Cold War Essay :: essays research papers

THE COLD WAR The Cold War was a very complex war. Many ideas, conflicts and emotions were going on. This was a major turning point for the word war. War became a much more powerful word. However, this war did bring the people together to work at solutions like none other. We have learned from this experience. The Cold War could have been prevented. Franklin Roosevelt gave Eastern Europe to the Russians at Yalta. When Roosevelt negotiated at Yalta, he was not feeling the pain and needs of the people in Nazi concentration camps and the fire bombings. However the rest of Europe wanted revenge for this. They wanted reparations and a guarantee that this would never happen again. Roosevelt did not give them what they wanted. It could have been prevented if Roosevelt had taken advantage of his negotiating position in Yalta, the Soviets would not have created the buffer zones. If these were not created Russia would be much more vulnerable. Also Russia would have been isolated from Europe by a distance. With its advancements in technology the Soviet Union was fast connecting with Europe. No more was it isolated, it became the center of attention. Had Russia not been invalid with the political struggles of Europe, its power and interest after WW2 would have declined. Even with its nuclear capabilities, Russia would have been far less likely to use such a devastating device, had the country’s political involvement declined to pre-war levels. It was the Iron curtain which brought Russia to the limelight, and it was also Roosevelt who sold the land to Stalin for which he could build his buffer zone. Its somewhat ironic that a buffer zone brought Russia closer to the west. The arms race could have been prevented, but not stopped. It can be explained like this: There are two obvious options to build weapons or to not build. If no power was building then there would be an incentive to build. Once this power starts to build the other powers have no choice but to build (or be completely â€Å"powerless†). There are a way to solve this however. I suggest either there is some policy to not start an arms race. Of course this is difficult to monitor but is better than nothing.

Caricom Formation

Caricom- Caribbean Community and Common Market The formation of Caricom came about when the initial four countries’ governments saw the need for an integration of its members and economies, and the creation of a common market. When the West Indian Federation came to an end in 1962, Caricom was established as a means of regional integration. The West Indian Federation was a political union and consisted of ten countries- which are now states of Caricom- with the exception of Belize, The Bahamas and Guyana.The ending of the Federation meant the beginning of more serious efforts on the part of all Caribbean leaders to strengthen the existing ties among them by providing opportunities for the continuance and sustaining the areas of co-operation. The idea of Caricom was proposed by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago when it announced its withdrawal from the West Indian Federation. Hence, the first Heads of Government Conference was summoned by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. This conference was attended by the leaders of Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.These four countries agreed that there was an immense necessitate for closer co-operation in the Caribbean region. At the eighth Heads of Government Conference in Georgetown, Guyana in April 1973, the decision to establish Caricom was authorized with the signing of the Georgetown Accord. Caricom was finally established on July 04, 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. This treaty was signed by the Heads of Government of Barbados- Mr. Errol Barrow, Guyana- Mr. Forbes Burnham, Jamaica- Mr. Michael Manley and Trinidad and Tobago- Dr. Eric Williams. After many years of existence, Caricom has extended to fifteen members of state.Members of State of Caricom Name of Country| Capital City| Name of Head of State| Head of Government | Date of Membership| Antigua And Barbuda| St. John's| Dame Louise Agnetha Lake-Tack, Governor-General| Winston Baldwin Spencer| 4th July , 1974| The Bahamas| Nassau| H. E. Sir Arthur A. Foulkes, GCMC, Governor General| Perry G. Christie| 4th July, 1983| Name of Country| Capital City| Name of Head of State| Head of Government | Date of Membership| Barbados| Bridgetown| H. E. Ellliot Belgrave, Governor General| Freundel Stuart| 1st August, 1973| Belize| Belmopan| H. E. Sir Colville N. Young Snr. Governor General| Dean Oliver Barrow| 1stMay, 1974| Dominica| Roseau| H. E. Dr. Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool, DAH, President| Roosevelt Skerrit| 1st May,1974| Grenada| St. George's| H. E Sir Carlye Glean GCMG, Governor General | Tillman Thomas| 1st May,1974| Guyana| Georgetown | His Excellency Donald Ramotar| 1st August,1973| Haiti | Port-au-Prince| His Excellency Michel Joseph MartellyPresident| July, 2002| Jamaica| Kingston| The Most Honorable Patrick Linton Allen, ON, GCMG, CD – Governor General| The Most Honorable Portia Simpson – MillerPrime Minister| 1st August,1973| Montserrat| Plymouth| H.E. Mr. Adria n Derek Davis, Governor| Honorable Reuben Meade Premier| 1st May,1974| Saint Lucia | Castries| H. E. Dame Perlette Louisy, GCMG, PhD, Governor General| Dr. The Honorable Kenny D. AnthonyPrime Minister| 1st May,1974| St Kitts And Nevis| Basseterre| H. E. Sir Cuthbert Montraville Sebastian, Governor General| The Right Honorable. Dr. Denzil Llewllyn DouglasPrime Minister| 26th July,1974| St. Vincent and the Grenadines| Kingstown| Sir Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne, Governor General| Dr. the Honorable Ralph E.GonsalvesPrime Minister| 1st May,1974| Suriname| Paramaribo| His Excellency Desire Delano Bouterse President| 4th July,1995| Trinidad and Tobago| | His Excellency George Maxwell Richards, TC, CMT, PhD President| Honorable Kamla Persad-BissessarPrime Minister| 1st August ,1973| Caricom also has its Associate Members (located in the territories of the United Kingdom): * Anguilla * Bermuda * British Virgin Islands, * Cayman Islands and * Turks and Caicos Islands Caricom Secretariat Th e Caricom Secretariat is the principal administrative organ of the ommunity and is headed by a Secretary General, who is the CEO of the community. The Caricom Secretariat is located in Guyana and the current Secretary General is Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, a national of Dominica. Functions of the Caricom Secretariat * Initiate, organize and conduct studies. * Provide, on request, services to Members of State of Caricom on matters of the community. * Collect, store and disseminate relevant information to Member States. * Mobilize resources from donor agencies to assist in the implementation of Community Programmes. * Conduct, as mandated, fact-finding assignments in Member States.Offices and Directorates Offices * Secretary-General * Deputy Secretary-General * General Counsel * Office of Trade Negotiations | Directorates * Foreign and Community Relations * Human and Social Development * Trade and Economic Integration * Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States   (CARI FORUM)| Reference â€Å"Caricom Member States† 2011, Caricom. org. http://www. caricom. org/jsp/community/member_states. jsp? menu=community â€Å"Formation of Caricom† May 2006, Scribd. com http://www. scribd. com/doc/2905473/Introduction-to-CARICOM-CSME

Syncretism

Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. In the case of Haitian Vodou, Vodou blends two or more religious beliefs into one system, therefore it can be characterized has syncretism. Vodou is a syncretic system derived from deeply rooted African beliefs and colonial French Catholicism. As a reaction to being torn violently from their roots, the slaves tried to resume their cultural and religious traditions.Ancestral spirits were invoked and celebrated in secret, far from the master's eyes. The worship of saints and the Catholic sacraments served as a screen and a support for African beliefs. The creation of a coherent belief system was extremely important in the development of a feeling of unity among the slaves which would provide them with a sense of self and community. The process of syncretization among the African religions helps to explain why Vodou found it relatively easy to accept and integrate parts of Christian religious belief and practice into the local religious activity.Resistance to conversion was met with terrible violence, so Africans already saddled with the horror of being a slave would also suffer extra depreciations because they wished to celebrate their native religion. A solution fell into place though, and this solution was nearly identical all across the Americas. The Africans would pretend to convert to Catholicism, and secretly continue their religious traditions under the guise of Christian worship. Catholic symbols, like the Eucharist and the Saints, came to have double meanings.Initially this integration was purely functional, providing a cover of legitimacy for religions that were severely proscribed. Naturally, most Africans did not want to leave behind their old traditions. But after a few generations a real syncretism became part of the duality of beliefs of the slaves themselves, who soo n found it possible to accommodate both religious systems. One way in which one can see clearly an example of syncretism is that Vodou recognizes a supreme deity and so does Catholicism.However, this god does not interact directly with humanity. Humans must rely on lesser celestial beings known as laws; and in Roman Catholicism humans must rely on lesser celestial beings known as angels and saints. These creatures might appear as gods, though they are more like helpers and messengers for the supreme creator. It was a simple matter of marrying the imagery of lwas with saints and angels. Then it was simple to go to Church and pray to St. Patrick to invoke Damballah, or pray to St. Anthony to invoke Legba.There was also no need to change the structure of the supreme deity. Vodou does not reject the idea that the Christian god is any different than their supreme deity. How did Haitian Vodou come to this point? Vodou’s evolution is marked by four major developments. The first one is the integration of African beliefs and practices around the dominant Fon religion. The second was the classification of gods and emergence of new ones. The third one was the synthesis of Catholic elements; and finally the fourth one was appropriating Amerindian religious symbols.The reason that the Fon beliefs became the dominant ones was for the simple fact that the Dahomean culture was the most populous. Vodou gained the majority of its deities from the Fon received from other African religions are the terms for gods (laws), mambos, the Congo word for priestess, and special deities lie Ogun, which absorbs the place of Gu in Dahomey. The classification for gods/laws changed over the time of Vodou’s development. At first it was classified according to African ethnic origins: Rada, Kongo, Nago, and Ibo.Later, with the emergence of new deities in Haiti two major categories of deities emerged: Rada and Petwo deities. The Rada deities originate from Africa while the Petwo deit ies originated in Haiti, but are still believed to visit from Africa (nan ginen). Synthesis of the Catholic faith with Vodou began with the Code Noir in 1685. This code outlawed all religions except for Catholicism. According to the Code Noir, slaves must be baptized. It stated that each slave’s acceptance into the church must be preceded by a period of religious instruction in the Catholic faith.This led to restrictions for the slaves. Some of these restrictions included slaves not being able to leave the plantation, prohibit slaves from night gathering, rituals, dances, etc. , and the sale of goats were prohibited. Three theories could explain what happened. The first one simply states that both fused together to make one. The second theory, symbiosis, explains that African elements and Catholic elements existed side by side as part of a mosaic, not having true fusion.The third theory, merely draped over the African dissimulation, states that Catholic elements of ritual wer e merely draped over the African ones in efforts to conceal traditional religious practices in an environment that was hostile to their survival. The last theory is what I think explains this scenario the best. Vodou is more closely related to African traditions than the Catholic faith; Vodou just used the Catholic faith as a disguise.I believe if the Catholic faith was not there, it Vodou could have still emerged under Islam or Judaism, but it would have been much harder since the two latter religions are not as universal as Catholicism. The final step in the development of Vodou is the synthesis of Amerindian religions. Symbols for Vodou originated here and not in Africa. Things like the asson, the sacred rattle of the priests, and the objects used in rituals. One can conclude that Vodou started as a religion from mainly three other religions, but now Vodou has evolved into a new and unique religion.