Injury Prevention Intervention (Driving injury in young people)

Introduction Studies indicate that the major victims of road driving are the young people. In fact, age, gender and inexperience are among the factors putting at higher risks of driving injuries. For instance, due to the age, young people are incapable of effectively estimating their capabilities and often test their limits above other individuals.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Injury Prevention Intervention (Driving injury in young people) specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Dodge (2011) argues that the underdevelopment of the children brains accounts for their inability to estimate their driving capabilities. Further, the parts of the brain tasked with making of choices are still undergoing development thereby influencing behavior when driving. Moreover, invariable judgment about driving actions often distracts young inexperienced drivers. In terms of sexual orientation, the males are more exposed to the risks of road injuries due to thrill and impression seeking actions, driving at excessive speeds as well as failure to use seatbelts. Injuries from road traffic account for larger proportion of the cause of deaths amongst young people worldwide. Precisely, approximately four hundred thousand people under the age of twenty-five years die annually due to road injuries. Hanson, Vardon, McFarlane, Lloyd, Muller, Durrheim (2010) studied the trends of deaths caused by accidents in young people and reported that a large percentage of the deaths take place among young cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers. The traffic injuries are avertable. In fact, several interventions have proved invaluable in addressing the hazard aspects as well as diminishing the rates of driving injuries. In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a number of interventions that are significant in reducing driving injuries during the United Nations Global Road Safety Week. For instance, separation of vario us types of road users, reduction of driving speed and not driving when drunk as well as carrying out graduated licensing schemes for apprentice drivers are essential for the reduction of driving injuries. Epidemiology of driving injuries among young people Among the driving injuries experienced worldwide among young people, alcohol is considered as a major contributor of road collisions and fatalities. In fact, studies assert that high blood alcohol concentrations pose greater risks of crashing.Advertising Looking for report on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hingson and Heeren (2010) argue that large proportions of young male drivers between the ages twenty-two to forty-five often drink alcohol before driving which increases the likelihood of fatal crashes. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), forty-one percent of road accidents arise from alcohol-related crashes. Levenso n, Hingson and Heeren (2010) shows that age is essential in determining the amount of blood alcohol concentration in the body. National Roadside Survey and NHTSA data show that young drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 have the highest contents of blood alcohol concentration (BAC). For example, the male drivers between the ages of sixteen and twenty whose BAC is over 0.15 accounts for approximately 15, 550 individuals compared to their female counterparts accounting for estimated seven hundred and forty people. Information from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) indicates significant fluctuations in driving injuries across sexual orientations, age and inexperience. Rivara and MacKenzie (2012) studied gender variation concerning risk exposure of young people to accident and reported that males are exposed to higher risks of traffic accidents. For instance, in 2012, males accounted for approximately eighty percent of the traffic deaths. In addition, men account for forty- six percent of alcohol related crashes compared to thirty percent traffic related deaths accounted for by females. On age, young and middle-aged adults are the most involved in road accidents. For example, people aged between the ages sixteen and twenty-nine make up fifty-five percent of traffic deaths compared to seven percent of individuals with over sixty-five years. Klassen, MacKay and Moher (2010) assert that speeding is also a significant cause of injuries among young drivers. Actually, 40% of drivers involved in fatal traffic crashes had high BAC of 0ver 0.15 percent. In addition, young drivers often fail to wear safety seatbelts increasing their risks to road crashes and injuries. According to NHTSA (2003), greater proportions young drivers who endured road crashes wore safety belts.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Injury Prevention Intervention (Driving injury in young people) specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Young drivers convicted of drinking and driving require assessments on alcohol abuse or dependence as well as attend alcohol treatment. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), management of convicted drinking and driving offender trims down the repletion of the offence by approximately 10%. Further, O’Malley and Wagenaar (2009) argue that to reduce injuries from alcohol related accidents, legal drinking ages should be enforced at a minimum of twenty-one years to prevent young people from excessive drinking. Setting BAC limits and impounding driving licenses of traffic offenders are essential. Current preventive strategies Various preventive measures are currently in place to mitigate accident related injuries. However, it is critical to understand which preventive strategy is more effective. Wallace (2012) studied the current and previous accident preventive measures and concluded that the outcome of any program on accident reduction depends on the effectiv eness of protective measures put in place. Gielen and Sleet (2013) also studied several strategies that are currently in place to prevent injuries on young people. According to Gielen and Sleet (2013) study, the trends indicate that despite the preventive measures, the likelihood for young people involved in injuries is increasing. The injuries preventive strategies include mandatory child restraint use laws, which involve various recommended implementations including enforcement by the police. The strategy is strongly recommended particularly when the police are involved in its enforceability. Mandatory child restraint use laws also include the application of seat belts. The recommendations are that when safety seats are properly installed and used appropriately the risk of injuries are reduced by over 70% in infants while children above the age of one, the reduction rate is over 54%. The preventive measures have proved to be effective particularly where enforcement is operational. Besides the child restraint use laws strategies, other strategies such as the use of seat belts, alcohol-impaired driving, nighttime driving restrictive curfew and mandatory helmet use laws to prevent motorbike injuries have been in practice to prevent injuries related to accidents on young people.Advertising Looking for report on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, according to Zaza and Thompson (2011), the strategies have various limitations including enforceability and implementations. In most cases, the strategies are to be implemented by the police who often have limited capacity. In addition, the strategies have a limited target. For instance, the mandatory child restraint use laws only targets the child safety seats. However, Wagenaar, Murray, and Geban (2010) argue that the preventive measures are not exhaustive. New strategies need to be in place to prevent further injuries on young people. In fact, the new strategies should be innovative, easily understood and applied. In addition, the new strategies should be effective particularly where young people are involved. Goals and objectives The major goal of the current interventions is to reduce injuries related to motor vehicle accidents on young people by over 80%. However, each intervention has specific goals. For instance, the alcohol-impaired driving main objective is to red uce the number of adults driving while carrying young people as well as preventing driving while drunk. As Shults, Elder and Sleet (2011) indicated, the number of alcohol related accidents have considerably increased among young people. The collective objectives are to reduce the probability of young people being involved in injuries related to motor vehicle accidents. The current interventions, limitations, goals and objectives are summarized in the table below Intervention Limitations Goals/objectives Mandatory child restraint use laws Limited police enforceability To reduce the risks associated with Moto vehicle safety seats Community wide enforcement campaigns Can only be applied during certain times of the year To enhance public awareness on the injuries related to accidents Random breath testing sobriety checkpoints Limited police enforceability To reduce alcohol related crashes and deaths by between 17-25% Zero Tolerance Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Possibilit y of increasing the set limits. Lack of strict enforceability Reduces accident related injuries on young people under the age of 21 Nighttime driving restriction curfew laws Applied spatially with some exceptions allowed To avoid injuries resulting from night time crashes. In addition, to discourage nighttime teens driving The rationale for the current interventions As indicated the current intervention are not exhaustive in terms of preventing the injuries. However, most of the interventions have been proven effective in preventive processes. The main justification for the current interventions is to put in place control measures that are deemed useful in reducing injuries. In addition, the control measures must be enforceable and implemented. Baker, Braver, Chen and Williams (2012) indicated that the enforceability and implementation could only succeed when the measures have legal framework through various legislations. In other words, the effectiveness of any intervention de pends on its enforceability based on a given legal framework. The proposed current intervention The current interventions address injuries that are not intended. The reason is that unintentional injuries have been in existence. As such, the preventive measures have also been formulated. However, the interventions only address the injuries that occur within the vehicle when an accident occurs. According to Emery (2013), the environmental interventions have not been addressed in most of the current injury related to accident strategies. The proposed interventions tend to focus on environmental modifications to prevent young pedestrians from injuries related to roadside accidents. The first strategy is to install streetlights on the sidewalks to increase visibility. The streetlights should also be combined with traffic lights indicating areas where crossings are allowed. In addition, the crossings should be clearly marked with warnings provided in advance for approaching drivers to slo w down. The other environmental modification interventions is establishing speed limit in areas near playing grounds as well as schools. The environmental modification prevention strategies would be critical in preventing injuries that would have been caused by the drivers’ negligence and the children inability to understand the environment. In fact, the environmental related prevention measures have not been critically looked at and in cases where such interventions are available the target are not young children. The proposed environmental modification strategies are summarized below. Intervention Recommendation Goals/Expected outcome Maximum speed limit near playing ground Should be enforced by the police as well as other stakeholders Reduce the possibilities of the accidents by 56% The assumed child prior knowledge should be included on the driving training manual and enforced by the police Expected to reduce the possibility of having injuries due assumption of pre -knowledge of the child by 25-30% Discussions As indicated, the major cause of accident related injuries on young people in alcohol. The current preventive measures are focused on measures to reduce alcohol related accidents. In addition, O’Malley and Wagenaar (2009) argue that Young drivers convicted of drinking and driving require assessments on alcohol abuse or dependence as well as attend alcohol treatment. To reduce such offenses, security personnel in charge of traffics should increase their enforceability capabilities. In addition, increased management of convicted drinking and driving offender would help in trimming down the repletion of the offence. O’Malley and Wagenaar (2009) further argue that to reduce injuries from alcohol related accidents, legal drinking ages should be enforced at a minimum of twenty-one years to prevent young people from excessive drinking. Setting BAC limits and impounding driving licenses of traffic offenders are essential. Furthe r, environmental modification interventions are found to be lacking in the current strategies. Hingson and Heeren (2010) argue that environmental modification prevention strategies would be critical in preventing injuries caused by the drivers’ negligence and the children inability to understand the environment. In fact, the environmental related prevention measures have not been looked at critically and in cases where such interventions are available the target are not young children. Conclusion As indicated, young people are the major victims of road driving. In fact, age, gender and inexperience are among the factors putting at higher risks of driving injuries. In addition, alcoholism is cited as the major contributor to the cause of accidents among the youth. However, the current strategies are not exhaustive in preventing injuries resulting from accidents. Therefore, novel and innovative strategies are still needed in the prevention and reduction of injuries. References Baker, S. P., Braver, E. R., Chen, L. H. Williams, A. (2012). Drinking histories of fatally injured drivers. Injury Prevention, 8(1), 221–226. Dodge, K. A. (2011). The science of youth violence prevention: Progressing from developmental epidemiology to efficacy to effectiveness to public policy. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 20(1), 63–70. Emery, C. (2013). Risk factors for injury in child and adolescent sport: a systematic review of the literature. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 13(4), 256–68. Gielen, A. C., Sleet, D. A. (2013). Application of behavior change theories and methods to injury prevention. Epidemiologic Review, 25(4), 65–76. Hanson, D., Hanson, J., Vardon, P., McFarlane, K., Lloyd, J., Muller, R., Durrheim (2010). The injury iceberg: An ecological approach to planning sustainable community safety interventions. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 16(4), 5–15. Hingson, R. Heeren, T. (2010). Age of drinking onset an d unintentional injury involvement. Journal of the American Medical Association, 284(12), 1527–1533. Klassen, T., MacKay, J. Moher, D. (2010). Community-based injury prevention interventions. The Future of Children, 10(1), 83–110. Levenson, S., Hingson, R. Heeren, T. (2010). Age of drinking onset, driving after drinking and involvement in alcohol–related motor vehicle crashes. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 34(4), 85–92. O’Malley, P. M. Wagenaar, A. C. (2009). Effects of minimum drinking age laws on alcohol use, related behavior, and traffic crash involvement among American youth. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 52(5), 478–491. Rivara, F. MacKenzie, E. (2012). Systematic reviews of strategies to prevent motor vehicle injuries. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 6(4), 123-127. Shults, R., Elder, R. Sleet, D. (2011). Reviews of evidence regarding interventions to reduce alcohol–impaired driving. American Journal of Preventi ve Medicine, 21(4), 66–88. Wagenaar, A. C., Murray, D. M. Geban, J. P. (2010). Communities mobilizing for change: Outcomes from a randomized community trial. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61(1), 85–94. Wallace, D. (2012). Evidence-based effective strategies for preventing injuries: child restraints, seat belts, reducing alcohol-impaired driving, teen drivers, child abuse prevention, bike helmets, residential fire, and drowning. Injury Prevention and Control, 36(8), 23-29. Zaza, S. Thompson, R. (2011). The guide to community preventive services: reducing injuries to motor vehicle occupants, systematic reviews of evidence, and recommendations from the task force on community preventive services, and expert commentary. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 48(3), 98-105. This report on Injury Prevention Intervention (Driving injury in young people) was written and submitted by user Haylee Michael to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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Explaining The Iraqi Invasion Of Kuwait Politics Essay

Explaining The Iraqi Invasion Of Kuwait Politics Essay Baram (1994) explains that Iraqs claim to invade Kuwait is based on the argumentation that Kuwait was a district governed by Basra under Ottoman rule and, thus, Iraqi leaders have seen it as historically belonging to Iraq (p.5). Baram goes on to explain that this claim is wrong because Kuwait has long before been under autonomous rule by the Sabah family. Furthermore, she states that Iraqs aspiration to bring Kuwait under its control is partly due to Iraqs need to strengthen and stabilize its regimes legitimacy by uniting the different religious and ethnic minorities of Iraq under Iraqi patriotism (p.5). Iraq opposed the British-drawn borderline between Iraq and Kuwait because it left Iraq with only a short Gulf coastline and gave Kuwait control over the entrance and exit of Iraqs only port (p.6). Even though Iraq accepted Kuwait as a sovereign state in 1963, it did not accept the exact borderline. Iraq was supported by the Soviet Union and because the latter would not support an ann exation of Kuwait by Iraq, Iraq did not act earlier (p.6). Moreover, Iraq received aid from Kuwait during the Iran-Iraq war. Following this war, due to bad economic policies, Iraqi economy stagnated and as a result, Iraq could not demobilize its army which amounted to over 1 million at the end of the 1980s. The reason for this was that Saddam could not risk a high number of unemployed men which might result in social unrest (p.7). However, in order to keep such a high number of soldiers in the standing army, Saddam needed a good reason. Therefore, he started to revitalise the American and Zionist enemy (p.7). Iraq kept on spending on military expenditures which had the intention to turn Iraq into the Gulfs hegemonic power as Iraqs weapons could be used against Israeli offenses which, additionally, would make Iraq the Arabs protector (p.7). The downfall of the Soviet Union was disastrous for Iraq as it lost its biggest supporter in the face of the US. Furthermore, Iraq was alarmed by the Eastern European democratic revolutions bringing the totalitarian regimes down which were equally designed as Saddams Iraq (p.7). Another reason for Iraqi worries in the late 1980s was Iraqs failure to force the Syrian army to leave Lebanon and which was tolerated by the US and other Arab states (p.9). This became, according to Baram, an example for Iraq which saw the possibility to invade Kuwait and which then would be treated by external players like the Lebanon case (ibid.). After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq invoked the Kuwait crisis two years later by bringing up several issues, such as the border dispute with Kuwait, the Israeli-Palestinian problem, Americas presence in the Gulf, the issue of oil production quotas and Iraqs demand for financial aid (p.9). In order to solve all these issues, Iraq increasingly started to see an invasion of Kuwait as the best solution (ibid.). In 1990, Iraq for the first time publicly offered to take up the role of the Soviet Union as protector for the Arabs (p.10). Additionally, Iraq started to threat Israel in case it would attack any Arab state. These manoeuvres had the purpose to avert the public from increasing economic hardship, as well as the happenings in Eastern Europe and the regimes failure in the Lebanon case (p.11). Iraqs increasing public threats and announcements opened up the danger of Saddam being sucked into a war by his own rhetoric (p.14). Furthermore, this approach showed that Iraq was more and more diverting from a path of domestic policies to external ones in order to solve Iraqs problems (ibid.). Saddam by including the Israeli-Palestinian rhetoric and pan-Arab security, diverted the Arab world with Libya, the PLO, and Jordan being its closes supporters, but also Egypts Mubarak in the beginning supported Iraqs approach towards Arab security by believing in Iraqs good intentions (p.16). After receiving support from at least a fraction of the Arab states for its Arab security approach, Iraq started to accuse Kuwait of stealing oil from Iraq and thus, two strategically important islands in the Gulf should be given to Iraq (ibid.). Iraqi-Kuwait relations further deteriorated when oil prices fell and the OPEC quota was not fully supported by Kuwait (p.17). This in turn led to Iraq starting to mobilise troops and station them at the Kuwaiti border. Iraq shifted its demands whenever it fitted best from economic reasons to territorial claims (p.19). Egypts Mubarak in this period publicly proclaimed that Saddam promised to him that he would not attack Kuwait. The USAs reaction to the build up of the crisis was to send their ambassador Glaspie to talk to Saddam. The ambassador misjudged the situation which had the outcome that diverting and ambiguous signals were sent to Saddam and Washington (p.20). Glaspie did not put pressure on Iraq, instead she followed the approach to ally with it and improve US-Iraq relations (p.20). Glaspie, being in line with the State Departments pos ition, told Saddam that the US does not interfere in inter-Arab affairs such as the Iraq-Kuwait border dispute (ibid.). Seen in this context, the American diplomatic approach was not helpful because it sent the wrong signal to Saddam, namely that America would not use force in inter-Arab disputes (ibid.). Furthermore, in July 1990, the State Department spokesperson announced that the US has no special defence or security commitments to Kuwait (p.21). This made Saddam believe that he could invade Kuwait without US involvement and that it would not make a difference if he took only parts or the entire area of Kuwait (p.21). Taking this risk of invading all of Kuwait was based on the assumption to solve the economic problems of Iraq and to put Iraq into a power position in the Arab region and by doing so mobilise domestic support (p.25). A further explanation of why Iraq invaded all of Kuwait was, according to Baram, Saddams personality treats. Advisors could not interfere in any decis ions already made by Saddam because of his personality. He saw himself as invincible warrior and empire-builder (p.26). Barams text about the reasons of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait is very comprehensive and comprehensible and it looks at the issue in detail and from different perspectives. What was especially interesting was the detailed description of the US diplomatic approach and how a misjudgement can lead to such far-reaching outcomes. Furthermore, Barams text looks in detail at Saddam as leader and how his decisions were very logical and calculating even though they were based on false assumptions and miscalculations. Therefore, Barams text shows that Saddam did not in any way act irrationally or injudiciously. However, it could be looked at in more detail in how far Saddam became able to act in this way after the fall of the Soviet Union, its main supporter. Baram mentions that the Soviet Union would not support an invasion of Kuwait, but she does not go into more detail concerning the timing of the invasion of Kuwait and the downfall of the Soviet Union. I think the question could have been e xplored in more detail in how far that was also a part of the reason for Saddams invasion at that time or Saddams possibility for invasion since the Soviet Union no longer kept Iraq from invasion. Mark Heller (1994) discusses Iraqs army power and Western perception of the strengths of the Iraqi army. His claim is that the Gulf war was a result of Western misperception of Iraqs army strength and capabilities (p.37). According to him, a Western threat to use military force would have been enough in 1990 after the invasion to persuade Saddam to leave, however, the debate in the Western public undercut this option and made it impossible (ibid.). It was argued that a war with Iraq would result in high numbers of casualties and thus, the message that was send to Saddam was that a military US intervention was very unlikely and withdrawal was not necessary (ibid.). Heller argues that the debate about Iraqi army strength completely ignored the armys performances in the past, which had not been able to perform well in wars against foreign powers even if its weapons were plenty and effective (p.38). The reason for this is that due to Iraqs regime type, it had to give more priority to the preservation of the regime than to the military (p.47). This is due to the fragmentation of the Iraqi population and the lack of legitimacy as well as national identity which makes the regime vulnerable and the army less effective (ibid.). For this reason, Saddam had acquired weapons which could be operated by a highly centralised small elite of soldiers in order not to have to rely on the rest of the army which was rather ineffective (p.48). Heller argues that a war might have not been prevented but at least American response could have been more effective diplomacy-wise if the military capabilities of Iraq had not been overestimated by the public (p.38). Thus, Iraq would have withdrawn if the diplomatic messages and pressure would have been more evident. This article shows a very interesting view point which is not taken up by most other texts which deal with the topic. It shows a completely different angle by looking at US diplomatic shortcomings and where these were rooted in. Even though this article is rather short and more detailed evidence should be given about the public debate in the West, this article tries to give a plausible explanation for US behaviour and why the US did not put more diplomatic pressure on Iraq. However, a little flaw that occurs to me in this text is that even tough the military strength of the standing army overall were more limited, the weapons that could be used by a small elitist group could still be as disastrous concerning casualties as a high number of soldiers. Therefore, in my opinion the argument that the public overestimated the military capabilities loses a little bit of its ground. Nevertheless, the end argument still works because Saddam could have been deterred if the US had used more dipl omatic pressure but this was halted due to public discourse. Clawson (1994) discusses Iraqs economic situation prior to the war and the effects of economic sanctions on Iraq. Clawson establishes that Iraq has all the good preconditions for a well-working economy and a prosperous population. This includes that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, Iraq has vast and rich agricultural areas and a, to a certain extent, well-trained manpower is available; nevertheless, Iraq has economic problems and the people liver under economic hardship (p.69). According to Clawson, the Iraqi economy has a lot of potential; however, successive Iraqi regimes have put ideology before economic stability and the well-being of the Iraqi population (ibid.). Due to damaging policies, especially the oil and the agricultural sector have been harmed (ibid.). Iraq pursued a confrontational policy towards the oil industry by making claims to Kuwaiti oil fields and it did not pursue closer relations with other oil states as well as developed countries in ord er to profit from efficient technology for oil production. Furthermore, the Baath party completely controlled the economy which halted economic growth (p.70). The government, especially under Saddam, wasted its resources for large-scale projects and investments which did not serve any useful purpose for economic growth. Clawson attributes this to Saddams Nebuchadnezzar complex which means that Saddam wants to build glorious buildings in order to underline his magnificence as a leader (ibid.). In the time prior to the war, Iraq claimed that its financial situation leads it to take action. Iraq, furthermore, claimed that Kuwait is to be blamed for part of its economic situation, which was used in order to distract the Iraqi public from the fact that it was Saddams disastrous economic policies which are responsible for the peoples hardship (p.71). According to Clawson, Iraqs economic situation in 1990 was actually better than it had been the years 1986 to 1989, which could be seen in I raqs ability to repay more debts in 1990 (ibid.). Therefore, Iraqs economic problems are long-term and not due to an allegedly short-term crisis with Kuwait. Saddam was unwilling to cut back on his grand projects for his own glorification and thus, was unable to meet the peoples expectation that after the Iran-Iraq war the economic situation of the population would improve (p.72). Saddams quest for more and more grand projects could only be continued if more money would flow in. At the same time, the argument that many economically important sites have been irreversibly destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war is also not true (p.77). Rather the damage was minor or at least easily reparable and not all economically important places have been destroyed if they were not associated with military sites (ibid.). Therefore, the main obstacle to economic growth for Iraq is Saddams anti-growth policies and the claim that Kuwait is responsible for it or that Iraq would recover with more money floa ting in is wrong. Clawsons article gives a good insight into Iraqs economic situation prior to the war and what the reasons for Iraqs miserable economic situation are. The article invalidates the claim that Iraqs invasion can be justified by short-term economic problems. Rather it is the regimes attempt to divert the attention from its own bad economic policies. Even though this article shows a different perspective on the underlying problems of Iraqs bad economic situation and it does invalidate the claim that Kuwait is in any way involved in Iraqs financial problems, this does not give a satisfactorily explanation why Iraq acted as it did towards Kuwait. The author indeed states that Saddam wanted to disguise the fact that it is his long-term policies that are damaging the economy. However, Saddam could have done that by different means. Therefore, this article should be treated as a one-sighted argument in the context of other arguments. Otherwise, the question could arise why Saddam did not simply spend a little more fraction of the money on the population in order to avoid unrests in the future, or why Saddam did not try to get closer to other states, Western and Arab, in order to receive more aid etc? Thus, overall the articles gives an interesting insight in the domestic economic situation of Iraq but it falls short of giving a complete and satisfactory explanation on why Iraq invaded Kuwait and why not another state or why it did not use other tools to counteract to the economic problems. Halliday (1994) does not approach the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in terms of the reasons for Iraqs decision; rather he describes the invasion and its impact on International Relations theories. Halliday states that the Gulf war in 1990 was one of the most significant international crises of the post-1945 epoch (p.109). Not only was a very high number of soldiers involved but also a high number of international diplomats and diplomacy attempts from various countries. According to Halliday, not enough attention was given to historical events. According to him, the crisis began with the death of Khomeini in 1989 (p.115). Saddam was not able to gain any influence in Iran because it remained stable after the death and therefore, Iraq turned to Kuwait (ibid.). Moreover, Halliday states that the ideology of the Baath party was not taken into account and thus, the outcome was wrongly predicted. Baathism represents the ideal for an Arab nation, a glorification of war and the strong man who figh ts for the Arab nation (p.115). Furthermore, the reason why all the diplomatic efforts that were actually undertaken failed was that Saddam believed that the US would not intervene militarily (p.116). Additionally, Saddam was only expecting sanctions which would have not meant an irreconcilable for him and Iraq (ibid.). According to Halliday, realists see the Gulf war as an interstate-conflict. For transnationalists the economic dimension was most important and the preservation of economic, i.e. oil, interests on all sides (p.120). For Marxists and structuralists, in turn, the war was one of a dominant and a subordinated power and which was justified by Western materialist interests, i.e. oil and which reinforced hegemonic power in the Middle East (ibid.). However, all these theories fail to explain the entirety of the Gulf war. Realists cannot properly explain why Iraq invaded all of Kuwait if it was not seen as one of the biggest miscalculation and misjudgements by Saddam (p.120). Furthermore, Iraqs references to pan-Arabism and Islamic issues cannot be properly explained by realist theory. Transnationalism, in turn, do not have a satisfactorily explanation for the UNs decision outcome which was not based on mutual decisions by various states but rather it was based solely on US ideas (ibid.). Furthermore, Marxists and structuralists theory is not completely applicable either because if the war was of imperial nature then this would mean that Iraq has to display a more progressive level of development in the international arena, which is not the case due to Iraqs Baathist ideology and its brutal regime among other reasons (p.120). As a reason Halliday concludes that such an event as the Gulf war in 1990 means that theoretical approaches have to be revised and thought through again more thoroughly (p.129). However, this does not mean that the existing theories have to be overthrown altogether, rather the war tested the limits of these theories and accordingly they have to be amended and adjusted. Even though this article does not contribute to the answering of the above stated question, it does give an interesting insight into the studies of IR and the reactions of theorists from different strands to this political event. Furthermore, it shows how such an event as the Gulf war can lead to a revision even if of limited degree of the existing theories. The summary of the article above is only a small extract of Hallidays text but it still shows the impact of political events on the studies of IR. The text is well-written and comprehensible, however, one question arises for me and that is how an outcome due to misconceptions and a rational intention are mutually exclusive as stated by Halliday in the context of realist assumptions? Saddam could have had intentions based on rational thinking; however, these rational ideas could have been based on misjudgements. Even tough this point is not clear to me, the overall message of the article, namely that the war presented new realitie s and facts which cannot be satisfactorily explained by existing theories and, therefore, a revision and partial reconsideration has to take place, is still an important conclusion. This shows that IR theories cannot be rigid and that constant improvement is important if they want to be able to explain and discuss political events in a future international arena.

Essay --

During the late sixties, the Federal Republic of Germany was experiencing social upheavals during the late sixties which resulted in several student protest groups. The origins of these protests resulted from the maturation of the newer generation of Germans who did not live through World War II. A new generation of radical students, influenced by their own version Marxism, desired to dispel the hypocrisy of West Germany. (Judt, 469) They wanted to unveil the fascist nature of their government, which was hiding under the guise of a parliamentary democracy. The students were hoping that their civil disobedience would disrupt the infrastructure of West Germany. (Judt, 469) The students found their own self-identity, and they started to embrace various social issues such as race and gender equality, anti-imperialism, and several other leftwing movements. Furthermore, the historical legacy of Nazism was the driving impetus that divided the older and younger generations. The students viewed both their parents and government with increasing skepticism. The younger Germans felt that there were still elements of fascism and Nazism in the various institutions of the state. Moreover, this generation started to associate West Germany and America with fascism. Various events such as the war in Vietnam, America’s influence on West Germany, and the West German Government’s support of various autocracies, triggered several protests from the student body of Germany. These protests were met with brute force from the German State that resulted in various cases of police brutality. In the film, The Baader Meinhof Complex, the arrival of the Shah resulted in a conflict between the police and the protesters; and this incident resulted in the death of ... ... fear mongering were very similar to the tyrannical groups that they were opposing. The film delves into the psychology of the Baader Meinhof group by examining the relationships that each key member had with one another. At the outset the group held strong ties amongst one another. Nevertheless, the ties between them become more strained as the group carries out these acts and their leaders are imprisoned. The hysteria brought about by the arrests of key leaders of the group triggered a violent reaction from the RAF that led to more bank robberies, assassinations, bomb attacks, and taking more hostages. The film portrays the humanity of these terrorists. Their crimes are deplorable and their mission was primarily based upon terror not idealism. The film provides hones in on the brutal nature of the crimes as well as the relationships between the members of the RAF.