Kosovo Crisis Essays - Government Of Kosovo, Ethnic Groups In Kosovo

Kosovo Crisis The tension in Kosovo has existed for centuries, dating back as far as 1389 when Serbs lost an epic battle to the Ottoman Turks in Kosovo. Not until 1912, more than 500 years later did the Serbs regain control when Kosovo became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With the conclusion of World War II, as an absolute monarchy under the name Yugoslavia, the country became a communist republic. Autonomy was granted to Kosovo in 1974 in a revised constitution. Kosovo, although a Serbian province, was largely occupied by ethnic Albanians who established Albanian-language schools and institutions. In 1987, Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in Yugoslavia, riding the wave of Serbian nationalism with his promises of a "Greater Serbia." Escalating tensions between the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians and the fear of secession prompted Milosevic to strip Kosovo, though 90 percent Albanian, of it's autonomy and army troops and police were deployed in battle strength to maintain order. Kosovo's Albanian majority voted in 1992 to secede from Yugoslavia, voicing a desire to merge with Albania. President Bush warned Serbs that the United States would use force if the Serbs attacked Kosovo. In 1997, The Kosovo Liberation Army began killing Serb policemen and others supporters of the Serbs. The conflict turned into a guerilla war after Milosevic sent troops into the areas controlled by the Kosovo Liberation Army and killed 80 Kosovars. Shortly after, talks were held for the first time advocating a peaceful path to independence for Kosovo, but the Albanian side boycotted further meetings. Later, the United Nations Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire and political negotiations, but with little support from either side. NATO allies then authorized airstrikes against Serb military targets, but were not prompted to take action because Milosevic agreed to withdraw troops and accept unarmed international monitors. Following a number of failed peace talks NATO launched airstrikes on March 24th of this year. The involvement of NATO in this conflict is unprecedented and raises questions about why action was not taken under the auspices of the United Nations rather than NATO. The United Nations has not voted on the use of force against Yugoslavia because both Russia and China would almost certainly veto military action. Russia has a traditional alliance with the Serbs, while China (particularly because of their own political situation and human rights violations) opposes any international intervention in the domestic affairs of sovereign nations like Yugoslavia. The crisis in Kosovo is of particular interest to Russia because it is ultimately a test of the relative weights of sovereignty and the right to self-determination. As the outlying areas of Russia are home to a myriad of ethnic groups, the settlement of the situation in Kosovo will provide a precedent (albeit perhaps a reluctant one) to which future conflicts might be resolved. Once the governments of the NATO countries decided it was necessary to intervene in Kosovo, they acted without taking the issue to the United Nations Security Council because of the certain resistance of China and Russia. The United States and NATO objectives are to stop the killing and achieve a durable peace that prevents further repression and provides for democratic self-government for the Kosovar people. The United States and NATO have three strong interests at stake in the Kosovo conflict: averting a humanitarian catastrophe; preserving stability in a key part of Europe; and maintaining the credibility of NATO. The Serbian's sustained and accelerating repression in Kosovo is creating a humanitarian crisis of a staggering dimension. Serb forces have killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians in an effort Serbs call "ethnic cleansing", and displaced an estimated 250,000 by burning and looting their homes. Currently 40,000 Serbian police and military troops are positioned in and around Kosovo poised for a military offensive. The instability in Kosovo directly threatens peace in the Balkans and the stability of Europe, which could have viable consequences to the United States as well as the rest of the world. There is no natural boundary to this violence; World War I began in this same tinderbox. If actions are not taken now to stop the conflict, it will spread and both the cost and the risk will increase substantially. Continued fighting in Kosovo has the potential to re-ignite chaos in Albania and destabilize Macedonia. In addition the conflict could exacerbate rivalries between Greece and Turkey, two NATO allies. Greece and Turkey have different ethnic, religious, and political allegiances to the peoples living in Kosovo and the nations surrounding Yugoslavia. The conflict could

Mars and Venus united By Love essays

Mars and Venus united By Love essays Mars and Venus United by Love by Paolo Veronese is done in the Renaissance style of painting. This is done in this style, because Poalo Veroneses was a Renaissance painter as well as his teacher Titan. The painting takes place in Rome in the Mythological Era. It is not known who commissioned this work. Emperor Rudolf II in Prague owned this piece of artwork as well as four others of Veroneses paintings. Mars is the God of war; and Venus is the Goddess of love.(These are the Roman names for the Greek Gods; which in Greek Venus was called Aphrodite and Mars was actually called Aries.) The theme of this painting has to do with Roman mythology. Cupid is tying Mars and Venus together. There are many different explanations that people have came up with to explain this painting. There is always that tie between love and war, even the saying make love not war. The most common translation would be [Venus, the woman symbolizes chastity transformed by love into charity and that the horse held back by an armed cupid is an emblem of passion restrained](Metropolitan Museum of Art, pg.185) The painting clearly shows Mars and Venus being tied together by a cupid. So I can see why this is the most popular translation of this painting. My personal response was really strong after seeing the painting for the first time. As soon as I saw this painting I knew that it had a deeper meaning to it; and not just some people being tied together by a cupid. I knew right away that it had to do with Roman mythology just from the names. After looking at this painting for a while there is still something that the artist is trying to portray, that is really tough. It feels like there is more going on than what seems. The painting has such a calm tone to it but it gives a little hint of roughness with the sword and the horse, which I think, helps to balance this painting. There is sort of sneakiness to this paint...

Chinese Businesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Chinese Businesses - Essay Example Over the centuries, these socio-economic affiliations helped ties the Chinese and Filipino in a strong spirit of affinity. In the 21st century, mutual trade and investments provide a solid pillar in the long-standing, friendly relations between the two nations (Philippine Embassy Beijing 2004). In Singapore, there was a phenomenal influx of Chinese migrants during the nineteenth century. Multitudes of Chinese migrants filled the island for commerce and work with the institution of Singapore as a colony of Britain in 1819 (Ee 1961). During this time, secret societies emerged that Chinese migrants became associated with. These secret societies contributed to the development of Chinese businesses in Singapore in early days. Chen (2001) narrated that around 60 million Chinese people have built communities in countries other than China. They cover a range of ethnic and linguistic subdivisions bound by their common origin, and are collectively known as the Overseas Chinese (Weidenbaum 1996). Although rather small in terms of the entire population of their host countries, they play a vital role in the economic setting of South East Asia, where they dominate a majority of the firms' wealth in the region (Yeung, 1996). According to Tsang (2002 p. ... Most of them are into small and medium enterprises; however, play a significant role in the economy of the Philippines. Some of these entrepreneurs hold large companies and are valued as some of the most well-known Philippine' business tycoons. According to Wong (1985), the traditional Chinese family business (CFB) is "a small-scale, domestically oriented, form of business organization that originated in China several hundred years ago and was dispersed throughout South East Asia by emigrating Chinese minorities in the 19th and 20th centuries". Shapiro and Erdener (2003) modernly called them as the Chinese family enterprise (CFE) in which they defined as "the larger, internationally active, family-owned Overseas Chinese enterprise that evolved from the traditional CFF outside China". Yeung (1999, pp.106-11) narrated that some of CFB turned into CFE that have become famous international conglomerates are Fortune Tobacco under Lucio Tan in the Philippines and the Far East Organization under Ng Teng Fong in Singapore. "Among the Overseas Chinese, family business was evolving in new directions that deviated from tradition and paved the way for international expansion". As they internationally expand, CFEs typically created powers and capabilities in their host markets as the basis for competitive advantages in the foreign country environment. In some South East Asian countries where ethnic discrimination is at large by the dominant cultural group, the CFB expanded their business network beyond the family. This led them to form unions with national governments. The main advantages of the CFE based on characteristics over other form of business structures are listed below. According to Chen (1995), the main lead of the CFE is its capacity to grab commercial portals of