In your opinion, how many capitalisms are there in the global system?

When is, according to Clausewitz, a war victoriously concluded? Discuss with reference to contemporary examples. Since the dawn of mankind, wars have been fought. And since the beginning of history, they have been chronicled and analysed. Man has always sought to understand this most destructive of his endeavours. From Tacticus to Liddell-Hart, war has been the focus of many a theoretical study. Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian officer during and after the wars of the Republic and the Empire and wrote On War, in one way or another, over the course of his adult life. He fought against the French throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, from the early campaigns in Germany in 1793 as a mere child, to acting as Chief-Of-Staff of a Prussian Corps on the allied left in the Waterloo campaign. The new warfare of the French at this time made a profound impression on him and shaped On War. It was finally published after his death in 18321. Victory in war is every soldier's raison d'etre. Yet defining a victory is less simple. Fundamentally, victory can be seen as the fulfilment of one's object in war. So in order to define victory, we must define our aims. In this essay, I shall attempt to show what Clausewitz thought of as victory, or more precisely, what Clausewitz thought of as the nature of the object of war, the fulfilment of which would lead to victory. Clausewitz's

  • Word count: 2435
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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MIntzberg school of thought

Mintzberg school of thought Mintzberg is a professor of management studies at McGill University in Montreal and a professor of organisations in INSEAD in France. (www.onepine.info/pminz.htm) Many believe that organisations are more intricate in today's turbulent world. Requirements in strategic management are changing in today's business environment. A strategy is argued to be vital to maintaining success of businesses in the long term "the determination of the basic long term goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary to achieve those goals." (Chandler 1961) The first three schools of thought are prescriptive in nature, and more concerned with how strategies should be formulated. The six other schools that follow consider specific aspects of the process of strategy management and have been concerned more with describing how strategies get made. The last school sees people seeking an integrative cluster of all the schools. The Planning, Learning and Positioning Schools are the 3 schools of thoughts that I am going to focus on. I will be analysing their underlying assumptions, perspectives and paradigmatic stances. The planning school emerged with the design school "in fact the planning school originated at the same time as the design school; it's most influential book, Corporate Strategy, by

  • Word count: 3189
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Threat of Nuclear Terrorism and its implication for Western Security

Running Head: THREAT OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR Threat of Nuclear Terrorism and its implication for Western Security [Author's Name] [Institution's Name] Threat of Nuclear Terrorism and its implication for Western Security Introduction Terrorism and the possible possession by terrorists of WMD, especially nuclear weapons, are part of the "asymmetric" dynamics that have thrust the international community into a new and uncertain situation. These dynamics have been witnessed in the 9/11 (2001) al Qaeda terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the 3/11 (2004) terrorist attacks against Madrid, and the 7/11 (2005) terrorist attacks against London. 1Terrorist acquisition and use of WMD, especially nuclear weapons, is an extremely serious problem that must not be dismissed as the subject of works of fiction. Indeed, the U.S. casualties and losses on 9/11 would be seen as relatively minor as compared to a possible terrorist strike using even crude nuclear weapons. Both candidates in the United States 2004 presidential elections agreed that this is the most serious threat the country faces. 2 The threat of terrorist strikes, particularly those involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) represents one of the most serious threats to the United States and other nations that are potential targets of subnational, national, and transnational terrorist groups

  • Word count: 5101
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Intelligence is a necessary but not sufficient condition for victoryin war. Do you agree?

Intelligence is a necessary but not sufficient condition for victory in war. Do you agree? In a world that is typified by independent states, above which there is no higher authority, and a scarcity of resources, such states often compete with each other. The most deadly form of such competition is war, whether in the name of territory, self-defence, religious belief, or any other reason. When such competition exists, there is ample motivation to be well prepared, for one state to know what other states are planning, and not to have others know their intentions. Essentially, this is the role of intelligence; to use information acquired through various means to create an advantages for one state over others. But in a war situation, with all the other factors that have to be taken into account, such as technology, manpower, and training, how can the importance of intelligence be measured? Is good intelligence, knowing what ones enemies are doing, sufficient to ensure victory? This essay attempts to analyse the importance of intelligence in war by looking at historical examples. It will be seen that intelligence is not sufficient for victory, but it probably is necessary, and hugely influential in determining the outcome. This essay shall begin by examine what is meant by intelligence, its purpose and the methods commonly used. Through this, several stages of intelligence are

  • Word count: 2606
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Reasons for Napoleon's Success (to 1807).

Reasons for Napoleon's Success(to 1807) a) Napoleon's Strength - The Military Aspect i) Napoleon's Qualities of Leadership ii) The Changing Nature of War iii) The Development of the Grand Armee iv) The Development of Winning Tactics v) Weapons Training in the Grande Armee vi) Napoleon's Strategic Planning vii) Napoleon's Generalship b) Napoleon's Strength - the Civil Aspect c) The Enemies' Weakness - Allied Disunity i) The Second Coalition 1799 ii) The Third Coalition 1805 a) Napoleon's Strength - The Military Aspect i) Napoleon's Qualities of Leadership * One of Napoleon's great strengths as leader was the devotion of his men. His soldiers adored him. * Despite his generally unprepossessing appearance, when he wished to charm he could quickly win over anyone he met, however initially hostile they might be. Within a couple of days he had completely captivated the officers and crew of Bellerophon taking him to St. Helena in 1815, much alarming the British government. * One Admiral at that time exclaimed, "If he had an obtained an interview with His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in half an hour they would have been the best friends in England!" * His contemporaries had no doubt about the charismatic quality of leadership. His great adversary Wellington said to him that the moral effect of his presence in the field and worth an additional force of 40,000

  • Word count: 9537
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Strategic Competence of Small Businesses.

The Strategic Competence of Small Businesses Abstract The general investigative focus of our research paper is on the market. More specifically, we narrow our focus on the question as to whether there is something like a specific strategic competence of small firms. Our initial hypothesis is that small firms have a very different "strategic competence" as compared to large firms. An extensive literature review comes up with 35 potential variables for such a specific strategic competence of small businesses. After a thorough analysis, this list is narrowed down to 15 variables. These 15 variables have powerful theoretical and practical implications and their validity should be tested through more in-depth literature reviews as well as empirical research on a global scale. CONTENTS . INTRODUCTION 5 .1 The General Issue: The Market 5 .2 Narrowing The Focus: Specific Strategic Competences Of Small Businesses 6 .3 What Motivated Our Investigation 7 2. REVIEW OF THE PERTINENT LITERATURE 9 2.1 Vozikis and Mescon (2002) on the Strategic Competence of Small Businesses 10 2.2 Strategy and the Internet - Has Planning Become Obsolete? 16 2.3 The Importance of Planning and Preparation (from Sun Tzu through von Clausewitz to The Economist 2002) 21 2.4 Small Businesses and Planning 23 2.4.1 Perry (2001) On The Relationship Between Planning And Failure 23 2.4.2 Upton et al.

  • Word count: 15087
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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The causes and effects of World War I

The Causes and Effects of World War I World War I was a military conflict from 1914 to 1918. It began as a local European war between Austria - Hungary and Serbia on July 28, 1914. It was transformed into a general European struggle by declaration of war against Russia on August 1, 1914 and eventually became a global war involving 32 nations. Twenty - eight of these nations, known as the Allies and the Associated Powers, and including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States, opposed the coalition known as the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria - Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The immediate cause of the war between Austria - Hungary and Serbia was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo in Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb nationalist. (Microsoft Encarta, 1996) On July 28 Austria declared war against Serbia, either because it felt Russia would not actually fight for Serbia, or because it was prepared to risk a general European conflict in order to put an end to the Greater Serbia movement. Russia responded by partially mobilizing against Austria. Germany warned Russia that continued mobilization would cause war with Germany, and it made Austria agree to discuss with Russia a possible change of the ultimatum to Serbia. Germany demanded, however, that Russia demobilize. Russia refused to do so, and on

  • Word count: 1776
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Difficulties of giving a single definition of war

HUA101 Introduction to War and Society: Theories of War Critically account for the difficulties that exist in providing a single definition of war. To give a single definition of war that could give an explanation without any controversy would be highly difficult; this is because there are many interpretations of war from so many different aspects which are influenced by the political or philosophical attitude the author has. What war is requires the people that are allowed to begin and engage in war and a person's definition of war often comes from the person's widening political ideology, an example would be when limiting war to a conflict between nations or state. Alternative interpretations can include conflict not just only between nations but also schools of thought and/or ideologies. Form Carl Von Clausewitz book, 'On War', it gives the definition of war as "the continuation of political intercourse with the addition of other means", while Cicero defines war as "a contention by force", Thomas Hobbes adds that "By war is meant a state of affairs, which may exist even while its operations are not continued." Hugo Grotius explains that "war is the state of contending parties, considered as such." Denis Diderot notes that war is "a convulsive and violent disease of the body politic." Each writer has different definitions and within these they all have strengths and

  • Word count: 1185
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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WHY SHOULD ONE STUDY ANCIENT/ CLASSICAL GREEK AND ROMAN WARFARE?

WHY SHOULD ONE STUDY ANCIENT/ CLASSICAL GREEK AND ROMAN WARFARE? Ancient, Classical Greek and Roman warfare should be studied as warfare has always been a common part of life as it has always has been. To understand modern warfare and revolutions in military affairs or even the current political situations, a background in ancient warfare can help explain many factors as the connection is axiomatic in contemporary studies of the history of warfare. Even though, we are supposed to learn from our mistakes in history we do not. Studying the ancient or classical Roman times certainly tells us how selfish and cruel man can be and never learn form history.1 Wars carried out thousands of years are being compared to those carried out in the 20th century, for example, the Korean War was compared to the Peloponnesian War, and the current 'war on terror' has revived the study of the Crusades. So what can we include in the Ancient World? Greece, Rome, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylon, Persia, Byzantium and Turkey are certainly included as well as figures like Alexander, Plato, Virgil, Socrates, Aristotle, Caesar, and Homer. Ancient Civilization did not begin in what we think of as the West. It did not start in Paris or Berlin or London or Prague or Brussels or Stockholm. It grew out of the Mediterranean breezes, the sun and desert of Northern Africa, the Persian and West Asian

  • Word count: 2369
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Are atrocities an integral part of war?

7229774 War and the Politics of Ethics POLI 30822 Are atrocities an integral part of war? Introduction This paper’s main argument is that war creates conditions that significantly increase the likelihood of atrocities occurring, but atrocities are neither integral nor limited to war. In order to understand this conclusion it is necessary to analyse what is meant by atrocity and how intention affects whether or not certain harms are atrocities. Therefore this paper first looks at what atrocities should be defined as and their relationship with war. Followed by an analysis of what justifications for war there are to compare to the likely occurrence of atrocity. These definitions will be used in conjuncture with historical illustrations of events in war with a particular focus on the My Lai and Son My Massacre from the Vietnam War on the morning of March 16th, 1968. My Lai was a hamlet 7 miles from Quang Ngai Town on the South China Sea that had the most deaths in a grouping of massacres by the US 23rd Infantry Division directed under 2nd lieutenant William Calley Jr. The military police concluded that 347 people perished at My Lai although a memorial at Son My remembers 504 victims.[1] While some soldiers refused to take part many others still raped and killed, women and brutally murdered men, children and even the animals.[2] Its use as a case study is

  • Word count: 2731
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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