

Since the war started, the federal government had spent almost seven hundred billion dollars in the war up to the 2008 fiscal year. This is as opposed to the Vietnam War which spent less than seven hundred thousand billion dollars. The figure is however rising with every rising minute with the figure estimated to be about seven hundred and seventy billion dollars today. However, the figure is lower than the Second World War spending of about four trillion dollars when the figures are adjusted to take care of inflation.

Despite the high military spending in Iraq, at any the number of troops has been less as compared to the number that participated in the Vietnam War. At any time, the number of the troops in Iraq has been about a third of the number of troops deployed in the Vietnam War. Moreover, the number of soldiers lost in the Vietnam War has been over twelve times the number lost in the Iraq war. This has raised different questions on why the War has turned out to be a big burden. At the start of the war, the estimated spending of the war was a fraction of the figure the federal government has spent by today. The highest estimated cost by the Bush administrators was less than two hundred billion dollars or less. The officials hoped that the international community would join the Americans in the fight against terrorism and cut down the cost as it was the case of the Gulf War in the early 1990s. They also hoped that liberating Iraq with its rich oil fields, the United States would benefit more from the war (Glanz, 2009).

The war has attracted other costs as the number of contracted workers employed in Iraq by the United States government is more than the number of soldiers. The medical care required by the soldiers in the war has also been expensive when compared to other wars in the past increasing the cost further. The United States military combat doctors have been improved which has increased the cost of the war at the benefit of the soldiers. These improved and costly combat medical services have been able to save a big number of soldiers. The initial and long term medical services provided to the soldiers are expensive as compared to the previous wars. However, the high cost of the operation can be attributed the highly modernized and sophisticated equipment that were used in the war. A very large number of these expensive machineries have been destroyed in Iraq by roadside bombs by the insurgents and sandstorms. This was not the initial expectation of the administrators. The cost is however reducing as the new administration under President Obama has vowed to withdraw all the troops from Iraq. The cost of the war has also been very costly as the society loses young soldiers in the war (Cordesman  Sullivan, 2007).

In the 2010 fiscal year, the congress requested that the Department of Defense should be allocated 138.6 billion dollars as the cost of the war in Middle East. By the time the 2009 fiscal year budget was presented, the Department of Defense has spent about 944 billion dollars in response to the terrorist attack out of which 683 billion dollars funded the war in Iraq. Despite this high costs, the Bush warned the Americans that they were in danger unless they agreed to extend their military operations to fight terrorism (Belasco, 2009).

The article Strategic Human Resource Practices Introducing Alternatives
For Organizational Performance Improvement in the Public Sector is written by Jungin Kim, a doctoral student and also a research assistant in public administration and policy department at University of Georgia. The study is an exploration of how to improve productivity in public sector organizations by use of competition. The study seeks to answer the question of whether public sector organizations have the capability of increasing their productivity via use of competition given that they have many inherent limitations including budget constraints. After an analysis of various studies and a review of literature review, the article comes to a conclusion that introduction of private sector approaches to public sector is ineffective in increasing their productivity and efficiency. Findings of this study however show that competition can be essential in addressing the issue of public sector efficiency and productivity.

Summary of the article
Kim introduces his article by first highlighting the various findings of researchers on the question of public organizations management are in terms of capacity and productivity. Although many scholars comparing the performance of public sectors and private sectors productivity have found out that public sectors have better management as compared to that of the private sector, productivity of the public sectors still remains low as compared to that of the private sectors. This is according to Goodsells research highlighted by the author. However, despite the fact that the government has put in place measures to improve the public sectors performance by introducing the management tools employed by the private sectors (such as pay for performance systems via the establishment of civil service reform act of 1978), public performance has still not improved. Failure of this approach has attracted researchers to carry out research on means of improving productivity by use of organizational behavior theories among them the motivation theory. These studies, according to the author, have found out that perception of private and public employees relating to their jobs may vary hence affecting their productivity. 

Public sectors and government agencies still continue to introduce approaches of private sectors such as market based governance so as to increases the productivity and efficiency of the public sector via competition regardless of different perception identified by organizational analyst theories. The article suggests that these approaches are neither effective in improving or motivating employees nor in improving the effectiveness of public sector. According to this article, the various initiatives that have been taken by the government to address the issue of employee productivity and motivation in the past have failed to yield positive results.

Kim seeks to find out the key factors that are essential in creating a work environment that is competitive in public sector and how the work environment that are competitive are perceived by the employees in this organizations. She also seeks to answer the question of whether competitive work environment have any influence on performance evaluations, both organization based and individual based on client satisfaction perception. Another question raised is on how to clearly define competition in government agencies given that the work values of public employees differ with that of private sector employees. The article thus focuses on identifying the relationship that exists between the public and private employees perception of organizational performance and competitive environments.

This article investigates the effects of employees perception of competitive environment on their perceptions pertaining to organizational performance. The author suggests that establishing the existence of such perceptions would be essential towards effective management of public sector since they are directly related to commitment and job satisfaction factors essential in determining the productivity and work performance of an individual. The author carries out an extensive literature review pertaining to effects of competitive and strategic work environment and performance.

According to a study carried by Nigro et al, competition is considered as an essential strategy in obtaining successful and reliable access to employees or human resource. It is argued that since competition allows for comparison of employee performances, it thus acts as an incentive towards efficiency improvement. This kind of competition has the capacity of improving work motivation.
Four factors that determine the expectations of employees pertaining to competitive work environments of the performance of an organization in light of client satisfaction and work quality are highlighted in the literature review as vital in determining the productivity of employees. The four factors that the author uses to measure these expectations are rewards for merit including benefits and salaries, organizational rules, capacity to deal with employees perceived risks and opportunities. By using the data obtained from nonprofit and public sector employees, the author has concluded that there is a positive relationship between the employees merit rewards expectations and their perception of the organizational rules that are performance based. The data also verified that there was satisfaction on risk taking behaviors. The author summarizes this finding when she states that Moreover, employees perceptions of organizational performance tended to increase when they felt that organizational rules were oriented toward performance plus organizational members and top leaders exhibited greater risk-taking behaviors. However, the study does not find any correlation between employees perceived performance of an organization and opportunities expectations.

Critique
Jungin Kims article is an intriguing examination of the various factors that may explain the productivity and efficiency of public sector employees. It is a commendable move from the early theorists and researches that used to argue that use of private sector management tools in public sector could help in improving their performance. The strength of this work draws from the extensive literature review and the comparative study in determining the effect of competition and employee expectation in improving productivity. In particular, Kim has paid substantial attention on the role of employee perception on performance and efficiency and the differences that exist between public sector employees and private sector employees pertaining to competitive work environment. The article also recognizes the role of employee expectancy pertaining to competitive work environment in relation to organizational productivity and performance and how it affects their productivity. Kim has also been able to bring out substantial proof that rewards and benefits previously offered by public sectors are ineffective in increasing employee productivity.

This study is also solid in that Kim uses data obtained via extensive field research to come up with her conclusions. For example, Kim uses a large sample size of 1,850 respondents from the public sector and 1,307 from the nonprofit sector. These respondents are from two different states i.e. Georgia and Illinois making the results less subjective. Use of comparative study has helped the author to avoid or eliminate chances of making subjective conclusions. 

Despite the superiority of this article, it is still not adequate or conclusive since Kim only focuses on the physical factors affecting employees motivation. Kim has concentrated on the perceptions of employees in relation to competitive work environment, risk expectancy, client satisfaction and rules of organizational performance and has undermined other issues such as effective leadership, recognition, and innovation incentives which are vital tools in determining motivation and productivity of employees. Management and leadership are two different concepts. Leadership entails influencing people to achieve pre-set goals while management is concerned with distribution and management of resources. Despite the fact that public sectors are better managed than nonprofit sector, they could be having poor leadership hence poor productivity. Findings of this article are also not conclusive, for example, the dual impact of expectations of employees in relation to merit rewards on their perception of performance of an organization gives two indicators.

Conclusion
It is no doubt that employees perception on competitive work environments, merit rewards and organizational performance rules play a major role in determining the productivity of an organization. It is however essential to look at other factors that influence the job satisfaction and motivation of employees such as teamwork, leadership, recognition and other psychological factors that may affect the productivity of an employee. This would increase the understanding of the differences in productivity of nonprofit and public sectors.

The continued stay of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is quite crucial in overseeing the realization of political stability in that nation. Over the past eight years, the U.S. led military operation in Afghanistan has seen the effective disruption of the al-Qaeda terrorism group as well as the Taliban insurgents (Gilmore, 2006). However, the war in Afghanistan is far from over. The foreseeable realization of political stability lies on the establishment of a strong and reliable local security force in Afghanistan, a task which might take much time than speculated (Valceanu, 2005). This essay gives two varied opinions on the continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan. A discussion of the accomplishments of U.S. in Afghanistan as well as the possible length of time that the US troops will stay in Afghanistan is also given.

First are opinions on continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan. The U.S. presence in Afghanistan has served much in overseeing the transformation of the nation into a stable member of the global community. According to available information on the progress, the number of Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents has substantially decreased over the past few years (Gilmore, 2006). Still, many insurgents have come in terms with the need to resolve conflicts in a peaceful manner. This is indeed evident from the ever increasing collaboration witnessed between the U.S. troops and the local police in combating insurgency. Moreover, with the current heavy investment into the reconstruction of the Afghanistan, US presence is clearly instrumental in realizing social, political and economic stability of afghan. By training of an afghan security forces, US troops serve to oversee a lasting solution to insecurity for the new afghan government (Gilmore, 2006). Their heavy investment into infrastructural reconstruction activities seeks to restore Afghanistans economy a crucial factor is achieving sustainable peace in any nation.

However, the continued U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan has a negative impact on to the American economy. This is because it is costing the federal government billions of U.S. dollars, an investment which does not match the evident achievements (CNN, 2009). Critics of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan have it right that the war on terrorism has never realized measurable success. According to existing evidence, the U.S. is indeed more prone to terrorist attacks than ever before (CNN, 2009). This is because its operations have been countered by terrorist group strategy of decentralization of operations and disappearance of institutional leadership thus making them harder to identify and destroy. This means that America has to keep expecting a terrorist attack. Any security relaxing will serve as a revenge opportunity by the Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents.

Second is a discussion on the accomplishment by the U.S. troops in afghan. Of the many accomplishments by the US troops in Afghanistan are the invasion of the Taliban government in 2002 and the subsequent combating of insurgents (Valceanu, 2005). Just to be stated is that the Taliban regime housed the al-Qaeda group a major threat to the world security. Therefore, by disrupting the institutional organization of both Taliban and al-Qaeda, the US government has achieved much in the war against terrorism. Another accomplishment is the creation of anew democratic government in Afghanistan (Valceanu, 2005). With their military support, the US government has seen the establishment of human friendly governance in this nation. This has been further been strengthen by the good relations that the local enjoy with the US troops such as security partnership.

Another accomplishment is the reconstruction process of Afghanistan (Gilmore, 2006). The past few years have received much critic on the U.S. ignorance of victims of the afghan war. However, nowadays, the U.S. government has gotten more engaged in humanitarian aid. Still, infrastructure reconstruction of Afghanistan is a major involvement of the U.S. troops in partnership with other nations and non-governmental organization (Valceanu, 2005). Such infrastructural reconstructions have also led to increasing success of the provisional reconstruction process. This is because it establishes through collaboration among local governors and police infrastructures at district level, an element which increases the potential unification of the nation under one stable leadership.

Third is a discussion on the claim that U.S. troops in Afghanistan will not stay for long. According to available information, the frequency of military confrontations in Afghanistan has substantially decreased. Still, there has been evident growth of coordination by the new Afghanistan government in dealing with governance and security issues of the nation (Gilmore, 2006). This is a strong indicator that civil conflict will be established soon in Afghanistan thus forcing US troops to leave. Another reason is the fact that NATO is currently taking over security, governance and reconstruction operations in Afghanistan. Indeed, NATO controls the northern and western regions of Afghanistan (Valceanu, 2005). This means that US troops are only in the eastern region. Therefore, with potential overall operations takeover by NATO, US troops will fall back.

In conclusion, the presence of US troops has increased possibility of realizing stable governance in Afghanistan. Their military operations led to the invasion of the Taliban and al-Qaeda regimes. However, the war in Afghanistan has been a major economic risk for the US. It is due to this reason why there are plans to remove US troops from Afghanistan by 2011.

The heart of Lord Bryces argument was that great men were not chosen president because of the party system. He noted that political bosses gauged the strength of local organizations and the loyalty of voters and then calculated which candidate would add the right demographics to ensure victory. The objective therefore was winning, not governing.

What is greatness Lord Bryce felt that it was unnecessary to define greatness. Greatness is something common  a word which exacts vivid images of heroism, courage, and intelligence. He evidently thought that any intelligent person would recognize its presence or absence in a political leader. He also recognized that greatness is something inherent in personality  a rare quality.

To understand Bryce argument, there is a need to examine the historical milieu to which his work was situated. From 1889 to 1914, both the Republicans and the Democrats nominated some of the nations finest men. Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Charles Hughes possessed the qualities of greatness. However, these men were only a small proportion of individuals nominated to the presidency. Men like Cleveland, Harrison, and Taylor became presidents out of sheer demographics out of populism. This led Lord Bryce to conclude that great men are not often chosen presidents.

Lord Bryce, however, recognized the fact that some great men proved to be not-great presidents, and some others of moderate achievements proved to be great presidents. For example, from the start Abraham Lincoln was a moderate  a politician who appealed to populism to gain public support. When he became president, he proclaimed the emancipation of the Negro race from slavery in the middle of a civil war. He was determined to preserve the unity of the union by all means legally possible, including war. In the end, he succeeded. This was in contrast to President Grant, a former Union commander. He possessed the qualities of greatness  a man who could initiate change and reform. But when he became president, he made some political miscalculations which proved detrimental to his economic policies.

Today, the political bosses of the country are the media. The inherent powers of the media are as follows 1) agenda-setting, 2) distortion of public opinion, and 3) populism. The media controls agenda-setting as far as politics is concerned. The Democratic Party chose Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton, perhaps, because of his media appeal. One politician noted, he talks of change, feels of change, and looks like change. Obamas media appeal could not be denied. President Bushs image had been tarnished by his reckless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The American public needed a person who could initiate changes in government. Hillary Clinton represented the ideals of old politics. In the nomination process, Obama was chosen to be the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party.

It is hard to tell whether or not Obama possessed the qualities of greatness as some individuals said. But one thing is clear. Obamas political and economic reforms are not certainly great in its epistemological sense. Indeed, his political plans for both Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be inadequate. However, at this point, it would be unwise to judge the actions of a sitting president. But, as Lord Bryce argued, the greatness of a president is felt everywhere, from the streets to the high grounds of the Capitoline.

The world has resources which can be utilized to support a decent lifestyle for everyone. In the nineteenth century, capitalism dominated in many nations. The productive force of capitalism was so immense that it excluded majority of citizens from influencing production. Capitalism valued ownership right at the expense of human right. It caused classes of wages, ignited and sharpened struggle between classes, and ignored both social and property rights. With capitalism, the elementary needs of citizens were left unsatisfied. Its functioning caused unemployment and devastating crisis. It set the contrast between the rich and the poor and subsequent social insecurity. Conflict between races and nations increased due to colonial expansion and imperialist expansion.
 
Property was accompanied by power. This was justified by the aristocratic rule, which considered the wealth of the nobility to be a gift from their God. The capitalists considered themselves as wealth creators, while exploiting the workers to get the wealth.

With the industrial revolution, the aristocratic rule became irrelevant, giving way to the bourgeoisie political and economic power. The capitalist wealth continued to increase, the workers continued to be exploited, and inequality dominated across the nation. The workers were denied the right to maximize their potential, and the utilization of resources and technology was limited against the interests of the public.

The nineteenth century socialists such as Karl Marx, Henri de Saint-Simon, and Friedrich Eagles among others thoughts that democracy would help to bring a socialist society. They thought that the way to end the exploitation of the workers by the capitalists was to deny capitalists the right to ownership. They thought democracy would encourage businesses to thrive, move powers from the capitalists, and enhance distribution of power and wealth on bases of the amount of work during production.

The Marxists conception on socialism during this phase was to displace capitalism, and enhance communism. According to these socialist, socialism was characterized by proletariat controlling means of production .This was to be achieved through workers state. They expected the workers to elect a workers state in their interest.

Though the socialists were determined to change the situation, the power and wealth continued to flow to the wealthy increasing their wealth leaving the poor poorer. They argued that freedom could only be secured on basis of economic security and independence. (George 1960, p. 85).

The socialists looked forward to a social society where wealth and power would be distributed equally, a society without exploitation of citizens, industrialization and in general worthy living lifestyle. They encountered a number of drawbacks, making it possible to get socialist society in the nineteenth century.

Reasons why the Democracy failed to bring Socialist society in the Nineteenth century.
Criticism played a role in the failure of achieving a socialist society in the nineteenth century. These criticisms included- the claims that the socialist political models and economic are incompatible with civil liberty, and condemnation of socialist societies. Friedrich Hayek considered socialist commanded economy transmits biased information on productive quotas and prices lacks as it lacks price mechanism. His argument is that no rational economic decisions can be made by socialist economy. Hayek also argued that the prosperity of general population and loss of both economical and political freedoms is necessary in order to achieve social control over private property and wealth distribution, which is advocated by socialists. According to Ludwig von Mises the state is the sole owner of capital goods, so it impossible to give rational pricing such goods in a socialist economy. Throughout the century many socialists emerged in struggle of attaining a socialist society. In January 1917, executive powers were assumed, and Lenin wrote a draft on regulation on workers control.

According to the draft, workers would control businesses with more than five workers working in the office. The draft allowed the workers to access all stocks, documents and books. Owners of various enterprises were expected to abide to these regulations. Initially when governing was conducted through elected soviets and alliance with a Left Socialist Revolutionaries whi0ch were based on the peasants, the Bolshevik government was able to nationalize industries and banks. During a Constituent Assembly the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party won the majority. When the Constituent Assembly elected Victor Chernov, a Russian leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, he went against Bolshevik proposals. This made Bolshevik to declare the list in which the assembly was elected outdated. (Andrew 2007, p. 34-41).

During the World War, war communism was implemented to repel invaders. The great powers organized an economic boycott, and under the communism, the strikers were killed, private businesses outlawed, and peasants provided for city workers. Continued shortage of consumer and housing goods, lack of individual rights to speech and assembly, caused disillusion to many Communist party members. The Communist party rule collapsed, and subsequently the socialism disappeared. 

William Beveridge, a British Social reformer influenced the Labor party in UK. He identified poverty, lack of access to education, unemployment, and poor housing as the main afflicters of the working class. The Labor government of 1945 introduced state pension through national insurance, and unemployment benefit. In 1948, Aneurin Bevan also introduced Labor Partys National Health Service, criticized the government for failing to progress and demanded that public direction was required to get streams of economic activity. Criticism limited the efforts of the Socialist in attaining socialist society (Robinson and Rafty, 1997).

The poor, usually the workers suffered many forms of exploitation. The Feudal restrictions fixed the workers on land and limited their income. The capitalists hired and fired the workers any time they wanted, forcing the poor to work cheaply in order to win in the job market. This competition made the workers to sell their labor at the advantage of the rich who continued to make more from the high produce from the workers. This limited the efforts of the socialists. Education levels of the workers continued to decline, giving the wealthy chances for creating more from the ignorant workers.

Workers worked under inhuman working conditions.  Their environment was polluted, and their rights compromised. The machinery used by the workers killed them and they had little food supply mostly of poor quality. This reduced the life span of the poor thus limiting the ability of the socialists from achieving democracy.

Socialism failed to achieve its Marxist ideals because of pre-industrial economies which would have served as the platform in building communism. This means that to achieve socialism, the socialist needed to disturb an already crated wealth, and directing an already developed industrial system, a move that was not easy. The attempt of the socialist rulers to create a better platform for socialism went further to betray it. Instead of countervailing pressures on labor movement of the workers, they became super-capitalists and harsh to the workers.
 
The capitalist economy continued to be more rational compared to the communists economy because the data which the leaders were expected to plan and give effective economic measures was not accurate. The authorities became prey of greed and lies on demand and supply, process of socialism thus distorting the socialism process. The system collapsed as the managers started overestimating industrial output, workers started stealing from the factories and bureaucrats continued to distort their reports to match with what the leaders would have wanted to hear (Young 2001, p, 42).

The labor union power was reduced drastically, and the capitalists were free to merge as a way of weakening workers and a way of getting cheap labor. This lead to longer working hours reduced income and inflation. Despite the harsh working conditions, the workers could not organize to resist as they were afraid of being fired. Due to their powerlessness, they could not protect themselves from the system that had reduced the value of their labor to a commodity rather than a measure of value.
As the competition increased, the less successful were reduced into bankruptcy while the ones who survived continued to be richer and wealthier. Greed of both the workers and the socialists encouraged the richer to punish the workers for their poverty. The socialists  failed to achieve a socialist society because the line between the capitalist and proletarian was obscured by the fact that the retirement-plan mutual funds had enable almost half of  Americans to invested large amounts in stock market. Workers associated their welfare with the capitalists prosperity. This explains the reason why the workers were not resisting repeated tax breaks among other favors.

Conclusion
During the nineteenth century, the socialists were determined to achieve equal distribution of wealth and powers in the states. Lack of equality in this distribution divided citizen into two classes- the rich and the poor. The trend of acquiring wealth was obvious that the poor continued being poor while the rich became more rich. The poor were subjected to constant exploitation. This made socialist long for a socialist society though their efforts were being pulled down by the workers traits such as greed, powerlessness, fear and lie, the capitalist efforts, and criticism.

The role of the media in elections is very evident, particularly in established democratic societies in the U.S. Generally, the media has the power of reaching millions of Americans through TV, radio, print and digital media, at the local and national level. In fact, according to Lynda Lee Kaid and Ann Johnston (1991), the US has the highest number of election advertisements than any country in the world, and regulations are relatively minimal. As a result, politicians and their parties have used this medium to reach millions of Americans in an effective way. However, there has also been a rise in negative campaigns against opposing politicians that can influence voters in a different way. As opposed to political rallies, media campaigns tend to reach more audiences and politicians are have embraced this as a way to communicate their views quickly and efficiently.

Media regulations concerning elections are very minimal in the U.S. stemming from the fact that the history of broadcasting has lain in private enterprise and not government (Media Regulation). Medias role is to ensure free and fair reporting for all candidates but in the U.S. some media houses almost openly support one party over another e.g. Republican versus Democratic. This is observed in the fact that a candidate from a certain party would get more coverage than another.  Furthermore, candidates from the non-mainstream parties tend to get minimal coverage leaving them at a disadvantage. Negative campaigns have risen with questions raised on the accuracy of the accusations slain on candidates.

The role of media in elections is to communicate to the public information that is accurate and fair regarding the candidates. However, this has not been well regulated as media houses have taken stands for one party over the other, negating the whole affair of free and fair.

Labor movements have increasingly experienced great evolution and have come to be shaped by major economical and social factors both playing a role in the revamping of the labor industry.  In history, especially in the pre-depression era, labor movements saw the passing of a law that perpetually prohibited the importation of slaves which was perceived as the first step in mitigating the widespread of such a great moral and political evil. It was also perceived as the first leap in the emancipation of human race.

The need for liberty filled the political air for the first time after hundreds of years in the American colonial period (Nicholson, 29). Issues of freedom and the transformation of labor relations between the employers and the workers became the core objective among the leaders who wanted to transform their standing in the world. Therefore, the political, social and economic factors had great interaction in transforming labor in the United States in the pre-depression era.

Rebellion, popular protests and petitions led to the shedding of light into the concept of liberty and making liberty a top government agenda including New York. Government liberties were highly needed for the claiming of other rights and until the fundamental political liberty got achieved, there were no rights to the control of labor could be claimed. The right to control the workers labor could not be secured until fundamental political liberty was accomplished. There was an increased illegality of concerted labor action, slavery and indentured servitude. This was the situation for the workers relation with the employers in the colonial as well as early national period.

The new federal constitution and the independence led to the workers to celebrate and enthusiastically join parades in July 4th, 1788. Majority of apprentices, cities, masters and journeymen all marched in a spirit of unity with the merchants and the farmers (Nicholson, 43). This shows how the independence gain and the federal constitution impacted labor before the Great Depression. However, at the end of colonial period, the American workers did not constitute themselves with a self conscious group there was not even one single organization that was beyond fraternal capacity and that spoke on behalf of the workers.

Although the new constitution was a major blessing to all the American citizens, the impact was felt most among labor communities. The well known human endeavor in achieving responsive and non- arbitrary government power was the adoption of the Bill of Rights under the ten amendments in 1791(Nicholson, 43) as well as the checks and balances of the federal system.

The individuals who had limited wealth in the United States were most vulnerable to abuses of power. Nicholson identifies that after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the Americans ever enjoyed the protection from arbitrary infringement on the privacy, press, speech and other privileges that came with the new government. This freedom made it possible for the formation of labor movements without fear of being victimized.

In the pre-depression time, the institution of slavery was accorded with greater protection from the law. The increased legal protection made several compromises in the claim of human rights of the slaves in some major aspects there was no action that was to be put against the crime of slave trade for more than twenty years after the ratification.  The federal government was accorded the authority in the protection of the slave trade which was rather a controversial authority.

In another scenario, labor was greatly affected by the control of new technologies that were adopted by capital owners or the employees. The workers got very discontent about this trend in the pre-depression period because the automation of most functions which led to the laying off of a number of workers. The labor movements rose to protect the members especially after the adoption of the Bill of Rights which gave the workers freedom of speech.

In basic terms, all that had to do with wealth in the United States was highly protected or had legal boundaries of institutions of authority. Because of the government legitimacy, paper money gained value as the landownership and corporate charters or bank offers became more restrictive (Nicholson, 43). Copyrights, protection of slavery institutions, the prohibition of rights of workers, children, women and immigrants were among the economical and social factors that had great impact on labor movements. These aspects were all codified by the state governments or federals.

Historians and economists have argued that the states and federals during the pre-depression period acted as agencies who were concerned in profit maximization in the government while on the other side, suppressing the workers (Nicholson, 43) and led to the formation of labor movements to protect the right rights of the workers. There was not even a small element to show that the state became a friend to labor. At last, labor movements came to be spread out in spite of the problems which the earlier workers encountered. These movements often utilized several overt techniques in the process of rebelling, resisting and escaping overexploitation by the employers and the states and federals.

A number of factors played an imperative role in impacting the relationship between labor and employers. These factors have seen great evolution in the way labor movements are conducted. Technological changes and economical impacts had a significant position in labor movements in the pre-depression period. In the modern trend, perspectives keep shifting on the need for human resource and human capital as automation of processes become feasible.

The Impact of Social and Economic Factors on Labor in the Pre-depression Era

Labor movements have increasingly experienced great evolution and have come to be shaped by major economical and social factors both playing a role in the revamping of the labor industry.  In history, especially in the pre-depression era, labor movements saw the passing of a law that perpetually prohibited the importation of slaves which was perceived as the first step in mitigating the widespread of such a great moral and political evil. It was also perceived as the first leap in the emancipation of human race.

The need for liberty filled the political air for the first time after hundreds of years in the American colonial period (Nicholson, 29). Issues of freedom and the transformation of labor relations between the employers and the workers became the core objective among the leaders who wanted to transform their standing in the world. Therefore, the political, social and economic factors had great interaction in transforming labor in the United States in the pre-depression era.

Rebellion, popular protests and petitions led to the shedding of light into the concept of liberty and making liberty a top government agenda including New York. Government liberties were highly needed for the claiming of other rights and until the fundamental political liberty got achieved, there were no rights to the control of labor could be claimed. The right to control the workers labor could not be secured until fundamental political liberty was accomplished. There was an increased illegality of concerted labor action, slavery and indentured servitude. This was the situation for the workers relation with the employers in the colonial as well as early national period.

The new federal constitution and the independence led to the workers to celebrate and enthusiastically join parades in July 4th, 1788. Majority of apprentices, cities, masters and journeymen all marched in a spirit of unity with the merchants and the farmers (Nicholson, 43). This shows how the independence gain and the federal constitution impacted labor before the Great Depression. However, at the end of colonial period, the American workers did not constitute themselves with a self conscious group there was not even one single organization that was beyond fraternal capacity and that spoke on behalf of the workers.

Although the new constitution was a major blessing to all the American citizens, the impact was felt most among labor communities. The well known human endeavor in achieving responsive and non- arbitrary government power was the adoption of the Bill of Rights under the ten amendments in 1791(Nicholson, 43) as well as the checks and balances of the federal system.

The individuals who had limited wealth in the United States were most vulnerable to abuses of power. Nicholson identifies that after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the Americans ever enjoyed the protection from arbitrary infringement on the privacy, press, speech and other privileges that came with the new government. This freedom made it possible for the formation of labor movements without fear of being victimized.

In the pre-depression time, the institution of slavery was accorded with greater protection from the law. The increased legal protection made several compromises in the claim of human rights of the slaves in some major aspects there was no action that was to be put against the crime of slave trade for more than twenty years after the ratification.  The federal government was accorded the authority in the protection of the slave trade which was rather a controversial authority.

In another scenario, labor was greatly affected by the control of new technologies that were adopted by capital owners or the employees. The workers got very discontent about this trend in the pre-depression period because the automation of most functions which led to the laying off of a number of workers. The labor movements rose to protect the members especially after the adoption of the Bill of Rights which gave the workers freedom of speech.

In basic terms, all that had to do with wealth in the United States was highly protected or had legal boundaries of institutions of authority. Because of the government legitimacy, paper money gained value as the landownership and corporate charters or bank offers became more restrictive (Nicholson, 43). Copyrights, protection of slavery institutions, the prohibition of rights of workers, children, women and immigrants were among the economical and social factors that had great impact on labor movements. These aspects were all codified by the state governments or federals.

Historians and economists have argued that the states and federals during the pre-depression period acted as agencies who were concerned in profit maximization in the government while on the other side, suppressing the workers (Nicholson, 43) and led to the formation of labor movements to protect the right rights of the workers. There was not even a small element to show that the state became a friend to labor. At last, labor movements came to be spread out in spite of the problems which the earlier workers encountered. These movements often utilized several overt techniques in the process of rebelling, resisting and escaping overexploitation by the employers and the states and federals.

A number of factors played an imperative role in impacting the relationship between labor and employers. These factors have seen great evolution in the way labor movements are conducted. Technological changes and economical impacts had a significant position in labor movements in the pre-depression period. In the modern trend, perspectives keep shifting on the need for human resource and human capital as automation of processes become feasible.

Merit system is a system where allocation of responsibilities in government or other institutions is based on individual merits. Appointments are based on the individuals talents. There is society rewards in this kind of system. The rewards include social status, wealth or even position. These rewards are offered to individuals based on their competence in competitive ground. Merit system can not be associated with other systems such as the value system in which reward is based on wealth status, seniority, friendship and connections. Popularity is key factor in other system opposed to merit system where merit is the driving force. Fitness and merit hold individuals in office in merit system (Canober, 14). This helps improve economy and efficiency as the right individual are identified. Employees are retained in office due to their merit.

Merit system was applicable as early as 1800. It was adopted in filling government jobs. The passage of the Civil Service Act in 1883 prospered the merit system in which federal employees were appointed on merit. Merit system has been widely practiced since then. Most of the United States civil service employees are based on the merit system. Merit system has been spread in states and even local governments. Merit system has been very pronounced in municipalities and national government. By 1905 only New York and Massachusetts had adopted the merit system although the Civil Service Act was passed in 1883. Other states adopted it as from 1905 after its inauguration by Wisconsin. It was widely practiced across the State several years after being inaugurated. Civil service laws have been adopted in many states in United States. States laws have been introduced to continuous scrutiny upon which improvements have been carried out (Canover, 21).

In conclusion, the merit system is normally based on individuals merit. It was adopted as early as in 1800 after the enactment of the Civil Service law in 1883.

Taking the Guidon
Taking the Guidon, Exceptional Leadership at Company Level, a book co-authored by Nate Allen and Tony Burgess takes a look on how combat should be taken as the ultimate team sport. Combat is all about the cost of losing death and the book should be a must read for young and enthusiastic leaders of various organizations in order to gain the tactics and the required practice in their field. The authors have effectively laid out their leadership framework and tried to transform how other people may have different perceptions about leadership. Perhaps, the concepts that may emanate from reading the text about Taking the Guidon, Exceptional Leadership at company Level, is the idea of making a Company Command as well as a Platoon Leader. Although the concept of Platoon Leader and Company Command may come in, it is not the scope of the book to highlight on this item.

The mission of an army is crucial, it is imperative that the army gets into a position of creating a successful team that is viable, motivated and fit in all dimensions. The group of motivated soldiers will definitely accomplish the set mission or even surpass. In the book, the authors address some important inputs into the age-old dialogue and how to creatively build a team and harness its energy to triumph on the uncommon results. It should be that the inspiration of leading the soldiers and taking the most crucial role in life greatly affects the entire life. The book combines the authors research as well as their individual thinking which is validated by their wealth of experience (Nate, Allen, 2007). They have been through ups and downs, with great failures and wonderful successes.

The concepts explained in the book are not really meant to act like a prescription over ones problems, rather, the ideas represented in this valuable book should be able to spark ones thinking and also encourage an individual to be ready for command. Although some life problems may be solved using the guide in the book, not all situations have been covered, a reason for readers to keep on checking related texts which can update them.

The text contained in the book comprises of lessons learnt from great world leaders who have made a difference to the face of the earth. The authors kept a keen eye on the actions of prominent leaders and learnt a point or two from the challenging situations met by the prominent leaders. Observing the great leaders alone was never enough the reaction while faced with problems was an important issue to note and therefore a precise product from the two authors.

Combining the creativity and observation, the authors are able to transmit the information in writing a comprehensive title which gives readers the chance to experience the Command in an organization. It is a motivational and challenging book which acts as a companion in the preparation for and execution of the most honorable role in the world-the leadership of American soldiers.

There is some strength in the title of the book. The title of the book, Taking the guidon, keeps a majority of readers to wonder what it could really mean by guidon. guidon identifies a unit which is a symbol of the presence and authority of a Commander. The book, in addition, represents the collective pride and the spirit of all the soldiers in the present or the past time of each and every person who has dedicatedly served under the army.    In the American history, a guidon was well known for giving the commander some accompaniment to the battle war. In the great heat and confusion of the close fight, the guidon gave the necessary accompaniment during the war (Nate, Allen, 2007). The guidon, in addition, emboldened and rallied the soldiers to fulfill the desired mission.

In the modern America, the guidon still keeps on to be a respected symbol of the presence of the commanders authority and his full responsibility. In addition, the guidon in the modern America connects the valorous deeds of the warriors of the past with the current soldiers who have taken it their tradition of proudly and selflessly contributing to the service of their nation

Typically, an army commander carries out a change-of Command anytime the Commander takes responsibility. The primary rite of such a ceremony is the passing out of the guidon unit from the outgoing commander to the incoming commander. The taking the guidon signals the selfless commitment of the new commander to the values, traditions and the soldiers who the guidon represents. It remains that the cutting-edge of the facts and knowledge of the Army lies in the minds of the leader. Therefore, connecting these leaders in discussion beings together the knowledge and ideological resources to the unleashing of the powers of Army profession geared towards the improvement of the combat effectiveness (Nate, Allen, 2007). Therefore, the uniting of the combat is one such example of exceptional leadership at Company level which the authors try to talk about in the book.

Perhaps the best example of this exceptional leadership is the conversation that was organized in March, 2004. Eric Lopez together with other five officers took a flight to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii in order to hold talks with other leaders in the 25th Infantry Division (LIGHT). The leaders had earlier commanded companies in the Afghanistan.

The sharing gained the captains the hard-gained knowledge on the experience in Kabul, Kandahar and the Shahi-Kot Valey. The relevancy of such meetings has direct relevance and only those who meet in such discussions are able to provide tangible explanation of the concepts. This case shows how important the connections and conversations remain to be important in the Company Command.

The Company Command can be defined as a network of various company commanders who come together in a conversation about relevant content to advance the practice of company command. It is an observable fact the connection of the company commanders to each other provides access to the relevant knowledge of the profession.

The connections make the conversations possible and through back and forth discussions, the trust and context are established and also ensure that knowledge is both created and shared. It is indisputable that content only grows out of conversations. The content which undergoes maturity and growth can be either the end product or the topic of discussion (Nate, Allen, 2007).

The importance of the Army in the society keeps gaining significance and it is expected to take the guidon and make the exceptional leadership at company level by having the good use of the authority that is accorded to the commanders. The art of combat surely requires some organization and good practice of authority. It is therefore imperative that a commander gets to know how to take the guidon in his leadership. 

English secular theorists such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke base their philosophy on the natural law, the state of human beings before social organizations or government institutions are established. Their concept of freedom is based on natural law or the understanding of a rational human being on freedom. On the other hand, Continental theorists such as Immanuel Kant and Jean-Jacques Rousseau believe that freedom is a rational self-discipline enabling humans to restrain their emotions and feelings and to take over their passions. Kant and Rousseau believe that freedom centers ones political and ethical life.

Locke perceives natural law as a condition of equal opportunity and freedom. He believes that to preserve this natural law, a government institution is needed. Preservation of natural law results to preservation of freedom. Though, Hobbes believes that men in their natural state are evil thus needing government to control natural law. Both of them believe that men are born equal and free other according to the natural law. On the other hand, Kant and Rousseau both believe that freedom is obedience to a law by which humans established themselves. Continental theorists believe that freedom is adherence to the morality of the categorical imperative.

In a sense, secular theorists believe that men are born equal and free. In contrast to Continental theorists, they believe that men do not have to adhere to laws in order to be free though secular theorists argue that social organizations are needed to preserve or control the natural law. The concept of freedom of English secular theorists propose that men, in their natural state, are in fact equal and free but is in need of a particular entity that will help them conserve and control the natural law. On the other hand, Continental theorists concept of freedom is ones moral adherence to established rules and regulations.

Introduction to South Africa  and Africa

Thesis statement
Capacity of South Africa and African countries to take control of their development
Responsibility of developed economies to African development

Determinants that inform South Africa which path to choose while standing on the crossroads and what this choice reveals to the rest of its continental neighbors.
Conclusion

Introduction
South Africa is one the most influential countries among African countries. Its diplomatic relations with other African countries has a great role to play in the contemporary African economies. Its location and political experience places her  strategically for a position of responsibility in Africas affairs. It is one of the most developed economies in Africa with great resources of gold (number one producer in the world) coal, manganese, platinum, tin, copper, natural gas and salt.  Its political revolution up to date is also worthy of noting. The development progresses in this country and the whole of Africa has faced political conflict which needs to be eradicated.  On the other hand, the role of the developed economies on Africa countries cannot be overlooked

Thesis statement
If South Africa as well as African economies as a whole have to achieve sustainable development, then economic development has to precede politics and be cloistered by accountability and unity.

Many countries in the world are on the cross roads of political development and one of these countries is South Africa. According to (Kenneth 286), South Africa is strategically positioned, endowed with mineral wealth and has high polity. South Africa has a long history of political and economic activity. The apartheid rule was one of the worst rules experienced in South Africa and the world for that matter. It was characterized by racial discrimination of the black people by the white.  Before 1994 South Africa political set up was dictatorial and opposition political parties were banned. However, external pressure from the world and internal pressure of civil societies saw the release of former president, Nelson Mandela who was opposed to apartheid. African national Congress and Pan Africans Congress parties were also legalized.

This was a new dispensation of political democracy that South Africans had been fighting for. Today, South Africa has sailed through remarkable political democracy, holding free and fair elections since the transition. It is a big achievement that South Africa has sixteen political parties represented in the parliament and a current president, Jacob Zuma who was freely and fairly elected without any election violence that is characteristic of elections in Africa. According to (Katharine 1057), South Africa has invested a lot in its economic development plans. In the transport sector, harbors, railway networks, and airways are under Transnet limited a state owned parastatal.  The principal harbors which South Africa has invested in are six. These include Richard Bay, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Saldanha. The country has nine airports. It is estimated that more than 30 shipping serves the South African port.

Education to population under 7 to 16 years old is compulsory. With 21 universities, the education systems seem to have achieved a remarkable progress. Tourism has also been given a much attention by the government. South Africa has climatic conditions, wild life and picturesque sceneries which act as a great attraction to tourists.

In the international trade South Africa has invested as much. South is the number one exporter of gold in the world. It also exports other minerals like copper, tin and natural gas. She also exports agricultural products like maize. The government is in the process of combating human trafficking which is very high in South Africa due to its geographical location.

South Africa has also invested in diplomatic efforts. It is the country which has been hosting reconciliation talks to end the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. It also has a great influence especially to politics in southern African countries.

However as remarked by (Saja 479) there has been a big debate surrounding government approaches to economic inequality, land reforms, corruption, basic service delivery and Zimbabwe crisis. High corruption by top government officials has hindered economic growth as well as the capacity of South Africa and African countries to take control of their development

It is apparent that most African countries are undergoing democratic transition. Some countries in Africa have experienced civil wars and poor political leadership with little regard to social welfare. The misuse of democracy has been witnessed in some countries.  Political leaders out of their selfish ambitions have been organizing rebellions against the governments especially in countries endowed with economical natural resources.  The political movements pushing for more political freedom have also increased remarkably.  Corruption has become an unstoppable phenomenon among many African governments. Okechukwu postulate that as Africa embrace this democracy the goal to ensure sustainable development should not be compromised (p. 57). It is the economic development that should precede political development. He also suggests that African countries have big resource base and development potential which should be linked with state and the society to ensure development. It is apparent that many African countries are far from achieving the capacity to control their development. The increase of coups especially in western African countries and fall of Zimbabwe economy speaks a lot about this. However, this is not a general case to all African countries. Countries like Botswana and Malawi are registering very good progress with Malawi achieving food security.

Responsibility of developed economies to African development
African countries are ranked as developing economies. The general characteristic facing these countries are poor infrastructures, low level of capital stock and capital formation, low level of skilled man power, technological backwardness, political instabilities and high levels of unemployment. The developed economies have a responsibility to fund improvement of infrastructures, provide more capital, provide training so as to increase skilled manpower in African countries, promote technological exchange with African countries, and provide forums for reconciliation to political enemies among African countries and help in overall economic development so as to ensure increase in employment levels. However the involvement of these wealthy countries in helping Africa need to involve Africans and be carried in good faith without oppressive conditions being attached to any aid. 

South Africa needs great help from these countries since the problems facing her are many. The HIV Aids is one of the big problems South Africa is fighting against. South Africa also needs to develop its infrastructures to meet international standards. The current ongoing preparations for football world cup competition also need great funding from the rich countries. The efforts to combat high cases of crimes in South Africa should also receive boost from these rich countries.

Determinants that inform South Africa which path to choose while standing on the crossroads and what this choice reveals to the rest of its continental neighbors.

South Africa has been a good economical and political example to many countries in Africa. Although a bad example in social issues, it has a lot to be leant from. The promotion of democracy has been out of South African government efforts to ensure peoples voice is heard. Peoples dissatisfaction with low representation in the government has acted as a factor to allow more political democracy.

The social welfare of South African people is also highly considered while making decisions. The South African government has also been promoting cohesion among different tribes and races in South Africa population.

The strategic location of South Africa has also influenced South Africa decisions. The high investments to built ports and air ports are just an example.  Since South Africa is served by more than thirty shipping lines, it has to take economic advantage of this location. The presence of good sceneries and wildlife has also lead to South Africa government promotion of tourism to achieve high foreign exchange and promote economic growth.  The south Africa success to being offered a chance to host the football world  championships 2010 events also shows that  she is opportunities perceiving country and this surely  carries a great potential for South Africa achieving exponential growth.

Conclusion
It is clear that South Africa is one of the countries whose role in Africa cannot be ignored. The political and economic lessons to be learnt by its continental neighbors are substantial. Its political democracy, peace and high economic achievements are part of these achievements.  South Africas diplomatic activities to ensure peace in Africa also need to be rewarded. However, much need to be done to emphasize economic development and ensure accountability in the government. At the same time economic development need to be prioritized by African countries, based on one people, united for a common goal and for better future of the generation to come.

Political and economic development in the Third World often reflect the clash of traditions, history and modernity in varying degrees that have stunted the growth of these countries. Lebanon and Mauritania though geographically separated being in the Middle East and Africa respectively, provide a remarkable study in contrast and some striking similarities in political and economic development.  This paper examines the political and economic development of Lebanon and Mauritania through a historical perspective and explains which model of international relations theory best explains the present politico-economic conditions in both countries.

Lebanon since ancient times has been at the centre of crossroads of Eastern and Western civilizations. The western Greek, Roman and Christian ideals and the Eastern Persian, Arabic and Islamic ideals all coalesced in this small piece of land between the Mediterranean basin and the Arab country. Lebanon boasts of continued human existence over 7000 years and has changed hands between the Phoenicians, the Christians and the Muslims a number of times. In 1918, Lebanon was put under the French mandate of Syria till recognition of independence in 1943. Lebanon is a typical example of tribe-like politics. This small country has 17 recognized religious sects and each sect has its own area of influence and territory. These sects consist of Muslim at 59.7 (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Ismailite, Alawite, Nusayri), Christian at 39 (Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Coptic and Protestant) and other religions at 1.3.  Each sect has differences with some other sect and these differences have led to complex power struggles, alliances, bouts of ethnic violence that led to a long civil war from 1975-1990 later giving way to compromise with a complex power sharing arrangement coalition government that ensured relative representation of all 17 religious sects. For example, the President has to be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of the parliament a Shia Muslim. This sort of constitutional arrangement has helped maintain a workable government punctuated by violence due to the involvement of Hezbollah which now has political legitimacy.

Mauritania is an Islamic republic in West Africa which has an ancient history dating back to fifth century A.D. where the indigenous Saharan tribe, the Berbers populated it with traditions and customs that dates back to the Roman Empire much before Islam became the dominant religion in the region. Similar to Lebanon, North and West Africa has seen a succession of invaders starting from the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottoman, French and the Spanish. These influences permeated into Mauritania leading to a mishmash of Berber and non-Berber cultures intermingling with western cultures that French colonization brought in. Mauritania underwent a thirty-year war from 1644 to 1674 between Berbers and non-Berbers till they were united under French rule in the 1800s till their independence in 1960. The ethnic composition of Mauritania comprises of mixed Moorblack at 40, Moor 30 and black 30  all being 100  Muslim. However, this apparent homogeneity of religion is misleading because the populace consists of various tribes having different languages and customs. As per the CIA World Fact book, Arabic, Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, French and Hassaniya are the languages spoken in Mauritania. After independence, Mauritania adopted a one party Presidential system of government that led to authoritarianism. Consequently, Mauritania underwent a military coup in 1978 that later led to allowing multiparty elections and restoration of democracy in 1992.  However, the continued incumbency of President Taya from 1984 to 2005 led to yet another coup in 2005 that led to Presidential elections in 2007 followed by another military coup in 2008 and now President Abdul Aziz is in power till Presidential elections in 2014. 

The political development of the two countries shows marked similarities. Both have been ruled by France for some period of their history. Both countries have had ancient history of conquests that allowed a mix of traditions and cultures that later led to clashes. Both countries underwent a civil war. In both countries, political stability is a mirage as competing forces frequently use force to gain prominence pointing to an immaturely developed political institution and processes. The major difference in the two countries is that Lebanon has adopted a parliamentary system of government while Mauritania has a presidential system. Lebanese population is more varied with 17 religious sects while Mauritania has only Islam though tribes do exist. Another important difference is that while Mauritania was officially a French colony, Lebanon escaped this tag by being part of the French Mandate for Syria. Mauritania despite being an Islamic country is one of the three Muslim states that have recognized Israel while, to Lebanon Israel is a prime adversary that has invaded their country from time to time.

Lebanese economy has always had a services dominant economy with majority of the work force being employed in the services sector. Commercial enterprise is the favored industry rather than agriculture. This entrepreneur spirit is backed by remittances from Lebanese immigrants who send  Six Billion back to their country.  Industry is limited to small scale sector and import-export business but together with services provides 94 of the countrys GDP while agriculture providing only 5.1  despite possessing some of the most fertile lands in the Arab world.  The country has a thriving tourism industry. It was also the banking hub of the Arab world. The civil war from 1975 to 1990 had badly damaged Lebanons economic infrastructure from which the country rebounded only to be hit by the Israeli invasion in 2006 that devastated Lebanons economy especially its tourism industry. Because of constant fighting, internecine and with Israel, Lebanon today has an external debt of 156 of their GDP that hamper developmental projects from taking place. These hard knocks have made the Lebanese government take a conservative approach to fiscal policies and the economy now seems to be improving dramatically with the International Monetary Fund estimating a growth of 7 in the year 2009.  Overall, despite the internal turmoil, the Lebanese have a per capita income of 6350 and a GDP of  28.7 Billion in 2010.

Mauritania is predominantly an agricultural country where majority of its population depends upon agriculture and raising live stock. The desert landscape makes for poor crop produce and the country has been stricken regularly by devastating famines. Abundance of minerals such as iron ore makes the mineral the countrys top export commodity accounting for 40 of its total exports. The country also has rich deposits of gold and copper which are yet to be fully discovered. Lacking own resources, the government has auctioned sites for external players to mine these minerals. Mauritania has some of the richest marine resources with abundance of fish. However, here too, the lack of resources and inability to police their EEZ has resulted in marine resources being exploited by external agencies. Though Mauritania has proven resources of 100 million barrels, more oil is yet to be fully discovered. In this sector too Mauritania has auctioned off blocks to foreign players. The economic development has been completely stunted with the IMF not being confident that the country will be able to meet even a 4 GDP growth in 2010. Overall the country only has a GDP of  2.86 Billion in 2010 with a per capita income of 1042.

The economic development of both the countries is more a study in divergences rather than similarities. Lebanon has benefited primarily from its geographic location that puts it at the confluence of Europe and oil rich Persian Gulf. It also has fertile lands. Mauritania on the other hand has poor agricultural lands and is located in one of the poorest regions of Africa with no real access to world markets. Though Mauritania has better mineral resources than Lebanon, it has not been able to exploit them for own use and mainly depend on exporting raw materials abroad. Lebanon on the other hand has no mineral resources but has a well developed services sector. Lebanons services dominant economy stands to gain or lose depending upon global trends of boom or recession while Mauritanias agriculturalist economy is more static. Since agricultural lands are not fertile, its economy is held hostage to the weather where severe droughts can severely undermine its economy.  Lebanons GDP and per capita income is roughly eight times that of Mauritania.

The reasons for the stunted political and economic development of both the countries can be explained through the various theories of international relations. This paper shall restrict its examination only to the main theories viz. realism, liberalism, constructivism and the worlds systems theory.

The earliest reflections of Thucydides over two thousand four hundred years ago pointed to the preponderance of realism in international politics in those times. The Athenians reply to Melian plea for equality that since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and weak suffer what they must formed the back bone of classical realist theories that have influenced western political theorists over the centuries. In a later period, Machiavelli said that

The ruler of a country that is unlike his own, as I have said, should make himself the leader and defender of his less powerful neighbors and do his best to weaken the stronger ones, and he should take care that some outsider, who is as powerful as he is, does not get in by accident.

Realism as a scientific construct of international politics continued its steady march through the writings of Weber, Thomas Hobbes, and E.H. Carr and of course modern classical realists like Hans Morgenthau, followed by the likes of Stephen Waltz. The realist school of international relations posits that that human need for power and its manifestation in state to state relations where national interests supersedes any kind of morality is a reality. The anarchic nature of the world, dominance of national security rather than economic security and the prevalence of balance-of-power  forces nations to adopt self help as the best course of action.  Self help in such cases includes developing Comprehensive National Power (CNP) in ways that best describe the interests of the nation even if it involves resort to use of force, turning a blind eye to crimes against humanity if it does not directly or indirectly affect own state and propping up dictators and autocracies if it suits the purposes of the state. From the realist point of view, Lebanon is located in a particularly anarchic region where major powers have continuously sought to assert primacy. The handing over of Lebanon to the French under the French mandate of Syria was an attempt to maintain a balance of power in the Middle East forced by the withdrawal of the British East of the Suez. It was necessary for France to maintain Lebanon in the western sphere of influence to prevent the country from sliding into the Islamic fold or the Soviet influence that was unfolding across Eastern Europe. Within Lebanon, struggle for power manifests in the growing clout of Hezbollah that now has political representation. Hezbollahs poise of deadly opposition to Israel show that realist principles are at work in the regional struggle for power. Israels invasion of Lebanon in 2006 is a manifestation of realist policies of Israel which seeks to diminish the power of the Hezbollah for its national security. The conquest of Lebanon was also intended to send a deterrent message to rest of the Arab world to desist supporting the Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations bent on harming Israel.   In the case of Mauritania, from a realist point of view, the country was militarily weak and hence could be conquered as it enhanced overall French power globally. Thus the political systems too mirrored those found in the West, Parliamentary and Presidential forms in the case of Lebanon and Mauritania respectively. Realist pursuit for power internally in Mauritania has resulted in multiple military coups but also has reflected in its foreign policy. Recognition of Israel by Mauritania is a realist attempt to bandwagon with the West to get more aid and economic assistance as also seek political legitimacy in Western Africa. It is also an attempt for an Islamic country to portray itself as a bridge between Islam and the West. Realist policies by Mauritania were put to practise when Mauritania along with Morocco invaded Western Sahara in 1976 but lost out to stronger Morocco which now occupies the region.

When viewed through the prism of Liberalism, Lebanon provides greater congruence to liberalist principles rather than Mauritania. Liberalism emphasizes the importance of individual freedom and that every person of a country has equal rights, equal opportunity and enjoys basic freedoms such as right to life, property, speech and a host of other freedoms that define the human condition. Equal opportunities and freedom to conduct ones own way of life also implies having tolerance of other ideologies and religious beliefs. Liberalism recognizes that the international system is anarchic but unlike the realist theory, which believes that power politics is the only answer to maintain peace and stability, it believes that while military power is valid, a complex system of bargaining between states can achieve international cooperation and produce peace and stability. Liberalism also believes that economic interdependence and cooperation are more conducive to peace and stability than economic dominance as believed by the realist school. Lebanon clearly demonstrates these liberalist qualities. 17 religious sects each free to exercise its own practices and equitable representation in the parliament is a manifestation of liberalist mind set. The very fact that over  5.6 Billion are remitted by Lebanese all over the world points to the cosmopolitan nature of the Lebanese people.   Lebanese judicial system with its mix of Turkish law, British law, French law and the canon law and yet again portrays the countrys liberalist characteristics. Mauritania on the other hand has almost no traits that betray any adherence to liberalism. The country is wholly Islamic, follows Islamic value system and even today has vestiges of slavery prevalent despite being made illegal by the government. The only liberal act that the country has ever carried out has been the formal recognition of Israel. 

A scientific theory of international relations, the World Systems or the economic theory views the world as comprised of a core and a periphery. According to the theory, the core group of nations comprises of the developed world and the underdeveloped world is the periphery. The periphery exports raw materials to the core which produces the finished goods. Therefore in global economics, according to Wallerstein, there existed two basic types of goods the core-like products and the peripheral products.  In this interaction, the core employs all means necessary to maximize its gains and thus keeps the periphery dependent upon it. These means included military, technological or organizational superiority, through a long distance exchange mechanism controlled by the core that in turn decided the politico-economic dynamics of the periphery.  In such a case, the periphery is just a means of acquiring raw materials for the furtherance of prosperity of the core state. The theory explained European domination of Africa quite succinctly and thus has a predictive quality in describing international relations. The worlds system theory is more applicable to Mauritania than to Lebanon. From the theoretical point of view, Mauritania had mineral resources which were needed by France and hence colonization took place. Today, the situation is no different with Mauritania still exporting raw minerals and is now auctioning prospecting blocks for gold copper as also oil just like a peripheral state to the core states of the West and to China without attempting to build primary industrial capabilities and capacities. In the case of Lebanon, one can liken the Lebanese services sector as the peripheral entity servicing the prosperous western core. 

Can Constructivism explain the political and economic development in Lebanon and Mauritania To aid such understanding it is necessary to outline the main tenets of Constructivism. Constructivists reject the apriori assumptions of the realists that hold that the world system is anarchic in nature. Constructivists challenge this precept to say that anarchy in a system occurs because humans create such concepts, ideas and social structure. Alexander Wendt states that identities and interests of purposive actors are constructed by these shared ideas rather than given by nature.  Constructivists say that self help can be modified. Security therefore could be envisioned in terms of human security, food security and human rights all of which required an internationalist approach based on a cooperative model. Lebanon clearly provides some congruence with the constructivist world view. Having quarreled and killed each other and the people in neighboring countries, the Lebanese have seemed to realize that accommodation and cooperation is the only way that the country will prosper. Hence, even the once considered outcast the Hezbollah have been included in the political process. The Hezbollah on its part too has understood the importance of peace amongst its brethren and have joined the political process, which in the long term will serve to modify its behavior to follow more international norms. Lebanese society as such displays a constructivist mold as it spreads into the world and seeks to integrate with it. In the long run, such a process will bring about shared concepts of national reconciliation and greater stability to the country and consequently the region. In the case of Mauritania, there does not seem much scope for constructivist ideals to flourish. Hampered by an authoritarian Presidential system, Islamic values and extreme poverty with very few resources to recover its economic status, constructive ideals would be hard to come by. Indeed, the current political and economic development and its likely trajectory in Mauritania only predict perpetuation of authoritarianism and exploitation by the stronger nations in Africa, West and the East notably China.

In conclusion, it can be reiterated that the political and economic development of Lebanon and Mauritania when viewed through the prism of international relations theories show many similarities but also many differences. Though both countries were ruled by France at some point in their history, Lebanon has shown greater resilience in inventing itself to greater prosperity. Viewed through the realist prism, French rule of Lebanon was necessary to sustain a balance of power in the Middle East while conquest of Mauritania could be explained more in terms of pursuit of global power by the French. Subsequent political actions by Lebanon and Mauritania adhere to basic tenets of realism where countries resort to any means to gain power. Liberalism is clearly at work in Lebanon as its pluralistic society shows as is also constructivism. In Mauritania, neither liberalism nor constructivism has much scope owing to its Islamic identity, poor natural resources and homogenous society. The World systems theory is more applicable to Mauritania than to Lebanon as in Mauritania governments political and economic policies still perpetuate the actions of a peripheral nation selling raw materials to the developed core of western nations. Overall, the model of international relations theory that best sums up present day Lebanon is Liberalism which may later develop some hues of constructivism. In the case of Mauritania, the model that is clearly at work is the World Systems, also called the economic theory of international relations.