Suchergebnisse

Reviews over two dozen coercion-based practices, including human sacrifice, genocide, war, terrorism, revolution, political murder, riots, homicide, imprisonment, capital punishment, torture, religious persecution, slavery, debt bondage, and taxation. Examples and data are drawn from all over the world, including ancient Rome, medieval Japan, early modern England, revolutionary Russia, and four centuries of American history. Payne concludes that the long-run tendency in societies is for the use of force to decline

The brutal winter weather that afflicted the East Coast, including Washington, DC, earlier this year and the failure of global temperatures to rise -- as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- since 1998 have given critics of global warming policies a point to bring up in the climate debate, but it would be a mistake for them to use these facts as their main argument. The case against activist global warming policy goes much deeper than what is happening in the weather today or even this decade. The real case is that activist policy depends on a teetering chain of improbabilities. Climate alarmists believe the issue is simple: a warming climate threatens humanity, and government should save everyone from this danger. The global warming issue presents a staggeringly complex problem in benefit-cost analysis. Economists have vainly attempted to use more sophisticated models in their cost-benefit analyses of carbon policies. Adapted from the source document.

In devising foreign and military policies, policymakers can adopt one of two broad perspectives about the nature of war. One is the "war-continuity" theory. In this view, war is a constant feature of human existence, an ever-present danger. This is the perspective of the "realist" school of foreign policy, which holds that nations have always strived and will always strive to dominate each other militarily. Those who adopt this position tend to argue that preparations for war must always be pursued strenuously because one can never tell who the next enemy will be or when the next big war will occur. This perspective of ever-present danger appears to dominate thinking about US security policy. The nation maintains at least 662 overseas bases in thirty-eight foreign countries, and planners work continually to develop additional sites (the latest proposals are for new bases in Australia and the Philippines). Adapted from the source document.

The problem with the term democracy is not that it has no meaning, but that it has too many meanings. Thus, any U.S. administration that tries to make it the lodestar of its foreign policy sails in a sea of muddle. Adapted from the source document.

Examines the goals of Al Qaeda & other Islamic terrorist movements. An analysis of statements made by Osama bin Laden shows that imposing fundamentalist Muslim beliefs on the West is not mentioned in spite of President George W. Bush's claims to the contrary. Bin Laden's primary topic is criticizing the US & other Western nations for their aggression against Muslim lands. He is also very critical of Saudi leadership, especially their decision to allow the US to deploy troops in their country. Bin laden has given little attention to American culture. The attacks of 11 September 2001 were a reaction against the US government's intrusive foreign policy in the Middle East, not a denouncement of American values or morals. It is noted that Bin Laden's statements fail to mention Western Muslims who would be of the utmost importance if his aim was for Islam to take over the US. Emphasis is placed on the need to understand the terrorists' goals in order to develop effective policies to combat them. Tables, References. J. Lindroth