The Safavid and Moghul Empire

The Safavid Empire really put Iran on the map for their economic strength. The Safavid Empire was founded by the Safavids and covered all of Iran, parts of Turkey, and Georgia. The Shiite based empire lasted from 1501-1722. The reason for their success was their locations on the trade routes. Shah Ismail, age 14 ruled from 1501 to 1524 and by 1510 he had conquered all of Iran. Shi’ism was introduced to Iran and many Sunni Muslims were murdered. But there was a positive side to their religion; the early Safavid Empire was a theocracy. Religious and political powers were all together. The Empire became rich because it was in the center of the trade route in the Ancient World. Shah Abbas was leader during the golden years of the Safavid Empire. Although he had a small army, they were well trained and had had the best weapons. With the help of the Europeans Shah Abbas had some success against the Ottoman Turks. After Shah Abbas died the Safavid Dynasty suffers and leaders lacked leadership skills. Afghan people invaded and seized the capital of the Safavid Empire and what is left of the Safavid dynasty falls apart. The Mogul Empire (also spelled Moghul or Mughal) was founded by Babur in 1526 and stretched from almost all of India and westward into Europe. Babur’s army was small, but had better weapons. Babur captured Delhi and conquered North India until he died in 1530. Akbar was Babur’s grandson son and was 14 when he took the throne. By 1605 Mogul ruled most of India. Akbar was a great negotiator, was lenient with different religions, and was very humane. He even married a Hindu woman. People had to pay 1/3 of their harvest every year to the state, but sometimes that tax might be lowered or excused. Trade and manufacturing flourished during this time. After Akbar died, Jahangir took over and continued to strengthen the central government. He convinced his wife to arrange a marriage with him son and her niece and he becomes the ruler after Jahangir. Shah Jahan could not deal with domestic problems and cost the Empire a lot of many. He had many expensive projects such as the Taj Mahal which was built for his favorite wife who dies while giving birth to her 14th child. The government had to raise taxes to pay for it. When Shah Jahan dies, his sons fight for power and one ends up killing another so the son Aurangzeb becomes king. He was a devout Muslim and forbade drinking, gambling, and prohibited the building of Hindu temples. As a result of this, people are unhappy and the Persians attack in 1739. The British arrived in the Mogul Empire and wanted to take over. Of course the British won and they had the right to collect taxes in areas surrounding the Calcutta. Muslim woman began to fight in battles and female relatives become advisors to leaders. Moguls brought together Indian and Persian cultures and influences. The Mogul and Safavids, although very different had many things in common. Both had important rulers who started their reign at 14. Both were of Islamic religion, and they both had small armies but advanced weapons. The rulers played a role in the Empire’s decline. Both started out as strong, wealthy empires and started to decline. And The Mogul and Safavid Empire had strong religious beliefs.

Analysis of Little Women

The little women's story begin when Meg and Joy are teenagers and the two youngest are entering adolescence. Their family is in the poorest period since the father is serving in the army. At this time, Laurie, a rich boy, move to this town and become girls' close friend. Each of the girls faces their moral demons when they grow older. Joy strives hard to be a great writer. The bashful girl Beth has to conquer shyness, while Amy, the youngest one, has to fight against her bosom enemy aristocratic pride.Finally, Meg gets married with Laurel's gentlemanliness tutor, John Brooke. After Joy refused the courtship of Laurie, she goes to New York to pursue her ambition, in where she meets a learned German expatriate Professor Bear, who helps her a lot in writing. Amy takes up advanced studies of painting in Europe following Aunt Carroll, unexpectedly fall in love with Laurie. They go back home when Beth dies at an early age. Joy also returns home and cares for her beloved family. Amy There a re 1000 Hamlets in 1000 people's eyes.However, I should say, Amy is so as well. Someone think that she is stagy; someone consider her as a childish girl; while, in my opinion, she is a very kind girl. She Is described by the author as a girl who own curled golden hair and blue eyes. As an aristocratic young girl, Amy dreamt of marrying a wealthy man, which became true that achieved by marrying Laurie. Since Amy is the youngest one in her family, she was often bullied by her sisters In some sense. When they had a role play in the family, Amy always acted the character which as abandoned by everyone.She compromised to her sisters even though she already said that she would not. At the end, she gave up on art because she thought herself to be lacking of talent. Nevertheless, she had a happiness marriage with Laurie and gave birth to a daughter. The movie vs.. The book The movie Is edited and adjusted based on the director's comprehension. Writing about the differences between the book and the movie of The Little Women, I want to focus on two main aspects: the story and the characterization.The first two chapters of the book are cut down In the film. In addition, several significant details are disappeared In the film, such as the conservation between Joy and her mother talking about how Joy could control her Irritable temper and the endeavor Amy made for being a grace lady. The lack of the details results In the ambiguous presentation of the character's personality. We cannot see fully the tomboyish nature on Joy and the challenge she faces because of this personality which Is wrote In details In the book.What's more, there Is no mention about Beet's bashfulness. I am not aware of how shy Beth Is until reading the book. Actually, the film and the novel are obviously different on the story and the depiction of the character. Analysis of Little Women By Militarily in my opinion, she is a very kind girl. She is described by the author as a girl who Amy is the younge st one in her family, she was often bullied by her sisters in some The movie is edited and adjusted based on the director's comprehension. Writing of the book are cut down in the film.In addition, several significant details are disappeared in the film, such as the conservation between Joy and her mother talking about how Joy could control her irritable temper and the endeavor Amy made for being a grace lady. The lack of the details results in the ambiguous presentation of challenge she faces because of this personality which is wrote in details in the book. What's more, there is no mention about Beet's bashfulness. I am not aware of how shy Beth is until reading the book. Actually, the film and the novel are obviously

Accounting and financial management 4 Topics Assignment

Accounting and financial management 4 Topics - Assignment Example Financial distress is a state whereby a company is not able to meet the agreements it had with its creditors it normally results to a company being termed as bankrupt. Cost associated with financial distress are normally termed as costs of financial distress. Some of the costs of financial distress are classified into direct and indirect. Direct cost include; legal fees, auditors fees, management fees. Some of the indirect costs involved are, loss of goodwill, loss of trust by creditors, loss of customers. Method 2: the second method is used only when the risk imposed on a company remains the same as a result of its capital structure, the company is ready to incur as much debt as possible. The main aim of this method is to identify the level of debt at which the advantages of increased debt are not outweighed by the increase in risk that are financially distressed company is subjected to. It is also known as the intuitive view. The theory indicates that a firm should have as ideal level of gearing at which its WACC is minimized. Nevertheless this theory does not indicate where the ideal level is and this leaves trial and error as the sole method of finding it. When gearing levels are low shareholders regard risk increases as marginal. This results to cheapness of debt issues and this causes WACC to be lower. When gearing ratios are higher the volatility of shareholders returns increase. Dominance in cheapness of extra debt results in WACC increasing as the levels of gearing increases. In the case when the levels of gearing have escalated abnormally both equity and debt holders face a risk of bankruptcy as a result the cost of equity and the cost of debt rise with increased gearing and this therefore causes WACC to rise further They disregarded the capital structure which was irrelevant in determining the cost of capital. They argued that a firm have no optimal value and its value is determined by the business risk it

Data Analysis & Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Data Analysis & Research Methods - Essay Example 263). Apparently, ‘r’ is very close to zero, which means that the two variables have no relationship. In other words, support for the new waste policy has no statistical relationship with the volume of waste produced prior to the policy’s introduction. The other inference drawn from the analysis is that r is positive, meaning that â€Å"as one variable gets larger the other gets larger† (Conover, 1980, p. 263). However, since we have concluded that the two variables have no statistical relationships, then the positive relationship is spontaneous and hence has no scientific meaning (Croxton, Cowden & Klein, 1968). To better understand the correlation of coefficients, it is important to square them to get the proportion of the disparity in one variable that is associated with the variation in the other variable. In this case, the percentage is extremely small (0.00002%), which again adds evidence that the two variables have no relationship. These statistics r eveals that the volume of waste that the staff generated prior to introduction of the new policy does not have any influence in the manner in which they embrace the new policy. Embracing of the new policy, in this case, is determined by question six, which asks â€Å"How many times per week do you visit the central re-cycling bins to deposit waste of the central waste bins?† Question A (b) Assumption: 3 = yes, close enough, 1 = No, too far away (this means that a positive correlation should imply that support for new policy in positively related with convenience. respondent Question 4 Question 6 X Y X*X Y*Y X*Y 1 3 3 9 9 9 2 3 12 9 144 36 3 1 6 1 36 6 4 1 4 1 16 4 5 1 5 1 25 5 6 3 7 9 49 21 7 1 8 1 64 8 8 1 6 1 36 6 9 1 17 1 289 17 10 1 21 1 441 21 11 1 2 1 4 2 12 3 7 9 49 21 13 3 5 9 25 15 14 1 5 1 25 5 15 1 8 1 64 8 16 3 4 9 16 12 17 1 9 1 81 9 18 3 12 9 144 36 19 1 19 1 361 19 20 3 13 9 169 39 21 3 4 9 16 12 22 1 15 1 225 15 23 1 17 1 289 17 24 3 7 9 49 21 25 1 10 1 100 10 26 3 3 9 9 9 27 3 12 9 144 36 28 1 6 1 36 6 29 1 4 1 16 4 30 1 5 1 25 5 31 3 10 9 100 30 32 1 8 1 64 8 33 1 6 1 36 6 34 1 10 1 100 10 35 1 23 1 529 23 61 313 139 3785 511 N= 35 ?X = 61 ?Y= 313 ?XY =511 ?X2 =139 ?Y2=3785 Null hypothesis: there is enough evidence to show that support for the new waste policy was related to the convenience of the re-cycling bins’ location? Perform statistical tests to investigate these questions fully. Correlation(r) = [N?XY - (?X) (?Y) / v ([N?X2 (?X) 2] [N?Y2 - (?Y) 2])] r = [35*511-61*313/v ([35*139*3721] [35*3785-97,969)] r = -1208/790348.4 r = -0.002 r2=0.004 = 0.4% The coefficient of correlation between convenience of the re-cycling bins’ location and support for the new waste policy is -0.002, which means that when the location is more convenient, less people will support the policy. However, the coefficient is quite far from -1, therefore, the two variables are not closely related. The square of the coefficient is 0.4%, which mea ns that only 0.4% of the variance accounts for this relationship, while the rest 99.6% is due to sampling errors. In reality, it would be hard to find people failing to support the policy when it is more convenient, while they support it when it is less convenient. Therefore, we could conclude that the statistical relationship is largely because of sampling errors, and hence not a true representative of what could happen in the population (Rosner, 2000). Is there any evidence

Pace and timming in Modern foreign language Essay

Pace and timming in Modern foreign language - Essay Example This necessitates promoting modern foreign language education in the country to enable the English children interact and do business effectively with other people who do not understand the English language spoken by the English natives. In addition, teaching modern foreign language will ensure that Britain has enough graduates in modern foreign language that will help in translation and interpretation of foreign language. Despite the increasing need of additional graduates in modern foreign language, the entry of British students into A-level and degree programs in modern foreign language have plummeted. In fact, this situation is a concern to everyone in the country, including ministers, exam officials, and university representatives (Ratcliffe 3). The reason behind the decline in students taking modern foreign language in Britain is not well known. However, the truth remains that imparting British students with modern foreign language skills is crucial thus should be a priority. Ev en though the country is encouraging students to learn modern foreign languages, such as Spanish, French, and Italia among other modern foreign languages, most teachers still face enormous challenges teaching modern foreign languages. ... This discourse will discuss the important and effectiveness of timing and pacing in teaching modern foreign language in British secondary schools. Pacing and timing may appear simple in words. However, it poses a great challenge to most teachers of modern foreign language. Teachers of modern foreign languages throughout British secondary schools have reported this. In spite of the challenges that teachers face in teaching foreign languages, pacing and timing are very important in imparting knowledge to students. One of the most important aspects of timing and pacing in teaching modern foreign language is that it creates a sense of urgency. Dixie argues that the true art of timing and pacing lie on a sense of urgency created (par. 4). It also ensures that students taking modern foreign language are kept abreast of what is required of them. As such, teachers of modern foreign languages are advised to think diligent pace and appropriate timing and refrain from creating hectic pacing. Th inking diligent pace is important it feels right for most students learning modern foreign languages. For instance, using a timer on the desk may be of help to teachers of MFL since it helps the teacher determine the length of time it should take in teaching a certain lesson. For instance, in case a teacher asks a group a question in classroom, he or she must not expect to receive the answer to the question immediately. This is because members of the group will have to consult among themselves before coming up with a single answer. Therefore, when a teacher asks a challenging question in a MFL classroom, it is important to give some time, probably around five minutes for the students to respond. Teaching at the right

Solar Collector mirror Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Solar Collector mirror - Research Paper Example Conduction with copper heats the water passing through the pipe. Mirror is bent by heating it. Attempting to bend mirror at too low heating would cause it to break whereas too much heating makes mirror melt and disfigure rather than being bent. Before, heating, the mirror is polished and cleaned good enough to make any dust particle invisible to the naked eye. After the mirror is cleaned, it is painted with a mix of detergent, clay, and calcium carbonate to prevent it sticking with the steel bracket when it gets hot. Exciting the silica molecules can take up to three hours before the mirror starts to bend when placed over the bracket and heated (Dinh, 2011). After the mirror has been bent, it is allowed time to cool down in a process called annealing that usually takes up to two hours to complete. If the mirror is allowed to cool down too quickly, the internal stresses built up during heating may cause it to

5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

5 - Assignment Example There was no element of destiny in this whole gamut of things, as this was simply a planned invasion. The invasion and intervention of US repeated in about â€Å"26 states with approximately 6.6 million deaths since then† (Sullivan, 8). The nations which fell victims to American invasions include â€Å"Guatemala, Iran, Cuba, Lebanon, Laos, South Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Libya, Somalia† and many more. Such an enormous destructive power can never be simply justified using the excuse of destiny. The next major war fought by US after Spanish-American war was the Second World War in which the world saw the cruelest weapon in human history, being used- the atom bomb. US masterminded and commanded the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, a killing spree in which millions died. In Vietnam war, even the majority of people at home hated American government for using chemical weapons and sacrificing many an American youths’ lives on the alter of the war (Sullivan, 75). When 9/11 happened, it was the culmination of a process that started almost half a century back, when to defeat Soviet Union and to diminish its powers, America had promoted Islamic fundamentalists including Osama Bin Laden (Sullivan, 155). Afghan war was only a preamble after which America invaded Iraq as well (Sullivan, 155, 41, 148). The WMDs that America searched for in Iraq were never to be found. America being the largest manufacturer of modern weaponry in the world, all these violent interventions that US made in the world as a nation, was in tune with its mercantile interests and policies. This is the hidden agenda even behind the so-called ‘war on terrorism’ that is being fought even

DATA MINING Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

DATA MINING - Research Paper Example In fact, the early stages of predictive analytics involve product recommendations and behavioral targeting. Another advantage is the possibility of behavior-based advertising. In order to achieve this, the available data is analyzed to predict the areas which interest each customer and the advertisements of that area are presented to the customer. Yet another area where this predictive analytics can be useful is issues like fundraising for nonprofits. In order to do this, often, companies filter the data to identify donation amounts. Similar is the case of insurance pricing and selection. In fact, it is possible to offer individually tailored insurance packages by analyzing the available data. In addition, it is possible for insurance companies to assess insurance risk using the data. Another area where predictive analytics is highly useful is email targeting. In order to do this, companies identify the nature of the emails each customer is likely to respond to and emails are designe d accordingly. However, one of the most important areas of utilizing predictive analytics is retention of customers. It is possible to identify customer defection and attrition through predictive analytics. This will help in reaching customers immediately and effectively stopping their going away. Admittedly, associations discovery helps businesses in a number of different ways. Associations discovery involves indentifying the relationship that exists between the sales of different things or services. In simple terms, association is the discovery of various association relationships in a set of items or services. First of all, this helps organizations identify the related items a customer is likely to buy so that the customer is offered all the related items from the same company. This helps save the time and effort of the customer and ensures that the customer is retained. In addition, it ensures that companies are enabled to sell more by keeping all those items closer which are of ten sold together. Admittedly, various organizations around the world are effectively utilizing this facility. The first example is Wal-Mart. As Khattak, Khan and Lee (2010) point out, Wal-Mart uses basket analysis and clustering in order to smoothen the business transactions; and this helps the company identify the most sold products, identify the customers based on their purchasing capacity, divide the customers based on their arrival time, and identify the items of major trade. Web mining has its own unique advantages either in the form of selling more products or in the form of reduced costs. The web data collected on customers should be categorized and clustered in order to use the same for various purposes ranging from developing marketing strategies, customer relationships, and competitive analysis. It is possible for a company to utilize usage mining or web log data in order to identify a potential customer and reach out to that customer with a tempting offer. The various fo rms of web mining ranging from structure mining, usage mining and content mining offer considerable amount of marketing intelligence. This results in more personalized strategies from the part of companies, more sales, more satisfied customers and higher customer loyalty and retention. Admittedly, data mining algorithms are likely to err seriously in the real production environment. So, it becomes necessary to check their validity before using them in the real working environment. The first way of validating a particular algorithm

Introduction to the History of western art Essay - 1

Introduction to the History of western art - Essay Example In trying to keep with the spirit of humanism, artist of the early renaissance tried as much to show a lifelike human forms with accurate proportion and realistic expressions and clothing (Johnson, 2005). For example a woman of the Renaissance, like a woman of the middle ages, were never given any political rights and were treated to be legally subject to their husbands. Women of all classes were required to perform, first and foremost, the tasks assigned to a housewife. For thousands of years women had very few economic, legal, or political rights and, in theory were expected to be submissive to their fathers or husbands (Hartt et al, 2011). Women were restricted to traditional gender roles, which forced them to remain in the domestic or private restriction of a community. Women’s roles as daughters, wives, or mothers were therefore considered their most important function in a community (Johnson, 2005). For the high class members of society, the reproductive ability of a wom an was an extremely significant determinant of inheritance and maintenance the family line (Hartt et al 2011). Through all classes of society, the social system of patriarchy evolved as the primary way to regulate women’s behavior and maintain social control (Slovely et al, 2001). Although women were often depicted in Renaissance art or literature, the cultural advancements and political developments that emerged from the Renaissance overwhelmingly neglected women (Johnson, 2005). The Renaissance brought a renewal and rebirth of intellect, culture, art, and social advancement that was seemingly only advantageous to men. Women continued to be deployed in communities only for the advantage of men, as daughters who could potentially help the family through an advantageous marriage, or as wives who took care of the home and produced children to help work on the farm or to carry on a family name (Hartt et al, 2011). The behavior of women were also an important indication of the social

Conflict Resolution Paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conflict Resolution Paper - Coursework Example The message had not been replied after half an hour. I decided to write her another text message; this time round it was worse because it included abuses. Still she did not reply. After 2 hours, my anger had cooled down; I decided to call my roommate’s boyfriend to inform me why his girlfriend was not answering my message. I was shocked to learn from the boyfriend that my roommate had gone unconscious before they left the room and rushed her to a medical facility. I suddenly remembered that my roommate was epileptic. The boyfriend confessed of the mess in the room, he confessed that he was trying to look for her medical records and because of the hurry, he ended up disarranging everything. I felt so ashamed to learn that I had to confess to both my roommate and her boyfriend afterwards. If I had to find myself in the same situation in future, I would first of all wait for her to return, ask her why it happened before reacting (Van de Vliert and Euwema 679). I will never let my emotions dominate me next time I find myself in

Higher education in Canada Essay Example for Free

Higher education in Canada Essay Nowadays, most of the people in the world will have a chance to get educated. Many high school and colleges graduates would like to attend four-year University or higher education. They believed that education is a code to help them get success. But why people need to be educated, and what is the purpose of education? When we were young, we thought that we go to school is because of family expectation. After we grow up, we think that it is because of popular trend, people who get higher degree will get more success. But these are not the answer. Education is the key to explore our own life because its purpose is to train good members of society, to help people live better, and to explore our limit in order to upgrade our ability in our daily life. Education helps our society to train good members. According to John Henry Newman, the author of The Idea of a University, pointed out that education neither confines its views to particular professions on the one hand, nor creates heroes or inspires genius on the other. (53)University cannot promise to create a generation of heroes, presidents or genius, but it can educate people knowledge, skills and experiences of social life, and let them learn to respect, to consult, to aid each other. Education also focuses on training students’ ability, It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought, to detect what is sophistical, and to discard what is irrelevant. . (53) Education will give people a clear conscious view of everything around them, and let them distinguish what is right and what is wrong of their own opinions and judgments. Therefore, weare able to accommodate ourselves to others, influence to others, and come to an understanding with others. University education is the great means to raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste. (54) Education helps people to live better. In the Learning in the Key of Life, Shorris, a novelist and journalist, said that Do all rich people, or people who are in the middle, know the humanities? Not a chance. But some do. And it helps. It helps to live better and enjoy life more. Will the humanities make you rich? Absolutely. But not in terms of money. In terms of life. (67) In other word, education can help us to become rich on both ways of money and life. Of course, between those we consider well educated and those who are poorly or inadequately schooled, people accept the higher education always have a better life. They can get more than the others who has lower income level, and make their life easier. People who received higher education have more power to dictate their life. For example, they can plan our community, adjust our workweeks and even control the world financial markets. In the Learning in the key of life, Jon Spayde pointed that kind of power has everything to do with attitude and access: an attitude of empowerment, even entitlement, and access to tools, people, and ideas that make living at any income level easier, and its crises easier to bear. (67)Education is a light to illuminate our future, the more education we have, more bright future we will have. Education helps us to explore our limit in order to upgrade our ability in our daily life. According to David Orr, Oberlin College environment professor, he pointed out that university focus on teaching in high-tech training call Slow Knowledge, which is resilience, harmony, and preservation of long-standing patterns that give our lives aesthetic, spiritual, and social meaning. (68) For example, we cannot finish a 1,000-page novel in one second,because we need to watch the novel step by step and understand the story. We all are slow learners. Although we get academic education,we need to get experience from life in order to explore our limits. As Jon Spayde mention, is it any wonder that many of us are beginning to feel that we didnt get the whole story in school, that our educations didnt prepare us for the world were living in today? . (67) In addition to education, we also should learning from life and learning from experienceto enrich our life, and make our life easier. Education is a basis for our society. It also can train good members of society, to makeour life better, and enhance our ability in our daily life. Growth is a characteristic of life, so education is growing. It can help people be stronger and wiser. We should be awise old owland use our knowledge to make our life and society better. Word Cited Henry Newman, John. â€Å"The Idea of a University. † Lunsford, Andrea, and John Ruskiewicz, eds. THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS: VOICES AND IMAGES THAT CALL FOR RESPONSE. 5TH ED. BOSTON : Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2008. Print.

Analyzing Thailands Tourism Industry

Analyzing Thailands Tourism Industry Abstract In the present context of an increasingly globalized world, and the nature of the tourism industry, it is worthwhile to note if Porters Diamond framework still provides answers to the changing competitiveness of Thailands tourism and identifies success factors and factors detrimental to its competitiveness. A revised version of the Diamond framework has been proposed for the given context of tourism industry and Thailand state. This paper tries to analyze Thailands Tourism industry using this revised form of Porters Diamond Framework, identifying the various sources of competitiveness or the lack of it thereof. It attempts to identify key areas for improvement based on the above analysis and suggests solutions for the same. Keywords: Competitiveness, Thailand, Tourism, Diamond Model, Revised framework Introduction For any country tourism impacts not only revenues but employment and economic development as well. For Thailand, this is even more so. It is therefore important for Thailands tourism industry to be competitive not just in ASEAN region but globally. Subsequent to the success of Visit Thailand Year in 1987, Thailand, a small country in the Asia Pacific region became the biggest growth story in the region with a growth rate of 7 %. Subsequently its economy (GDP) grew at an astounding 10.9 %, 13.2 % and 10 % respectively in the next three years i.e. an average of 11.7 % from 1998 1990, about the best in the world. However, it did not maintain that growth subsequently, and its tourism industry faced many adversities. This paper will analyze the recent developments in the tourism industry to help understand the reasons for the same in todays context. Today when not only individuals, products, firms compete against each other but industries and nations themselves strive to outdo the competition, it becomes imperative to understand what it takes to beat the completion and stay competitive i.e. to acquires a good understanding of the determining factors of competitive growth. This paper proposes to do such an analysis for the tourism industry of Thailand. It also, argues a case for revising the Porters Diamond Model framework for the given context. Porters Diamond Model Framework Besides traditional resource advantages like land, location, labour, natural resources and size of population Porter (1990) argued that grouping or clusters of interconnected firms and stakeholders like institutions, suppliers and related industries provide competitive advantage which are not inherited and which can be acquired. To get a better understanding of the determinants for such attainment of competitive advantage, Porter (1990, 1998) provided the famous diamond framework (Fig. 1). This framework helped in the analysis of not only industries but also nations. The four vertices of the diamond indicated four groups of determinants. These were: factor conditions (also called input conditions), demand conditions, related and supporting industries; and firm strategy, structure and rivalry. These were the basic determinants. There were however two external or additional factors chance; and government. All these factors were not isolated but interconnected. Thus, demand and factors conditions were connected. So were the factors: related and supporting industries; and firm strategy, structure and rivalry. The national factors of production like natural resources, infrastructure and skilled labour are the key factor conditions. The nature of domestic demand for product and services chiefly define the demand conditions. The presence (or absence) of suppliers, related industries which are themselves competitive (internationally) form the related and supporting industries vertex. The domestic rivalry between the firms and the conditions that govern their formation, organization and management form the last vertex of the diamond in the framework. The framework is useful in identifying not only the sources of competitive advantage but also identifies key problem areas to be addressed. Oz (2006) illustrated this when identifying the sources of competitive advantage of Turkish construction companies in international markets. The success factors like dynamic domestic market, variables favourable to entrepreneurship, and intense domestic rivalry pressures effects were brought to fore along with the trouble causing areas like government induced hindrances, difficulties in financing and weak consulting and design engineering capabilities positioning of Turkey in the international arena. However, there are limitations to this framework and many researchers have combined this with other form of analysis like Rugman and Verbeke (1993) used SWOT for comparison, citing flaws like difficulty in making it operational i.e. of putting it in practice. It is noteworthy that this framework is been applicable to services as given by Lee and Spis to (2007). The case for the Endogenous Role of Government and Chance Apart from the limitation attributed to the diamond framework above, another flaw in it is that it does not include government as one of the basic factors but only considers it as an external factor despite the fact that it greatly affects all the other basic factors. To compensate for this Wickham (2005) re-conceptualized the framework for the Australian context. It had government as an integral basic factor at the centre of the framework, depicted as government surrounded by all the other factors as vertices of a hexagon with the chance factor in incomplete (dotted) lines giving it a separate identity as an external factor alone. He also suggested that the role of chance be considered in with new attention when applied to a regional economic model like that of the Porters Diamond. Fig. 1: Determinants of Competitive Advantage: Porters Diamond Model Framework Factor Conditions Chance Firm Strategy, Structure Rivalry Related Supporting Industries Government Demand Conditions The importance of government policy initiatives to promote and develop the industry can be seen for the tourism context in Prideaux (1996), who on examining growth trends of Taiwanese inbound tourism to Australia, studied the factors responsible for this and listed them as better air connectivity, promotions and organization of Taiwans travel industry. Suggestion was also made that repeat visitations would be greatly beneficial and to achieve better tourism prospects with Taiwan steps like forging links with operators in Taiwan, increasing frequency and connectivity of airlines, cultural education including language training, and customization of products to suit Taiwanese tastes should be undertaken. The importance of the study lies in the fact that it provides a model for Thailand to replicate with neighbouring ASEAN nations. It provides inputs as to what it should do to target a lucrative, individual nation like China. Clearly government policies and trade agreements with regional nations play a great role in determining the relative competitiveness of Thailand as a tourist destination. The role of government and chance here, for the Thailand tourism industry plays a crucial role given the recent history of Thailand it was the epicenter of the Asian financial crisis of 1997; it faced the Indian Ocean earthquake followed by Tsunami on 26th December 2004; it dealt with global recession post September 11, 2001 attacks, the financial downturn of 2008, SARS (and H1N1 Flu phenomena) and more recently domestic political chaos. These seem to have impacted tourism severely. This builds the case of chance being a critical determinant in the diamond model leading to the assumption that it should definitely be regarded as an endogenous factor and not just one having an exogenous role in the whole framework. Pine, Chan and Leung (1996) have outlined the impact of the Asian economic downturn and stated that the economic downturn which affected adversely the tourism industry has led to slowing or halting of many projects in the hospitality arena. It noted that intra-regional tourism had grown due to the regions strong economic growth. They further expect the tourism to be adversely affected (based on limited data); intra-regional tourism was expected to decline but increase from Europe and Americas in the light of the recent currency devaluations. Zhang (2005) has reported after analyzing industry data that Chinas outbound tourism got distributed as a result of the Tsunami. The South East Asian and South Asian nations lost out on many Chinese tourists to hitherto new choice of destinations. The perception of the region was one of high risk and this eventually led to loss in tourist numbers and revenue. The new destinations garnering attention even saw escalation in prices. Travel insurance was more sought as a result of the tsunami phenomena. Also, Ichinosawa (2006) provides highlights as to how Tsunami stigmatized Phuket as a tourist destination. Leiper and Hing (1998) studied unrelated four events in 1997-98 in the Asian context and the impact on the tourism industries of the respective nations. The events included huge forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Chinese takeover of Hong Kong, the triggering of Asian Economic Crisis with currency collapse in Thailand and social and economic unrest in Indonesia; and political and economic crises in Cambodia. These they inferred resulted in decline in international as well as domestic tourism. Thus, chance was a major factor here. Malhotra and Venkatesh (2009) have explored how vital it is to have contingency plans for crises and provide guidelines to proactively design a crisis management plan; even to take care when things go really bad. They compared Hong Kongs strategy and Thailands response to the Tsunami and the SARS outbreak. Based on such deliberations they advise having fluid structures and policies with regards to the organizational design, so as to effectively and timely deal with uncertainties of various kinds. They name various kinds of crisis, along with all their stages and depending upon the readiness of the affected entity (nation etc) determines the gap that needs to be filled in terms of crisis management. This they argue is the responsibility of the hospitality and tourism industry. The role of the government in formulating beneficial policies then becomes crucial given the above chance factor is so influential in the tourism industry. Thus, roles of chance and government are said to be cri tical in relation to the tourism industry. The influence chance has over government policies (and even governments themselves) implies that chance is way too important and thus should be regarded as intrusive, internal factor integrated with the whole framework of the diamond model. Clearly, for the case of a highly specific industry like tourism and a country where the government (directly or indirectly) holds more than half of its net capital stock (Phongsathorn, 2001), the government cannot be left out as just an exogenous factor. It is too important to be dealt as an influence. Thus, government should be thought of as an endogenous factor in the model. Also, government today has more a role of a collaborator than just an influencer or policy maker. Considering that the diamond framework has not been applied to services as it has been to manufacturing industries, and also less work is done specifically on the tourism industry using the model, the role of the external factors need to be seen in new light. Besides, tourism itself is such an industry which in the case of nations like Thailand may incorporate the whole country as the operating area. More recently, Pettus and Helms (2008) have included government in an endogenous role in the diamond model framework, while analyzing the case of Argentina. Though, Porter (1990) has opined that chance events are outside the control of the industry, nevertheless its effect can be negated. Also, prudent investment and preparation can actually prevent the occurrences of man-made disasters and reduce the probability of many untoward incidents. Besides, the operationalization of chance even outside the diamond as an external factor is also very difficult. It is noteworthy also that chance even affects the government and its role. In the scenario of much globalized world where two countries are not isolated anymore and the events in one country affects the other in a more significant way than ever before the model requires an upgrading. Thus, a case has been made for the exogenous factors Government and Chance to be treated as endogenous. Therefore, in effect the diamond model gives way to the proposed model (fig.2). Fig. 2: The Proposed Revised Porters Diamond Model Framework Factor Conditions Government Related Supporting Industries Firm Strategy, Structure Rivalry Chance Demand Conditions Research Methodology The study identifies the key variables that act as constituents to the various determinants of competitiveness of the tourism industry of Thailand. It also looks into the role played by Chance and the Government in altering the industrys competitiveness. For this, unforeseen events and government policies and their impacts were studied and extensive literature reviewed to achieve the above stated objectives. A couple of telephonic interviews with Thai people were conducted to probe into specific areas and to corroborate findings. Thus, primarily the analysis is qualitative in nature. Discussion and Analysis Factor Conditions Factor conditions like infrastructure have been in the governments eye along with the human resources. However, it is perchance that the multi-million dollar airports that were to be a gateway to Thailand and its scenic beauty was the centre of anti-establishment protests and subsequently two airports were then shut down. Thailands natural resources like beautiful beaches definitely provide a competitive edge. This factor condition is also one of the key variables for the tourism industry. Its spicy food, hospitality and exotic culture are inherent attractions. The significant external markets for the tourism industry are widely spread across the world and include major European countries, the U.S. and now even China. Thailands ideological commitment to liberalization and open economy has had major impacts on the industry dynamics especially over the long run. Knowledge resources also have grown. Capital resources which were an area for concern has been dealt well in recent times and policy measures for financial markets has made it more sound and less prone to international volatility in comparison to earlier years. Location is definitely an important issue here. Singapore and Taiwan are so important for global businesses because of their strategic location. Quality and quantity of highly skilled work force for the industry is also a huge concern. Serious policy initiatives are to be taken by the state in this regard. Recommendations include the continued development of various transport related infrastructure and maintaining and enhancing a skilled labour pool. The Tourism Authority of Thailand Travel Industry Portal provides online training for the industry personnel. Another facilitator for easy travel is a rail link from Suvarnabhumi International Airport to Bangkok by means of a sky train. This initiative reduces the travel time to 15 min and is greatly appreciated by travelers.  [1]   There is growth in the road linkages. The newly formed North South Economic Corridor links Thailand to other Asian countries by means of a twelve hundred km R3A road highway which links Thailand with Laos to China emerging from Chiang Rai in Thailand was developed successfully in 2009. Thailand is becoming known for its status as a definitive hub for regional aviation. It has strong aviation linkages and airlines presence. Now, many countries have more flights from Thailand than most others in the whole of Asia. There are weekly 131 direct by around 13 airlines connecting Middle East Asia. Thailand is served by over seven hundred flights per by charter, scheduled and low-cost airlines from all over the world. Thai Airways has also launched new routes to Abu Dhabhi and Jeddah form Bangkok. Tehran-Bangkok link has been proposed. Similarly, rival Emirates Airlines have inducted Airbus-380 aircrafts for its Bangkok route to provide daily service from the city of Dubai.  [2]   Human Resources: Labour Force Statistics 2009 (Source: NSO) Total population is 66.72 million of which persons who are aged below 15 are 14.15 million, and persons aged 15 years old and over 52.57 million. Total labor force (Available for work) 37.53 million. Persons not in labor force (Not available for work) are 15.04 million. Thus, employed persons are 36.50 million, unemployed persons are 0.78 million. Of these seasonally inactive are 0.25 million. Household workers are 4.93 million, students are 4.41 million, and others are 5.70 million. Fig. 3: Comparison of number of employed persons between Quarter 1 of 2008 and 2009 by Industry Unit: Million Persons (Source: Labor Force Survey 2009, NSO) The physical and natural beauty of the beaches and islands of Thailand are the greatest attraction for tourists. Thailands most popular beaches and island destinations include along the Andaman Coast: Phuket, Mu Ko Similan Marine National Park, Mu Ko Surin Marine National Park, Ao Phang-nga National Park, Krabi, Phi Phi Islands, Mu Ko Lanta Marine National Park, Tarutao Marine National Park; along the Gulf of Thailand: Cha-am (Hua Hin), Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan, Mu Ko Ang Thong Marine National Park, Ko Tao and along the Eastern section: Pattaya, Rayong Ko Samet and Ko Chang Marine National Park. The National Telecommunications Commission Act of Oct 2004 along with the earlier Telecommunications Business Act 2001 has done a lot to setup the competitive environment for telecommunications industry. The formation of the Universal Service Fund by CAT (Communications Authority of Thailand) and TOT (Telecommunications Organization of Thailand) has provided impetus to the development of the industry. This has been instrumental for the growth of the tourism industry of Thailand. Car (rentals), train, bus; taxi services are available for transportation. A host of other offerings are available for inland transportation which includes motorcycle taxis, Tuk-Tuks, tricycles, bicycles and Song Thaeo or the very popular pick-up trucks. Charter, scheduled and low-cost airlines make up the air travel avenues; cruises, boat, etc provide water transportation facilities. Railways provide access to a large network of destinations in Thailand, providing economical and efficient transportation. Firm Strategy, Rivalry Corruption and bureaucratic hurdles created by the government is another deterrent to it reaching its competitively superior position. Anti-trust policies of the Government are few and far between. There is a lot to be desired on this front from the Thai government. A recently enacted anti-competitive law had a monumental flaw in it as it did not apply to state-owned enterprises (that enjoyed monopoly). Environmental regulations are being looked into by the state. To be competitive on the global platform requires efficiently producing goods and services of value more than that provided by other competing nations. It is important for Thailand to do so for the tourism industry to make a mark for itself on the global platform especially when its productivity levels are low. Firms should lay emphasis on retention of and attracting intellectual capital. Within the industry as well as across the industry technology should be shared. The Trade Competition Act 1999 and thereby the Trade Competition Board helps provide fair trade. The General Agreement on Trades in Services (GATS) furthers this cause. However, the anti-trust policies are not very effective as these are biased in favour of the government. Also, the players pay a high price for the illegal or unethical practices of rivals. The governmental officials prove a bane as there is rampant corruption and cases of corporate cronyism provide hinder fair competition between the players. The rivalry is also relatively less intense than it could be to get more value for the consumers for the services offered. The local base of the competition makes the rivalry worthwhile. Employer and labour relations are adequately cooperative to discourage any untoward strikes or major hurdles in provision of productive output. There is adequate decentralization of various corporate activities and delegation of responsibility and authority is a prevalent phenomenon. However, the corporate boards leave more to be desired in terms of efficacy. The cry for greater privatization is justified as it would certainly help in making the industry more competitive. Greater role of the private sector would ensure better management and corporate governance practices, reducing the business related corruption highly prevalent today. This process could be expedited by better corporate control activities, maintaining ethical business standards, sharing management know how, devising incentive based compensation systems, applying performance based appraisal systems, and having collaborative partnerships with local players with an understanding that practices to be in the right spirit, having joint investments, etc. Considering the significant role of the government in this industry, Private public partnerships (PPP) could effectively achieve the requisite competitiveness for being one of the best globally. No doubt that if this is implemented properly over time then the incident revelations from CNNs survey of global travel and tourism that Thailand was the best on the basis of value for money amongst all countries in the Asia Pacific region would not be an isolated event but among a series of similar results. Turtle Conservation Plan in Mai Khao area which involved beach and reef cleaning also is a PPP initiative for environmental considerations. Interestingly, many hotels in Thailand have raised the quality standards in terms of environment friendliness by going smoke-free i.e. promoting anti-smoking measures. Thai Airways and Nok Air have decided to cooperate to boost up domestic traffic over specific routes like Bangkok to Phitsanulok, Bangkok to Ratchathani and Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son Already Thai Airways is part of the Star Alliance the worlds first major global airline alliance which aids its network operations. Demand Conditions The internal demand though grown is limited by the population size and disposable incomes. Reductions in prices have encouraged local demand in recent years. However, Thailand may not be able to charge the premium it did during the hey-days. And any further price increase will discourage domestic demand. However, the internal demand for Thailands tourism industry offerings has been seen to grow in recent years. Advantage for Thailand exists in the offerings in terms of varied services and a competitive value proposition vis-à  -vis other countries. Also, the active tendency of the local tourists to readily accept the latest offerings offered by the tourism industry makes the demand. A few regulatory standards for tourism based trade and environment are exacting in nature. Even the intellectual property rights and safety standards for online transactions are less than desirable providing less encouragement for innovation and stimulation of demand. However, not only does the internal demand conditions condition the industry to become competitive globally it provides an avenue for experimentation and more importantly provides revenues when global tourist inflows ebbs below expected levels. Increasing internal demand could then easily be used as a hedge for fluctuations in collections from international tourists especially during the off seasons. Specialized market segments for specialized services and distinctive benefit segmentation provides impetus to the internal demand and subsequently to the external demand. In this regard providing incentives for innovation and aiding multinational corporations should be the policies pursued by the industry. There are various activities that a visitor or tourist can undertake for pleasure. Thailand offers a wide array of such offerings which include shopping, golf, adventure treks, hill tribe visit, special cooking and food, elephant rides, special festivals and celebrations, spa, spiritual and religious insights and learning (especially Buddhism), meditation, water sports, etc. Water sports include diving, sailing, yachting, cruising, canoeing and kayaking, swimming and snorkeling, fishing, windsurfing, rock climbing and bouldering, jet skiing and wakeboarding. Medical-tourism and business events also form an integral part of the range of offerings. Many indigenous events attract visitors from within and outside the country thereby stimulating demand. Some key events that happened from time to time in Thailand are the Luang Phor Thuad and Sunflower Field Festival dealing with the first blossoming of sunflower at a distinguished temple and paying tribute to Luang Phor Thuad, Chinese New Year Fair where prayers are offered the Chinese way, and there are opera shows and a food festival for vegetarians, Chinese Lantern Festival where a competition for lanterns and its decoration is held, World Wetland Day involving environmental related activities and awareness, bird watching and games, Eco-tourism and Kasalong Flower Festival involving bonfire and camping activities, showcasing of rare species of wild flowers and visiting caves, Thailand International Kite Festival that showcases traditional kites from different regions, kite flying competitions, etc; Thai Sky Festival involving a show of Skydiving by skydivers from many countries, Traditional Gold Leaf Covering Ceremony at Kuiburi Temple involving prayers and religious rites and as the name suggests gold leaf covering, Blooming Lotus Festival providing a tour of the Lotus Pond and trekking, Hua Hin Jazz Festival where Jazz concerts are performed, Hua Hin Regatta involving a race of sailors, Hua Hin (Cha-am) Golf Festival involving golfing contests, Hua Hin Vintage Car Rally which involves parading vintage cars. Many sports events, trade events and festivals had been planned for attracting visitors to Thailand in 2009. Important among these were the 1st World Comedy Film Festival, Thailand Grand Sale 2009, Thailand Tourism Festival (TTF) 2009, LPGA Thailand 2009 (Golf), The 2009 Kings Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, 1st Asian Martial Arts Games, Loi Kratong, Candle Festival, Songkran Festival and the 14th ASEAN Summit. New attractions like Sirindhorn Museum and Phu Kum Khao Dinosaur Excavation site, Chiang Mai Zoo Aquarium, Dragon Descendants Museum, etc have come up. It is interesting to note that Thailand was voted as the best sailing venue in Asia in a poll conducted by Top of The Gulf Regatta. Also, Phuket Kings Cup Regatta was the winner for best regatta in Asia. Thailand was also voted as the Asian Spa Capital for 2009 by AsiaSpa magazine. Also, Thailand won the Destiantion Spa of the year for Six Senses Destination Spa in Phuket. The major destinations chosen by tourists are (by region): Central Thailand: Ayutthaya, Bangkok, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, Cha-Am, Chachoengsao, Lampun, Nonthaburi, Petchburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuab Khiri Khan, Pranburi, Samut Songkhram, Saraburi. Southern Thailand: Koh Lanta Island, Koh Phi Phi Island, Koh Samui Island, Krabi, Phang Nga, Phuket, Trang, Chumphon, Hat Yai, Khao Lak, Koh Phangan Island, Koh Tao Island, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong, Suratthani. Eastern Thailand: Koh Chang Island, Koh Samed Island, Pattaya, Chanthaburi, Chonburi, Koh Kood Island, Rayong, Trat. Northern Thailand: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Sukhothai, Lampang, Phetchabun, Phitsanulok, Tak. North-East Thailand: Nakhonratchasima, Khon Kaen, Loei, Nong Khai, Ubonratchathani, Udonthani. Latest foreign technology is available to it and this should be made good use of by the industry players and the government. Use of ICT (info-communications and technology) in hotels and other areas is a step in the right direction. The following of the Star Rating methodology for hotel standards by Thailands premier hotels was a step in achieving quality and recognition. To the advantage of Thailand is the level of orientation of the tourists coming to Thailand and the internal tourists as well). These are more or less favourable for the state and should be capitalized upon. Thailand Travel Mart was a large showcase for travel and events held in June in Bangkok. Such events promote the internal demand significantly. Inadequate reliance on experts and professionals for managing the business and related aspects of the industry, poor managerial innovation, low level research and development activities for the tourism industry, provides a hindrance for Thailand to emerge competitive against other players compromising the very nature of its competitive advantage. The extents to which it brands its industry though much better now and steadily improving over the years even in quality, leaves more to be desired in this front. Basing compensation on incentives is another recommendation for the industry. Training staff, at various levels is required to put together a skilled workforce and efficient labour pool for the industry. Related and Supporting Industries The tourism industry is well connected and linked with industries like the transportation and hospitality. Specialty services and has also provided impetus to the industry. However, the stigma of child prostitution and Aids epidemic is still a major concern for the government of Thailand. Labour productivity of Thailand is also not competitive at all. The revenues per tourist to Thailand are less than many competitors in the region. Also, these have not gone up over the years. Understandably, this was due to the chance factor but nevertheless, it seems to compromise the competitiveness of the industry even further. The importance of the framework applied here is that it helps identify sources of competitive advantage. One specific area of interest is the formation of clusters. Domestic rivalry and geographic concentration enhance competitiveness of Thailands tourism industry. The six factors depicted in fig. 2 help the framework act as system. Scalability, magnification and upgrading help provide linkages and networks. These thus help in forming clusters which provide competitive advantage. Efforts should be made to build special business relationships with the various players. Partnerships and alliances between and across the industry could help get the maximum value to the consumer inevitably making Thailand more competitive and the formation of clusters more evident, thereby benefitting the industry greatly. Provision of incentives to encourage; and subsidies to support the entrepreneurial talent in the industrys core and related areas could benefit the industry in many ways including the adoption of innovative tools, techniques and methods and e

A Look At Islamic Terrorism

A Look At Islamic Terrorism INTRODUCTION There are differing opinions with regards to Islamic terrorism with the most fundamental of them being the role played by religious beliefs to motivate terrorist organizations. Are the beliefs in Islamic teachings the grounds for terrorist actions or do terrorist groups manipulate religious beliefs to justify terrorist acts? There are many scholars who claim that the teachings of Islam inspire terrorist acts. In this article I will not venture to study this aspect and restrict my study to how terrorists are able to manipulate religion to justify their reprehensible acts. I will attempt to find answer to the question, how is Islam being used by terrorist organizations to achieve political ends? SCOPE I will study the subject under the heads given below. (a) Why are the teachings of Islam being misrepresented? (b) How are the teachings of Islam being misrepresented? (c) Jihad and suicide terrorism. (d) My Jammu and Kashmir experience. WHY ARE THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM BEING MISREPRESENTED? RELIGION : MEANS TO GARNER PUBLIC SUPPORT. Before I deliberate on how teachings of Islam are being distorted by the terrorist groups it would be pertinent to understand the interplay of the goals of these terrorist organizations and Islam. It is important to study terrorist goals because goals shape the strategy and tactics of the groups and study of interplay between goals and religion will give an understanding as to why and how these groups manipulate the teachings of Islam. (a) AL QAEDA. Al Qaedas stated goal is to end American military presence in Middle East and Arabian Peninsula, stop US support for Israel and overthrow infidel regimes. (b) ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP (GIA). GIA is an Algerian group which aims to overthrow the Algerian regime and replace it with Islamic State. (c) EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD. Its goals are to overthrow the Egyptian government and to make Egypt an Islamic state and it also has some anti Western and anti US interests. (d) HARKAT-UL-MUJAHIDIN (HUM), JAISH-E-MOHAMMED (JEM), LASHKAR-E-TAYYAIBA (LeT). These are Pakistani groups with declared goal of uniting Kashmir with Islamic Republic of Pakistan. I have listed few of the Islamist terrorist groups operating in various parts of the world to give an idea of the kind of goals that these groups have identified for themselves. Deeper study of Al Qaedas aim will reveal a dream of an Islamic caliphate extending from Europe to South East Asia. Ayatollah Khomeini has a vision of wide Shia crescent of one Iran linking Iraq and Lebanon. The above is indicative of the political ambitions of these terrorist groups and the new world order which they aim to achieve by juxtaposing religion with their stated objectives. In order to achieve their goals terrorist groups need public support and sympathy. In the Muslim world religion has great influence on individual and society at large. The terrorists aim to garner support of this constituency by influencing the thinking in the Muslim world that they are the last bastion of puritanical Islam. They aim to gain support for their political ambitions by manipulating public opinion using the vehicle of religion. They also aim to gain support and sympathy of the Muslim ummah with their promise of regaining the lost glory of the Muslim civilization. Another important issue is that of the links between the terrorist groups. Though some of these groups operate independently, however most of them have developed linkages even if the linkages are of ideology. Because of this, manipulation of the teachings of Islam by one group has impact on other groups, resulting in the way all of them shape their strategy and tactics. Today we see misinterpretation of the teachings of Islam, without exception, by all Islamist terrorist groups. RELIGION: MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. Bruce Hoffman, former Director of the RAND Corporations Washington Office argues that, terrorists message is not necessarily religious, but he is using religion to communicate it. He goes further to say, someone claiming affiliation with an ethnic group cannot expect to get a lot of support beyond the limits of that ethnic group, but those claiming affiliation with a major religion create a much wider potential constituency. Thus terrorist groups try to leverage mosques as communication vehicles where there are captive audiences ready to listen to their views. In the mosques, the terrorists are able to tailor their message to suit their goals, thereby exploiting religion for political purposes. We thus have terrorist groups misrepresenting the teachings of Islam. First, to gain public support for their cause then, use the religion to communicate with the same people to further their cause. HOW ARE THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM BEING MISREPRESENTED? The opinion of the scholars is divided regarding how Islam is being manipulated by terrorist organizations to achieve political ends. There are scholars on both sides of the divide who have strong views on the subject. Bernard Lewis of Princeton University, USA believes that Islam does not approve of terrorism. He argues that there is no evidence of terrorism in the teachings and traditions of Islam. On the other hand, Osama bin Laden quotes extensively from Quran and interprets verses from the holy book to justify many of his actions. According to Bill Warner, Director of Centre for Study of Political Islam (CSPI), USA, Islamic texts have been made difficult to understand and comprehend. As per his study, about 61% of the contents of Koran are found to speak ill of unbelievers or call for their violent conquest  [1]  and about 75% of Muhammads biography (Sira) consists of Jihad waged on unbelievers  [2]  . However, there are many Muslim scholars who do not agree with his wor k. IDENTIFICATION OF THE ENEMIES. The terrorist groups operating around the world can be divided into two categories, the secular and the groups which draw inspiration from religious teachings. Secular groups have been motivated by secular agendas of Vladimir Lenin, Che Guevara, Mao Zedong and so on; while there are groups who draw inspiration from teachings of people like Muslim Brotherhood theoretician Sayyid Qutb, Palestinian theologian Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Iranian ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. One important difference between the two groups is in the way they identify their enemies. For the secular terrorist groups the enemies are the members of the governmental setup or certain social economic order. For the Islamic terrorists it has much wider connotation. Different terrorist groups have different ways and means to identify their enemies. For example Sayyid Qutb, who is considered to have influenced the ideology of many terrorist groups including Al Qaeda says, the way to bring ab out freedom to Muslims is to fight, jahiliyyah or pre Islamic ignorance is through preaching and through physical power and jihad against organization and authority of jahil system  [3]  . These kinds of beliefs are open to interpretation and to followers of Sayyid Qutb they have justification of his understanding of Islamic teachings to enforce their belief even by the use of force. This leaves room for distortion of Islamic teachings. We have seen that on many instances ideologues of terrorist groups have come out with their interpretation of religious scriptures to suit organisational political agendas. The way terrorist groups identify their enemies has to be seen in the light of the stated goals. My understanding is that though the terrorist groups have a loose alliance but they aim to establish a Pan Islamic Caliphate. To achieve their ambitions the terrorist groups are trying to ensure that not only individuals but the states and the administrative machinery of the jahil system are brought to submission to their understanding of Islam. Today Islamic Terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon. How are these groups able to justify their terrorist acts to the teachings of Islam even when their acts cause casualties to innocent civilians including Muslims? JUSTIFICATION FOR KILLING OF CIVILIANS. Quran and the teachings of Islam have laid down code of conduct regarding the laws of war and the definition of combatants and non-combatants. Off late, certain terrorist groups have broadened the definition of combatants to include all civilians living in infidel lands. The ideologues of the terrorist groups have proposed their interpretations of laws of war whereby such civilians are being perceived in the same way as soldiers fighting on the battlefield. Such a position endangers the lives of innocent civilians including women and children and denies them the protection under Islam from a religious perspective. On 28 June 2002, 28 scholars from the Al-Azhar Institute in Egypt determined that in conducting jihad there is no need to make any distinction between soldiers and civilians. In April 2002, Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, a lecturer on Islamic culture in Kuwait and one of the leaders of the radical Salafi stream, clarified in a religious ruling the circumstances in which it is permitted to kill civilians in the cause of jihad without violating the Prophet Muhammads command prohibiting the murder of women and children.  [4]  It is not as if there are no counter arguments from respectable scholars to such edicts, but the terrorist groups seem to ignore everything that can thwart the fulfilment of their aims. JUSTIFICATION FOR KILLING MUSLIMS. In the world today, there are many Muslim majority countries affected by terrorism. In fact, a large percentage of casualties due to terrorist actions are Muslims. Certainly Islam does not preach Muslims should kill Muslims to advance the cause of the religion. So how do these terrorists justify the killing of Muslims? It would be worthwhile to make a comparison between the targets and modus operandi of secular terrorists and Islamic terrorists. The IRA in the 1990s issued warnings, disrupted public transport system and bombed downtown areas on Sunday mornings. This is in contrast to Al Qaeda which bombed the World Trade Centre towers, carries out bombings in crowded market places, suicide bombings in mosques knowing quite well there will be sizable Muslim population. Bin Laden and the likes of him are making distinction between good and bad Muslims and misinterpret the teachings of the religion. The secular terrorist groups may still have some disinclination to cause casualty to members of their own racial or ethnic groups but some of the religious oriented terrorist groups do not show any such compunction. Anybody who opposes the political ambitions of these groups is their enemy, including Muslims. One of Sayyid Qutbs idea identifies who is a true Muslim and who is not, thereby making many of th em as apostates and giving jihadists a legal loophole around the prohibition of killing another Muslim, and also making it a religious obligation to execute the self-professed Muslim. These alleged apostates also include leaders of Muslim countries, since they have failed to enforce Sharia law.  [5]   JIHAD AND SUICIDE TERRORISM I will now attempt to study how Islamist terrorist organizations are furthering their cause through misrepresenting the concept of Jihad and through suicide terrorism. JIHAD. Jihad in Arabic is a noun meaning struggle and in its common usage means, striving in the way of Allah. Muslims use the word Jihad to describe three different kinds of struggle. (a) A believers internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible. (b) The struggle to build a good Muslim society. (c) Holy war; the struggle to defend Islam with force, if necessary  [6]  . This is how Prophet Mohammed probably wished Jihad to be. How did Saddam Hussain interpret Jihad? Just before the Gulf War Saddam had threatened the United States with Jihad. Daniel Pipes in his article in the New York Post of 31 Dec 2002 says it was, Saddams call for legal, compulsory, communal effort to expand the territories ruled by Muslims at the expense of territories ruled by non Muslim. This may be one extreme view but certainly there was no religious obligation for Muslims to answer his call. Saddam probably wished to play on the religious sentiments of the Muslims to perpetuate his regime against an imminent attack. Many of the terrorist groups perpetrate violence in the name of Jihad and many a times even without enunciating demands. There are numerous cases all over the world of bombs going off in market places and on trains which have puzzled authorities about the motives of these acts. There can be no religious justification for these acts. These acts are possibly committed due to terrorists personal grievances, cultural reasons or to change the existing political order. Many scholars of Islamic history argue that the concept of Jihad is dynamic and has been constantly evolving. This has led to the modern day Jihadists to distort the original concept to help them achieve their aims including political aims. Kaisa Schreck, editor of the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) is of the view that, perceived decline of Islamic culture and power, coupled with oppression by secular dictators, gave rise to radical Islamist agenda in Sayyid Qutb which is centered on the concept of violen t Jihad. The original concept of Jihad as enunciated by Prophet was distorted by the likes of Qutb who preached, human society had become tainted by a pre Islamic barbarism. Muslims who did not see this reality were ignorant non believers and therefore legitimate targets in a holy battle. Modern day Jihad got a fillip in the 1980s when thousands of Jihadists were factory produced by the CIA and the ISI in madrassas of Pakistan using the Saudi money. The Islamist guerrillas initially fought the Soviet army and today they fight everywhere from Philippines to Kashmir to Iraq and the United States. Theological credentials of the product of these madrassas, run under the patronage of either the intelligence agencies or by groups having politico religious ambitions, has never been a source of debate. The products of these madrassas are mercenaries who are fighting for political order in the name of Jihad and religion. SUICIDE TERRORISM. Study of suicide terrorism has thrown up conflicting results. There is a school of thought for whom suicide terrorism has been sanctified by the Quranic verses and the Sunnah while for the other group, religious teachings have a minor role in suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists. It is actually a means to achieve political aims. The studies carried out on the subject have thrown up interesting results with regards to education level, background and principle motivation for undertaking such attacks. According to Charles A Kimball, Department of Religion, Wake Forest University, USA there is only one verse in the Quran that contains a phrase related to suicide, verse 4:29 of the Quran. It reads, O you who believe! Do not consume your wealth in the wrong way rather through trade mutually agreed to and do not kill yourself. Surely God is merciful towards you. Islam strictly prohibits suicide and murders. However, Al Qaeda, Hamas and some other terrorist organizations give religious sanctity to such acts. For many of the suicide terrorists Sura 9 Ultimatum, Verse 111 from the Quran preaches the followers of the religion to undertake this venture. For these groups there is sufficient justification in the Quran which assures a place in paradise if a person dies advancing the cause of Islam. But the moot question is, are the terrorist groups advancing the cause of Islam or some politico religious agenda? The other school of thought believes that there are multifarious reasons, other than religious, which motivates people to carry out suicide missions. For them there are Muslim youths in the West who feel a sense of discrimination and alienation because of cultural differences. Some of the Muslims are outraged by what they feel as injustice being meted out to Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. For others it is financial factor which is the cause of recruitment and still for others it could be revenge, ideology, tribal loyalties or the indoctrination carried out in the madrassas. According to Professor Dipak Gupta, San Diego State University the driving force behind terrorist actions tends to be the desire to be an important member of the group. So is suicide terrorism a case of leader inculcating a sense of achievement in the terrorists and justifying the act in the name of Islam? Fahana Ali, international policy analyst at the RAND Corporation says for, women jihadist collec tive identity is more important than the individual identity, and its members are willing to do anything for a charismatic leader. Other reasons for these women to undertake terrorist activities could be revenge for lost husband or a close relative, gain respect of the other members of the group and in the society. From the above it is clear that the reasons for undertaking suicide terrorism are many. However, as seen earlier in the article terrorist groups try to misinterpret religion to garner support of the Muslim world for their acts and also recruit suicide terrorists. Cloak of religiosity is provided to communicate with gullible section of the Muslim community and earn their support for their actions. RELIGIOUS INSPIRATION Vs STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS During the course of my study I did come across arguments forwarded by many scholars who felt emphasizing strategic and political considerations for terrorist acts by Islamist groups and downplaying religious inspiration for terrorism was dangerous and inaccurate. Results of many studies on the subject have concluded that Islamic terrorist groups undertake terrorist acts for strategic and political considerations. Some of these studies suggest that politics and grievances (of Muslim community) are the cause of violence and religious rhetoric. It is also important to study reverse relationship that is, the possibility of religious teachings shaping political views. Prudence demands we should not be dismissive of such an idea; however, the role of Islamic teachings in motivating terrorists organizations is a subject itself and is beyond the scope of the article. MY JAMMU AND KASHMIR (JK) EXPERIENCE In my over 20 years of commissioned service I have been posted to JK on five occasions, of that four times for counter terrorist operations. There were certain issues which stood in the face way back in 1993 and my views got reinforced over the years in my many interactions with terrorists, surrendered and apprehended, their sympathizers and the common man. Many of the terrorists and over ground workers I came across were non practicing and neither were their families very religious. These terrorists took on the faà §ade of religiosity once they were indoctrinated or forced to join the terrorist groups. In my interactions with them I got a sense of what they passed on as religious knowledge was superficial understanding of Quran, other religious scriptures and practices. When some of them would quote scriptures they would display ignorance of real knowledge and the context for what they were saying. The above strengthened my belief that these individuals became radical because of la ck of knowledge of Islam rather than being knowledgeable about it. My understanding of terrorist groups, at least of the lower rung, is that the groups do not have any kind of ideology even political. Religion is being manipulated to fill that void artificially. The common man in JK is politically discerning and awake to the ground realities of the sub continent. The terrorist groups are also alive to this aspect and are also aware that their demands are inadequate to attract wide following; therefore it is a deliberate attempt on their part to shroud their political demands in the cloak of religiosity. Another striking aspect of this story is the reason why individuals get motivated for the terrorists cause. In JK, in many of the cases it has been social cause besides friendship, kinship, camaraderie, sense of adventure, easy money which has been a motivating factor rather than religious ideology and this is consistent with my arguments in the article. My interaction with some of the foreign terrorists also threw up similar interesting facets of terrorists training including ideological training. These terrorists were indoctrinated with hate speeches, trained to cause destructions and to cause murder, but even they could not advance any convincing theological rationale for their acts. Perhaps their trainers are aware that ordinary Jihadists in Pakistan are also not well versed with the indepth understanding of Islamic teachings, hence the indoctrination of the terrorists by their handlers in Pakistan is intensely political. They play on the psyche of Muslims who are concerned with the plight of their Kashmiri brothers. They have been indoctrinated on the theme of humiliation and suffering of the Muslims at the hands of Hindus. For them Muslims are being oppressed and humiliated by non Muslims and the only way to defend the honor is through Jihad ensuring liberation of Kashmir and its merger with Pakistan. This heady concoction of f ight for honor and political ambition offered on religious mantle is most effective. CONCLUSION The issue of Islamic terrorism has religious overtone but religion is not everything about Islamic terrorism. Islam does have a history of violence associated with it since its early days but then so do many other religions in the world. The aggression of the Islamist terrorist groups that we see today does emanate in portions from misinterpreting the teachings of Islam and in part is the outcome of political ideas, hence it has to be defeated through teaching correct religious practices and by political tools. The strategy being followed by Government of India in JK viz political activism, winning hearts and minds of the people and military action against the terrorists coupled with keeping communication channels even with dissidents open is part of the approach to the problem of religious terrorism. A concerted effort has to be made to expose terrorist groups of the manner in which they misrepresent Islam. More important aspect is to make citizens of the country in general and Musl ims in particular aware of the true religious practices and teachings of Islam.

Mill on Liberty Essay examples -- essays research papers

In Chapter 2, Mill turns to the issue of whether people, either through their government or on their own, should be allowed to coerce or limit anyone else's expression of opinion. Mill emphatically says that such actions are illegitimate. Even if only one person held a particular opinion, mankind would not be justified in silencing him. Silencing these opinions, Mill says, is wrong because it robs "the human race, posterity as well as the existing generation." In particular, it robs those who disagree with these silenced opinions. Mill then turns to the reasons why humanity is hurt by silencing opinions. His first argument is that the suppressed opinion may be true. He writes that since human beings are not infallible, they have no authority to decide an issue for all people, and to keep others from coming up with their own judgments. Mill asserts that the reason why liberty of opinion is so often in danger is that in practice people tend to be confident in their own rightness, and excluding that, in the infallibility of the world they come in contact with. Mill contends that such confidence is not justified, and that all people are hurt by silencing potentially true ideas. After presenting his first argument, Mill looks at possible criticisms of his reasoning and responds to them. First, there is the criticism that even though people may be wrong, they still have a duty to act on their "conscientious conviction." When people are sure that they are right, they would be cowardly not to act on that belief and to allow doctrines to be expressed that they believe will hurt mankind. To this, Mill replies that the only way that a person can be confident that he is right is if there is complete liberty to contradict and disprove his beliefs. Humans have the capacity to correct their mistakes, but only through experience and discussion. Human judgment is valuable only in so far as people remain open to criticism. Thus, the only time a person can be sure he is right is if he is constantly open to differing opinions; there must be a standing invitation to try to disprove his beliefs. Second, there is the criticism that governments have a duty to uphold certain beliefs that are important to the well being of society. Only "bad" men would try to undermine these beliefs. Mill replies that this argument still relies on an assumption of i... ...s beliefs are not reflected in their conduct. As a result, people do not truly understand the doctrines they hold dear, and their misunderstanding leads to serious mistakes. Mill presents one possible criticism of this view. He writes that it could be asked whether it is essential for "true knowledge" for some people to hold erroneous opinions. Mill replies that having an increasing number of uncontested opinions is both "inevitable and indispensable" in the process of human improvement. However, this does not mean that the loss of debate is not a drawback, and he encourages teachers to try to compensate for the loss of dissent. Mill then turns to a fourth argument for freedom of opinion. He writes that in the case of conflicting doctrines, perhaps the most common case is that instead of one being true and one false, the truth is somewhere between them. Progress usually only substitutes one partial truth for another, the newer truth more suited to the needs of the times. Dissenting or heretical opinions often reflect the partial truths not recognized in popular opinion, and are valuable for bringing attention to a "fragment of wisdom." This fact can

The Jacksonian Era Essay -- American History, Politics

Whether people admired Andrew Jackson’s policies and decisions as president or did not; they can all agree that the two most important economic conflicts during the Jacksonian Era were the Bank War conflict and the Specie Circular Panic of 1837. The Jacksonian Era by Remini, should be renamed The Jacksonian Economy because the outcomes of these two conflicts were what made America’s economy today. In describing these two conflicts, Remini showed how Americas learned the hard way of what to do and not do in order to have a successful economy. The Bank War was important because it proved that the nation’s finances could not be trusted in the hands of one man. Jackson believed this to be true and fought to change it. He believed that the Second Bank of the United States was unconstitutional and that it posed a serious threat to the American economy. On the other hand, this American System which was inspired by Alexandria Hamilton, Henry Clay, and lead by Nicholas Bi ddle was meant to modernize the nation’s economy. Both sides of the Bank War would not back down, which lead to Jackson eventually closing down all banks because he believed they were devices to cheat common people. The other most important conflict which played a role in Jacksonina Era was the Panic of 1837. This was the most serious depression the young nation had seen yet. The economy suffered in a number of ways such as large debts, an unfavorable balance of trade as imports had exceeded exports which resulted in a loss of specie; and several crops failures had also taken place in 1837. Both conflict had enormous impacts on America’s economy and had many repercussions. The first important economic conflict that Remini presented was Jackson’s war against the Bank of the... ... passage of the Federal Reserve System. (P-40) Even though the Panic of 1837 had an impact worldwide, overall the Bank Wars had the most influential and long lasting effects on the United States.The Jacksonian Era was a trial and error period for the nation’s economy. Whether people admired Andrew Jackson’s policies and decisions as president or did not; they can all agree that the two most important economic conflicts during the Jacksonian Era were the Bank War conflict and the Specie Circular Panic of 1837. Both conflicts taught a life lesson of what to steer away from in order to achieve the American dream. Remini’s The Jacksonian Era taught economic and financial history by exploring the explanation and causes of the Bank War and Panic of 1837. For without the knowledge of these two conflicts, America would not know how its economy survived in the first place.

Social Promotion or Retention: The Only choices for failing students? E

Social Promotion or Retention: The Only choices for failing students? How to help students who fail, or students who do not achieve up to a certain academic standard, is an issue that probably goes back to the beginning of levels of school for students to progress through. In the U.S. it goes back to the 1840’s where age-graded schools began. In those times children who did not meet a certain standard were retained, or they repeated that grade. Rates of grade retention are difficult to trace in the past as well as currently. In some of these illustrative examples, a state could reduce retention by half in thirty years. However, different states had different retention rates. In 1909 one Massachusetts school district had a 7.5% retention rate while a Tennessee had a 75.8%. â€Å"In the 1930’s educators recognized that grade repetition might endanger student’s social and emotional development, which gave rise to the practice of social promotion. As a result of this policy, students were passed on to the next grade even if they were not ready for the work.† (Alkin, 1114) Both social promotion and retention intend to rectify the problem of failing students. However, does either of these two methods succeed? If they do not then what does? Retention is the process of keeping students at the grade they fail. However, according to Donald R. Moore, the executive director of Designs for Change, a Chicago non-profit group that strives to improve schools, â€Å"It’s a politically popular initiative, but it harms kids in the long term.† (Gewertz, 1, 13 2002) talking about repeating the same grade. Holding students back a grade without changing the instructional strategies is ineffective. Much evidence suggests that the achievement of retained stud... ... likely to fail and help them before it can happen. (Riley, 1999), (Oakes, 1999). Mr. Franczyk, a principal in Chicago, where social promotion has ceased says, â€Å"Retention itself does not benefit anyone. But early intervention does, I see it every year.† Evidence for early intervention working is overwhelming. As Alexander, Entwisle, and Dauber put it, the answer to social promotion and retention is intervention policies that ensure that resources are brought to bear to promote successful student learning, especially for those children at risk of failure. (Alexander, 1994) This policy should lower failing rates and help students gain the mastery over the studied material it also shows them that they do not have little worth and that much is expected from them. This policy change address why students fail and changes in those areas are necessary for them to succeed.

Health industry’s research Essay

Chou et al publication on health coverage and the health industry’s research and data analysis from current population survey has it that; about fifty four percent of United state citizen population had employer’s sponsors health insurance in 2006 with five percent (5%) having non-group insurance and almost sixteen percent (16%) of the total population are currently uninsured, several report shows that these set of people i. . the uninsured people receive less protective care, most of which are diagnosed at more complicated disease stages and tends to be given less beneficial care thus having higher mortality rates (Chou, 2009). The lack of insurance has unpleasant effect on the uninsured populace, regardless, the uninsured faces high out of pocket spending than their insured counterparts. eferencing the report of Bureau of Labor Statics that generally employment will increase about 10% between 2006 and 2016 therefore employment opportunity for homecare aids personnel will raise about 51%, automatically opportunities for physical therapist subordinates are expected to increase, more so, job opportunities for registered nurses will increase by approximately 24% though this statement look promising but what is not clear is, to what degree are these employment in health care associated to insurance coverage (p. 282). Result of research analysis carried out these experts indicates that differences in uninsurance rate exist in the health care labor force the disparities diverges extensively with relevance to the health care industry along with other industries and employees category, for instance employee working in ambulatory unit and residential care are liable to be uncovered hence health care personnel in nursing home and residential situate earn less, this factor can be associated to higher rate in uninsurance. However, most low salary earner cannot meet the expenses of first-class health insurance even when coverage is presented their employer (p. 2285). Chou et al in their final analysis statement affirm differences in uninsurance exist in the United States health care labor force and about 1 out 8 in the healthcare workforce require insurance coverage. Implementing policies distinctively meant to ensure adequate insurance for health care worker will not only aid the workforce but will promote of the health entire citizen (p. 287). Conversely, Das and Das made it clear in their publication â€Å"Health Care in the United States: Why is Price So Sensitive? † that the soaring health care rate has an unpleasant effect on productivity causing a negative impact in production in all industries at large. They added that the inability of consumer to be able to afford better health care was due to declining wages. As a result of this the United States comparative advantage becomes a nonissue (p. 462). Relatively wages increases situation forces the consumer and health care workforce with low income to exhausting a greater portion of their income on health care, obtainable literature could not explain why the rate of health care in the United Sates is increasing and why majority of the populace are not in the insurance network. It is not possible to explain the survey of price insensitivity to health care supply by examining the health care sector only consequently it must look into the interrelationship between health care and non- health care sector on the United States economy. The authors’ uses partial equilibrium model in their studies to explain the lethargic development of health care amid price inelasticity but the model cannot explain why health care supply is in elastic initially. Further disturbing issue relating to increasing health care cost is the high cost of comparative advantage of United States industries through labour productivity of the U. S. research conducts by other professional mentioned in Das and Das publication indicated that health related issue result in lost of economic productivity (p. 463). Further econometric study by the authors show that states with higher per capital health care cost have lower labour productivity in all U. S production industries either health or non health (p. 466). In order to put an end to this effect the authors indicated that partial equilibrium models will not enough rather the use of general equilibrium model should be employed. Conclusively, they derive evidence that health care rate is raising sharply in the U. S making the United States a major spender on health care, it was derived that increasing health care cost provides a negative externality by reducing labour productivity. The investigation provides clarification of the general equilibrium model of the health care and non-health care sector where higher health care rate reduce labour productivity. On the other hand, (Thompson and Cutler 2010), in the Benefits Quarterly, published a report on the health care consumerism movement. The publication was centered on the birth of health care consumerism movement which started as a result of the need to take care of the factors that contributed to the increase in health care costs and the backlash to managed care. According to the authors, the factors include â€Å"lack of consumer awareness of the cost of health care service, the effect of health care on profits and wages, and the need to engage consumers more actively in health care decisions† (p. 24). Additionally, the gaps which they identified included the fact that consumers do not have the required knowledge and education and therefore are disparate participants in the â€Å"provider-patient partnership† (p. 26). They also stated that the regular need of customers to seek expert guidance from professionals when in need of health care information make the customers feel under qualified when trying to determine the value of the required health services. Furthermore, they opined that most consumers would prefer feeling more in charge of the choices that are offered to them after which they identified the need for incentives in order to get the attention of both consumers and providers as one of the gaps in health care consumerism today. The researchers then moved forward to highlight some keys that are vital in sustaining the health care consumerism strategy after which they highlighted the role of the community in ensuring that good health is collectively achieved. In doing this, they emphasized on the importance of the employers incentives, wellness programs and other activities that could boost their employees’ health. The article was concluded by the researchers stating that there should be a communal approach by all the stakeholders in the health care system to better shape and simplifies the consumerism movement. In the same publication as the previously mentioned researchers (Benefits Quarterly), Domaszewicz, Havlin, and Connolly presented an article on health care consumerism as well, but this time, considered incentives, behavior change, and uncertainties. This article was directed at providing some lessons that will serve as a guide for employers who are presently thinking of implementing â€Å"a consumerist approach to improve employee health and control the cost trend† (p. 29), on the necessary courses of action. The researchers asserted to the fact that most organizations would strive to contain costs in all ramifications especially in health care benefits so as to curb the after effects of last year’s global economic meltdown. In order to curtail the effects of this on the employee, Domaszewicz et al. suggested that the employees should employ lower-cost options such as consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) which are high-deductible plans that contain employee-controlled spending account. The employee-controlled account consists of a health savings account (HSA) or health reimbursement arrangement (HRA). The researchers however claimed that CDHPs are just the beginning and should therefore be followed with a â€Å"robust incentive- and value-based designs for health management† (p. 30). The researchers further highlighted the issues involved in the debate between â€Å"changing behaviors† versus â€Å"changing outcomes† after which they stated the several ways through which the employee can achieve the target of both taking action and achieving positive results. In addition, the researchers averred that incentives could take many forms and therefore recommended the right incentive mix after which they cited a case example. The researchers did not fail to mention the uncertainty that is evident in health care reforms and the measures that employers are taking against it. In summary, the researchers posited that the new strategies carry their own element of risk and as a result, they pointed out a few general lessons that can guide the cause of action. Comparison and Contrast of the Findings Chou et al in their publication investigated the rates of uninsurance amidst employees in the United States health care workforce via the health care industry, its sub category, and workforce. They used the 2004 to 2006 National Health data survey in assessing the rate of health insurance coverage by employing the use of multivariate logistic regression analysis to estimate the probability of uninsured workers in the health industry subtype (p. 2282). On the other hand, Monica Das and Sandwip K.  Das examined the insensitivity of price with regards to health care in the United States as a means of increase health care rate, it’s unpleasant effect and negative impact productivity in all production industries, they formulated a two sector model of the United States economy i. e. the non-health sector and the health sector employed the use of general equilibrium model and econometric model based on interstate production function for the estimation in providing explanation with a two sector general equilibrium model where higher health cost reduces labor productivities in both health as well as non-health sector (p. 72). Both publications were centered on the cost effects of Health Care in the United States. The difference in their manner of approach however, lays in the fact that while Das and Das concentrated on the insensitivity of the price of the supply of Health Care services, Chou et al. focused on the rates of uninsurance. However, Michael Thompson and Charles M. Cutler in their analysis examined the health care consumerism movement taking step forward, considering the rise in health care cost and lack of consumer awareness of the cost of health care services. The publication reviews the movement in health care consumerism and further identifies the gaps within recent health care consumerism; more so, the authors scrutinized the lack of consumer awareness of health care service cost, the effect of health care on wages, the need to engage consumers more actively in health care decisions, what sustainable health care consumerism framework should entail and what role on the community play in the movement of consumerism. From a similar perspective, Domaszewicz, Havlin and Connolly, examined Health Care Consumerism in a different context in their publication, the article focused on incentives, behavior change, and uncertainties. Presented in the article, are the methods of approach for employers thinking of implementing â€Å"a consumerist approach to improve employee health and control the cost trend† (p. 9), the authors however recommended that employees should utilize lower-cost options for instance the â€Å"CDHPs† that control employee-controlled spending account, the account which consists of Health Savings Account or the Health Reimbursement Arrangement and not failing to point out the uncertainty that is evident in health care reforms and the measures that employers are taking against it. The main difference between their manners of approaching the topic is that Thompson and Cutler discussed the birth of the consumerism movement, the gaps present and some effective keys that will enable the development of a sustainable health care consumerism network, Domaszewicz et al. based their publication on the provision of guidelines for helping employers on implementing a consumerist approach that will be of benefit to their employees’ work health. Synthesis  Juxtaposing the findings from the contributions of these articles, it will be observed that the ideas behind what the authors of the four publications centered on the need for the improvement of the health care system as a whole. From the insurance aspect of the health care system, to the general pricing system of health care services, and the health care consumerism movements. The four publications all raised various concerns on the need for better health care for the teeming populace which includes the health care professionals who make the services available and the consumers to whom the health care services are rendered. It should be agreed that increase in health care costs and the effect of health care costs on profits and wages, have an adverse effect in the supply of health care in the United States and unfavorable impact on labor force productivity creating a negative production externality in all industries. The results of the findings presented by the authors have shown that there are evident lapses in some aspects of the present Health Care system and there is a pressing need therefore, to right the wrongs found and presented by these authors.