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Importance of academic writing skills
Importance of academic writing skills
Importance of academic writing skills
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Anyone who has watched the news in the past few months has probably heard Qaddafi's name tossed around a couple of times and perhaps used in the same sentence as “ruthless dictator”. Yet one cannot help but wonder if Qaddafi was truly the bloodthirsty tyrant that the media painted him to be why are the Libyan people only rebelling now more than four decades after he came into power? Muammar al-Qaddafi came into power in 1969 as a young, popular, revolutionary leader who vowed to free Libya from the government corruption that was occurring under King Idris's rule. (Sullivan, 13) Qaddafi wanted a better life for all Libyans but he had his own views about what was and wasn't good for Libya. During next four decades, Qaddafi silenced political opposition and called the shots for Libya. The growing resentment towards Qaddafi came to a head on February 15, 2011 when protests sprang up all over Libya calling for an end to Qaddafi's absolute reign. The situation quickly escalated into a bloody civil war between Qaddafi's government and the rebel organization, which promises to bring democracy to Libya. Qaddafi's dictatorship has failed to be an effective form of government for Libya because his decisions do not represent the wishes and needs of the people. Democracy is the answer if the people of Libya do not want to keep paying for the mistakes of a single ruler.
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... to improve Libyan infrastructure, education and health care. However, Qaddafi began to abuse his power when he made important decisions on behalf of Libya that promoted his personal agenda but ignored the interests and wishes of the Libyan people. His hostile foreign policy and support for terrorist groups such as the PLO and IRA alienated Libya from other nations. International sanctions coupled with unpopular economic reforms has caused the Libyan economy experience setbacks rather than success. In order to stay in power, Qaddafi oppressed dissenters by restricting the political freedom and basic rights of his people. Libyans have paid politically, economically and socially for the actions of their dictator and they are tired of it. They want a government that will represent them fairly and the 2011 civil uprising has shown that they are willing to fight for it.
An article by CNN gives a timeline to how the downfall of the former leader, Muammar Gaddafi after violence and an evident power struggle evolved from the civil war, backed by the United States. Foreign Affairs took a look behind to what caused the United States to get involved in a conflict finding that Obama said the following about the conflict, “We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi—a city nearly the size of Charlotte—could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world,”. In fact according to CBS News which quoted several US Officials givings estimates of casualties ranging from 10,000 to as many as 30,000, just in the early stages of the civil war which is not including the fallout from the US-led airstrikes. According to Foreign Policy in Focus after the removal and subsequent
“Arab spring mishap leads to sharp increase of oil smuggling”, “Syrian revolution starts experiencing causalities”, “Overthrown Egyptian government a downright failure”, “Tunisia on the verge of economic collapse post being struck by the Arab spring revolution”, “Bombing in Libya kills 20 in the proximity of a ration distribution unit”. These were the kind of news headlines the modern world was bombarded with when the riots in the Middle East were instigated. Moreover they were the root cause on the basis of which the Arab spring revolution has been deemed a failure.
In 1986, Reagan took violent action on his war against terrorism. Reagan started his presidency in 1981 beginning his war on terrorism. The United States has been struggling with having good relations with Libya, specifically relations with Muammar Gaddafi (El-Gadhafi, Quadaffi, Qadhafi). Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator first came to power in 1969. Over the past few decades, the United States tried to solve conflicts with Libya diplomatically (SOURCE). Once Reagan was elected president, he tried to continue the tradition of solving issues using diplomatic ways, however Gaddafi refused to take Reagan’s threats seriously. The conflict with Libya and the United States escalated when it was discovered that Gaddafi was behind the discotheque bombings in West Berlin on April 5th 1986. Gaddafi has violently attacked not only innocent civilians, but had planned assassination attempts on United States officials that were abroad (SOURCE). Gaddafi’s previous actions, led to the bombings in Libya on April 14th 1986, when Operation El Dorado Canyon took place. President Reagan later justified these bombings in his address to the nation the evening the bombings took place (SOURCE?).
The authoritarian regimes of the Middles cycled through a pattern of anti-western policy until the globalization effects of economics and information demanded reform. As conservative Arab states try to maintain the autocracy they relied on after gaining independence, their citizens, affected by information and education expansion, challenge their resistant governments as typified by Syria’s unwillingness to capitulate. The proliferation of information and education underscored the protest movements of the Arab Spring because citizens’ contempt for their obstinate governments grew to large under economic pressures, as the current situation in Syria demonstrates.
“Thus, what motivates men to slay the enemy is anger,” Sun Tzu says in The Art of War. The conflict between Algerian Islamic fundamentalists and the Algerian military backed government is rooted in anger. The conflict, which began as skirmishes between government forces and Islamic fundamentalists, has taken on the proportions of a civil war as fundamentalists carried out kidnappings, assassinations and other forms of civil disturbance. The government has tried pacifying the Muslims by including Islamic leaders in the government, but extreme violence committed by both parties in the conflict has made a peaceful solution difficult to achieve. This violence has claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 people in the years between 1990 and 2002.
Early 2011 uprisings swept across the Middle East and North Africa, and many rebellions are still going on today. The Arab region has seen revolts and conflict since the 1800‘s, but only recently have these revolts been redirected to the problems of Arab society (Ghannam, J. 2011 pg 4-5)The Arab Spring Uprising was first sparked in Tunisia and eventually struck Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and then spread to other countries. Citizens throughout these countries were dissatisfied with the rule of their local governments. Issues like human rights violations, political corruption, economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, dictators...
Iraq’s history is one of both prosperity and violence, and dates back to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. While dominated by a variety of civilizations, the region enjoyed a relatively stable society. Since the birth of Islam, the religion has been the dominant cultural belief of the region, and has made its way into the laws and ruling of the region. (InDepth Info, 2010)
...ansformation, before the dust settles, we could see many more countries that have expelled their dictators for a blossoming democracy. Although the path to self-government is harder than it might seem, right now the people of these countries are united behind one cause. However, who knows what will happen once they oust their dictator? Who will come out as the dominating party? Will they share their new power with the rest of the people? Will the people in the Arab world ever get the chance to pursue their dreams? Or are they doomed to continuous power struggles that will deprive the citizens of the liberty they seek.
This is the order in which the civil war was happening. “During the first year of the war, the RUF took control in eastern and southern Sierra Leone which had a great mining industry to its gold and diamonds. The Sierra Leone government had a tough time combatting against the RUF.
“Democracy can only exist with the presence of the people and not in the presence of representatives of the people. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the “Mad dog of the Middle East,” said that quote. Baba Suleiman, Moosa, and many others were fighting for democracy. However, according to Gaddafi that was the type of Government Libya was already under. All the revolutionary men fighting with Baba were all for democracy so why would they be leading a revolution while their leader had the same ideas as them? Researching Gaddafi was a mystery alone. The wide spread of opinion and facts of what he actually did was mind-boggling. Finding legitimate information about such a famous person was never so difficult. Gaddafi was criticized and praised by people around the world and from his own county. He supported women’s rights, free public education, and he increased the overall economic growth by 10%. However, there are always two sides to a story, especially in politics. At first Gaddafi began to appear as a warm hearted caring man, but I was soon able to find the dark side to him that he would let out on anyone who got in his way. Gaddafi’s other side is certainly shown in the country of men and is seen as wrong or bizarre behavior by a minor collection of people. In the novel there is talk of hangings, government surveillance, public executions, corruption, and deportations. Most of these acts Gaddafi did enforce the reasons behind Hisham Matar putting them in the novel is logical.
This past election brought a wave of tension across Algeria due to the fact that there were high numbers of “voting” in favor of Bouteflika, but opposing political parties show evidence of the voting system being rigged in favor of Bouteflika winning another presidential term. Another policy that the government has promised to bring the country to a more consolidated form of government was the changes made in the new constitution, but rather “the new constitution will not fundamentally alter the balance of power” like they had promised to do. Without a change of the balance of power, Algeria will remain the same making no strides to improvements of their economy. This issue plays hand in hand with another issue that is on the rise due to Algeria not making serious strides to changing the polices that they have promised, The president still remains extremely powerful and still concentrates all the power in his hands. This does not balance out the power like seen in a democracy using the United States as an
In those countries that have not experienced government upheaval, a common outcome of the Arab Spring has been sustained civil unrest, political instability, and the extension of political and economic concessions by leaders seeking to appease protesters. Many questions could arise as one contemplated those events. One of these questions would be: Why has the Arab Spring produced different results across the Middle East? This paper is a humble attempt to suggest some answers to this sort of these logical questions.
As the Arab Spring enters its second year, major uprisings and revolts have occurred all over the Middle East, pushing for an end to the corrupt autocratic rule and an expansion of civil liberties and political rights. Most recently, images from Syria have emerged, depicting the government’s use of force to suppress the voice of its people. One might ask, “Is this the beginning of a revolution? Is the country on the path to democracy?” To assess this question and examine the future trends in the region, one must look back on the country’s somewhat tumultuous history, the relationship between the citizens and the state, and the political economy.
By Fire: Writings on the Arab Spring by Tahar Ben Jelloun is a book about the injustices that took place in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region before and during the Arab Spring revolt. Ben Jelloun entirety of his work is written in French, although his first language is Arabic. Today he lives in Paris and continues to write. He has been short-listed for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Translated by Rita Nezami from French to English and published in 2016 by Northwestern University Press, the book is composed of three parts: the translator’s introduction, a nonfiction piece, “The Spark,” and a novella, “By Fire”. By Fire, the first fictional account published on the Arab Spring, reimagines the true-life self-immolation of Mohamed
In comparing the average citizen in a democratic nation, say the United States, to that of a non-democratic nation, for instance Egypt, it will be found that the citizen in the democratic nation is generally better off – free of persecution, free from fear of the authorities, and free to express his opinions on governmental matters. And while national conflicts occur everywhere, incidents like violent revolts have shown to be more prevalent in nations where citizens are not allowed to choose who governs them. It is slightly paradoxical that democracy, so inherently flawed in theory, can lead to such successful outcomes in practice. The question, then, becomes: “If democracy has so many weaknesses, why does it work?”